Ever heard of GSM Outdoors? They just bought Cold steel.

[Quiet]

People loved to talk smack about Lynn's antics, but he innovated the industry in the heyday every bit as much as Sal or Les. This is a HUGE loss that we will feel the impact of in the future, Cold Steel was always a solid recommendation for a high value working knife.

Exactly. This exactly. I absolutely cannot put a quantifier on the number of times I've been asked as "the knife guy" in my group, or a coworker, or a family member, etc. "What knife should I get?" and my answer is virtually always "Get a Cold Steel folder of your choice and a Spyderco Sharpmaker". And this is despite me usually having a much more expensive knife in my pocket at the time. These were the guys who were putting out knives in CTS-XHP and S35vn for around a hundred bucks that had the strongest lock in the industry made of materials that did not mind being dropped down a flight of stairs. We are absolutely going to miss these guys when they're gone.

 

[Billy The Hungry]

Hey, Smiling,

You aren't alone man. I'm getting laid off in about a month. I understand the stress you're under. The wife also lost her job this year. Bills are piling up.

 

[Billy The Hungry]

Yea! A business you don't like that many others do is most likely going to tank, awesome! A couple dozen passionate employees got canned right before the holidays *air high five*! A company that inspired many, many people to step up from garbage flea market and gas station junk to something a bit better is no more *shreds air guitar and pelvic grinds*.

I'm no huge CS fan. I find a lot of their boisterous over the top marketing goofy, and I basically moved on from most of their products in my early 20s. However, lots of people like their stuff, and kool-aid or not, they like the flavor Thompson was pouring.

People are bummed about this. It would be more tactful to mind your muddy boots, in my humble and not asked for opinion.

Well said Steely.

I don't have much good to say about a man who would make light of people losing their jobs. I'll refraim from typing what I would like too, because I'd probably get the hammah.

 

[desmobob]

Well said Steely.

I don't have much good to say about a man who would make light of people losing their jobs. I'll refraim from typing what I would like too, because I'd probably get the hammah.

+1

Lots of forums offer a "Like" button. Sometimes I wish there was a "Dislike" button.

 

[willc]

I bought one more SK-5 Recon Tanto.

4 hours later I was informed I'll get laid off at the end of the year.

Now I'm just... being here completley puzzled, writing on this forum to calm down and thinking would I buy this Recon Tanto if I knew I'm getting booted...
But for some reason this knife is my only comfort I have until I get home. And I kinda wanted to leave this job for a while, just not in the middle of this situation.

I called a friend to vent, he got an email with that same information earlier today.
2020 isn't good...

I can just hope that this is a new start of something good, I'm gonna save that knife as "The knife I bought the day I lost my job"...

Whatever you do don’t stress or worry about your situation.
Be positive and it will work out and you will find a better job.

In 2005 I was going from terrible job to crappy job all year out of the hall and tomorrow it will be 15 years now with the same company.
I know it is crazy but I actually like my job and enjoy what I do.
You will get there.

The Recon Tanto will someday be a reminder of another transition in life.

I have a SRK and Recon Tanto in SK5 and a Recon Tanto in 3v plus more than a few other CS fixed blades but I may pick up one or two more before the beginning of the end.
Now I want to get another Gunsite Counter Point cause I doubt we will see anymore special editions.

 

[Smiling]

Sorry to hear that Smiling. But I do know quite a few people that went through similar scenarios and came out the other side in a much better place both financially and employment wise. Good luck and happy holidays to you and yours.

Thank you my friend.
I hope you are right

Terrible news. Keep your head up. One door closes, another opens...look for the door...you never know what’s behind it. Good luck.

I know, I already see some opportunities. And I knew I would have to leave this job sooner or later anyways.

That is a bucket of suck. Keep your chin up, if you can. And if you ever can't, hit us up here. Knife knuts stick together

Thanks for that bro

There will be opportunities you dont see yet. You'll one day say it was the knife you got the day you got free of the job you hated.

For some reason I have that same feeling. I really hated this place and part of me is relieved.
So this knife will stay with me. I'm not returning it.
When I got my first Recon Tanto - I kinda had breaking point in my life around that time, I started to take life more seriously and I set up major goals I'm pursuing right now (saving money for university and finishing that university, and today I am a student).

