I can't seem to quit Cold Steel

Unless some other maker dips into the affordable hard-use category, there will always be a place for Old Steel (still too early to tell for this GSM Cold Steel). A niche market perhaps, but it’s there. If you’re looking for insane durability and reliability in a folding knife, it’s hard to beat a Voyager, Recon 1, or heck even a Tuff Lite. It’ll do everything you could ask from a nicer, more expensive knife and eat punishment for a long, long time.

Now, if a Chinese company like WE or Real Steel offers something that rivals the Tri-Ad lock at the sub-$80 range, then that’s gonna be a problem.
 
Boombats said:
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.
Click to expand...
I used to carry those 4" blade folding knives when being a teenager and in my twenties ( self defense 😜:eek:). But when getting older , the knives I EDC, got smaller. The CS Tuff Lite I like a lot. Really nice useful knife. But nowadays I only carry a 9 mm boxcutter. I use it at work all the time, cutting thick cardboard. It does all I need. Slim fit in the pocket. The knives I really find beauty in , often bigger ones (Junglas size). I don't EDC those for obvious reasons .
 
The "newer" CS Marauder that in my honest opinion is better than the Original model that still retains its length, and weight and increasing its durability and with the second one coming I have a nice larger Swiss army tasks knife blade that can do many tasks along with food prep that is good for water and winter borne wilderhood romps.. And with its Secure-Ex sheath keeps from having to get a custom kydex sheath for extra trail/travel safety when carrying on your body.

Plus my Code 4s and Recon 1s also give a lot of good service to me. If they don't get forgotten in a pack pocket...
 
So far I have been pleasantly surprised that the new owners of CS have yet to cuck out. Seems like they are even re-releasing some models with newer better steel. I just picked up a newly minted serrated Talwar in S35VN. I would have figured a knife like that would have been on the chopping block (no pun I guess) if the new owners were woke squeamish types.
 
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
Click to expand...
I had two of those plastic clip voyagers way back when. With nothing written on the blade I assumed they were Aus8. Never knew Cold Steel even offered anything in ATS-34. My last Voyager was a 2006 VG1 with metal clip.

I always wanted am Ultimate Hunter in VG1 but missed my chance.
 
I keep buying them.

Just received another Code 4, and it's good with the exception of the tip. It's comically uneven and poorly done. My other one in CTS-XHP is fine. It did come with a lefty clip, which was surprising as the new logo is on the blade.

Got a Ultimate Hunter and another Master Hunter in San Mai on the way.

Bought five Tuff Lites, all good.

Got another American Lawman, and besides being sharpened all the way to the plunge grind and being full flat ground it was fine.

Two AK-47s, all good.
 
MolokaiRider said:
I keep buying them.

Just received another Code 4, and it's good with the exception of the tip. It's comically uneven and poorly done. My other one in CTS-XHP is fine. It did come with a lefty clip, which was surprising as the new logo is on the blade.

Got a Ultimate Hunter and another Master Hunter in San Mai on the way.

Bought five Tuff Lites, all good.

Got another American Lawman, and besides being sharpened all the way to the plunge grind and being full flat ground it was fine.

Two AK-47s, all good.
Click to expand...
My new Code 4 spear point came last week and I am very impressed!

Did you get another clip point? That sucks about the tip. :(
 
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...
I think the value factor was always a major factor, at least for me it is. I have read so many online reviews with people stating they have much more expensive knives from other brands (which they love of course…as do I), however their CS blade will perform the job just as well. It’s funny, CS fans are seen by some to have that “Mall Ninja” persona. That’s fine, doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll just keep enjoying my CS knives.
 
