I can't seem to quit Cold Steel

D

dogstar

Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
4,399
I know CS won't ever be the same again. I've tried shopping other brands, but I keep coming back to Cold Steel. There are a few reasons.
- The tri ad lock. Do I need all that strength? Don't know. Do I want all that strength? Heck yes!
- Big blades. Most makers stay under 4". I already have lots of blades that size.
- The martial tradition. CS unabashedly makes and markets blades for fighting. My inner mall ninja loves that.
- Value. CS makes great values for the money, which can only be matched a few makers.

Perhaps when those things start to change, I will move on.
 
This was the first pattern of Cold Steel knives I purchased, I liked the design (except for the plastic clip) and the steel

X6xaUbS.jpg


if the price is right, I will buy them

q9RUKed.jpg


This was an excellent design, they ought to make it again with a higher grade of steel. AUS 8 was an advanced steel when this was introduced.

Brkkk3G.jpg
 
I am conflicted.


I will continue to buy fun, budget stuff. Axes, maces, war hammers etc.

Also their Demko designs, Triad Lock, etc are just plain well designed knives.

My problem lies in price to production value..

When a knife starts getting into $150 range, I can buy custom fixed blades...so the appeal of production diminishes.


I have two Recon 1 with the Demko Triad lock. A Black Rhino too.

The Xl Talwar is always calling me....but I keep resisting.

Waived and large+ Triad lock always gets my attention....

Another problem is I typically have a custom fixed blade in CPM3v on me....or two (matched set of Kwaiken) so I don't really "need" another modern folder.

Add in purchasing knife making equipment, grinder, forge, anvil and always needing more equipment/supplies.....the urgency fades...
 
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dogstar said:
I know CS won't ever be the same again. I've tried shopping other brands, but I keep coming back to Cold Steel. There are a few reasons.
- The tri ad lock. Do I need all that strength? Don't know. Do I want all that strength? Heck yes!
- Big blades. Most makers stay under 4". I already have lots of blades that size.
- The martial tradition. CS unabashedly makes and markets blades for fighting. My inner mall ninja loves that.
- Value. CS makes great values for the money, which can only be matched a few makers.

Perhaps when those things start to change, I will move on.
Click to expand...
Good post! I agree.
 
Bigfattyt said:
I am conflicted.


I will continue to buy fun, budget stuff. Axes, makes, etc.

Also their Demko designs, Triad Lock, etc are just plain well designed knives.

My problem lies in price to production value..

When a knife starts getting into $150 range, I can buy custom fixed blades...so the appeal of production diminishes.


I have two Recon 1 with the Demko Triad lock. A Black Rhino too.

The Xl Talwar is always calling me....but I keep resisting.

Waived and large+ Triad lock always gets my attention....

Another problem is I typically have a custom fixed blade in CPM3v on me....or two (matched set of Kwaiken) so I don't really "need" another modern folder.

Add in purchasing knife making equipment, grinder, forge, anvil and always needing more equipment/supplies.....the urgency fades...
Click to expand...
Never resist the Talwar!
 
helobite said:
This was the first pattern of Cold Steel knives I purchased, I liked the design (except for the plastic clip) and the steel

X6xaUbS.jpg


if the price is right, I will buy them

q9RUKed.jpg


This was an excellent design, they ought to make it again with a higher grade of steel. AUS 8 was an advanced steel when this was introduced.

Brkkk3G.jpg
Click to expand...
Ya, the old school Lonestar and Mackinac still hold my appreciation (mine are grip modified). Admittedly weighty but built like tanks. These where back when the Triad locks took a manly effort to open them, until broken in. Last year I took metal detecting right up to winter. This year I'm going to transition some outdoor camping/knife use time. A Mini Hunter AUS-10 just came in and I ordered a stainless Emberlit stove, as a back up to my original Titanium. I'm looking forward to breaking in the new stove with the mini. It will likely be something simple like making tea or coffee among the trees, and watching the hovering Turkey Vultures. But hey, they older I get, the more I appreciate simple.
pXAqo59.jpg
 
I got late to the party, but (considering I don't live in the USA) I had luck. I mean, luck enough to get my share just before the last big price raising. I got a few good "Old Steel" folders, and I'm about to get two or three "Old Steel" fixed blades.

