How many people hate Cold Steel?

Well I own a meduium clip point voyager. It's a great little pocket knife... very storng and excellent edge retention. (The only reason I dont carry it everyday is becuase I love my Kersahw Black Out too much.) I'm not particularly hot on the plastic clip, but they are making metal ones now.

I also own a recont tanto. It's an excellent knife. I have tried extremely hard to break it. It's still in one piece. With the edgepro I can put an edge that is so sharp you could shave with it in the morning. And the Carbon V holds it for a long time too.

It is my opion that Cold Steel makes an excellent knife for the price. Yeah, they dont use intresting desings. And G10 handles would be nice. But you have to realize what Cold Steel's intent in the knife business is... to make a low priced knife that can take abuse and serve the working man. Be it a farmer or a police officer. If my life ever depended on having a knife, I would trust a cold steel implicitly.

You go Cold Steel!!

[This message has been edited by bmcneil (edited 06-24-2000).]
 
I only own one of their Ultra lock folders with a Tanto blade. I wouldn't say I hate them, but this knife didn't impress me. The blade hit on the liners,the blade came very close to rubbing on the liners and you couldn't diassemble it for cleaning. It will be a while before I try another Cold Steel product.
 
I just got a "NIB" Cold Steel "Grande Vaquero" in a trade, and I must say that I am impressed both by the SIZE of this folder, and by it's QUALITY.
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(I got the "older" model that has no "pocket clip", but came with a very good Kydex sheath [I think the sheath is made by Blade-Tech], and the blade is only marked "Vaquero", rather than "Grande Vaquero".).

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Dann Fassnacht
Aberdeen, WA
glockman99@hotmail.com
ICQ# 53675663
 
I have a Cold Steel Master Hunter which I think is a very fine knife, especially for the price. Compare it to the price of a Fallkniven F1, which is a very similar knife, although I think the Fallkniven with the exposed tang is the better of the two. But if carbon steel is what you want, then the CS is the better choice.

There is a recent thread on the CS Twistmaster that is interesting. I wasn't familiar with these so I checked them out and they do look nice, especially the drop points. But talk about a blatant design ripoff of Opinel! Wowzer! For me the choice is easy. The Opinels are less than half the price and have a nice pear wood handle. Can't think of why I would buy the CS over the Opinel. I prefer the original over the ripoff.

I thought the attack by CS on Gerber was pretty pathetic. CS seems to fish around for someone they can pick on. They had a tough time with Busse so maybe they thought Gerber would be an easier target. It's sad when, to sell your product, you have to resort to tearing down others. I understand it's a competitive world out there but in the old days you never saw much of this kind of attack among knife manufacturers. Buck, Case, Old Timer, Camillus, etc. They were what they were (and still are) and they didn't hype their knives or tear others down ('bout the closest to hype I ever remember was the classic buck being pounded through a nail which became part of their logo). It seemed like a mutual admiration society to me.

Today, it's much more of a dog-bite-dog world out there. Full of hyper hype where knife makers are touting things that most people would never use a knife for. For instance I can't remember ever driving my knife into a tree and then jumping on it and if my knife could stand up to that kind of abuse, I'm not sure it would be very useful for what I use a knife for.

Rope slicing is a good one. Ed Fowler addressed this issue in the August issue of Blade. There is a nice pic of Ed Schempp's rope-cutting champ that failed miserably as a camp knife.

People don't just buy one knife any more or if they do, they are the type that would get it at KMart. So people who buy knives will buy based on what looks good to them and what function they will put it to. And the best looking knife is in the eye of the beholder. And the best functioning knife depends on where you plan to use it. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard someone praise the Gerber Gator on this forum. Hardly a flashy piece but no doubt there are a lot of people out there getting some use out of these knives.

So I say ignore the hype and just buy what works for you. Don't let advertising and hype steer you into a direction you don't really want to go. You'll end up buying a bunch of knives and then selling them 6 mos later on EBay. Make sure you know what YOU want, not what the hype tells you what you think you NEED. That's what advertising blather is all about, to make you think you want something that you really don't.



