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

jbmonkey said:
yep.

I was gonna stock up on some and then thought the same way. I'm not supporting a private equity whatever they are company that just laid off all its employees from what I read here, and I hope that isn't true,...........and then changed the warranty to basically no warranty overnight. this tells me what type of company they are. one of the first things they did. cut staff loose and eliminate warranty.
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Yep... Some are saying wait and see, but when you destroy the warranty first thing, you can see where it's headed. My backup 4 max will be here in a day or two, I'll see if I can pick up another srk, maybe snag a few others, then I'll sit back and see what happens. Carrying my 4 max right now. Love this stupid brute of a knife!
 
Eli Chaps said:
My guess is, if there was any stipulation about creative control it is limited in time. I also guess the entire operation will become extremely cost-sensitive. That is all too often the pattern of these buy-outs.

As you rightfully state, they are not in it to advance the industry, only their bank accounts. They often milk the brand for all their worth while churning out increasingly sub-standard products and then bail when things start taking a turn.

Along with Gerber, ask Marlin/Remington/Bushmaster how the FGI/Cerberus buy out went...

I can see them trying to retain the same designs they have today, well the high sellers, but shift production to China. That in itself doesn't automatically equal bad so long as they stick with quality makers and allow for sufficient per-piece manufacturing costs. I suspect new models will become increasingly targeted at low-level offerings with strong attempts to penetrate retail shelf space. I can also see a big push in the tactical weapons segment, but again, with a huge shift to Chinese-made budget quality.

What is Cold Steel's USA manufacturing foot print? I only ask as it might be a point of interest to watch for it staying open as I would guess it has the highest operating costs.
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Cold Steel doesn't have a USA manufacturing footprint. Vast majority of their lineup for knives is made in Taiwan, with some very low-end knives and other random stuff made in China. They've made certain stuff using OEMs in Japan and Italy, too.

Quiet said:
One really big element will be whether or not Demko sticks around. If I were him, I'd be trying to revoke my designs so they can't be used on $60 AD10s with 8cr13mov.
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Planterz said:
That's my take as well, as has happened to many old companies that were "reborn". The "golden age" of Gerber ended when Fiskars bought them, and old, defunct brands like Camillus and Schrade were reborn as purely Chinese brands. I wouldn't say that I expect this to happen to Cold Steel, but if it does I would not be surprised at all.

Oh yes. We obviously don't know the details of the sale. It could be that certain people will be kept on to continue making the same knives to their old standard, and/or with stipulations that nothing really changes. Demko's design/production/royalties contract might have stipulations that he has to approve of anything made with his design and name and/or that his involvement can be continued or severed at his discretion in the event of change of ownership of Cold Steel.
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That sort of license usually comes with some measure of control over the final product. Given that he's already said there wasn't any plan to have a production AD20, I'd say he's done with Cold Steel.

Camilus went bankrupt and the only thing that "survived" was the name and IP, which was used to form a company/brand that really had no relation to the previous incarnation. Similarly, the Schrade name was purchased and used to create the current iteration after their US factory closed. It's a little different buying an active business and gutting it to start from scratch.

Smiling said:
Lynn Thompson had real passion and love for knives and it was obvious. He was determined to make the best knives he possibly can make, and he marketed them as such, showing people proof of what his knives can do.

No other company did that.

Cold Steel pioneered the knife industry for years, american tanto to tri-ad lock and special kind of marketing has made them stand out from other manufacturers.
Not only that, but they were often best buy for the money too. Their price/quality rate was hard to match.

Lynn's philosophy was to make knives you can depend your life on.

I respect that, and I trust him.
I would be confident to depend my life on both, my SK5 Recon Tanto or my Warcraft tanto in 3V...

But I would never depend my life on 4034 steel.
And to offer well known reputable flagship knives remade in such poor steel was really surprising decision.

But we all seen it coming,
From sheaths going to worse and company not adressing it, to numerous threads popping up complaining either on grinds, gaps on the handle or materials themself not being right... and CS customer service didn't care.
We all knew something is off, downgrades in steel, QC, customer service...
And so it happened, Lynn's heart and passion are now out of Cold Steel and new owners are ready to cash in on the brand name and reputation that he was building for years.
I wish him best luck in retirement tho.

This being said, I ordered another Recon Tanto in SK-5.
Because my current one is old and beat up, but it was my first "real knife" so I will always have soft spot for SK-5 Recon Tanto.
I also have custom sheath for it.
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Out of curiosity, what characteristic of 4034 steel would make it unsuitable for use in a self-defense scenario, or even just less suitable than something like A2? My decidedly non-expert impression was that a self-defense blade only needed to be sharp enough to reliably penetrate a target and strong enough not to break while doing so, with edge retention basically being a non-factor.



As for the warranty change, I'd have to research, but my impression (I'm a corporate transactional attorney, but don't deal with manufacturing or warranties) is that the company can't unilaterally shorten the stated warranty length after purchase. If that's the case, your years-old knife would still be covered by the same warranty stated on the paperwork it came with, but practically, they wouldn't be able to replace it with the same thing, since they're not going to have any of that product to give you.
 
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It would of been cool if Lynn sold the company to Sal Glesser, but I doubt Spyderco could free up the cash that these bean counters can.

I am sure that this will be the downward spiral for CS.
These investment companies are generally scum.

