I was afraid this would happen with the new steels CS is using...

I've never had an issue with CS aus-8 holding an edge. Seems to work just fine and is easy to resharpen.
I remember a time when just about every knife came in 440C including high end custom knives. The current trend in knives seems to be if it ain't made out of a super steel then it ain't worth buying.

Either way I'm sure CS new line up will do well. They make nice knives no matter what their material choices are.
 
Cold Steel switch to more expensive steels is a sad moment for those of us who understand that design and fit & finish should be the determining physical factors when purchasing a knife. I've got dozens of CS knives and I've been perfectly happy with the steel quality as would anybody who hasn't fallen prey to the 'better steel' mania. The great irony of course is that the steel snobs couldn't tell the difference between good reasonably priced steels like Aus 8 or SK5 and the new more expensive steels with a gun to their heads.
Personally I couldn't care less what steel CS switched to if it weren't for the significant increase in price which means I'll have to cut back on the number of Cold Steel purchases I make.
 
Yeah, the substantial increase I see on some of the knives takes me from "interested" to "meh".

Just looking at Knifecenter, the AUS 8 lawman is 66.95 while the XHP version is 95.95 They are putting this knife into a price bracket where there is way more competition. For 15 more bucks I can get a PM2. The Taiwan CS stuff is nice, but......
 
Larry Turko said:
Cold Steel switch to more expensive steels is a sad moment for those of us who understand that design and fit & finish should be the determining physical factors when purchasing a knife. I've got dozens of CS knives and I've been perfectly happy with the steel quality as would anybody who hasn't fallen prey to the 'better steel' mania. The great irony of course is that the steel snobs couldn't tell the difference between good reasonably priced steels like Aus 8 or SK5 and the new more expensive steels with a gun to their heads.
Personally I couldn't care less what steel CS switched to if it weren't for the significant increase in price which means I'll have to cut back on the number of Cold Steel purchases I make.
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I won't comment on BD-1 and XHP, but anyone who uses their knife regularly and can't tell the difference between AUS-8 and S30V isn't someone I'd trust using a knife, or driving a car, or anything else that requires any sort of awareness whatsoever.
 
Larry Turko said:
Cold Steel switch to more expensive steels is a sad moment for those of us who understand that design and fit & finish should be the determining physical factors when purchasing a knife. I've got dozens of CS knives and I've been perfectly happy with the steel quality as would anybody who hasn't fallen prey to the 'better steel' mania. The great irony of course is that the steel snobs couldn't tell the difference between good reasonably priced steels like Aus 8 or SK5 and the new more expensive steels with a gun to their heads.
Personally I couldn't care less what steel CS switched to if it weren't for the significant increase in price which means I'll have to cut back on the number of Cold Steel purchases I make.
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Again, I appreciate your insider knowledge on the kind of performance I need from my knives. I'll be sure to run my purchases past you for approval. :rolleyes:
 
Some of us are of the opinion that quality beats quantity. ;)

Larry Turko said:
Personally I couldn't care less what steel CS switched to if it weren't for the significant increase in price which means I'll have to cut back on the number of Cold Steel purchases I make.
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I like the higher end steel choice and do plan to pick up a few CS's this year just because of it. That said I have to admit that although I have lots of nicer steels AUS 8 is more that sufficient for virtually anything I do.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Honestly, to me this move seems like it really restores the value proposition of some of the models they're producing. I've really liked the direction Cold Steel has been going with their design language ever since Andrew Demko came on board, but price to performance has kind of held me back. It's hard for me to drop $60-70 on a great design with AUS8 when I can spend $80-90 and get a great design in D2 or S30V. With the step up to XHP and given the pricing we've seen so far, I'd say these knives are going to be very, very hard to beat for the money. The American Lawman is suddenly neck-and-neck with knives like the Manix 2 and Paramilitary 2 is terms of bang for the buck and that's damned impressive.
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We have a winner! :) Only reason not to consider a Cold Steel knife now is bias, pure and simple. Time to make room Spyderco, Benchmade and KAI. There's a new kid in town . . .
 