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Hoodoo

And so, to all outdoor folks, the knife is the most important item of equipment.

Ellsworth Jaeger - Wildwood Wisdom
 
The Gator IS a pretty decent knife, for the price and for simple tasks. It obviously doesn't compare to the better customs or even better production knives, but as you said, it depends on what your needs are and what your expectations are. There are, however, certain minimum standards for lock integrity etc and not every POS is OK and it isn't a completely sublective matter.
 
I am a fan of Cold Steel's products. I have owned and carried an old Urban Skinner for 15 years. I also have a Master Tanto which has served me well for 5 or 6 years. Finally, several years ago I bought a large Voyager Tanto with plain edge. This is also carried frequently and is the knife I use most frequently. All these knives appear to be of excellent quality. These knives sharpen easily to a razors edge...sharper than any other knives I own.

I try not to let Lynn Thompson's marketing strategies, be they good or bad, interfere with my judgement of his products. He can run his company any way he likes. It is his capital at risk, not mine. As long as he produces a quality product at competitive prices, I will continue to be a customer.
 
My first coldsteel was the Master Tanto with san mai 3 steel which I bought back in the late 80's. I still have it plus the kydex shoulder harness sheath I had made for it.It has been a great camping/hiking knife.I have also had several other cs knives and have had to return a few because of breakage or handles coming off. Of the 6 tru flight throwers I bought, 3 broke in half when they hit a tree flat on their side. One of the neck knives I bought broke in half while cutting some insulation off of a pipe and a large folder had the handles come off after it was washed in the dishwasher. They replaced it free of charge . The tru flights were traded in for the big war head thrower(which I haven't been able to destroy yet!) All in all I would say I will continue to buy cold steel knives if I pick one up and like the feel of it in my hand.

[This message has been edited by seaplane (edited 06-25-2000).]
 
I like Cold Steel so much,I sold all of my Randalls and Gerbers.Why pay custom prices when you get a stronger,more usable knife right out of the box?
 
I like Cold Steel so much,I sold all of my Randalls and Gerbers.Why pay custom prices when you get a stronger,more usable knife right out of the box?
 
That's one point of view. But IMHO, why would I buy a factory piece from CS when I could buy a custom, like a Tichbourne, for example, that is better in almost every respect and very close in price? CS makes some very good knives, but with some research you can get a better one, made specifically for you and your preferences, if you want, and you can enjoy a personal and satisfying interaction with a real person - usually a very fine person - the maker. And you are supporting a real craftsman or artist in the process.
Don't get me wrong - I like some of the manufacturers and their products. Busse is a good example. Chris Reeve is another. But usually they're custom guys who kept that custom mentality even when they turned to production blades. IYHO, does that fairly describe Cold Steel today?
 
I agree also if they offered different handle options I would consider owning a CS product.Maybe some nice micarta tanto's or how about a traditionally wrapped handle?Hell I even like paracord better than that crappy kraton!In fact years ago I owned a sai-mai magnum tanto and a regular tanto,I as extremly impressed ith the hair popping sharp blade,but those cheesy kraton grips have got to go,especially at the current prices.Chow,Ralph

[This message has been edited by TOMBSTONE (edited 06-30-2000).]
 
I am a big fan of the older Cold Steel knives, especially the Outdoorsman and the San Mai folders, neither of which have been made for years. I own about 16 CS's, and they are among my favorite knives, but I personally am not a fan of most of their current products. When they first appeared I thought they were some of the best factory produced knives around, but product quality has (in my opinion) slipped in recent years.

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HATE IS A PRETTY STRONG WORD AND HOW CAN I HATE SOMEONE I DON'T KNOW. BUT I WILL SAY THAT I DON'T LIKE MR. THOMPSONS MARKETING HYPE AND ATTACK ON OTHERS.

