My Cold Steel G10 American Lawman came, wow!

Marlinaholic

Marlinaholic

Joined
Jul 7, 2007
Messages
730
I figured what the heck and picked one up for $40 in new shape on another forum when it came up. I gotta say, I'm impressed! I own and use Benchmades, Buck, Spydercos, Lone Wolfs, and Kershaws, but never had a Cold Steel before. This thing is very well balanced, it has that magic ability to feel lighter in the hand than it really is. Blade shape is great for EDC. Lock up is amazing, Demko is a genius to have so slightly altered the mid lock design but to have so greatly improved it. Deployment is smooth and I can shut the knife one handed using the same method I use with my Spyderco lock backs, thumb unlocks the blade, forefinger controls the closing of it. No steel liners to add weight, Tri Ad lock doesn't really need them. G-10 is VERY grippy, way more than any other brand of knife I have, I like it, hands greasy from butchering or wet from rain ect. should still be able to hold on. Blade retention is great, you can lift the blade quite a way up and it still springs back shut, so shouldn't be a knife you find partially open in your pocket.

Only a few things I would change. The clip comes set way too tight, you have to remove it and bend it outward slightly if you ever want to use it. I wish the blade wasn't coated, and it wouldn't hurt if they upgraded it to VG-10 ect., though AUS-8 is not horrible, and I haven't heard anything bad about Cold Steel's heat treatment of it. Would be really cool if it was made here in the USA, but workmanship seems to be first rate regardless. STR and Fred Perrin are both right, this is a great knife with a great lock. You can laugh at Cold Steel's over the top marketing videos, but I'm not going to discount their knives anymore, this is one well designed folder in my opinion. Now I'm looking for the mini Lawman! :D
 
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I have seen a lot of bad mouthin of cold steel on here. While I understand it when it comes to some of their business practices, I've never had a problem with their product (besides their ridiculous msrp prices!!! who are they kidding :jerkit:)

So yea, in my opinion, 40 bucks can get you a very good knife from CS.
 
Joel, other people log on to other forums under other names. That knife I sold you was NIB, except box was torn up by dog.

Go back and read my post here about if you want, just put G10 American Lawman in the search box.

I sent it priority mail so your welcome for that too, hope you enjoy the knife.
 
MikeC said:
Joel, other people log on to other forums under other names. That knife I sold you was NIB, except box was torn up by dog.

Go back and read my post here about if you want, just put G10 American Lawman in the search box.

I sent it priority mail so your welcome for that too, hope you enjoy the knife.
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what?

:confused:
 
It's a strong knife for sure, but it's terrible for EDC in my book. It's bulky, has a strange shape when closed, the clip sucks, and it just plain sucks to carry.

I'm sure it will be a lot nicer if they improve on the current version.
 
Well hi there MikeC. Indeed, thanks for the fast shipping, I appreciate it, and thanks for the great knife. Sorry you couldn't get used to the G10, but honestly it's strong stuff even if it feels a little cheap due to the light weight. I've had lots of knives with G10 so it was no issue for me, though this knife's G10 is very grippy. I know not everyone likes that, but for me it's fine.
 
My Lawman arrived last week and couldn't be happier with it. Very grippy and ergonomic in the hand and I love the blade shape. Lighter than I expected too.
 
I'd have to agree that CS did their homework on this. I've got bunches of other knives from more positively viewed companies, but I find myself EDCing the Lawman more consistently. I actually ditched the clip, added a lanyard, and went old school on the carry system...hang the lanyard out the pocket (keeps the knife upright and easy to grab).

Yes, CS could use another steel, but then the street price would be higher. Also, I enjoy having something I don't have to spend lots of time sharpening--(I've got lots of other knives that take more effort, when I get in that mood).
 
I picked up an AK-47 here recently out of curiosity. I agree about the clip. I was a bit taken aback as to how tight it was. I tried to unscrew it to loosen it a bit, but I was buggered if I could move any of the screws. Are they loc-tited in? Ah well, I cant live with a tight clip. That and the grippy G-10 will shred pants in short order so I'll be passing it on to someone. Its a shame, cos otherwise it seems like a decent knife for the money and I'll take G-10 over FRN any day.
 
