Quality of ColdSteel?

I like their Carbon V Master Hunter its one of my knives that gets Hair popping sharp and keeps an edge...but its ugly. I like their Pendleton Fixed blade in Aus8 great blade pattern, I don't know if this one had an unusually good heat treat or they're all like this but it is Very very good. Better than the VG 10 ? that replaced it, even though it is supposed to be a superior steel. Their higher end folders are all, IMHO too heavy but built like tanks ( I don't own any but some friends do.
 
mongomondo said:
I love my Voyager clip point, well made and strong. Pocket clip is terrible though.
Click to expand...

After carrying my Voyager for 5 years, I finally decided to do something about that annoying clip....I removed it, and used a cut-off wheel on my Dremel to remove the last 1/4 inch or so, right at the end of the U-shaped dip close to the end.(I removed the little angled-down part that always gets hung up when you go to insert the knife in your pocket)
After taping off the rest of the knife with a couple layers of painter`s tape, I left the part of the handle that was under the clip exposed. Using the drum sander on the Dremel, I ground down all the diamond-shaped points, then mixed up a small amount of 2-part epoxy, and applied it to the ground-down area. When dry, I wet-sanded it with some 400-grit paper to smooth it out and give it a satin finish. Then, I played around with the clip position, moving it as close to the end of the handle as possible, drilled new holes, and re-mounted it. The result made a huge difference....the trimmed-off clip, combined with the now-smooth handle area under it, makes insertion and extraction a very smooth (but still secure) proposition, and the repositioning now lets the knife ride *very* low in the pocket....less than a half-inch is exposed above the pocket line, and in black pants, it becomes damn near invisible from 2 feet away. A mod that was well worth the effort.

Addendum: Almost forgot....I`m using some jeweler`s files in an attempt to cut some simple jimping on the spine, but it`s slow going....this blade is *hard*.... :-)
 
Last edited:
Just like everybody said, once you can move past their (frankly) immature copy, most of the stuff you'll find there is good.

You should try some of the really cheap fixed blades and machetes (you can get some of them for around $10) and they're pretty good for the money.
 
I have a few CS knives, and I am very happy with everything I have bought from them.

I tend to agree with some of the other posters, however. Their low and mid range stuff is a pretty good value (decent materials and construction), but their "premium" stuff is somewhat overpriced compared to similar quality high-end knives from other makers.

YMMV of course. ;)
 
most of the steels used in my cold steel knives are very good , the have some interesting stuff, like push knives, spikes, swords, and so on, overall, i like their knives and have some, that never dissapointed me
the aus 8 in my recon 1 gets wicked sharp and stays like that for a long time, and i use it on cutting plastics, and some wood when im out in the forest...
the shovel i bought has served me well at digging holes, chopping small trees and branches, i have a canadian belt knife in the kitchen, the SRK in their old carbon V holds a great edge and stands for a lot of abuse, ; also the GI tanto has hold well
i have an urban pal on my keys, great little knife :D , a ti lite in zytel with a very good/secure liner lock,
overall, their knives are not very ergonomic, somewhat bulky, but they are good , reliable, strong tools, and most of them are not very expensive
 
I think for the price it's hard to beat the Japanese made Voyager/Gunsite series. The few CS knives I have are excellent performers. I have never had to call on their customer service but from what i've read on here it sounds good.
 
crom said:
I think for the price it's hard to beat the Japanese made Voyager/Gunsite series.
Click to expand...

I liked them best when they had the molded clips. The new ones are simply to difficult to get in and out of my pocket.
 
I've been into Cold Steel products lately. I got into knives when I
registered on this site in 07 and saw all the negative comments about
the owner and quality of their products. Man, what I've been missing!
I've bought about 8 of their machetes(I should get the 18in. Barong today in the mail) over the last few months and I love them. I own a Recon folder that's been flawless, a large Voyager, a large and small Ti Lite and a Special Forces Shovel :D.

I want a Trailmaster so bad but I want to wait until the Taiwan made SK5 version comes out this summer.

Don't fall for the high brow attitude by many on this site(yes I've owned $200 + knives), try them out,
you will like them!
 
I'm fan of Cold Steel, I own Recon 1 folders, SRK in AUS8A and in CarbonV, trailmasters in San Mai and Carbon Steel, Recon Scouts in San Mai and Carbon Steel and the Military R1 in San Mai, all of them are excellent tools.
For bushcraft activities the SRK is my best option.
Go for them.
L.
 
Wow only one negative in 32 replies, any post about CS products usually stats and ends in a flamewar, it's nice to see an intelligent dialog about the knives and not the personallities.

BTW I own several CS products from the earliest pieces made, an original Urban Pal Push Dagger to a Ti Lite and I like 'em all and they service me quite well for the price, I can't complain.
 
