Please review my Colt AR-15-K Lockback by UC

Metal-Demon · Oct 16, 2000

It's the knife I use the most in my day-to-day travels. What are the good / bad features of this blade?

Sorry, I don't have a scanner, but the model # is CT-30 in the United Cutlery Colt Listings.

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Belül szívem hibád az örökkévaló erõs vastartalmú sok vasaló és orvosság."

Crushing the weak since 1970 .... the Demon has spoken.

[This message has been edited by Metal-Demon (edited 10-16-2000).]

RH · Oct 17, 2000

I think you'll find most folks on this board put anything by UC a step (at least) below anything they would consider buying. They are probably priced above their quality because of the name branding (same with S&W knives). Try a search in the General & Testing forums on "Colt".

For about the same or a little more $, you could get into a CRKT, Gigand, Buck, or evn a Spyderco.

Danbo · Oct 16, 2000

I would put those knives(and I use the word lightly), one step above the great Franklin Mint specials. Just about anything by Gerber, Cold Steel, Kershaw, CRT, and a lot of others will outperform that knife.

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Danbo, soul brother of Rambo

db · Oct 16, 2000

Since you have and use this knife wouldn't you be the best one to review it? Why don't you tell us how it works out for you and give us the review?

storyville · Oct 16, 2000

Ditto DB what are its good and bad features for you?

"Newbies" usually arrive timidly seeking to learn. But you can probably teach us a thing or two, as well.

If youre asking folks to compare production cos reputations, then UC/Colts offerings wont fare well here. And while I agree that you can probably get a better knife by paying a little more, its worth noting that you can also do worse by paying a lot more.

Welcome to the strange world of Blade Forums!

Glen

Chang · Oct 17, 2000

The auto versions are fun to play with though. However, for serious heavy work, I wouldn't use it. Lock back notch is too shallow and the blade steel is really soft and loses its edge relatively quickly. The AR-15K's automatic siblings are fun to play with, and worth the $50 or so that you pay for them, but the manual action .... I would consider getting a CRKT Point Guard or something else to replace it.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus

Metal-Demon · Oct 20, 2000

Ugh ..... how embarassing.

I guess I didn't do a very good job in selecting a knife, now did I?

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Belül szívem hibád az örökkévaló erõs vastartalmú sok vasaló és orvosság."

Crushing the weak since 1970 .... the Demon has spoken.

Metal-Demon · Oct 20, 2000

Ugh ..... how embarassing.

I guess I didn't do a very good job in selecting a knife, now did I?

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Belül szívem hibád az örökkévaló erõs vastartalmú sok vasaló és orvosság."

Crushing the weak since 1970 .... the Demon has spoken.

Archie · Oct 20, 2000

Metal-Demon, while a lot of people would agree with you that you didn't do so well, most of the people here will admit to at point owning and using the same low-end knives that they now snub.

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Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of '04

Paracelsus · Oct 20, 2000

The MOST important thing, M-D, is that you carry and use a knife. All of us started out with relatively inexpensive knives. I carried a Gerber LST (about $20) for fifteen years before I realized that owning a more expensive, but better designed knife would make my life easier, more convenient, and fun. Some of us find the amount that we are willing to pay for a using knife has moved into the hundreds of dollars range. You don't need to spend much more than $50 from any of the quality companies named above to realize a significant increase in performance and satisfaction.

UC blades are made from very low grade steel, and will not hold an edge well. United Cutlery sells a lot of knives to people who have no real appreciation for how much better a well made knife can perform.

You asked a question, and have received several similar answers. These forums are wonderful for sharing information and developing new interests. There is no shame in being ignorant as long as you want to learn. Cheers!

Paracelsus

Velitrius · Oct 20, 2000

Hey M-D, you did just fine. Nothing to be embarassed about.

It's just that the people around here are knife enthusiasts. We USE THE HELL out of 'em and want them to perform. Others collect them for their value, others just because they just like 'em. If that Colt does everything YOU need it to do, then I guess it was the right choice.

But if you want ot upgrade, then you go and post how much money ya got and what you want your knife to do, and you will have dozens of willing and knowledgeable advisors to help you find a good knife in whatever price range you can deal with. Heck, there's probably a good deal on just what you want in one of the "For Sale" forums right now.

At least you didn't go out and blow $35K on a 4 wheel drive that will never leave pavement. Now THAT is embarassing.

Metal-Demon · Oct 21, 2000

Once again, I defer to the sage-like wisdom of my "mentors" Paracelsus and Velitrius ..... thank-you both for making the Great Northern Demon feel alot less stupid!

When I reflect back on the day that I bought the Colt, I must say that the price and style of the knife were THE two deciding factors that caused me to choose that particular blade for purchase. Although I can't give a definitive review of the blade, i can say that I like the look, feel, weight, and style of the knife ..... now if I could only get the damn thing to stay sharp for more than a week a time .....

.

Learning from ones mistakes is vital for any type of progress to occur, and judging by the huge error I made in purchasing an inferior knife, leads me to believe that I have learnt quite alot already!