I intend to keep and use these beloved tools until I die, so I don't see myself as someone that would ever "quit" Cold Steel.

At the same time, I really feel that the party is over. Even the good feeling of buying something fully projected and manufactured in democracies is no longer there. We may not quit Cold Steel, and that's fine, but does it really matters? 'Cause Cold Steel already has left us for good...
 
Reallybigmonkey1 said:
I was a die hard Condor fan for ten years. After the recent doubling of prices I decided to start looking else where because I like cheap. I bought my first Cold Steel Tanto Lite and Cold Steel Jungle machete and I really like both!
Click to expand...
Honestly I think Condor started up to compete with Cold Steel in the machete/axe/fixed blade arena and did OK for themselves.
 
One of the first knives I bought for myself was a Cold Steel SRK some time around 1990. I've had an SRK in 3V on order from a distributor for over a year, ordered July10, 2020. I always wanted a Recon Scout but never got around to the purchase. If they come through with a Recon Scout in 3V, I might just have to buy one. If not, oh well there is always KA-BAR. I like the KA-BAR Kephart BK62, EK Model 5, KA-BAR Short, Dozier Folding Hunter. There are lots of options.
 
Reallybigmonkey1 said:
I was a die hard Condor fan for ten years. After the recent doubling of prices I decided to start looking else where because I like cheap. I bought my first Cold Steel Tanto Lite and Cold Steel Jungle machete and I really like both!
Click to expand...
Dave you should really try out the CS kukri machete or Royal kukri machete. They transfer way less shock comparing it to the most shock transfer machete you know, the CS Jungle machete 😁.

And Condor is all walnut and micarta these days. Micarta makes them twice as expensive as the polypropylene handles they used to have.
Which I personally like way better. Less shock/vibration also with the tang inside the polypropylene. Walnut cracks too easy. Not a fan of wooden handles anyway.
The Bushcraft Parang is one of their best products imo. The warlok has the balance of a brick. They discontinued the Eco Golok. Seriously? That one was extremely effective for such a light chopper. And then when I see the models they keep producing, like the Bolo machete which has a too short and too thick handle. How they did come up with that combination is beyond me.
 
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dogstar said:
Honestly I think Condor started up to compete with Cold Steel in the machete/axe/fixed blade arena and did OK for themselves.
Click to expand...
I like Condor as well. They have an excellent product with decent pricing. I got a condor hog-sticker that's made out of 420 high carbon. same steel that buck uses. But I think the best machetes made is Martindale. Pretty hard to beat up a crocodile. As far as cold steel goes there ain't no tellin
There's just nobody else that makes a pocket knife that big. 4 inches is about the biggest I could find anywhere.
I always wanted a safe maker1 push dagger. Never got around to buying it. And now they're no longer available. If somebody knows where to buy one please let me know I checked online vendors and nobody has it
 
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After hearing about Cold Steel being sold towards the end of 2020, I knew that the offerings in the 2021 catalog may represent the last of Lynn Thompson' Cold Steel as we all knew it to be.
So, I went on a buying spree to obtain the items that had called out to me, but that I had passed up on. I believe I picked up about 20 items, and now feel that the ones I wanted most, are now in my collection.
Could GSM surprise me with some new offerings going forward?... Maybe, but for now, my Cold Steel purchasing has ceased.
I would now be more tempted to buy an older NIB discontinued Cold Steel model, than anything else from their current offerings.
Even then, only if the condition and price were hard to pass up.
 
I'll always own Cold Steel items, and I would geek the hell out if I got to meet Lynn, but I doubt I'll ever EDC them again unless SHTF. The last thing I carried was the 4" Voyager tanto, due to losing my real EDC, but I have so many options these days that it'll never come to that again. I did carry a serrated Vaquero Grande when I was a long-haul solo driver with a million dollars of antique copper and brass in the box, and had to use unstaffed public rest areas at odd hours.

When I didn't know much about swords I used to obsess over their katanas, but hat's interested me more recently are the polymer items and other oddities. I'm definitely getting one of the longer "blackthorn" walking sticks, and I have 2 of the Griv-Ex balisongs. The various bucklers they make are also pretty great melee accoutrements: Hard2Hurt did a video that demonstrates how tough they are, even if they do look like frisbees.
 
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