I have a plain-edge XL Voyager, SRK (in Carbon V), Bushman, Pocket Bushman, City Stick, Ball-head War Club, 1908 Indian Cavalry Saber, and two Sjamboks (one original style, one new). I like their stuff as a whole, though agree that their marketing is ridiculous and their higher-end models are overpriced.
 
I'm not what you would call (a hansome man) ,but I've been through a lot of knives. I usually bid on ones I like, fondle them, love them for a short time, and put em up for later. Last year at our family reunion I rolled out a bunch of collectables in a large knife roll, and offered one to each family member interested in a knife (I've got 13 brothers & sisters + umpteen dozen sons ,daughters of theirs+ cousins, in-laws -out laws). My first thoughts of collecting , happened to be the Cold Steel, yrs ago. I bought a cold steel knife at a now defunct outlet. I liked it so much, I gave it to my brother ,on my next trip home. What was so impressive, was the blade had mass and was super sharp right out of the box.
 
Last edited:
Some of their knives are great, some aren't. The Recon Scout is one of my favorite fixed Blades. However, they make a lot of designs that I do not like, nor would I really want to try. It depends on if the knives fit your taste or not. They aren't the "best" but they definitely are not the worst. It's all in ones tastes ;)
 
I have a lot of their folders (about 20) and 2 Spikes (my wife carries these in her handbags) and a R1 Military Classic in AUS8. All came really sharp and I've never had problems.
They're very popular in South Africa for all sorts of uses.
I've used some of their older models with 440A blades and found them to hold an edge really well (Pro-lite, Nite-force). The Voyager series are real value for money.
I handled a Black Rhino recently. Very nicely made but a bit expensive. There's a lot of competition in that price range.

They definitely fill a niche and IMHO the knife world would be a poorer place without them.
 
Masteroffajitas said:
How would you guys rate the quality of CS work? How's the warranty, and how are the people at customer service?
Click to expand...

The quality is pretty good, if you ask me. The warranty is only 1/5 years for folders/fixed blades, respectively.

Masteroffajitas said:
How does the tri-ad lock hold up? Is it like a modified compression lock?
Click to expand...

It's probably one of, if not, THE strongest locks. I think the Espada held some 600 lbs :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64MdLjeDfbA

Masteroffajitas said:
How's thier VG-1? Is it similar to VG-10? What about thier AUS-8? SK5 carbon? Krupp 4116?
Click to expand...

I have no experience with it, but it's no VG-10. I think it's a step above AUS-8/A
 
J.Mattson said:
I liked them best when they had the molded clips. The new ones are simply to difficult to get in and out of my pocket.
Click to expand...

If you`re the tinkering type, and aren`t afraid to modify that knife a little, there ARE other possibilities....see Post# 22 above....
 
I've always been a big fan of Cold Steel - Carbon V Trailmaster, Bushman, Laredo, Recon Tanto, Ghurka Kukri; their older push dagger (the longer one); five 1917 Cutlasses; two machetes; and at least one each of their tomahawks (several I have more than one of) and various axes. While I don't have any experience with the newer steels, I can echo most of the folks here and say that, as long as you don't pay retail, you'll be pleased with your purchase. Check the internet; watch out for their sales. They'll serve you well.

One other thing...their tomahawks and axes are an absolute hoot to modify. Look in the Ax and Hawk forum...you'll find a number of folks who bought them and modded them - nice looking! The steel is decent...nothing special, but easy to work with; and the price is low. I personally feel the same way about their 1917 Cutlass...while I agree with the comments here about most of the "finished" swords; I'd say that the Cutlass is their best sword, and well worth getting. It's a single piece of steel from butt to tip; fairly easy to remove the scales and basket. Then, you can mod it however you want. The steel is very basic - not any kind of supersteel - but it's definitely functional. As with all their swords, it's a bit blade-heavy; but that aids in the chop. If you don't like that, you can thin it pretty easily. Look for 4th of July and Christmas sale flyers....I got three of my cutlasses for $300 off one of their Christmas sale flyers- $100 each...they are definitely worth that. Even if you don't mod them, you'll have a fine short infantry saber. My next purchase will be some of their spears.

Sorry...two other things. They have really cool "exotic" toys; stuff you won't find in such a concentrated cluster anywhere else. I've got ten of their "Honeycomb" brushes (Grivory spike inside the brush); and I've given about ten more as gifts. The sjambok whips, canes, Zytel and Grivory blades, kubatons...I love all their "exotic" stuff; and their blowguns are the best that I've ever owned. I also have some of the smaller 40 caliber dart guns you can find in Bud K's catalog - no comparison at all.

And every experience of mine with their customer service has been wonderful.

I don't get overly worked up about marketing...everybody markets their products in some way; and there will always be someone who doesn't like it. Why waste time getting torqued about it?

Give them a shot...I think that you'll be pleased.

BK86
 
Last edited:
I heard bad things, bought one of their folders anyways, and it turned out to be disappointing.
They don't really offer anything I'm interested in that I couldn't get somewhere else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top