Eat My Own Words - Cold Steel Knives

just got my first CS knife - Ak 47. I am very impressed with the g10 and sharpness outta the box. feels extremely strong lock up. I like it very much but i will carry it to see it's use.

so far i've had it for 45 mins and it got stuck open. didn't take much to fix it but i don't know how or why it happened. hopefully this is just a break in period
 
Hello all,

I recently inherited a large knife collection and it contained 3 CS knives. I have to say that I was scared to mention that I had any CS knives because of the general dislike (almost hatred) for the product. The three knives that I have are the Recon Tanto # 13RTK, Trailmaster #16CB, and the Trailmaster 16 (Carbon V). All three of these knives are huge and definitely not a EDC.

Are these pieces more for collectors or are they used day to day? The trailmaster I would assume is for creating trails, and the Tanto for looking cool (Tanto shape is probably my favorite).

I also have noted that there are good CS and bad CS (if you believe some threads there are no good CS).

Thanks for the informative read...... I am new to the forum and I am definitely learning a lot.
 
funny how there's so much hate put on CS.

yet, people who actually own some CS knives tend to rave about them.
 
I have had a Recon 1 tanto folder ( with the axis style lock.. :D ) for well over a decade , put that knife thru hell and back.
spent a few hours last year redefining the tanto tip with my stones , still like to take it out and fiddle with it.
Then thanks to STR and Ankerson I scored a lined large AL , then a newer unlined mimi AL.
Both of them are solid as all get out.

To be honest , in my opinion , the mini American Lawman is to me the absolutle perfect under three inch EDC. I love the grip , I love the drop point.. I'm not a steel fanatic so Aus8 works for me just fine... ;) And I dont care what nutnshamcny says about pocket clip placement !
I aint trying to hide the fact that I'm carrying a knife.

Ya gottalove their full color , nicely made catalogs , they make excellent toilet reading material !

My only problem is the rather ridiculous prices many of their offerings have , but for the price the new Demko locked knives are a true value. It would be nice if they upped the steel to VG10 though or gave us a choice.

Tostig
 
Cold Steel may not use top-tier premium steel, but the steel it does use is very well heat treated. I love the older Voyager line and have never had any problems with rust or corrosion. The blades also are very finely polished, something most other knife companies don't do. CS has gotten away from this of late, but it's the only company out there that builds large folding knives and, yes, the Tri-Ad knives are so close to being fixed blades in strength that I pretty much ignore the caveats. I don't abuse folders or fixed knives, so I've found that the Rajahs cut and chop like my machetes, plus they fit in my pocket or clipped to my backpack.
 
My two cents...It is highly unusual that a company that deploys such low-brow marketing tactics actually makes some of the highest-value knives available. Usually, companies that employ side-show antics to market products focus thier production budget on the advertising and not the product quality. Not so with Cold steel. They seem to spend thier considerable resources on both the circus-style marketing AND the product quality. I'm actually amazed by this, and own many of thier products to great satisfaction, cheesy marketing ploys notwithstanding.
 
i never had much opinion on cold steel, and the first knife i bought was a pocket bushman, just to see what all the hype was about. what impressed me about this knife, other then the incredible lock up(plenty of people have issues with it, im not one of them, its a two hander for me)was seeing a nice stonewash blade on a 20 dollar knife. i hate bead blast, coated blades.

well not that long after that i picked up a large espada and black rhino. plenty of people say the espada series are overpriced, when i cant ever find any other production folder close in size, period, much less in cost. and its a very well made piece. people praise spyderco for providing high quality pieces out of taiwan, yet cold steel does the same with the espada, and its a mortal sin.

same with the "they only market knives, they dont make them" crowd, while they ignore other knife companies that have the exact same practice.

anyway, last summer, when my custom AD 10 from andrew demko arrived, i really started to look at cold steel closer. if you havent researched the tri ad lock, do so. buy a 60 dollar spartan and be amazed at not just how much knife you got for so little, but also how that lock is going to take everything you throw at it.

for those waiting for their AD 10, it will redefine what a tough folder means to you. i have striders, zaan, extrema ratio, tough benchmades, spyderco, other customs, but the AD 10 truly stands apart. about the only folder i have that i put in the same class is the grayman folder, which is an absolute beast in its own right.
 
