Looking for info about Cold Steel

Cold Steel introduced me to "high performance" knives. Before them, it was Schrade, Camillus (who made some of Cold Steel's best knives), Kabar, Gerber and a few others. Cold Steel knives took toughness and performance up an notch or two. While I have since moved on mostly to other "high performance" brands, CS still sells some fine outdoor knives and tools. But almost all of them are now imports since Camillus went under. I still respect Cold Steel for what they have done for the industry. Outdoorsmen everywhere are benefitting from improved products from many different manufacturers because of the high standards CS set. Regardless of what many think of his advertising and occasional hyperbole, I salute Lynn Thompson for what he has done.
 
I have various fixed blade tantos that have good Seki Japan steel. I've some FGX blades I use as letter openers.

My original Recon Tanto has brass furniture.
 
shotgunner11 said:
My guilty pleasure is their spears. Useless in our modern society but damn their fun to throw at people. :D
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i would like some of their throwing torpedoes :) i've a friend with a lathe, we'll see if he can't make me some for cheap. heck, those 1 foot long nails work good.

they designed some nice knives. they copied some too.

my favorite Carbon-V knives were made by Camillus though, brand called Becker :)
 
I am looking forward to trying out a couple of their Tri-Ad lock folders. I have heard a lot of good things about them. Especially in their price bracket.
 
I have their triple action folder and liked it until the pivot on the aluminum handles started to strip out where the two handle pieces connected. The blade is awesome though but the handle wasn't that good. I want to try their Kukri in SK-5. I have always wanted one. I am thinking about having a micarta handle put on it when I get one. I like some of there other stuff too.
 
I love their tomahawks- cheap and fun to throw.

They have a lot of stuff you just can't get anywhere else.
 
Allright here's my two cents from personal experience,

they're great knives, come razor sharp outta the box, I admit i bought into the hype and have at least 5 copies of there proof dvds floating around somewhere in my house, mainly cause they mail me catalogs with them. But they're pretty sweet.

I first got into them cause I had a coast tanto folder knife I found out in a dry river bed, it was an ok knife but one day pullin out a really tight monkey fist not the blade closed right on my finger, ouch! having seen all the lock test that cold steel does I vowed to only buy cold steel knives, so i dove in head first,

Cold steel knives I own,
Ti-lite G10 handle
Original recon 1 Spear point i think,
SRK
UWK
GI Tanto
Trail Boss
Kukri Machete
Battle shovel (or whatever it's called)
and that's it, but still a lot,

after a while though i started getting more familiar with other knife companies, got a crkt folder I love, a ZT folder that's great, 3 leathermans, and the cold steels just kinda landed on a shelf or in a box somewhere. My girlfriend bought me a tom brown tracker by TOPS and that replaced all the bigger knives, I still use the UWK (under water knife) for some river trips and things where the knives are going to get really wet but other than that they fell off to the side. I still use the battle shovel on campouts and the srk gets carried in my car, and sometimes just to change it up i carry a cold steel folder but they're good knives for the money and can take a beating.

with that said, I've got my eyes set on esee knives now, have a rat 3, a hest and izula on the way, and an esee 5 in progress.

Personal preference but they are good knives.
 
I just wanted to note, that earlier in the thread I was knocking the Recon 1's lock for jamming up, but i didn't realize they scrapped that mechanism for 2010 and are now using something new. The lock I was talking about is only on the older models. Just wanted to clear that up.
 
I picked up an SRK, Recon Scout and Recon Tanto (I think???) about 13 years ago or so....they were factory seconds and are stamped with the 2 on the bottom. I believe they are the Carbon V steel but I may be wrong......

I like the SRK, slim and sturdy.

Right now I have one of their kukri machetes that I'm in the process of trying to sharpen.
 
Ah the shovel. I'd forgotten about that one. Sturdy and relatively light weight. Chops pretty well, but not as well as a comparable size hatchet. Good for chopping down around the ground to save your machete's edge. I imagine it'd dispatch a zombie quick enough. Haven't tried my hand at throwing it yet, mainly because I've always sucked at throwing things. Definitely a good little tool.
 
cold steel has some great knives.i think the trail master and recon scout are awesome timeless designs.[although i do own the older carbon v ones]not sure about the quality now.also the san mai knives made in japan are of exceptional quality.you can find some youtube videos of the san mai trail master and see how well it performs,,good stuff:thumbup:
 
Damn, I was just flat wrong about this thread. Typically CS threads go south quickly but it seems we have some logical folks on here that recognize there is always positive even in some of the negative. Appreciate everyone keeping the thread informative like you have.
 
I just received a CS Mini AK-47 via a very generous BF member here. I am not that experienced with folding knives as I have used and depended on fixed blades most of my life. But about a year ago, when I looked at the current folders, I noticed that they have come a long way form my first experiences with them. So I bought a ZT 301. You all know what a tank that is. And I just felt more secure with a frame lock that I could squeeze tightly to engage the lock.

Then I started to hear a lot about the CS folders with the Tri-Ad lock on them and how strong they are.

I must say that the Mini AK-47 is a nice surprise so far. Excellent ergonomics in the handle IMO. The thing is so damn light I can't tell if it's in my pocket most of the time. And this sucker is very sharp. I'll have to put it through its paces to get a better idea of its quality but so far I like it. :D
 
My expierence with cold steel has revolved around knife throwing and tomahawks. I have found the True Flight thrower to be an excellent throwing knife for normal rotation throws or especially good for the 1/4 spin throwing style. On the tomahawk side I like the new style Frontier hawk for throwing. It throws great and holds a decent edge. The Trailhhawk is a multipurpose tool that can be used for throwing but is really a good camp tool,lightwieght and ready to handle most tasks.
 
I have several of their knives. I really like my Recon Scout and SRK, both in carbon V. I keep a Bushman folder in my BOB. I picked up the Rajah II just on the folding kukri coolness factor but it really works. I have also had several other folders. I have never had a problem with CS products in the past but I haven't gotten any lately so I'm not sure of the current line. Almost forgot that I picked up one of their "plastic" baseball bats, it's too tough for me to break.
 
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