I had placed a backorder for a CS Rondel Dagger... Update: I've received it! 👍

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
3,989
The following photo was found online, it showing a Cold Steel Rondel Dagger.

I ordered one a few weeks ago, (on backorder), and it was sent out to me by the vendor yesterday, (so I should have it in hand soon).
It's just another item that I found too cool to not have it in my "Interesting Objects Collection" 😊
Anyhow, it's one of Cold Steel' India made items, (likely made by Windlass Steelcrafts), so I know that may make it more likely to be a hit or miss on it's overall execution. When the CS India made stuff gets things right, they can be pretty awesome... But when they don't, ugh!
The few reviews I have found online have been very positive, so that gives me some hope that what I receive will be very acceptable 👍
I'm pretty excited to be getting one, with my fingers crossed in hopes that it will indeed be a well executed specimen🤞😁🤞
I'm only waiting for one other Cold Steel item to be sent out to me from a backorder, and then my Cold Steel buying spree will finally be up to date.
I do have some other possible orders in mind, but my main wants are pretty much complete.
 
Last edited:
If nothing else that looks amazing in that picture. I bet it will be even nicer in your hand.

To me, there is a certain coolness to a hand forged weapon that more modern mass production methods lack. The imperfections give them authenticity. I hope you are happy with your example and share the pictures with us.
 
Chris_Texas said:
If nothing else that looks amazing in that picture. I bet it will be even nicer in your hand.

To me, there is a certain coolness to a hand forged weapon that more modern mass production methods lack. The imperfections give them authenticity. I hope you are happy with your example and share the pictures with us.
Click to expand...
Thanks, buddy!
And, yes, I agree with your sentiment.
There is something about a product that involves a lot of old world type of hand craftsmanship that simply appeals to me.
I know the Windlass Steelcrafts firm does much, if not most, of Cold Steel' India sourced products. That said, although sometimes they really screw the pooch on the overall execution, they really can, and often do, make some pretty awesome pieces, (when they get them right). I also believe that Windlass Steelcrafts puts more effort into making their Cold Steel contracted products, than they usually do on their own in house Windlass brand items. The CS contract has likely been pretty lucrative for Windlass Steelcrafts, and so they likely go that extra mile to keep CS coming back to them.
Even so, the CS India stuff has definitely been more hit or miss for me than CS stuff made in places like Taiwan that uses more modern technologies in their manufacturing.
But, I simply love the more hand made items, and it's why I try to score nicely made Cold Steel's India sourced representations 👍😊👍
 
Last edited:
Yes, it's steel components, (including the triangular blade), are listed as being blued. The handle's wood is listed as being made of rosewood.
Some of the reviews that I've read about this product, have had some commenting that they expected the handle to be stained more reddish brown, (as seen in most of CS's marketing photos), but had received theirs in what they described as a blackish stained wood handle. If this turns out to be the case for the one I receive, (and I find no other issues on it), I can easily lighten the existing stain to give it that better reddish/brown look.

Whatever it arrives as, I will be sure to share some pics of it 👍😊👍
 
Last edited:
I received it today, and... I like it! 👍😊👍

The handle's Rosewood is in fact very darkly stained, but it seems to work well with it's overall look, so I have decided to leave it be 😊

Imo, it's overall look is very nice, (nostalgic).
The steel is in fact all blued, except for the blade's three edges, which they gave almost sharp edges to. In this case, I believe the "almost sharpness" given to these is as they intended it to be.
The tip is brutal! It's truly representative of what this type of item was designed for back in the days of swords and suits of armor. You just can't fake this look it has of it being hand-made, but it's overall execution was well done 👍😊👍

The dagger and sheath have no exposed CS markings, as was the case with CS's India made products when Lynn Thompson owned the company... But, the paper tag inside the box does have the new CS logo printed on it. The tag also lists the steel used for the Rondel Dagger blade, (AISI 1080 carbon steel), and has the country of origin listed, (India).
I have never noticed such tags having the steel grade listed on it like on this one. If that was GSM's idea... Kudos to them! 👍👍

The items were well wrapped and greased for their protection. It did it's job, no damage or tarnish.

Anyhow, yup, I am very pleased with it! 👍😁👍





 
Last edited:
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I received it today, and... I like it! 👍😊👍

The handle's Rosewood is in fact very darkly stained, but it seems to work well with it's overall look, so I have decided to leave it be 😊

Imo, it's overall look is very nice, (nostalgic).
The steel is in fact all blued, except for the blades three edges, which they gave almost sharp edges to. In this case, I believe the "almost sharpness" given to these is as they intended it to be.
You just can't fake this look it has of it being hand-made, but it's overall execution was well done 👍😊👍

The dagger and sheath have no exposed CS markings, as was the case with CS's India made products when Lynn Thompson owned the company... But, the paper tag inside the box does have the new CS logo printed on it. The tag also has the steel used for the Rondel Dagger blade, (AISI 1080 carbon steel), and of course has it's country of origin, (India), printed on it as well.

The items were well wrapped and greased for their protection. It did it's job, no damage or tarnish.

Anyhow, yup, I am very pleased with it! 👍😁👍





Click to expand...
Nice, you were overdue for a good one.
 
This is one of those CS items that I just don't see having a long lifespan within the pages of future GSM run Cold Steel catalogs.
I'd almost wager that it will not be within next year's listings. It's why I decided to bite now, while the biting is still good! 😁

Here's a few more pics of my new Cold Steel Rondel Dagger. It really has that "old school" look to it, my pictures don't do it justice! 👍😊👍







Below is another Cold Steel item that I own having a triangular blade, (three edges).

