Welcome to the real world, Coop1957! I've used CS for years and their heat treat is great. You probably won't believe it, but I'm sitting here with one of their old Recon 1 knives. Not the ones with the AUS8 blades, but the earlier one...with the 440A steel. Now the mall ninja specials almost always use 420 or 440A blade steels. You sharpen the latter and...nothing. The Böker Magnums also use junk 440A (I have one I've tried to sharpen now for two years and it's just as dull as the day I bought it).
The amazing thing is, I can't tell the difference between the CS 440A and their AUS8, and I have the Recon 1, Night Force and Pro-Lite, and the 440A in each of those knives will cut you like a razor if you're not careful. Unlike the mall ninja knives, the CS 440A sharpens to a blistering sharp edge and keeps it for a long time. I have a Lansky ceramic V-shaped sharpener and all my Cold Steel blades sharpen with just a few swipes. I was very happy with the company's VG-1 stainless and disappointed that the Voyagers went back to AUS8 after they upgraded the steel. Fortunately I bought several of them before they discontinued them.
The Tri-Ad locks are the strongest in the business and I just got their XL Voyager Vaquero (plain edge). The blade is incredibly sharp. Some of the Benchmades I bought in the past were incredibly good knives with very good steel and light weight. After using them and the earlier Voyagers, I came to really value large, sharp knives that weigh almost nothing. I'm going to miss that with the Voyager line of knives, but like I said, I stocked up.
Cold Steel made a name for itself by providing knives with large blades that were easy to carry. What other company made 5- and 6-inch knives that fit in one's back pocket? I started carrying a 6-inch Voyager when I was accosted by two large dogs that had freed themselves from a fenced-in back yard. They came at me from two directions and I could tell they meant business. I was unarmed at the time, but fortunately I could tell which was the dominant dog. I used a backpack to keep that dog at bay and was eventually able to chase them off. Having been bit before by a Doberman, I didn't want to get caught in that situation again. So now I carry large knives wherever I go. Again, thanks to CS, I have that option.
The CS Pro-Lite used 440A stainless, but the plain edge version stayed viciously sharp!
CS made very sharp, large knives that were easy to carry.
Still unused as it rides as a backup j.i.c. blade. My first CS was that hollow handled boar knife to make a spear with and I found it pretty tough - only bent the tip after it went clean through a board and impacted the rock wall behind (dangit). 
