Frost Cutlery?

S

Slidetechnik

Joined
Jul 16, 2009
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I see these guys advertising everywhere. Their knives are cheap as hell, and I suspect the quality is subpar at best. What's the story on them? I'm not considering getting one, but has anybody tried them?
 
i remember these knives were on the shop at home network. the greatest tv salesmen DON WEST (hell yea) was selling them hit one on the table and the thing broke so easy. junk
 
The place I work p/t at used to sell them. I wouldn't buy one nor gift one either.
 
Slidetechnik said:
I see these guys advertising everywhere. Their knives are cheap as hell, and I suspect the quality is subpar at best. What's the story on them? I'm not considering getting one, but has anybody tried them?
Click to expand...

I picked up a few of them off Ebay to practice sharpening/tinkering on. I paid around $3 or so each including shipping. Construction and quality is poor but to me they served a purpose and I was able to get a shaving edge on them. I also used them to practice Duracoating since I had some paint left over from a gun project. Two of the folders I bought could be taken apart using a screwdriver the other was riveted.

DSCN0193.jpg
 
Hen and Rooster makes some stag goodies, the Steel Warrior line of slipjoints are inexpensive and useful little German stainless numbers.
The Frost and Chippaway lines of fixed blades are pot steel crapola though. You wanna check out a Frost bowie go to the local flea-market, they litter the cases there.
 
frost used to actually produce quality years ago, I have some older frost cutlery, all are produced of 440 stainless and surgical steels, unfortunatly as with many old time makers suchas schrade and others these so called pos's are being produced overseas.
 
Based on a couple of positive reports I've seen I recently purchased a a few "Steel Warrior" and "Frost Family" slip-joints, Doctors Knives, Three blade stockman, Toothpick etc. Average maybe 10-12 bucks each, blade is stainless, marked 440 stainless, grind needed touchup at edge, naturally they needed a bit of re-profiling and final sharpening, supposedly RC tested blades in the upper 50's, good looking bone handles.

One of the Drs (the one with the worst edge geometry) has been an EDC for about 6 weeks now, (real tired of losing hundred dollar plus knives).

Guess what?

Fit and finish is equal to or better than the last few Under $100 Case slip joints I've purchased, jigging is better also (no run onto bolsters), all are far better fit and finish than the U.S made Schrades I bought a year or two before the closing.

The one I'm using takes a very good edge (arm hair shaving sharp, haven't messed with it enough to see what the limits are) and holds it's edge well enough, not too different from 'Surgical Steel'.

All in all a very satisfactory everyday knife within the parameters of it's pattern, the low price is just a bonus.

Based on visual examination of the five pieces and on six-seven weeks daily use of one.

I consider them a good value, maybe even a bargain, not at all the kind of crap Frost is notoriously and justly infamous for.

Durability? Time will tell.

All JMHO, as always, YMMV and that's cool too.

Regards,
:)
 
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Steel Wariors are Frost Knives made in China. Here's a knife review.

http://www.rod-neep.co.uk/rod/knives/reviews/steel-warrior1/index.html

The Hen & Roosters are actually made in Solingen, Germany and are of real good quality. As mentioned earlier some of the H&R fixed blades are made in Toledo, Spain though.

I read this somewhere by someone who seems to know what's up ...

Many of Frost Cutlery's main lines of Slipjoints, Lockbacks, and some of their fixed blades are made in Pakistan.....they did quite a few runs of much earlier production over in Japan as well. Their nicer lines of knives like the "Steel Warrior" Series and "Frost Family" Line are made over in China and are actually of fairly decent manufacture. I just recently received a couple of the Frost Family line Trappers and they are comparable to Rough Riders in fit and finish. I also have a set of four Steel Warrior Stockmans from their first release and they are also of decent quality. Not bad for the money.
 
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Even companies like Buck and Kershaw are having some of their knives made in China. If a knife price seems to good to be true, it probably is made in China no matter what the brand.

A great example of well made Chinese made knives is Spyderco's Byrd line. I've got a Meadowlark and it's a great little blade. I plan to buy more now while they are cheap and keep them as trade goods for later after their prices go up. I bought ten of the Meadowlarks for $9 each and have gifted most of them to local Varsity Boy Scouts (with their parents written approval - of cource). They LOVE them and tell me how good they are. I gave one to a friend of mine, who isn't a knife nut like me, and the next time I saw him he raved about it. He said it is the sharpest knife he has ever owned. China is in the same spot Japan and then Taiwan were several years ago. It took time for them to be recognized as makers of some excellent knives. (One of my BMs {10200} was made in Taiwan.) It won't be too much longer until crumby Chinese knife makers go broke and only the good ones are left. For example, I've come to trust that anything Spyderco makes is good quality no matter where they manufacture it.
 
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So what about the "frost tactical knives" in the SMKW catalog? Are they good enough to be a camp chore beater knife or just pass them up all together?
 
I owned a few slipjoints from them years ago. Crappy backsprings on mine, FnF actually wasn't too bad but the blade, 440a or 420 stainless I'm sure, wasn't impressive either. I unloaded em on the Bay.

Like melbourne said, they are good for practicing your sharpening and tinkering skills on.
 
There are knives of good quality made in China.
Frost Cutlery products usually do not qualify as such.
 
I have a frost cutlery slip joint and have inspected and played with some at my gun range... What a joke. First off, the grinds on these thing are awful. Mine has 4 or 5 different angles on one "bevel". The swedges are the same story. The springs for them is sub par at best. They barely hold the knife in place. The handle is a fake blue stagg-ish type thing. Looks pretty.. But it's a piece of junk. I got it from my parents at Christmas time a while back which is why i keep it.

The ones at my range are even worse. Crappy plastic handles and even worse blades. I could snap them in two at the pivot. Don't buy these knives unless you need a piece of crap to play with or practice sharpening.
 
:D
Slidetechnik said:
I see these guys advertising everywhere. Their knives are cheap as hell, and I suspect the quality is subpar at best. What's the story on them? I'm not considering getting one, but has anybody tried them?
Click to expand...

They have come a long way in the past ten years. Their stuff is still junk, but their slipjoints are coming up in quality. The blades are marked Solingen, but also marked Pakistan :D. Premium 440 steel and all that other happy horse shot. I would never buy any, but their traditional stuff is okay, and a buddy of mine has gotten me several pieces. I have tried to get him to get some Case or Boker for himself, he says its too expensive, as he places his big orders. They have a niche. Someone will buy one of their 5 or 10 buck knives, use it for a couple months, it breaks, and they will be back for another one.
 
People don't give frost cutlery enough credit. Sure they are not the best knives in the world but they are sure better then some others. If you buy a frost cutlery knife for 15 bucks and use it THE WAY YOUR SUPPOSED TO, keep it cleaned, oiled and sharpened then they will last you and you can do the same thing as with some of your top brand knives. Odviously if you hit it off of a tabel its gonna break they aren't supposed to be hit off tabels. No knives are made to be hit on a tabel but some can stand more of a beating. So many people look down on people who buy cheaper knives when in reality alot of people don't want to spend 100-200 dollars on a knife, or can't afford to. If people like cheaper knives then why should people talk bad about people who can't afford or just don't want an expensive knife. It sickens me to look at some of the post and hear people say bad things about cheap knives and cheap knife buyers. If you don't like cheap knives, fine don't buy them but don't be ignorant to people who do.
 
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