- Joined
- Apr 11, 2019
- Messages
- 233
I just received my new Cold Steel Facon. Paid 85% of MSRP. If I recall correctly, this may be the first CS knife for which I had to pay the stupid MAP price. I bought this knife almost for old times' sake, feeling that this might be the last CS knife that I ever get (due to the ownership change and different direction that the new ownership might take the company), although I certainly hope there'll be many more.
It came in a very large purple knife box with no markings on the box, save for a tiny sticker on the end with the price and CS model info. Inside the box, however, there was a round CS paper tag, with a bit of string attached to a tab on the tag. The tag, being black, looks almost like a hockey puck. On both sides, it has the words "COLD STEEL", "World's Strongest, Sharpest Swords", and it says "MADE IN INDIA".
The knife came completely wrapped in a rather tight fitting, sealed plastic bag. The blade was completely coated in oily gunk to prevent rust. After unwrapping and cleaning off all the gunk from the blade, my first impression of this knife was excellent.
The blade is exactly 12 inches, measured from the bolster part of the handle to the point. The widest part of the blade is 2 inches. It appears to be about 3/16 of an inch thick. It was advertised as being 1090 carbon steel. There is nicely done jimping on the back of the blade, mostly for looks but also to catch an opposing blade on the parry and knock it out of an unwary adversary's hand. It is hidden tang construction. The handle is wood and feels pretty good in hand. At the pommel end, there is what I call a keyhole, a recessed nut with two holes into which you can insert a tool to turn the nut and tighten the handle on the tang, if it should ever become loose. The knife has good balance and feels light and fast, although it is a huge knife.
Since it is an Argentine gaucho knife, it does not have a guard. The drop down blade is supposed to keep your fingers off the blade. I would have preferred a coffin handle, like the Laredo, but again, it's a gaucho style knife. The handle is shaped to angle larger and larger towards the pommel, and it does a very good job of keeping the knife in hand.
I will post an update edit once I try this knife out in solo martial arts practice, how it handles, how quick, and so forth.
The sheath is very nice high quality leather. It has the protective tip at the end, like many Windlass Steelcrafts sheaths. There is a fan-like piece of leather at the top of the sheath, designed to keep you from accidentally disemboweling yourself when re-sheathing. The sheath hooks on to your belt with a piece of leather that is secured by two pins. The retention for this sheath is excellent. The knife does not move when I turn the turn the sheath upside down, even when shaking it hard.
Examining the blade closely in the light, I feel that this was hand forged. There are slight imperfections, sort of ripples in the blade, from hammering marks. I think this is almost certainly made by the smiths at Windlass Steelcrafts. Unlike many bargain Windlass bowies, however, the fit and finish of this knife is excellent. It is much, much better quality that the CS 1917 Frontier bowie, which also appears to be made by Windlass. It's light years better than the standard Windlass bowies available from Atlanta Cutlery. Let's hear it for India! They sure did a hell of a job with this one.
It's not often that you get a large production bowie knife that looks exactly like the stock photo in the websites. I'm pretty much blown away by the quality of this knife. I was definitely not expecting this level of quality. This is a must have for bowie knife knuts (you know who you are). Better move quick, there don't seem to be many in stock anywhere.
This is exactly the kind of knife that I fear will disappear from the CS catalog once the new ownership exerts full control. Again, I hope not, but that's been the general trend in all knife companies. Who else makes stuff like this these days? Unfortunately, Ontario Knife Company discontinued the Bagwell bowie series about a decade ago, citing poor sales. Bark River made a similar large knife out of A2 steel called the Edwin Forrest bowie, which I thought about getting, but eventually passed on due to its $300 price tag, and that's no longer available. Atlanta Cutlery sells other Windlass bowies, but the cheap ones are ... meh ... you get what you pay for. So for less than one and half Ben Franklins, I think CS hit one out of the park with the Facon.
It came in a very large purple knife box with no markings on the box, save for a tiny sticker on the end with the price and CS model info. Inside the box, however, there was a round CS paper tag, with a bit of string attached to a tab on the tag. The tag, being black, looks almost like a hockey puck. On both sides, it has the words "COLD STEEL", "World's Strongest, Sharpest Swords", and it says "MADE IN INDIA".
The knife came completely wrapped in a rather tight fitting, sealed plastic bag. The blade was completely coated in oily gunk to prevent rust. After unwrapping and cleaning off all the gunk from the blade, my first impression of this knife was excellent.
The blade is exactly 12 inches, measured from the bolster part of the handle to the point. The widest part of the blade is 2 inches. It appears to be about 3/16 of an inch thick. It was advertised as being 1090 carbon steel. There is nicely done jimping on the back of the blade, mostly for looks but also to catch an opposing blade on the parry and knock it out of an unwary adversary's hand. It is hidden tang construction. The handle is wood and feels pretty good in hand. At the pommel end, there is what I call a keyhole, a recessed nut with two holes into which you can insert a tool to turn the nut and tighten the handle on the tang, if it should ever become loose. The knife has good balance and feels light and fast, although it is a huge knife.
Since it is an Argentine gaucho knife, it does not have a guard. The drop down blade is supposed to keep your fingers off the blade. I would have preferred a coffin handle, like the Laredo, but again, it's a gaucho style knife. The handle is shaped to angle larger and larger towards the pommel, and it does a very good job of keeping the knife in hand.
I will post an update edit once I try this knife out in solo martial arts practice, how it handles, how quick, and so forth.
The sheath is very nice high quality leather. It has the protective tip at the end, like many Windlass Steelcrafts sheaths. There is a fan-like piece of leather at the top of the sheath, designed to keep you from accidentally disemboweling yourself when re-sheathing. The sheath hooks on to your belt with a piece of leather that is secured by two pins. The retention for this sheath is excellent. The knife does not move when I turn the turn the sheath upside down, even when shaking it hard.
Examining the blade closely in the light, I feel that this was hand forged. There are slight imperfections, sort of ripples in the blade, from hammering marks. I think this is almost certainly made by the smiths at Windlass Steelcrafts. Unlike many bargain Windlass bowies, however, the fit and finish of this knife is excellent. It is much, much better quality that the CS 1917 Frontier bowie, which also appears to be made by Windlass. It's light years better than the standard Windlass bowies available from Atlanta Cutlery. Let's hear it for India! They sure did a hell of a job with this one.
It's not often that you get a large production bowie knife that looks exactly like the stock photo in the websites. I'm pretty much blown away by the quality of this knife. I was definitely not expecting this level of quality. This is a must have for bowie knife knuts (you know who you are). Better move quick, there don't seem to be many in stock anywhere.
This is exactly the kind of knife that I fear will disappear from the CS catalog once the new ownership exerts full control. Again, I hope not, but that's been the general trend in all knife companies. Who else makes stuff like this these days? Unfortunately, Ontario Knife Company discontinued the Bagwell bowie series about a decade ago, citing poor sales. Bark River made a similar large knife out of A2 steel called the Edwin Forrest bowie, which I thought about getting, but eventually passed on due to its $300 price tag, and that's no longer available. Atlanta Cutlery sells other Windlass bowies, but the cheap ones are ... meh ... you get what you pay for. So for less than one and half Ben Franklins, I think CS hit one out of the park with the Facon.