sean2021 said:
I think the value factor was always a major factor, at least for me it is. I have read so many online reviews with people stating they have much more expensive knives from other brands (which they love of course…as do I), however their CS blade will perform the job just as well. It’s funny, CS fans are seen by some to have that “Mall Ninja” persona. That’s fine, doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll just keep enjoying my CS knives.
Click to expand...
That whole "mall ninja" name calling upon Cold Steel supporters, has always been such an immature thing. Cold Steel obviously attempts to offer fully functioning products. Even the ones that many feel may be too over the top, (and that's just based on opinion), tend to stand up well to that fully functioning product standard.
I never bothered arguing with folks that resort to that sort of name calling mentality. In other words, I don't respond to them/ignore them 👍😊👍
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
That whole "mall ninja" name calling upon Cold Steel supporters, has always been such an immature thing. Cold Steel obviously attempts to offer fully functioning products. Even the ones that many feel may be too over the top, (and that's just based on opinion), tend to stand up well to that fully functioning product standard.
I never bothered arguing with folks that resort to that sort of name calling mentality. In other words, I don't respond to them/ignore them 👍😊👍
Click to expand...
In a forum populated by people who purchase excessive quantities of knives for various "uses," calling someone names like "mall ninja" is definitely the teapot calling the kettle black.
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
That whole "mall ninja" name calling upon Cold Steel supporters, has always been such an immature thing. Cold Steel obviously attempts to offer fully functioning products. Even the ones that many feel may be too over the top, (and that's just based on opinion), tend to stand up well to that fully functioning product standard.
I never bothered arguing with folks that resort to that sort of name calling mentality. In other words, I don't respond to them/ignore them 👍😊👍
Click to expand...
Mall Ninja makes me laugh, I was a hell of a good MN in my youth, never out grew it(thankfully). I am a really heavy duty MN in so many video games too. Mall ninja, I can live with that, at least I do admit it.🤣
 
I only collect the Cold Steel stuff as part of my hobby, I have no intentions whatsoever to use any of it as personal self defense weapons or Zombie apocalypse/end of the world scenarios. I imagine my long guns and handguns are better fit for those situations 😉

My collecting hobby is very eclectic, and I simply find some Cold Steel products unique or very interesting, which is my only reason for adding them into my collection's mix.
Yup, "Mall Ninja" truly does not fit, in any way, my reason for acquiring Cold Steel products.
They do seem to add some pretty "cool factor" to my collection's display cases, and help in my having less than a boring interior decor in my man cave 👍
 
Last edited:
Years ago, back when I was very active on Bladeforums, the term "Mall Ninja" was a slur used by idiots and the term had no real meaning.

It was a term that could mean almost anything.

Some use it to refer to people who buy cheap flea market knives. Some use it to refer to people who buy expensive knives.

The most common meaning was "Someone who likes knives from a company I don't like," and the dumber of these types would single out Cold Steel and TOPS.

I don't know where the TOPS hatred came from. The Cold Steel thing was going on even before the internet was popular. I remember a knife store owner in the 1990s bashing Cold Steel knives as "junk" and when I asked why she eventually admitted that she just thought Lynn Thompson was a jerk. She did not explain why him being a jerk (if true) made the knives not function properly. She also thought chisel ground American tantos were used by the samurai to pierce "bamboo armor," so she wasn't that knowledgeable. lol

The other meaning I've seen here is a slur against anyone who is interested in self-defense or even anyone who carries CCW. I'm not talking about people who post movie-inspired fantasies, but just normal use of force discussion.

The term originated from a group of people who were fooled by an obvious troll (I read the original thread and couldn't believe how dumb they were to not notice the guy was trolling them.) with the handle "Gecko45" who claimed to be a mall security SWAT team member who was asking about duct taping ceramic plates to his vest to stop .308AP rounds. Each of his posts was more ridiculous than the previous one, yet so many people took him seriously. The "Mall" part came from his claim of being a "Tactical Security Enforcer" for a mall, and the "ninja" part came from his idiotic claim that he could walk up walls by wearing jikatabi. I forgot the exact number, but he bragged about having a response time of 8 or 10 minutes, which no one commented on. This is 8 or 10 minutes in a mall that he is already inside of. That is not a fast response time. I don't know who he was, but I've been told by someone who does that he was actually a well known figure in the shooting community and just trolling.

Gunkid, on the other hand, was real. I'm not sure if he really built an armored wheelbarrow, but he was telling the truth about his "cans" which is why he went to prison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top