Thank-you Bladeforums!!

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Belül szívem hibád az örökkévaló erõs vastartalmú sok vasaló és orvosság."

Crushing the weak since 1970 .... the Demon has spoken.

Chang · Oct 21, 2000

M-D, don't worry about it. The Colt's are low-end, but usable knives. There are a lot better knives out there, but that doesn't mean the Colt isn't usable. Don't be embarassed, I carried something lower end for a while as well (Gerber EZ-Out). It cut fine, even though the steel was a little soft and the lock wasn't all that great.

In fact, some of us started with made in China cheapo's. My first knife was $3 lockback, all "stainless steel". The only reason why I am here today is because I wanted a better knife. If I had received a first knife such as a Buck knife or something average/good, I wouldn't be so curious. My knife "needs" would have been fulfilled right there. Instead, I had a $3 piece of junk that simply wouldn't cut it, and I discovered Buck, Gerber, Benchmade, Microtech, Junglee, CRKT, etc. as a result of it.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus

MAURICE · Oct 21, 2000

at one time i thought those pakistan and chinese knives were good (the 2 dollar ones at the flea market).i learned my lesson.
i DO like playing with a colt auto though.i thought it was fun,all autos are.
but i've moved on to greener pastures.

Razoredj · Oct 21, 2000

I've said many times that are no bad knives -- and barring knives that are actually unsafe because their locks don't work properly, I stand by that statement. Perhaps I'm a bit perverse in the pursuit of my knife hobby, but I actually enjoy low-end or even dirt-cheap knives. I can abuse these in ways I would never treat my more expensive, quality blades, and for the most part they take the abuse and keep on working. Sure, you have to sharpen them a lot more, and they don't have the feel or the walk and talk of the nicer stuff, but I think United Cutlery and its even poorer Chinese and Paki brethren have a real place in the knife continuum.

But then, I believe I'm one of the few people on these boards to actually state, without benefit of torture or mind altering drugs, that, for what you pay versus what you get, there are times when I actually like Frost Cutlery.

Razor

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AKTI #A000845
And tomorrow when you wake up it will be worse.

Metal-Demon · Oct 21, 2000

Comrade Chang, Maurice, and Razoredj: Thank-you for the vote of confidence! I doubt that I'll ever get rid of my Colt folder (I'm somewhat of a sentimentalist) but I'll surely view it in an entirely different light from now on!

MAURICE · Oct 21, 2000

in the above post i said that i used to like the cheap knives.i still DO LIKE THEM.they do take a lot of abuse for what you pay(theres another thread on this somewhere).
i especially like the cheap balisongs.they're good for practice and rough use.i got one a few months ago,and the pin just now broke.i only paid ten bucks ofr it,so im not too upset,besides,i can fix it.

~MAURICE
lover of fine low quality knives.

Chang · Oct 21, 2000

United Cutlery is at least a usable safe enough knife. Frost Cutlery on the other hand.... that thing ain't safe! The locks on the Frost Cutlery are extremely weak, the handles are cheap, and the stop pins aren't firmly embedded. The pocket clips aren't secure either (they wobble around and sometimes rotate out). My brother misplaced his EDI, and I was about to give him a Frost Cutlery as punishment, but I decided even that would be too harsh a punishment. Also, many of them border on illegal. One of my Frost Cutlery knives had no ball detent, and could be easily opened as a gravity knife (light flick of the wrist). If I had been stopped by a policeman for jaywalking or something and searched, then I could have been in big trouble for carrying that knife. The Colt AR-15 (manual, not automatic) wouldn't give me such a risk though.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus

Chang · Oct 21, 2000

BTW, did I mention how the pivot pin flew out of the Frost Cutlery knife when my brother used it to open a cardboard box?

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus

Razoredj · Oct 21, 2000

Comrade Chang,

Can you describe the knife? Did it have a model name?

I must admit I have not experienced the same problems with Frost, though perhaps it's all luck of the draw. I only have three examples to go by:

I have an old Frost Cat Skinner (a small fixed blade knife with a curved blade that contains a large hole for the index finger) that is sturdy and has a blade (made in Japan) of reasonably good steel -- not high performance, and I have to sharpen it often enough, but not Chinese or Paki quality... The sheath is of good quality leather.

I also have a Frost Cutlery WidowMaker (it's a really dumb name) -- a folding lockback with a large, double-sided brass guard. It locks firmly, though it doesn't have the smoothest opening action. The leather snap-closure pouch has a metal spring clip.

And I have another small Frost lockback (with purty honeycomb bone handle) that takes an extremely sharp edge and also locks open firmly. No trouble with that one, though I haven't used it much. (There are so many knives, and so little time...!

)

All in all, Frost has never given me a reason to complain, though I admit I've never expected much and therefore have had little about which to be disappointed.

Razor

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AKTI #A000845
And tomorrow when you wake up it will be worse.

[This message has been edited by Razoredj (edited 10-21-2000).]