The American Lawman might as well be a fixed blade when open, seriously. It also gets VERY sharp and keeps a nice edge. Yes, it's AUS 8, but compared to the AUS 8 that ,say, Boker uses, it seems to perform much much better.
 
I have many CS knives and have enjoyed them all. I've never had a problem with any of them. The Kudu is great for food prep. In fact mine got confiscated by my better half and is constantly on the cutting board for everday use. I EDC an old Pro-Lite model that has been though everything. I also agree on the mini-Lawman. Perfect EDC size, and my daughter wants it when I no longer need it(keep waiting kid).
 
trix2004 said:
CS did good job on this AUS8 ( I am not fan of CS or AUS8)
I actually hate aus8 and aus6 but Recon and American Lawman great knifes with very strong locks , I will say one of best locks today .
this is old HP pc with thick steel case , I wanna see how many folder will do that , especially in this price category.
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Cheap steel is pretty tough. I have many flea-market china knives than can do that. They pierce the side of a car without breaking, but are crap for anything else. I wouldn't do that with my S30V blades, but all these chinese POS folders and AUS8 can pierce the skull of an ogre with no problem. That's their only advantage.
 
I have several CS knives. I really like my Recon Scout and SRK, both older ones in Carbon V. I have the Rajah II, Ti-lite, Prolite tanto se, and Pocket Bushman(and there are others I can't think of right know). I have no complaints about any of these knives. Granted that some of their knives are a bit pricey or differently styled than I prefer, they are what they are. I have many different brands, different brands make knives for different uses.
 
citizensoldierNY said:
Another fan here , got interested when everyone started talking up the tri-ad lock. Since then have got the Recon 1 in clip, AK-47, Mini-Ak all great knives. All are tough as nails and well worth the price. Also picked up the orignal Ak-47, huge knife for a 3.5 inch and is currently my favorite edc.
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i have the aluminum version- it is huge and crazy sharp,is yours the g-10 version? the AL is like a 2X4 in your pocket,
 
me2 said:
A fixed blade is not always stronger than a folder. With no design parameters other than one folds and the other doesn't, it doesn't take much imagination to think of a folder that is stronger than a fixed blade.

I would like to own a good Cold Steel folder. The older XL and XXL Voyagers would have been my choices. Maybe a Vaquero Grande. Cold Steel is also the only company producing a variety of decent push daggers, which I owned and carried for a while. The new Safe Makers are a nice design. Tomorrow I'll start EDC'ing a Kudu and see how it holds up. Just gave it a nice coarse edge, so I'll be testing that too.
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I EDC a Kudu for food prep and light EDC tasks. I really like it since I replaced the ring with a loop of paracord.
 
I must be mellowing out. I watched the CS video where Lynn compares a .357 Mag revolver to a Gurkha Kukri for 'stopping power'. The 357 made a little hole and the Kukri sliced the meat in half (obviously!) - - - but I just chuckled this time. I wonder if theres a video comparing the big hole made by one of the CS spears to an itty-bitty hole made by a 44 mag. Of course, that means we'd rather be a spear chucker than armed with a .44 ! :) The videos are hilarious if you put yourself in the right frame of mind. I did notice a nice looking blonde on the website - - they should put her in more of the videos !
Ater getting the American Lawman based on an online video review, I picked up another CS knife - - I wanted a Tri-ad lock equipped folder that could be 'waved open' and got the AK-47. I generally prefer drop point to clip point blades for most of my applications, but the clip point on the AK-47 is relatively wide, not a narrow, delicate point. This is a very solid knife and a terrific everyday working tool. I'm quite pleased. :thumbup:
 
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I have only one cold steel . It is an All Terrain Chopper in the carbon V flavor. Wicked edge on it.
 
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