Questions about the Drop Forged Survivalist

I

IaccidentlyCutmyThumb

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Dec 11, 2020
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Hello All! New member, long (very long) time lurker.

I decided recently to order a Drop Forged Survivalist, because darnit if they aren't neat. For some reason they give me a Fallout "Desert Ranger" sort of vibe, and I just can't help but want to go around and poke stuff in the badlands with the clip point. It's on its way to being restocked, so I'm left waiting for a month--which means my mind can run wild with questions in the meantime.

I also know these knives are very tough, but that the handle material under the scales in the modern production has been further milled out to accommodate the scales. Fair enough, the knife looks much more ergonomic than before.

My question is how thick/thin is the knife under the scales? Will that be a potential weak point? I have some equipment that has such thin metal that if you put your index finger and thumb on either side of some steel it feels like the two fingers should be touching, and I do not like that feeling--it does not reinforce confidence. I have read that the screws/bushings are loctited in place, so I don't know if I'll be able to get under there myself to see what's up.

I can't imagine drop forged 52100 would be liable to break, but I do amazingly brutish things with my knives. With a competitor's well known 1095 .25 inch skeletonized tang knife I managed to do some serious spine deformation in my younger, dumber days. I think that knife will eventually break at the weak point, the tang. Now I think about tangs a lot.

I just figured I'd ask both the community and Cold Steel for some input about the area under the tang. I am excited about getting this neat knife.

Thank you to all who reply, looking forward to interacting with BF more.
 
Even if there was no steel under the scales it would still be plenty tough as an open frame handle. I can't think of any knife I have seen break there. That's not where the stress is happening on the knife - think about traditional kukhris, they are big brutal choppers but with narrow tangs
 
fishface5 said:
Even if there was no steel under the scales it would still be plenty tough as an open frame handle. I can't think of any knife I have seen break there. That's not where the stress is happening on the knife - think about traditional kukhris, they are big brutal choppers but with narrow tangs
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Thank you for your reply, but I've seen plenty of the Becker's break right at the transition between skeletonized tang and the blade. It seems to be prominent when batoning, especially if you do it incorrectly and hit behind the wood and closer to the handle. I think I've seen Mr. Becker talk about that several times on this forum. But I appreciate your input. Do you think the kukhri's tang would hold up if you were batoning the crap out of one? I know they're not made for that, but now I'm curious.
 
Huh, I guess it has happened, although I did a Google search and only found one pic of a Becker break in that particular location. I guess it could happen then, but the CS knife handle is thicker and has an integral guard adding to the strength.

I don't know if people baton kuhkris.
 
fishface5 said:
Huh, I guess it has happened, although I did a Google search and only found one pic of a Becker break in that particular location. I guess it could happen then, but the CS knife handle is thicker and has an integral guard adding to the strength.

I don't know if people baton kuhkris.
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Yeah I'm skeptical that the DF Surv. would be liable to break. Any material is better than no material and the handle is technically full. I'm still interested in how thick the remaining metal is, and whether people think the CS products being made right now, like right now right now, are going to be negatively affected by the purchase.

I bought mine through Midway USA and it says it should be in stock by Jan 6 (backordered). I imagine the knives for that order were probably made before the sale, and are just on a boat on their way in right now. They're based in Missouri so I can't imagine the shipping times from Taiwan to there are particularly fast. Still, I'm curious when (if) people think the ship will sink? I hope they keep the larger fixed blades around, but I doubt it. Folders made of cheap crap steel are more profitable.

EDIT: I've actually seen several broken Beckers on this forum, almost all of them the owners fault. If my BK2 breaks it's certainly my fault.
 
That is significantly thicker than I thought. I also wonder about the 90 degree transition between the web and the walls. Only one way to find out, and it requires me being really f'n mean to this knife once it comes in ;)

If you don't mind me asking, how did you find that out?
 
If you cut out that center part entirely , put the knife in a vise with a big lever attached to handle , you might break the blade with crazy force .

Handle would still be the strongest part of the knife .
 