In last few weeks I had similar "break point". I'm starting to be less worried about small things, focus more on what's really important, panic less and trust myself more. I plan my time for all, job, studying and university, workouts and my dog. I even study in public transport and so on. I have some expectations for myself that I want to achieve, but I'm also less critical to myself. Right now I should study, but I think I already did learn a lot today, and it's more beneficial for me to take some time to recover.
I can catch up tommorrow at work if I need to, what's the worst that can happen? They can't fire me twice heh (joke, they do know my work performance will suffer in days to come, so they did tell me they'd just leave me alone and let me focus on studies).

I can use 3 months of "social" which will be equal to my salary now. In meanwhile I can focus on college and getting another job. And this experience and connections I have can be a good boost for the future.

Hey, Smiling,

You aren't alone man. I'm getting laid off in about a month. I understand the stress you're under. The wife also lost her job this year. Bills are piling up.

I feel you my brother... this sucks for real...

Whatever you do don’t stress or worry about your situation.
Be positive and it will work out and you will find a better job.

In 2005 I was going from terrible job to crappy job all year out of the hall and tomorrow it will be 15 years now with the same company.
I know it is crazy but I actually like my job and enjoy what I do.
You will get there.

The Recon Tanto will someday be a reminder of another transition in life.

I have a SRK and Recon Tanto in SK5 and a Recon Tanto in 3v plus more than a few other CS fixed blades but I may pick up one or two more before the beginning of the end.
Now I want to get another Gunsite Counter Point cause I doubt we will see anymore special editions.

Yeah. I also see this as another transition.

End of Cold Steel era.
End of my era in this company (few years, I can say it was a good run, it only sucked badly last 9-10 months).

So I didn't return that knife. I have 2 Recon Tantos, one old and beat up which was my first real knife and it also represents one part of my life.
And new one which represents new start again.

 

[LEGION 12]

https://sgbonline.com/gsm-acquires-cold-steel/

 

[Eli Chaps]

I don't really use the big river site so I don't have a basis for reference but out of curiosity I looked up the first three brands displayed on the GSM site. Keep in mind I just clicked on the first product for each that popped up.

Stealth Cams only has a 61% 5 star rating and a 12% 1 star
Walker's Game Ear has a 58% 5 star and a 6% 1 star
Muddy Outdoors has a 61% 5 star and 9% 1 star

Those don't seem to me like encouraging numbers. Am I wrong? Is that fairly normal?

 

[A.L.]

Some of my first knives since getting into the hobby some 20 years ago were Cold Steel knives. I had love/hate relationship with the company as though many of the products were quality, many also were not so great. I’m not a huge fan of the company as general but it definitely is one of the most profilic and they kept coming up with lot of interesting stuff along the years.

 

[Hackenslash]

I don't really use the big river site so I don't have a basis for reference but out of curiosity I looked up the first three brands displayed on the GSM site. Keep in mind I just clicked on the first product for each that popped up.

Stealth Cams only has a 61% 5 star rating and a 12% 1 star
Walker's Game Ear has a 58% 5 star and a 6% 1 star
Muddy Outdoors has a 61% 5 star and 9% 1 star

Those don't seem to me like encouraging numbers. Am I wrong? Is that fairly normal?

I think those are fairly normal numbers for decent products. People tend to be more outspoken about a bad experience than a good experience. Lately the Big River reviews are almost worthless. They let a bad review for a shipping box go against the product in the box. There's no filter and every idiot has a voice, kinda like Facebook . Also, there are so many new "imports" with names like "MESELLYOU" giving products away for free or deeply discounted in exchange for a positive review. Big River reviews have no credibility and it keeps getting worse.

If you read the 1-star reviews it's stuff like
"My new pants arrived a day late! I was forced to wear an un-stylish pleat! My life is ruined!"
"It was a different color blue than the picture and now I have to repaint my bedroom!"
"The picture showed a kitten in the cat bed and I only got a cat bed!!!"

If you can't tell, I've mostly lost faith in the universal superior intelligence of humankind.

