Opinions on Cold Steel

Alberta Ed said:
Every one of the Cold Steel knives I have acquired over the years has performed well beyond expectations, and I have no complaints whatsoever. Each one does exactly what it's designed to do: cut. Lynn Thompson is one of the most innovative knife designers of the last several decades IMHO; the list is too long to itemize here, but I'll just mention the superb Master Hunter and the brilliant Tri-Ad lock. He is also a gentleman; when I wrote him a couple of decades ago questioning his advertising tactics, and prices, he politely wrote back and offered me an original tanto for $75 -- a second, with a tiny blemish that I doubt I would have noticed. Still have it. We'll see what GSM does, but nothing will diminish my respect for Lynn Thompson.
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When I wrote to request a pocket clip (twice), I was ignored both times...

Maybe next time I'll ask for something more expensive:)
 
Lynn's a pudgy, kooky, mall-ninja type guy who also had a real passion for his products. He was fun to watch and fun to make fun of when he was too goofy. There's no way a faceless corporation is going to duplicate that. The newer GSM stuff is using Chinese steel. I'm not paying $70 for 8crmov13 or whatever it is. In my opinion CS has jumped the shark and it's a damn shame. Say what you want about LT but under him the knives were never called weak.
 
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Leo Greer said:
So, I’m relatively new to knives, and I’ve never owned anything from Cold Steel except for some random throwing stars. From what I’ve seen, Cold Steel has some issues, and some even seem to look at it like a black sheep, but then others love it and Cold Steels are regularly bought and sold on the exchange.

What are y’all’s opinions? 🤔
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Cold steel make the toughest folding knives with the toughest locking sistem. Maybe there are better fixed blades, but no tougher folders.
 
SimplyMinded said:
Lynn's a pudgy, kooky, mall-ninja type guy who also had a real passion for his products. He was fun to watch and fun to make fun of when he was too goofy. There's no way a faceless corporation is going to duplicate that. The newer GSM stuff is using Chinese steel. I'm not paying $70 for 8crmov13 or whatever it is. In my opinion CS has jumped the shark and it's a damn shame. Say what you want about LT but under him the knives were never called weak.
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Well put.
Sad, but probably true.
I really hate to see them go 😢
 
hugofeynman said:
Cold steel make the toughest folding knives with the toughest locking sistem. Maybe there are better fixed blades, but no tougher folders.
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There's no doubt that they're tough. But I'm doing anything with a folder that I need the Triad lock for. I'll stick with knives I can easily close with one hand and better steels.
 
Absolutely LOVE their old stuff!!!! Get an “old” steel recon 1, American Lawman, SR1, AD-10, Voyager, Code 4, Ultimate Hunter, etc. I’m a huge fan of almost any of their pre GSM models in CTS-XHP!!!!! I was late to the Cold Steel game but I’m a total believer after owning/using several models. Crazy strong, crazy durable, and all have been hair shaving Spyderco sharp out of the box(which is crazy in my opinion).
 
tokerblue said:
There's no doubt that they're tough. But I'm doing anything with a folder that I need the Triad lock for. I'll stick with knives I can easily close with one hand and better steels.
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I can close all of my cold steel knives easily with one hand. I was unaware of this method and it made me reconsider Cold Steel and other lockbacks. I’m with you, I want something I can operate easily with one hand.

https://imgur.com/a/gBfIBi2
 
I've always been turned off by the name. "Cold Steel" sounds like a Walmart Mall Ninja knife brand or Zoolander pose.
 
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Leo Greer said:
So, I’m relatively new to knives, and I’ve never owned anything from Cold Steel except for some random throwing stars. From what I’ve seen, Cold Steel has some issues, and some even seem to look at it like a black sheep, but then others love it and Cold Steels are regularly bought and sold on the exchange.

What are y’all’s opinions? 🤔
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Excellent user knives that should live in your hand and not in your display stand. To me, they’re affordable user knives that can pretty much eat whatever you throw at them within reason. Whether it be my fixed blades or Tri-Ad folders, all have been 100% reliable in terms of function. As far as I can tell (from user experience, not scientific testing) edge retention and blade steels in general have been decent. All blades I purchased were sharp outta the box. No chips or rolls even with my cheapo 4116 knife. Then again, I don’t subject my knives to “hard use.”