Its plenty thick under the handles theres no way its a weak point. Ive been using the first version w out the scales then the new version for a long time, they are unbeatable for the money; heres a 35+ foot tree i cut down using this knife, i wanted to see if i can do it and it worked
 
IaccidentlyCutmyThumb said:
That is significantly thicker than I thought. I also wonder about the 90 degree transition between the web and the walls. Only one way to find out, and it requires me being really f'n mean to this knife once it comes in ;)

If you don't mind me asking, how did you find that out?
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if the transition is radiused and not true 90 degree it gives back alot of strength and doesn't make it a breaking point.
 
IaccidentlyCutmyThumb said:
That is significantly thicker than I thought. I also wonder about the 90 degree transition between the web and the walls. Only one way to find out, and it requires me being really f'n mean to this knife once it comes in ;)

If you don't mind me asking, how did you find that out?
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I took mine apart a good ways back. I’m might be wrong in the .125” web. Maybe .090” to .125”. But I’m certain it wasn’t paper thin and not moving by pushing on it. Either way the thickness of that handle it ain’t budging without some tremendous force behind it.
 
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TheBorg said:
I took mine apart a good ways back. I’m might be wrong in the .125” web. Maybe .090” to .125”. But I’m certain it wasn’t paper thin and not moving by on it. Either way the thickness of that handle it ain’t budging without some tremendous force behind it.
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You guys are really selling me on this even more than I already was. Gosh I cannot wait to get this knife. I'm really excited to try out 52100. And the scooped out area looked pretty 90 degree ish but obviously I have no hands on time. January 6th cannot come fast enough :)
 
I think that if you tried to break this knife, as in actually tried, it would be a challenge. But why do that? Instead, use it and respect it and you will have one of the greatest survival tools ever made.
 
IaccidentlyCutmyThumb said:
You guys are really selling me on this even more than I already was. Gosh I cannot wait to get this knife. I'm really excited to try out 52100. And the scooped out area looked pretty 90 degree ish but obviously I have no hands on time. January 6th cannot come fast enough :)
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on 90 degree vs radiused I was referring to the broken narrow tangs to blades discussion and quoted the wrong post. I was misleading you unintentionally. on that handle topic of 90 degree it wouldn't really matter.....


think Ibeam sort of. its very different but for a easy to see perspective. having that extra steel in there wouldn't really make it that much stronger just heavier and off balance more. this knife is very strong and breaking it would require doing very stupid things that you'd never do unless ya wanted to break it. hope that makes sense.
 
jbmonkey said:
on 90 degree vs radiused I was referring to the broken narrow tangs to blades discussion and quoted the wrong post. I was misleading you unintentionally. on that handle topic of 90 degree it wouldn't really matter.....


think Ibeam sort of. its very different but for a easy to see perspective. having that extra steel in there wouldn't really make it that much stronger just heavier and off balance more. this knife is very strong and breaking it would require doing very stupid things that you'd never do unless ya wanted to break it. hope that makes sense.
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oh it does for sure! I don't want to be annoying but I-beams do have the radiused transition but I doubt the knife would need it.
 
IaccidentlyCutmyThumb said:
oh it does for sure! I don't want to be annoying but I-beams do have the radiused transition but I doubt the knife would need it.
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yeah think about the torque and twisting you can put on the handle with your hand vs. the weight of a building and its movement. its apples to oranges in engineering so bad discussion. i shouldn't have used it as a talking point

if ya look real hard the edges of the cutout aren't sharp 90s. they are rounded a bit. I still contend it won't matter in this application though. it will be strong enough for what it is being a knife. that's what matters here. if it wasn't we'd be seeing posts galore on breaking at the handle and we dont.
 
It's a heavy duty knife I wouldn't worry about it. I think the only thing you might break is the tip if you try, and like most knives the tip is the fragile spot on the knife. It's a good knife in a good steel especially for the cost. I think if you want a thicker heavier knife the Recon Scout would be it, at least in the blade department. I don't think the RS handle would be as tough as the Survivalist handle though. Good luck and don't worry it's a good knife.
 
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