Vaquero Grande - First Impressions

4 Ranges

4 Ranges

Joined
Apr 5, 2002
Messages
777
Received in 2 days ago. Just when I thought I'd seen the biggest folder to be seen, the CUDA MAXX, I find in my mailbox this monster.

Guys, in terms of size, this one takes the cake. Big, Big, BIG. But what's most intimidating about the knife isn't so much the length of the blade...but it's width and shape. Aside from the fact that it arrived shaving sharp, the profile is just intimidating, from the tip, the curve, all the way to that last serrated section of the blade. Although it is only half an inch longer, blade-wise, than my cuda maxx, the vaquero grande comes off as much more intimidating.

I tested it on the cardboard box that it came in, and it cut effortlessly. I slashed and stabbed, and it went through like it was nothing. Unfortunately, it out-performed the cuda maxx in this department. Not sure why, but it did.

The handle, on the other hand, gets a "satisfactory" mark from me. Yes it's plastic, as everyone knows, and yes it feels cheap. This is where my cuda maxx beats this thing by light years. The blade of the vaquero grande is magnificent, but I'm not so thrilled by the overall construction.

One neato thing that I did like about the knife was the "flick of the wrist" opening. You don't need to press the thumb stud to get this baby going. One flip, and the blade shoots frighteningly out and into place.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the knife (primarily because of design and performance), but the handle construction is only so-so. HIghly recommended.
 
Yes, the VG is big, but even bigger when you consider the number of inches of cutting edge are contained in that curvy blade. Add on top of that the serrations, and that thing can cut.

Hoewever, you will have a tough time explaining to a peace officer that it is your "pocket knife" used to open envelopes and the like. At home in the outdoors though.
 
Geode:

No way in heck am I carrying that thing in NYC! LOL!! As much as I'm tempted to (and I know a couple of peeps who used to), I couldn't even begin to explain that to an LEO.

"er...this box came...and...I had to open it...er...and it had a HUGE ELEPHANT in it...yeah, and the box was HUGE TOO, and I needed my cold steel vaquero grande to open the box and let out the elephant because it was suffocating and..."
 
:) I used to get elephants in the mail too, but the increase in postage rates has made this practice prohibitive. We now raise them in the backyard.
 
The CS Vaquero Grande IS quite a knife, isn't it?.:eek:.

I carry mine in my back pocket, and I guess if a LEO noticed it, I'd tell him/her that I'm really paranoid about being trapped in a burning building, so I carry this large knife in order to have something to cut myself out with.:D.
 
Personally, I like the design of the VG.
What I don't like about it are the Cold Steel serrations. If it came in plain edge, or in Spyderedge :D I would probably have gotten one long ago. Although I think there is a sharpener out there that's made especially to resharpen Cold Steel's serrations.

Cold Steel also has an extra-large clip-point Voyager with a 6-inch blade that has the same handle as the VG.
Jim
 
glockman:

I'm trying to resist the urge to carry that thing. It doesn't help that it carries so well, and is really quite the useful tool.

My favorite thing to do with that knife is just opening it unassisted. Seeing 6 inches of blade open so effortlessly is a thing of beauty.

Glad to see VG fans are alive and well!
 
Originally posted by James Y
Personally, I like the design of the VG.
What I don't like about it are the Cold Steel serrations. If it came in plain edge, or in Spyderedge :D I would probably have gotten one long ago. Although I think there is a sharpener out there that's made especially to resharpen Cold Steel's serrations.
Jim
Click to expand...

Don't knock the serrations of the VG so quickly. I believe that this monster was designed to be a "fighting-folder", and as such, it is excellent, as the Cold Steel serrations are very aggressive in cutting/ripping....Much better for this use, I think, than a plain-edge, as the "ripping action" should leave a wide, NASTY cut that wouldn't close so quickly, and would bleed like Niagara Falls in Winter!.:).

And yes, there are at least a couple of sharpeners made to sharpen the Cold Steel serrations...A Gatco, and I believe, a Lansky.
 
Dann:
I agree, IMO a folder designed as a fighter would be better if equipped with some serrations, as during a stressful situation, due to adrenaline some people do not feel it when they are cut. This may be a bigger problem if the blade is plainedge. The serrations would almost certainly be more immediately painful as well as make a more ripping, ragged cut.

That said, I would still like a knife as a user. If you were forced to use such a monster folder in self-defense, I think you'd be much better off if the knife had a somewhat used look to it. That way it can be explained as a utility knife (or you'd have some argument). If it's a pristine knife, the user would most certainly be said to be carrying solely with malicious intent by the law.
Jim
 
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