Those are the pros, what about the cons? Fit and finish on the aesthetic side can be lacking. The spine grind line on my Rajah 3 is a tad uneven and my Leatherneck SF had some scratches. The ridiculous fonts on your blades that scream “RECON TANTO” or “VOYAGER” might throw some folks off (I wish Cold Steel would consider sterile blades). Secure-Ex sheaths are inconsistent; some were okay and some dulled my knives. From a conventional EDC standpoint, the folders are big and heavy.

In summary, they’re dependable user tools from my experience. If you’re looking to impress other folks with your carry, I’d probably look elsewhere. They’re not exactly expensive, so I recommend buying one and trying it for yourself. Happy hunting.
 
Shrub said:
Oh my goodness...
You sir have asked kind of a difficult question to answer honestly and fair.
I'll try to do the best I know how...
From the beginning;
I learned of Cold Steel as a young boy. Somewhere between 9 & 10 years old. My dad is the one who introduced me. Great guy with good taste in knives.
Cold Steel and Spyderco were his favorite makers. He's still got that old USA made Carbon V SRK.
He helped me order the "Proof" videos from the customer service number. I remember being all excited about getting the dvds I'd been waiting for in the mail from CS. I was 10 or 11 then, and watching Lynn kill dead pigs was soooo cool! Lol.
I was a legit mall ninja as a teen. We lived close enough to the local mall that if I didn't have enough gas money to be cool I could bike or even walk. Since so many of my friends hung out there anyway... I was the mall-rat teenager with a Rajah II for edc before the acronym was even cool.lol

That worked out really well for the most part. There was one time though, oh goodness, I hope I don't regret sharing this story with yall... When I was having a bday party at the local park we had a bunch of friends and family there, and a big pinata... I waved my Rajah open to slice the end off of the Popsicle in my hand and I was slicing towards the end of the popsicle. Then mid slice the popsicle slide in my hand and then...
Well, my finger grew back. I still have a nice scar, courtesy of CS.lol
But that's my own fault, not CSs.

So in short, I've loved Cold Steel since I was kid. As so many of our forum brothers have mentioned, just waiting to see what happens to them now that Lynn and Demko are gone. I have high hopes, just because it's CS*(sorta), but I won't be buying any stock in the near future. We'll just wait and see how it turns out and hope for the best.

*Losing Lynn Thompson and Andrew Demko and calling it Cold Steel feels about as right as right as calling a pink princess powerwheels a muscle car.
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When I first got my Espada XL, I was used to waving only much lighter knives like the Matriarch 2, and being able to wave/slash easily in one movement... I didn't realize that waving the Espada is a whole different ballgame, it's a movement all its own and needs to be done kind of slowly, compared to a lighter knife, to do securely. I know that now, and have deployment down pat, but in my first week of having it... cut my middle finger bad during a half-deployment. Lucky I didn't take the whole tip off! 😂 Cut your finger off, anytime, anywhere!
 
DangerZone98 said:
Excellent user knives that should live in your hand and not in your display stand. To me, they’re affordable user knives that can pretty much eat whatever you throw at them within reason. Whether it be my fixed blades or Tri-Ad folders, all have been 100% reliable in terms of function. As far as I can tell (from user experience, not scientific testing) edge retention and blade steels in general have been decent. All blades I purchased were sharp outta the box. No chips or rolls even with my cheapo 4116 knife. Then again, I don’t subject my knives to “hard use.”

Those are the pros, what about the cons? Fit and finish on the aesthetic side can be lacking. The spine grind line on my Rajah 3 is a tad uneven and my Leatherneck SF had some scratches. The ridiculous fonts on your blades that scream “RECON TANTO” or “VOYAGER” might throw some folks off (I wish Cold Steel would consider sterile blades). Secure-Ex sheaths are inconsistent; some were okay and some dulled my knives. From a conventional EDC standpoint, the folders are big and heavy.