OH YEA, I ALMOST FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, I WOULD NEVER BUY A COLD STEEL AND THATS JUST BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE THEM.
 
I picked up some of the twistmaster folders several years ago when they were about $10 apiece. I dont know if you can get the Opinels for that much, but the Carbon V steel is worth any extra cost there might be now. The only bad thing about the folder(unless you dont like the blatant copy of the Opinel design) is the blade has so much carbon, it will rust in the spot where you pinch the blade to open the knife. I have a couple of these folders with orange thumbprints exactly where I pinch the blade to open it. But, the thing stays sharp damn near forever! I also like the Trailmaster, and the recon scout, SRK, etc. I even have an original ATC Kukri. Yes, the ads get a little annoying with all the claims, but the knives are pretty good value for the money.

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
Originally posted by xray:
For some reason, almost every time I read this forum or a knife article someone brings up how Cold Steel is being treated unfairly.
Click to expand...
Depends what do we call unfairly. Personally I own both Gunsite folders, Voyager Large Tanto I gave to my friend & 2 fixed blades SRK (the best of CS products I've owned) & Recon Tanto.
First of all, their marketing & advertising is way too agressive, overhyped, etc. I have all reasons to doubt that Cold Steel is the best thing since the sliced bread.
When I read how their "premium" AUS-8 is so much better than ATS-34...
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I broke serrations on voyager while piercing coke can, well the tip is strong, but the serrations are crappy.
Selling that video as a proof is more or less ok, if UR interested U buy it, but voiding the warranty for doing the same
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?
CS has QC problems as many other manufacturers. My Recon tanto was half sharpened out of the box for example. The edge is too thick, but that's not CS specific, many production knives if not most of them come that way, just others may scream less.




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zvis.com
Have Fun,
Alligator
 
Re. the comment about the serrations on CS -- the original type of serrations used were some of the best around-- one of the most useful small knives I owned (unfortunately it was stolen) was one of the original Hai Honchos, which had VERY sharp and sturdy serrations -- the later models had much shallower and less defined teeth, and are best described as a POS.
 
I owned several Cold Steel fixed blades in the past (like when they were first introduced). Lately, though, I have come to prefer a good folding knife (particularly because I can carry it in PRK). I also like serrattions on some of my knives, but only part of the blade. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find the Cold Steel serrations to be aggresive enough. Something about them resembling cheap serrations on some of my kitchen cutlery. Maybe I am just spoiled by my Microtechs, which have fabulous (and very functional) serrations. My Sebenza has less agressive serrations, yet they are truly functional.
 
Cold Steel provides great bang for the buck. I've had my Trailmaster and master tanto for more than 10 years. Both have seen a lot of hard use, and neither of them has failed to perform as advertised. I also carry a Gunsite folder or Peacekeeper II on a regular basis as well as a Culloden. All do the job just fine at a fair price. Mr. Thompson just gets a little more enthusiastic about his product than the rest of us.
 
Update:

I no longer own that Grande Vaquero. Even with the Kydex sheath, it was too much of a hassle to carry, and tough to open "one-handed".
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. (And I'm a "Lefty", to boot!).

I now own 9 Cold Steel fixed-blade knives, and 5 folders.

Do I like Cold Steel Knives?
HELL YAH!.
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Dann Fassnacht
Aberdeen, WA
glockman99@hotmail.com
ICQ# 53675663



[This message has been edited by glockman99 (edited 10-16-2000).]
 
Although many of us hate CS hype and some of us hate CS warranty service (although I've seen good reports as well as bad), I don't think many of us really hate CS knives. I personally hate kraton, but I hate it just as bad on any knife whoever sells it. I'm not crazy about AUS-8, either, but if the current "Carbon V" is what I suspect it is, it's a good steel. About all that's unique to CS that I really hate is their "San Mai."

I wouldn't rule out buying CS knives just because of the hype, but as long as they have kraton handles I don't want one.

-Cougar :{)
 
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