Cold Steel Knives
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- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Messages
- 1,272
I'm not "calling other companies out". I just thought it was really interesting.
We do a great deal of testing here at Cold Steel. Much of it is never released to the public.
It's interesting to see a member of the knife buying public making his own tests (I try to watch every review and test that I can) and I was intrigued by the results.
Our PROOF videos have always been available for anyone to see. They show extreme use and abuse of our product and we are very proud of them.
Many of the feats shown in our videos were initially inspired by tests conducted by the American Bladesmith's Society. Lynn had a lot of admiration for the tests that they performed and the amazing knives that they produced.
You may remember that in the 80's our tantos had to pass the tests created by the Bladesmith's Society. We took great pride in that.
PROOF was essentially a continuation of those tests.
Remember, we were asking for over $100 for a knife - that was a lot of money! - and we wanted to prove to everyone why we believed that our product was worth that expense.
Every time we make PROOF we try to invent new and interesting ways to test our stuff. Over the years these tests have varied but some things have remained a constant.
We believe that a sharp knife should be a strong knife - and that we shouldn't just make a knife for the every day tasks but for the extraordinary situations too. We want to make knives that can not only open your mail or slice your apple but that can be there for you and save your life in a pinch.
It's a big ask for a folding knife and it's something we feel very strongly about.
Shock and over strike tests aren't there for the day-to-day use of a knife (I still carry my Grandfather's old slipjoint that serves admirably in many of those chores), they are there for the SHTF moments that you never expect and I pray you never experience.
Sadly though, these things happen and I take comfort in knowing that I have a knife in my pocket that is equal to those challenges.
Now, this is worth clarifying - PROOF is also made to entertain as well as educate. We have fun making these videos and though we are very serious about our products we don't take ourselves too seriously.
We've actively been involved in multiple "spoofs" of what we do (meat bike anyone?) and some of the things in our official videos are actually in-jokes.
For example the "pose" with the knife after cutting came from back in the day when we only had one camera. Lynn, Robert and the rest of the guys had to stand still while we filmed a close up of the edge of the knife.
Now we have multiple cameras and they still strike those poses
Maybe we should start including a blooper reel where people can see how often they laugh making these videos? There is much more of a sense of humor here than the haters may realize.
By making our own company President and his crew the "faces" of these videos we have of course opened them up to ridicule from armchair critics and trolls, but when we began this journey it was a small team testing their own products in their parking lot. Beating on their knives to see what would happen - Not very different from the user videos on youtube today...
I hope that helps explain a few things and it wasn't too much of a rant
Also, regarding your warranty question - well, it's hard to say. It would be judged entirely on the situation. It's rare that any of our products fail, but if it did we would do everything we could to try and help.
We do a great deal of testing here at Cold Steel. Much of it is never released to the public.
It's interesting to see a member of the knife buying public making his own tests (I try to watch every review and test that I can) and I was intrigued by the results.
Our PROOF videos have always been available for anyone to see. They show extreme use and abuse of our product and we are very proud of them.
Many of the feats shown in our videos were initially inspired by tests conducted by the American Bladesmith's Society. Lynn had a lot of admiration for the tests that they performed and the amazing knives that they produced.
You may remember that in the 80's our tantos had to pass the tests created by the Bladesmith's Society. We took great pride in that.
PROOF was essentially a continuation of those tests.
Remember, we were asking for over $100 for a knife - that was a lot of money! - and we wanted to prove to everyone why we believed that our product was worth that expense.
Every time we make PROOF we try to invent new and interesting ways to test our stuff. Over the years these tests have varied but some things have remained a constant.
We believe that a sharp knife should be a strong knife - and that we shouldn't just make a knife for the every day tasks but for the extraordinary situations too. We want to make knives that can not only open your mail or slice your apple but that can be there for you and save your life in a pinch.
It's a big ask for a folding knife and it's something we feel very strongly about.
Shock and over strike tests aren't there for the day-to-day use of a knife (I still carry my Grandfather's old slipjoint that serves admirably in many of those chores), they are there for the SHTF moments that you never expect and I pray you never experience.
Sadly though, these things happen and I take comfort in knowing that I have a knife in my pocket that is equal to those challenges.
Now, this is worth clarifying - PROOF is also made to entertain as well as educate. We have fun making these videos and though we are very serious about our products we don't take ourselves too seriously.
We've actively been involved in multiple "spoofs" of what we do (meat bike anyone?) and some of the things in our official videos are actually in-jokes.
For example the "pose" with the knife after cutting came from back in the day when we only had one camera. Lynn, Robert and the rest of the guys had to stand still while we filmed a close up of the edge of the knife.
Now we have multiple cameras and they still strike those poses
Maybe we should start including a blooper reel where people can see how often they laugh making these videos? There is much more of a sense of humor here than the haters may realize.
By making our own company President and his crew the "faces" of these videos we have of course opened them up to ridicule from armchair critics and trolls, but when we began this journey it was a small team testing their own products in their parking lot. Beating on their knives to see what would happen - Not very different from the user videos on youtube today...
I hope that helps explain a few things and it wasn't too much of a rant
Also, regarding your warranty question - well, it's hard to say. It would be judged entirely on the situation. It's rare that any of our products fail, but if it did we would do everything we could to try and help.