Anyway, take Big River reviews with a grain of salt. If you drill into them you'll usually find that most can be ignored.

 

[Eli Chaps]

I think those are fairly normal numbers for decent products. People tend to be more outspoken about a bad experience than a good experience. Lately the Big River reviews are almost worthless. They let a bad review for a shipping box go against the product in the box. There's no filter and every idiot has a voice, kinda like Facebook . Also, there are so many new "imports" with names like "MESELLYOU" giving products away for free or deeply discounted in exchange for a positive review. Big River reviews have no credibility and it keeps getting worse.

If you read the 1-star reviews it's stuff like
"My new pants arrived a day late! I was forced to wear an un-stylish pleat! My life is ruined!"
"It was a different color blue than the picture and now I have to repaint my bedroom!"
"The picture showed a kitten in the cat bed and I only got a cat bed!!!"

If you can't tell, I've mostly lost faith in the universal superior intelligence of humankind.

Anyway, take Big River reviews with a grain of salt. If you drill into them you'll usually find that most can be ignored.

I did read all of the 1 star comments on the first product and they were pretty significant issues.

I always feel like review stats are somewhat artificially skewed to the positive because people write them right after using the product.

But, if that is a fairly normal representation, maybe that's somewhat of a positive sign.

 

[A.L.]

I did read all of the 1 star comments on the first product and they were pretty significant issues.

I always feel like review stats are somewhat artificially skewed to the positive because people write them right after using the product.

But, if that is a fairly normal representation, maybe that's somewhat of a positive sign.

True, but people also write negative reviews more easily when they are upset on comparison to when they are content.

 

[Lodd]

Well, this is strange news. Also strange the way no one from cold steel has said anything yet. Makes you think about the nature of the takeover. I do hope this is a benevolent one where people get to keep their jobs and customers get to keep their quality and service.

I'm glad I bought a Trailmaster last month. Now I can say I was into Cold Steel before they went after the big money.

Thinking of buying an SRK now that the quality is still a known factor. I wanna use it as an allround knife that can take abuse if it needs to. I don't like batonning much, but I'd love it if the knife would stand up to it in emergencies. I can get a San Mai VG10 SRK for €150 and a 3V SRK for €255 (Weird how big the difference is, but I'd be willing to go for 3V if it was the best choice). I'm not a big steel snob but I understand the San Mai version is a hollow grind and the 3v version is a flat grind. I have one or two diamond pocket stones, so I should be able to sharpen both in the field. Which one would you guys recommend I go for? I'm personally leaning towards the 3v version, but that price difference kinda hurts.

 

[Sidehill Gouger]

I worked at a 100 million dollar company that sold to an investment firm, nobody had any idea, including top level employees in the company. We had a plant meeting and the owner said "we sold and sign papers next week".

I've been through it a couple of times now. The headman/owner just sends out an e-mail that the company is closing in two days, clean out all your personal items and leave. Severance is normally not part of the deal. Just get gone.

 

[Quiff]

Heard from local knife shop that Cold Steel owed a lot of money to Taiwan and Japan factories. Maybe that's why he sold the brand.

 

[spoonrobot]

Heard from local knife shop that Cold Steel owed a lot of money to Taiwan and Japan factories. Maybe that's why he sold the brand.

That would not be much of a surprise. There were reports that Pete Gerber did a little creative accounting before the sale to Fiskars. Knife industry shenanigans would not be a new thing.

 

[Quiet]

Well, this is strange news. Also strange the way no one from cold steel has said anything yet. Makes you think about the nature of the takeover. I do hope this is a benevolent one where people get to keep their jobs and customers get to keep their quality and service.

I'm glad I bought a Trailmaster last month. Now I can say I was into Cold Steel before they went after the big money.

Thinking of buying an SRK now that the quality is still a known factor. I wanna use it as an allround knife that can take abuse if it needs to. I don't like batonning much, but I'd love it if the knife would stand up to it in emergencies. I can get a San Mai VG10 SRK for €150 and a 3V SRK for €255 (Weird how big the difference is, but I'd be willing to go for 3V if it was the best choice). I'm not a big steel snob but I understand the San Mai version is a hollow grind and the 3v version is a flat grind. I have one or two diamond pocket stones, so I should be able to sharpen both in the field. Which one would you guys recommend I go for? I'm personally leaning towards the 3v version, but that price difference kinda hurts.