Hey Buffalohump,
you bought that AK-47 from me! Since that knife was a duplicate that I never used, I can't recall if I loctited the clip screws. But I might have because that is my standard procedure with all my EDC knives. So please don't blame Cold Steel for this, it might have been me!
Anyway, whether it was Cold Steel or me, the Loctite should be reversible kind, so you can use a small soldering iron and apply some heat to the screwheads, then you will be able to loosen them without problem.
On my AK-47, I just bent the clip outward a little bit without removing it, that worked for me! But I agree, the G10 is super grippy and abrasive to fabric.
 
I've heard so many whines about the texture of the G10 and the tight clip and how 'tight' it is to open.

Guys..... It's a 45-60$ production knife meant for hard work , what do you expect from a quality production knife like that ?

I've had a lot of folders with pocket clip not exactly how I like it , mostly from my favorite brand Kershaw ! Big Deal.... take it off , mod it to my liking and put it back on.
G10 or whatever bothering you for too much or lack of texture , fix the problem ! and move on with your life.
What really gets me are the girlythumb guys who whine about how hard itis to open. This aint no W.H. here , it's a hard working knife meant to last a long , long time.

Blade steel doesnt suit you ? The whole point of using a steel like Aus-8 is that it is a quality steel at an affordable price and today that is more important than ever.

And one more time.. if you like the knife enough , shake your booty on down to the hardware store and buy some sandpaper and fix the texture of the G10 to your liking !!!

It's not rocket science.....

Tostig

by the way , pm me when you wanna sell that AK.
 
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Well, the knives are a bit aggressive and it would be nice if they didn't come ready to tear up pockets but fortunately with a little work you can adjust those things. I did on mine and its fine for use now and no worse on pockets than some other knives I own.

When I got my first Glock pistol I thought it was cheap and could not believe the reports I read about a plastic gun working so well. That was years ago now and the Glock 17 and 19 I own are two of my most trusted user pistols with a track record that has shown me they flat out work. To me the American Lawman is no different. It may not suit everyone and thats fine. Fortunately there are other vendors to choose from. I like mine though and I love my custom version of it.

Enjoy your folder. Its what a real user is all about IMO.

STR
 
Buffalohump said:
I picked up an AK-47 here recently out of curiosity. I agree about the clip. I was a bit taken aback as to how tight it was. I tried to unscrew it to loosen it a bit, but I was buggered if I could move any of the screws. Are they loc-tited in? Ah well, I cant live with a tight clip. That and the grippy G-10 will shred pants in short order so I'll be passing it on to someone. Its a shame, cos otherwise it seems like a decent knife for the money and I'll take G-10 over FRN any day.
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the screws come with blue loctite. on some of them.

if the ak comes with the extra clip and screws, take a look at the extras. they should also have blue loctite, but maybe not on all of them.
 
I've got an older American Lawman with steel liners, it's hefty but I still carry it often. I removed the blade coating, it took just a few minutes using some cheap paint thinner and a box cutter. The blade is actually pretty well finished underneath the coating, I like how it looks.

If the G-10 texture bothers you, just sand it or use JB Weld to make it smooth under the clip (I think nutnfancy has a video tutorial, although it's quite straightforward).

I'd love to see a version with higher quality steel made in the US or Japan.
 
trix2004 said:
excellent knife for the money .
love mine :thumbup:
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+1 :thumbup: Only gripe I have now after months of usage is the handle length. At first I thought it was ok but after really using it hard I wish it was about 0.5" longer. Still a helluva knice knife! :D
 
Obligatory Lawman pics:
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I edc my American Lawman and think it's absolutely fine in such a capacity. It is a big heavy knife designed for big heavy use, but is incredibly ergonomic and can even be used for very precision cutting. It's a joy to use.
 
Here is mine. I tried to keep the factory bevel. I may have reprofiled it a little more acutely though. ;)
imag0997.jpg
 
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Beautiful edges you guys, I'm going to reprofile mine just a little so I can use the Sharpmaker with it. The factory bevel on mine isn't real bad, but it's just obtuse enough that my stones aren't quite hitting the edge, so gonna bring her back to just under 40 degrees.
 
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