 
Last edited:
I got to doing some thinking on the two backordered Cold Steel India sourced items that I received recently, both obviously being made after GSM's purchase of the CS company.
The two items are my Cinquedea and my latest Rondel Dagger. I am so very pleased with both on their overall execution, and that got me thinking of the possibility that the GSM takeover may have sparked something positive for the India sourced products.

For one, the India producer(s) would have likely seen the new ownership as a threat to any future India made Cold Steel product lines. If they thought this, (and I imagine they most likely did), they must have realized that upping their game in the quality control arena was paramount to keeping GSM's Cold Steel on board for future contracts.

Secondly, I also imagine the likelihood of Cold Steel's new GSM management discussing things with the India source(s), and explaining in detail what their expectations are, and overall quality control would have likely been a major part of such a discussion.

So, the awesome execution of my latest received India sourced Cold Steel items, which were both on backorder and surely made after GSM's takeover of the company, have me believing that maybe the change to new ownership has caused a new positive for us consumers of Cold Steel products.
Then again, I also know that India sourced Cold Steel products under Lynn Thompson could arrive just as nicely made as my two recent examples, but they were the most hit or miss of the Cold Steel company line of products. The new company ownership could have sparked the India sourced CS products to be less hit or miss, and that would be awesome!... Well, that is if GSM actually decides to continue to offer that genre of products in the future. I guess we shall see! 👍😊👍

Btw, my Rondel Dagger came with a Cold Steel paper based tag that lists the steel as being 1080 carbon steel. This is different from the specs I have seen of it online with it being listed as being made of 1065 carbon steel.
Just wanted to point out that possible change in material 👍
 
Last edited:
johnnywizzo said:
Which in your opinion is the better steel for a Rondel?
Click to expand...
If we were able to go back in time and use this Rondel Dagger for it's intended purpose, which was to penetrate chainmail and to find weak points in someone wearing plate suits of armor, (like areas between the plates), then I guess both steels would work just fine. If we were looking at a standard knife, instead of a Rondel Dagger, then the difference in steel may make a small difference. That is, if the knives were heat treated equally, then the 1065 may prove a wee bit tougher, (harder to break), where as the 1080 would likely hold it's edge a wee bit better.

I wonder if the pandemic shortages may have been the only reason for the Rondel Dagger being switched to the 1080.
You see, many, (if not most), of Windless Steelcrafts' in house brand swords, are made of the 1065 range steel. For longer swords, that may make more sense, since the 1065 would prove the wee bit tougher steel. So, if Windlass Steelcrafts, (which is likely the maker of these Rondels for Cold Steel), was running low on their remaining 1065, I would imagine that they would want to keep the 1065 steel for their sword making lines, and just tap into their stock of available 1080 steel for such things as the Rondel Dagger. Both steels will work just fine for the Rondel Dagger product. Both steels will be better and more consistent than the steels the original Rondel Daggers had in ancient times.

Just a guess on my part, but I really can't think of any major reason why the Rondel would have been changed to the 1080 steel.

I know that the Cold Steel 1917 Frontier Bowie Knife was first put onto the market in 1055 carbon steel. While it made for a tough knife, the 1055 steel was seen as pretty low in edge holding capabilities. So, I guess customer requests to change the steel went to the CS firm, they wanting it to be a higher carbon steel that would hold a better edge. So, CS decided to change it to the 1080 range carbon steel, which is still considered a pretty darned tough steel, while known to be just a bit better at holding a sharpened edge. But, again, that change was on a cutting edge knife, not a spike like weapon like the Rondel Dagger. So, that's why I am guessing the change was more of a "lets use the material we have in stock" thing 😉
 
Last edited:
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I received it today, and... I like it! 👍😊👍

The handle's Rosewood is in fact very darkly stained, but it seems to work well with it's overall look, so I have decided to leave it be 😊

Imo, it's overall look is very nice, (nostalgic).
The steel is in fact all blued, except for the blade's three edges, which they gave almost sharp edges to. In this case, I believe the "almost sharpness" given to these is as they intended it to be.
The tip is brutal! It's truly representative of what this type of item was designed for back in the days of swords and suits of armor. You just can't fake this look it has of it being hand-made, but it's overall execution was well done 👍😊👍

The dagger and sheath have no exposed CS markings, as was the case with CS's India made products when Lynn Thompson owned the company... But, the paper tag inside the box does have the new CS logo printed on it. The tag also lists the steel used for the Rondel Dagger blade, (AISI 1080 carbon steel), and has the country of origin listed, (India).
I have never noticed such tags having the steel grade listed on it like on this one. If that was GSM's idea... Kudos to them! 👍👍

The items were well wrapped and greased for their protection. It did it's job, no damage or tarnish.

Anyhow, yup, I am very pleased with it! 👍😁👍





Click to expand...

That looks fantastic! The sheath looks as nice as the weapon. Great purchase.
 
My CS Rondel arrived today! The dagger itself is well executed, but the sheath has a slightly crooked metal end, not bad but not really aligned with the rest of it. I'm not going to return it as it is really a small issue on a handmade product that does not affect its use. On thing that I did notice is that there might not be a comfortable grip for a person with extra large hands. My hands are fairly large, I wear large to extra large gloves depending on the brand. I have enough room between the rondels to get a firm grip, but it is tight.

The dagger came packed in about a gallon of protective grease, a real mess to clean but no rust. The rosewood handle has a messy black stain which I had to work at removing. All told, I think I'm going to like this Rondel. Just a little while ago I also received a CS Cinquedea. I like it much better. You could call these purchases panic buys.

Does anyone know the correct procedure for attaching it to a belt for carry?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top