I just posted this over in the CS section thread, and will paraphrase it here in response to your observation:

Something tells me that GSM Outdoors will most likely have tried to nail down every existing piece of Cold Steel IP, to include designs, designers, current manufacturers, marketing, etc. for their use only. About the only thing I expect candidly is that they'll scale down CS's catalog by quite a lot (all the awesome, oddball weapons will probably go away) and production will be moved to China, with the former CS manufacturing vendor(s) being told to sign a non-compete clause of some kind. Sadly, Cold Steel and its assets probably just got put into the work portfolio of some GSM employee brand manager who got told about this a week ago and he was like "...who?". So, you know we won't see any more oddball, crazy stuff from Sold Steel in the future. As there are rumors that most of Cold Steel's current personnel have been let go, that means we won't even have the people who had the passion and drive for these products and their design around anymore.

So, it's highly likely, that Cold Steel won't be making any announcements, because what can they really say? If Lynn Thompson isn't sticking around to continue running things, there's not even that to hold out for.

Incidentally, I'm a huge craft beer nerd, and have seen this exact situation countless times in the beer industry. A small, locally and widely loved brewery sells out to Inbev (a giant multinational beer conglomerate who hates independent breweries) and they always release some statement from the (now former) owners like "We're still here, and will still be making the beer you love, and it's going to be great! You'll see!" because they were told by their new masters to try to stop the inevitable customer abandonment*. They try to spin the buyout as some sort of new partnership, when really no, Inbev now owns you, and was basically just wanting to buy your customer base. Then within a year, the former owners and most of the innovators, head brewers, etc. are mysteriously gone, and the beer they're making now under that microbrewery label tastes nothing like it used to, because it's made at some big tank facility elsewhere. Additionally, all the awesome, limited run stuff that those brewers used to do, doesn't happen any longer because the innovators are gone, and also the bean-counters at Inbev didn't see any value in it. A shame all around.

* You have never seen something as fast as the fanbase evaporating the absolute MINUTE their favorite brewery gets sold to The Man, I guarantee it.

 

[tltt]

People loved to talk smack about Lynn's antics, but he innovated the industry in the heyday every bit as much as Sal or Les. This is a HUGE loss that we will feel the impact of in the future, Cold Steel was always a solid recommendation for a high value working knife.

This is true, if there was no Lynn, you probably wouldn't have (or the emergence of would've been delayed of) the following - 1) modern Bowie knives, 2) commercial push daggers, 3) Tantos, 4) mega folders. They were the forerunners in all 4 of those markets.

Before Cold Steel, if you wanted a Bowie, you basically had to buy a historical replica or a Western W-49. If you wanted a fighting or combat knife, you had to buy either a mil surplus model or a Gerber Dagger. That was the entire market, WWII designs or a handful of daggers. In terms of mega folders, I can count maybe 5 - 6 styles that were available, and those were historical designs or slip joints.

A lot of interesting things happened simply because Lynn had the hutzpah to say "Yeah, let's try this out".

Also in terms of lock strength, while they got some hate for it, I guarantee those tests help improve makers. No one wanted to be at the bottom of those lists.

------------------------------------

The story from the corporate will be interesting, I thought it was just a rumor at the time, but the "Cold Steel has been sold" talk was popping up on their Youtube page since early November.

 

[bubinga]

CS marketing is what it is (or was what it was). They have put out some eyesores over the years but the best of their best was awesome indeed. One long-ago Father's Day I got my Dad a US-made Trailmaster in Sambar stag (16S). He built a shadowbox for it and it's still breathtaking. The catch is--I have to outlive him! He's 90 and might be healthier than me.

 

[bubinga]

That would not be much of a surprise. There were reports that Pete Gerber did a little creative accounting before the sale to Fiskars. Knife industry shenanigans would not be a new thing.

You have utterly no idea. Books are being cooked all over the industry to an absurd extent.