Old Cold Steel Products

T

Tony Perez

Joined
Dec 17, 2001
Messages
92
I happen to have a COLD STEEL knife that has a handle that looks like a comb but the bottom part is a double edged knife. It came with a nylon sheath that you could slip in your back pocket.
Anyone remember that particular knife ? I sure wish more knife manufacturers made stuff like that.
 
I have an Al Mar "Wild Hair" that fits that description. Is the knife marked "Cold Steel?"
 
You know...it is getting to be more and more of a nuisance to be as old as I have gotten. Yesterday I got a call from my wife to come check her PC ( we both work in same buliding). I got up from my desk and got all the way to elevators before being waylaid by a co-worker. After conversing with her for five minutes, I could not remember where I was going to. I went to restroom and after 5 minutes ant urinal decided that indeed, the restroom was NOT where I had been headed to. Got back to my desk and my wife called to see if I had gotten lost.
SO that was yesterdays senior moment. Todays was referring to an AL MAR knife as a COLD STEEL.
I do hope everyone in forum will forgive an old man for his inaccurate postings and what is worse, his endless rambling...
As punishment I shall go without carrying a blade for a whole day tomorrow.
 
Mr. Perez,

No need to apologize for that! I just share in your sentiments about, wishing that other Manufacturers making cool knives like that. I was actually intrigued by the possibility that Cold Steel had made some obscure prototype like the Al Mar [AMK] Wild Hair! Because there are alot of Cold Steel "oddball" prototypes floating around out there.

Here, check out these two links on my site, lots of candy for the eyes.

Covert Weapons.

Exotic Knives Gallery.
 
I checked out your link....awesome ..
I have about half the stuff on there.
The Al MAR Wild Hair...
the Cold Steel Urban Shiv..the Urban Pal
along with a nylon/fiberglass version of a lapel pin.
It was like going back in time.
 
While on the topic of vintage Cold Steel. Here is a photo of a cold steel knife that I found. I have no idea when I got it. NONE
It says "Voyager" made in Japan is a lock-back, is fully serrated and the belt-clip is part of the handle material (plastic). knife is unlined. Any clue to it's "birth year"?...Thanks
 
Hi Wolf,

The Voyager line was introduced in the mid 90's(94 I think), and I believe is still made. The knife is probably early, as I believe they changed to a metal clip. I believe people had the clip break off quite a bit. The value is probably around $40.

HTH:).
 
Ira, Cold Steel recently converted its Voyager line from that integral clip to a screw-on steel clip, with a slightly different handle thickness. Both the old and the new are still available.

They come in clippoint as you showed, and double-ground tanto. They also come in full serrated or plain edge. The new ones also come in partially serrated.

The handle shapes are the same for the Tuff-Lite keychain size, the medium and large at 3" and 4", and the extra large tanto at 5" The extra large clippoint has a handle like the Vaquero series, more like a navaja. (It's really the same as the others except the butt turns down more roundly.)

I just picked up an extra large clippoint with plain edge from Special Projects on close-out for $50. What a monster blade!
 
Tony,
Cold Steel among several others make Zytel and other hard plastic
knives in a variety of configurations.Cold Steel I know makes a tanto
and the delta dart, which is like a big tent peg.I do know that
Uninted makes a comb and brush blade. I hope this helps.
 
I am NOT knocking cold steel, but IMHO, this knife feels awfully "cheap" for a $40.00 knife. When I found it and realized it was still in New condition, I figured the reason I never used it was because it was a POS. The clip looks like it would break with minimal effort and the Blade is as thin as I have ever seen on a production knife. And to boot, the handle material looks and feels like plastic and is unlined. Can someone tell me why they would be more than a $10.00 knife.....Thanks..........Ira
 
Wolf,

The expense is mainly Brand name(I think). For 40-50 you get about the same from Spyderco, just thicker steel. I had both the clip and the Tanto point and carried them both extensively until the clip broke off. The AUS-8 steel on both models was equal to that of a spyderco that I used at the same time, (at least from what I can tell).

Just as a note:
I have no experience with the newer models that have the steel clip.
And by chance I broke the clip off my spydie as well. :(
 
I just got that Voyager, but it is comparable in materials and construction to my Vaquero Grande, which has held up great under real rough use. You may think it feels cheap, but what it really is is "no frills" and hard working. "No liners" saves weight in the handle and shifts the balance to the blade for chopping and slashing. I use the VG as a light machete, and it zips through anything I hit with it.

Yes, the zytel clip snaps off. If it ever happens to mine, I'll file it smooth and keep on cutting. But it is also pretty comfortable, like Outdoor Edge's recessed clips. Most exposed steel clips can bite into the hand that grips them too tightly, which when working hard is hard to avoid.

A thick blade is not necessarily a tough blade -- that comes from steel and heat treat. What a thick blade will do is make it hard to cut efficiently! Ask A.G.Russell about his Deer Hunter:

Most "sports" knives being made today have blades which are too thick to allow the very best cutting and slicing. About 1900, Webster Marble doubled the thickness of the outdoor knife and one maker after another increased the thickness until a quarter inch was common. Gil Hibben then began the use of 3/8" steel in the 1960's. After that, a few makers tried even thicker blades until it became obviously silly. The reaction was then to start the movement back toward a sensible thickness. This movement was led by top custom makers, who established a standard of 3/16" stock for hunting knives.

A.G. Russell is offering you knives so thinly ground, so lightweight, and of such fine steel, that even the makers of the early 19th Century are surpassed. The blades are just thick enough to be stiff rather than flexible and are ground very thin all the way to the edge creating a marvelous cutting tool. This is the way the world's finest kitchen knives are made, and is the wave of the future for top of the line hunting knives.
 
Cold steels folders in that class are very strong.

Not smooth opening, or nice fit/finsh. But the blades are ALWAYS SHAVING SHARP out of the box. I could never carry one, who can after carrying sypdee, BM, MT, and other high-end production knives? Zytel is never gonna feel like good g-10, aus-8 is never gonna perform like 440v or good ats-34. But they are not out of the picture for most guys.

Cold-steels folders are being knocked a little here and though I don't carry them, for the money you cant find a better knife. Spyderco enduras locks ARE NOT going to take as much pressure as a cold steel 4" voyager lock. Overbuilt folders, yes. And they sacrificed alot of things to get them like that. Enduras sure are nicer to carry and more easy to use, but if you looking for downright strength and durability (not the edge, just lock/knife components themselves) I dont think anything on the market can beat a CS voyager or gunsite lockback, in those aspects, for the money. And I dunno what you think constitutes a "thick" blade, but the CS folders don't have thin blades by any means. GO ahead and beat that thing in your garge on the back of the blade, I dont think she will close up too easily.

Guys I am just ranting because I think CS folders get a bad rap on this forum, and it is easy to see why. Not everyone here can afford to drop 2 bills on a new folder every week (or MORE :eek:) myself included, and if all you got is $40, and you need a stronger folder before you need a smooth/cooler folder, CS is probably the company your gonna go to. The gunsite folder is a mammoth thing, but I pity the fool who gets that blade coming down on their forearm.


JC
 
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