Tai Pan

JAM

JAM

Joined
May 1, 2004
Messages
179
So the big brown truck stopped here today and dropped off a brand new Tai Pan in San Mai. Pretty much what I expected. Beautiful blade, shaving sharp out of the box, all good so far.

After the obligatory period of admiring and fondling a new arrival as is customary on such an occasion, I stropped my new babe up to a screaming sharp, hair flinging, double edged demon fang from hell. Test the sheath? Put it in, test retention. Not too loose, not too tight. Fiddle around, in and out maybe 4 or 5 times. Feel the edge, *&%*!!! Just that was all it took to dull it.

I have a Recon Tanto and a Kobun and have never encountered the dreaded sheath dulling I always hear about from the glass reinforced nylon Secure-ex. Third times the charm I guess. This one's got to go. Looking for a custom kydex guy I guess.
 
The problem you might encounter is kydex can really scratch up the blade... the san mai 3 outer is really soft and scratches if you look at it wrong. I re- finished some of my ones with 400 grit wet and dry paper with a rubber block along the original finish grinds and looks brand new now.... this wont be an issue so much if it's a user, but not sure if a tai pan is a "user"!!!! ;) my trailmaster is reall easy to refinish but its flat ground and finished around 400ish grit. I have not owned a tai pan so YMMY..... just something to keep in mind... maybe leather?
 
What jlauffer said, its the whole point of san mai.... and corrosion protection! hence 420 (knife liner steel) on the sides...

VG1 or VG10 in the middle If it was solid VG10 it wouldn't be the best choice in certain blade styles for hard use ect ect...
 
It varies by model. The SRK doesn't seem to do it; the Kobun sheath only dulls the front half of the blade; the OSS sheath dulls all the blade; the Tai Pan sheath is the worst.
This has been going on a long time. They claim to have fixed it but haven't. The only fix is to take the glass out of the plastic. I don't think anything will change until we start a boycott.
 
I should have got one of the 3V Taipan's :(

As for the sheath issue, I've heard that making your own kydex sheaths is a simple matter when you buy the right tools. It's also not expensive at all.
 
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After allowing the issue to continue, I think that some people will assume that any sharpness issues are the fault of the sheath. This is not necessarily true. My last two CS fixed blades came quite dull, but after sharpening they have retained their edge. Note as well that my last Bark River was also not really sharp, so this is not confined to CS.
 
JAM said:
So the big brown truck stopped here today and dropped off a brand new Tai Pan in San Mai. Pretty much what I expected. Beautiful blade, shaving sharp out of the box, all good so far.

After the obligatory period of admiring and fondling a new arrival as is customary on such an occasion, I stropped my new babe up to a screaming sharp, hair flinging, double edged demon fang from hell. Test the sheath? Put it in, test retention. Not too loose, not too tight. Fiddle around, in and out maybe 4 or 5 times. Feel the edge, *&%*!!! Just that was all it took to dull it.

I have a Recon Tanto and a Kobun and have never encountered the dreaded sheath dulling I always hear about from the glass reinforced nylon Secure-ex. Third times the charm I guess. This one's got to go. Looking for a custom kydex guy I guess.
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Yeah. Cold Steel did say they adressed the issue and made deeper blade bellies to prevent dulling so the issue is old stock. And they will replace it.

But keep in mind that new secure-ex sheath will still have glass so you still have to be careful.

I agree custom kydex is better option.
 
I ordered the kydex and rivets and rivet tool to make my own sheaths. I had to since the original sheaths are unusable junk. At least I can reuse the belt loops which unscrew. Then I'll toss the glass-filled molded sheath parts in the garbage, where they belong. It will be like getting new knives, since right now all my CS fixed blades are unusable shelf queens. No usable sheath = no useable knife.
 
Keep in mind when the average BF member says "unusable sheath", the average knife weilding human being says about the same sheath: "huh, what's the problem?"

I am more than happy with my plastic CS shitty peacemaker III sheath. My custom knife & sheath owning buddy feels ill and embarrassed to be on the same planet as it and puts a curse and plague on Lynn's house about it.

Different strokes.
 
Charlie_K said:
San mai steel is soft?

Well then why does it command such a high price?
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Not only is the core VG10 not soft, I believe it is run harder than usual. Based on the feel and sound of San Mai on diamond waterstones, I'd guess it's at ~hrc 62.
 
Houlahound said:
Keep in mind when the average BF member says "unusable sheath", the average knife weilding human being says about the same sheath: "huh, what's the problem?"

I am more than happy with my plastic CS shitty peacemaker III sheath. My custom knife & sheath owning buddy feels ill and embarrassed to be on the same planet as it and puts a curse and plague on Lynn's house about it.

Different strokes.
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It's true, the low cost CS sheaths are perfectly functional. I tested the cheap looking sheath of my Outdoorsman Lite and it has no fiberglass in it and doesn't dull the knife. The problem is with the Secure-Ex sheaths. They're crap. Some people argue that if you're really careful putting the knife in and taking it out then they won't dull your knife. Unfortunately, just carrying the knife around while in the sheath is enough to dull the blade. Plus eventually you need to take it in and out in a hurry. The only proper place for a Secure-Ex sheath is in a landfill.
Here's another way to look at it. Imagine the sheath were molded out of super strong, super light ceramic like a jet engine turbine blade. would anybody think that would make a good sheath? CS sheath material dulls blades hardly less than if they were pure ceramic. This is the definition of stupid.
 
I actually LIKE the sheaths. All 3 fit perfect, click in and out easy but not too easy, hold the knife securely if you hold it upside down and shake it. Nothing not to love there. I don't care for the nylon belt loop, but I just remove it and use a Bladetech belt attachment for belt carry or just strap it to a backpack which is where my Recon Tanto rides.

Like I said the Recon Tanto and Kobun I have don't do this. But the one on my Tai Pan totally dulls the knife right away.
 
So on Oct 1st I contacted them through the contact form on the Cold Steel site stating the problem and a link to this thread. On the 14th I received a reply that "I have sent this over to the owner, thank you for your email." No word since.
 
That's not how to do things, yet that's the way they do things, this is a bad example of customer service.
 
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