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Browsing the W&W site, I'm going to have to disagree here. CS pricing is HIGHLY competitive. $108 USD for a 4" Talwar in CTS-XHP, are you kidding me?! Who the hell thinks that is over priced. Or $160 USD for a 6" Holdout. If you stop, and take a look at similar size knives, with a similar steel (S30V, CPM-154, etc) you are not going to find many if any real competitors in this price bracket. Yes, a Paramilitary 2 might only be ~$15 more, but you are getting no where near as much blade. And let's be honest, Cold Steels real marketing plan that hasn't changed in who knows how long, is their near monopoly on large size "tactical" folders.
 
Cold Steel Code 4 spear point, in AUS8A, is $63.95. Same knife in CTS-XHP (pre-order) is $79.95 (both prices on KC). Looks like a $16 difference and would be totally worth it, to me. :thumbup::):thumbup:
 
Saw a new spec 4 inch Recon 1 on the bay yesterday for under $100. Come on, too expensive? In what world?
 
andy500 said:
How many people do you suppose have not bought a knife simply because it was etched "Taiwan", or "China", or "Japan"?

How many of those people do you suppose would change their mind if that same knife was etched "USA"?

I know a shitload of those folks!

Cold Steel have been making excellent products with high value (IMO) - and now they're eliminating the objection of "it's not made in the USA".

Marketing 101.

Well done Cold Steel. You're production line and shipping dept. are going to need to ramp up!
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Unfortunately their knives are still going to be made in Taiwan (except for the 4-max), they are just using American steels rather than Japanese steels. Production isn't going anywhere. On the plus side this will help them keep their prices at a reasonable level and it isn't like we can really complain about the quality.
 
The blades of the XHP models are all made in the USA, then shipped overseas for assembly with the rest of the knife. I would think the same applies to the BD1 models as well.
 
There are some really nice knives coming out of Taiwan. Knives that would cost considerably more if made here.
 
oXObsidianXo said:
Browsing the W&W site, I'm going to have to disagree here. CS pricing is HIGHLY competitive. $108 USD for a 4" Talwar in CTS-XHP, are you kidding me?! Who the hell thinks that is over priced. Or $160 USD for a 6" Holdout. If you stop, and take a look at similar size knives, with a similar steel (S30V, CPM-154, etc) you are not going to find many if any real competitors in this price bracket. Yes, a Paramilitary 2 might only be ~$15 more, but you are getting no where near as much blade. And let's be honest, Cold Steels real marketing plan that hasn't changed in who knows how long, is their near monopoly on large size "tactical" folders.
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I said that I had sticker shock with this vendor. The AUS-8A Hold out that you mentioned is $99.00 CDN, now in CTS-XHP the exact same knife a week ago was listed as $196.00 CDN. Now I don't even see it listed.

''Who the hell thinks that is over priced''

Well at double the price, I do. But if you want to pay that, please yourself.
 
upnorth said:
I said that I had sticker shock with this vendor. The AUS-8A Hold out that you mentioned is $99.00 CDN, now in CTS-XHP the exact same knife a week ago was listed as $196.00 CDN. Now I don't even see it listed.

''Who the hell thinks that is over priced''

Well at double the price, I do. But if you want to pay that, please yourself.
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Street prices here seem to be a 40-50% jump for XHP, not nearly double the price. Considering you're increasing the wear resistance, and therefore the life of the blade, by at least 50% and getting a significant increase in lateral toughness and corrosion resistance as well, I'd say that's really a bargain.

Now not everyone will need/want those attributes, so I completely understand being unhappy with the price increase, but when the price increase falls in line with the performance increase I have a hard time with labeling it overpriced.

I really think you have to compare apples to apples in terms of pricing and, in this case, that means knives with similar materials and the XHP models look to be very, very competitive in that market segment. Right now for $90-100 you can get a Blur in Elmax, a Manix 2 in S30V or a Recon 1 in XHP. The Recon may or may not be the best buy of the three, as that will depend on individual needs, but it's sure as heck earned a place in the conversation.
 
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