New member and I have a question

Grego

Grego

Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
402
I'm not totally new to owning-collecting knives, but have a few questions.. I have been thinking about purchasing a Swamp Rat knife (Mini Mojo) and as you may already know they use SR101 steel. The SR101 as I understand it is very similar to a steel called 52100, which is a good and popular steel used in the cutlery industry, my question is this, I know that the Cold Steel line (like many things has a love or hate period following) but how would you compare the two manufacturers?

Cold Steel is using a carbon steel these days called SK-5, along with their laminated steel San Mai 3 with VG-1 being in that paticular mix. The Cold Steel line is getting pretty expensive these days, and would you say that the Swamp Rat line beats cold Steel hands down, when comparing quality, durability, etc.. So overall I would like to know how the steels being used by CS compares to SR101

Thanks
 
there have been many pics of cold steels that have broken from normal batoning and use.

the rats ive seen break were from 'abuse' and seem to take far more punishment.

ive owned a couple cs's, and wasnt impressed with fit or finish. the steel seemed 'soft' and didnt hold a very good edge. though there are many that swear by them, im not saying they are bad, just not for me.

the laminate steel is also soft as i understand. i believe it is basically med grade stainless over low/med grade stainless.

the sr101 steel has been much tougher in my experience. prices of rats are pretty competitive in the med range market, and you get alot of knife for your money.

the swamprat/busse/scrapyard warranty is second to none. ive never heard of anyone having a negative experience with any of their personnel.

cs's warranty and customer service gets mixed reviews. iirc most of cs's knives are made by another manufacture as well.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
iirc most of cs's knives are made by another manufacture as well.
Click to expand...

All of Cold Steel's knives are manufactured by contractors. They have never had a factory of their own and Lynn Thompson is not a knifemaker.

The quality of their different lines made at different factories in different countries varies a lot.

Busse and Swamp Rat and Scrapyard are all made by the same family and their quality is unquestionable, as their guarantee and customer service prove.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
All of Cold Steel's knives are manufactured by contractors. They have never had a factory of their own and Lynn Thompson is not a knifemaker.

The quality of their different lines made at different factories in different countries varies a lot.

Busse and Swamp Rat and Scrapyard are all made by the same family and their quality is unquestionable, as their guarantee and customer service prove.
Click to expand...

there ya have it. ALL of cs's knives are made by someone else. to me that speaks volumes.

but buy what you like, and what your budget allows.


scrapyard is a nice lower price version of busse/rat. all the quality and craftsmanship, lower price steel.
 
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