I hope Lynn enjoys his retirement and that any employees that were let go have a backup plan.
 
gZYWl7B.jpg
 
willc said:
It would of been cool if Lynn sold the company to Sal Glesser, but I doubt Spyderco could free up the cash that these bean counters can.

I am sure that this will be the downward spiral for CS.
These investment companies are generally scum.

I hope Lynn enjoys his retirement and that any employees that were let go have a backup plan.
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What makes you think sal would want to own Cold Steel? Totally different businesses imo.
 
craytab said:
What makes you think sal would want to own Cold Steel? Totally different businesses imo.
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Yep. There's some small task that needs doing. On a nearby table are two tools, a hammer, and a surgical scalpel. We all know Sal's first thought would be to reach for the scalpel. Lynn Thompson on the other hand, his first instinct would have been to kick the table over, break one of the legs off and use that.
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
...
As for the warranty change, I'd have to research, but my impression (I'm a corporate transactional attorney, but don't deal with manufacturing or warranties) is that the company can't unilaterally shorten the stated warranty length after purchase. If that's the case, your years-old knife would still be covered by the same warranty stated on the paperwork it came with, but practically, they wouldn't be able to replace it with the same thing, since they're not going to have any of that product to give you.
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There you go. Yet another good reason for them to get rid of the entire existing product line.

n2s
 
jlauffer said:
Have not yet had the pleasure of owning/using any Spydercos, but everything I've seen and heard tells me you are a class act Sal. I did recently reassemble a PM2 for someone and was intrigued, so I will definitely consider Spyderco in the future.

As for CS, I will continue to do what I've always done...evaluate their offerings on a knife-by-knife basis, rather than the company as a whole, and purchase ones that I like. If that ends up being zero moving forward, oh well.
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The Cold Steel forum is lucky to have you, man.

On another note, Spyderco knives are great. I love the Manix 2.
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
Out of curiosity, what characteristic of 4034 steel would make it unsuitable for use in a self-defense scenario, or even just less suitable than something like A2? My decidedly non-expert impression was that a self-defense blade only needed to be sharp enough to reliably penetrate a target and strong enough not to break while doing so, with edge retention basically being a non-factor.
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I'm not talking about self defense. I have pepper spray for that.
I'm talking about situation where you need to cut/chop or pry something to either go somewhere or make something.
4034 will get pretty dull pretty fast. God forbid you use it in combat as it's edge would roll badly if you hit something hard with it, and if you make the edge too obtuse - performance will suffer.
I would not want to be in either combat or survival or emergency situation with 4034
 
I don't begrudge anyone wanting to cash out and enjoy their success, but I can't see a scenario where this sale improves the company and its output from a knife knut's perspective. I'm no expert and I'd love to be wrong about that.

Maybe they can thread a similar needle to KAI, upping profits with mass-market appeal and big-box store presence like KAI does with their lower-priced Kershaw knives, while simultaneously serving the knife knut/collector market with a separate line and/or premium knives, like Kai does with ZT and some of the "special" Kershaws (M390 Link, etc.).
 
Dadpool said:
Maybe they can thread a similar needle to KAI, upping profits with mass-market appeal and big-box store presence like KAI does with their lower-priced Kershaw knives, while simultaneously serving the knife knut/collector market with a separate line and/or premium knives, like Kai does with ZT and some of the "special" Kershaws (M390 Link, etc.).
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That would be ideal. However, if the first thing they do is gut the warranty, I don't see that as likely.
 
Agreed, that would be great! EXCEPT that Kershaw/ZT/KAI has been in the knife business "forever", and these guys are corporate takeover sharks who only know one thing: $$$$$$$

Dadpool said:
Maybe they can thread a similar needle to KAI, upping profits with mass-market appeal and big-box store presence like KAI does with their lower-priced Kershaw knives, while simultaneously serving the knife knut/collector market with a separate line and/or premium knives, like Kai does with ZT and some of the "special" Kershaws (M390 Link, etc.).
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craytab said:
And the warranty going to crap has a real impact on the end user.

The value of the product has already been reduced while the prices have stayed the same. We can see exactly where this is going.
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exactly right, Sir. no other way to look at it, that i can see right now.
 
The business of the bigger knife companies is driven by....wait for it....business.

Same with everything.

CS was not making coin for LT to stay with it. Who can blame him?

Irony is, is that the biggest CS fans are the ones most upset by him bailing. And you know what might have made him stay? Those same biggest fans buying more stuff. Or not relying on the warranty and buying new stuff to replace it.

I wasn't a huge CS fan, but the whole thing was entertaining and they had some neat stuff made that people like.

Heck, Twinkies. They were neat and people liked them. They were going to be gone. A venture capital company bought the name and continued making them.
 
marcinek said:
The business of the bigger knife companies is driven by....wait for it....business.

Same with everything.

CS was not making coin for LT to stay with it. Who can blame him?

Irony is, is that the biggest CS fans are the ones most upset by him bailing. And you know what might have made him stay? Those same biggest fans buying more stuff. Or not relying on the warranty and buying new stuff to replace it.

I wasn't a huge CS fan, but the whole thing was entertaining and they had some neat stuff made that people like.

Heck, Twinkies. They were neat and people liked them. They were going to be gone. A venture capital company bought the name and continued making them.
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And they AREN'T! THE! SAME!!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

But seriously, though. The chocolate ones are alright, I guess.
 
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