In summary, they’re dependable user tools from my experience. If you’re looking to impress other folks with your carry, I’d probably look elsewhere. They’re not exactly expensive, so I recommend buying one and trying it for yourself. Happy hunting.
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I want to mention that the above bold is an excellent point D DangerZone98 makes, and has always been one of the hugest selling points for me. I have owned knives by virtually every major US maker at one time or another, and often a few to several from each. Without deviation, Cold Steel is the only company whose knives I've purchased where every single one I've ever owned has come to me screaming sharp. Screaming sharp. Good edge geometry, great woods-walking, dorking around chopping into stuff at camp, wood shaving, feathersticking, food prep, slashing cardboard, you name it, I've done it with CS knives. In fact, while I own and enjoy many beautiful production and custom knives, when I'm headed out for a weekend under the trees, the only folders I have with me are Cold Steels. Just one example, my Recon 1 in XHP is still one of the sharpest (and strongest) knives I own. Sharper than all but two or three of my Spydercos, in fact. Just good knives, with good edges, in great steels, all marketed by a crazy madman.

I can't say that for any other maker, not a one. I've gotten plenty of knives from others that were sharpish, but not as hair-popping, receipt paper pushcut slicing sharp as my Cold Steels were.

Just thinking about this irritates me about the GSM thing all over again. :mad:
 
Oldtoolmaker said:
Cold Steel , and the phrase, are part of the knife culture, turned off or on makes no difference
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Yeah, but... it's a thread about what you think of Cold Steel, so, what turns him on or off does in fact....ierno, not make a difference, but, it's what the thread is about. This comment reminds me of when people write "nobody asked your opinion" on public forums like Facebook of Youtube. Btw, I also love the term Cold Steel, it's Scottish.
 
I like Cold Steel pretty and they are often a great value.I love the fact they often have their knives available in both a higher end version and a more budget friendly version.I think it’s hard to beat the SK-5 and the old AUS8 SRK and Recon Tanto for a sub $50 survival knife.if you are looking for a beefy 4” hard use folding knife like the AD-10,AD-15,4 Max,Recon 1,etc are hard to beat,they are usually reasonably priced too..I think they are out of their minds charging $400+ for the G-10+S35VN 4Max,the 3V Recon Scout,the 3V Kukri,etc..on the other hand you can get the Grivory/AUS10 4Max Scout for $100 and the Recon Scout,Trail Master and Kukri will be available in A2 for half as much as the 3V versions..as a lefty I appreciate most of their secure ex sheaths are ambidextrous and are pretty solid factory sheaths in general.I like that Cold Steel offers a wide variety of products as well.they have everything from survival knives to tactical knives to hunting knives to balisong knives to machetes to swords to tomahawks to hatchets to axes to shovels to blowguns.because of all of this,I feel like Cold Steel holds a special place in the knife industry
 
I can't believe I'm making yet another post on this topic, because I've never seen myself as a Cold Steel defender, but I guess here I am. I'll say this: let me know when GSM does what Cold Steel was able to do, and that is sell me an Italian made Master Hunter fixed blade in CPM-3V for $96 (as in, four less than a hundo). I bought mine right from LT himself at the CS table at BLADE a few years ago. I remember at the time being amazed that it was even possible to sell a blade in 3V at that price. I got one of the last ones, as they'd nearly sold them all, and this was Friday afternoon.

I don't think GSM is going to be impressing people like that.
 
Quiet said:
I can't believe I'm making yet another post on this topic, because I've never seen myself as a Cold Steel defender, but I guess here I am. I'll say this: let me know when GSM does what Cold Steel was able to do, and that is sell me an Italian made Master Hunter fixed blade in CPM-3V for $96 (as in, four less than a hundo). I bought mine right from LT himself at the CS table at BLADE a few years ago. I remember at the time being amazed that it was even possible to sell a blade in 3V at that price. I got one of the last ones, as they'd nearly sold them all, and this was Friday afternoon.

I don't think GSM is going to be impressing people like that.
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Wow, love that story!!! Please tell me you got him to sign the knife or the sheath…. or your forehead lol.
 
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