What of the Cold Steel War Head?

C

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I bought three of these guys from Cold Steel and I'm more impressed with them than I was the G.I. Tanto, which I also like. They feel more like a short sword and come ground to a razor sharp double edge. They seem like they could pull double duty as both a knife and as a mini-machete. For survival use, they appear to be excellent choices. Oh, and I also like the solid handles viz the paracord wrap.

Anyone have any first hand experience with them?

specpro_2033_1975937

The War Head

specpro_2033_2041200

The G.I. Tanto
 
That line would be more interesting to me if they made different blade shapes. They only make the tanto and the double edged ones. If they made some sort of clip point or drop point I would probably buy it.
 
SaMX said:
That line would be more interesting to me if they made different blade shapes. They only make the tanto and the double edged ones. If they made some sort of clip point or drop point I would probably buy it.
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Yea, what he said.

I am not a fan of the Tanto blade, or the double edged blade.
 
I see neither an advantage nor a disadvantage in having a tanto blade, but I do like double bladed knives. In the War Head's case, having the blades makes hacking vines and brush easier. The tanto seems sharp and well suited for routine cutting and for penetration.

Hopefully, there will be more blade designs. Still, I wondered if anyone had tried either knife in the field.
 
I had one of the original Carbon V War Heads. Impressively sharp and heavy piece of steel. I wrapped the handle in rawhide a'la native American (I took the "styled after a trade Knife" story seriously, I guess).

I wish I had kept it, as it had great giggle factor (and that adds much enjoyment to ownership).
 
SaMX said:
That line would be more interesting to me if they made different blade shapes. They only make the tanto and the double edged ones. If they made some sort of clip point or drop point I would probably buy it.
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I agree. If they made something like a clip point bowie-style blade I would get one for sure.

How do those war heads work for throwing?
 
Like you guys I am not a fan of the "american-tanto", but the GI, in my opinion is an excellent knife, it performs really well (I' ve sharpened mine with a Norton water stone 8000 and the edge holding capability of the GI really impressed me during chopping, batoning & carving).

Here is my GI:
Coldsteelgi6.jpg


It is the old model (the cord wrapped), I cutted the dorsal guard, put a lanyard hole (from the new photos it seems that the new models have the hole for the lanyard) & rewrapped the handle with bicycle rubber & a Strider-like wrapping.
If you want to modify your GI, be sure to not mess-up the heat-treat, so use water to not heat up the blade while you modify it.
In general the GI is an awesome beater, it' s tough & reliable and the edge-holding it' s good (but I sharpen mine with extremely fine stones to maximize the edge holding capability in chopping-batoning situations & to make the edge "chip-resistant").
The cons are that the sheath is a little bit too crude (in fact I use an after-market sheath for my GI) and the finish (the borders, the grind...) of the GI are raw (but the paint on the blade is tough & resistant).
So in my opinion the GI is really a good choice if you want a cost-effective knife, that you can use without problems in hard-work, but not pretend it to be "pretty" because the "fit & finish" is raw (= perfectly fine in working, but estetically not good), so if you are a collector (but I doubt that collectors are the "marketing target" of the GI) be aware of the fit & finish but if want a user knife the GI is really a good knife: tough, reliable, cost effective & performing :thumbup:
 
I have two tanto-shaped blades in my collection---a Cold Steel Master Tanto that holds enormous sentimental value to me, and a Spyderco Bob Lum Tanto folder. That being said, I cannot admit to being a massive fan of the Americanized tanto point. It is inherently harder to sharpen than a conventional edge, and doesn't lead well to flowing cuts. It might be slightly sturdier for penetration duties, but most of my chores don't necessitate penetrating materials---they involve delicate point work, precise cuts, and good flow of the edge.

I would consider buying a clip- or drop-point variant more than a tanto, but it does fit Cold Steel's "legacy" of producing the Americanized tanto. Lynn might have thought it more appropriate to have an economical tanto in his catalog for those that can't afford the Recon Tanto. Who knows? The company's business strategy has been discussed enough around here. :D

Congrats on your new knives, that War Head does look like quite a thrower.
 
Double-sided spear-point blades (aka daggers) are designed to have strong tips primarily for thrusting and are mostly impractical for slicing and cutting. Having a spine gives you something use your thumb for leverage or to baton with.

I suppose if you have a job where you are stabbing open boxes or packing materials would be about the only exception. I carried a small Gerber backup in my pre-BFC years and it sucked for pretty much any normal use.

A dagger is definitely a specialized-purpose knife and is impractical for EDC.
 
The American tanto is a bit difficult to sharpen, but once it's sharpened, I find it to be an excellent cutter. The War Head would make a formidable weapon in the wilderness, even against animals. It also chops very much like a machete, though it's a light weight and lacks a spine. In places you don't want to wear a gun, this thing will probably be worth having with you. I also like the G.I. Tanto, though I prefer the beefy grips.
 
Deadhead Archer said:
Double-sided spear-point blades (aka daggers) are designed to have strong tips primarily for thrusting and are mostly impractical for slicing and cutting. Having a spine gives you something use your thumb for leverage or to baton with.

I suppose if you have a job where you are stabbing open boxes or packing materials would be about the only exception. I carried a small Gerber backup in my pre-BFC years and it sucked for pretty much any normal use.

A dagger is definitely a specialized-purpose knife and is impractical for EDC.
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I think this comment is mostly knife specific.

I have a "dagger" style knife (more of a short sword along the lines of a gladious) that is approx 1/4 inch thick with a blade 2.5 inches wide. This "dagger" cuts and chops pretty well.

The issue is blade geometry.
 
orthogonal1 said:
I think this comment is mostly knife specific.

I have a "dagger" style knife (more of a short sword along the lines of a gladious) that is approx 1/4 inch thick with a blade 2.5 inches wide. This "dagger" cuts and chops pretty well.

The issue is blade geometry.
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Yeah a short sword with more significant forward weight probably would behave differently. I agree the Gerber Backup is a cheap POS too, but from it I discovered that not having the ability to choke up on the spine of the blade limits the usefulness of it to me.

The overall design typically is meant for thrusting and not as much for cutting tasks.
 
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The blade edges on my War Head are frighteningly sharp and the balance is phenomenal. I imagine it would dice a tomato quite well, plus it would cut vines very well. I believe this knife is one of the really great sleepers around.
 
I think a lot of you guys are underestimating a good knife. In fact, I think every emergency kit should have a War Head in it. It's light, well balanced, sharp as hell and inexpensive. It's comfortable to hold and it has the best attributes of a knife and a machete. It's excellent for slashing, stabbing, cutting vines and can even slice tomatoes if you need to. The only thing it does poorly is prying. It won't pry.
 
I have a couple of these knives,I think it is a good knife...especially for the price:DIn my case let me say that are easy to sharpen...for the simple reason that you need to sharpen two straight linie. I find it much more difficult to sharpen a curved blade:)Some thought and many pic in herehttp://knifetest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27
 
I have some of the G.I. Tantos. They're a great bargain, too, though a bit kludgy to hold and use. The War Head is large and I like the grips better than the paracord.

ColdSteelWarHead_2.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Someone needs to strip the handle and mount it as a spear. :D
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Exactly what I did.

Several years back I receivied one as a gift; it was the original version (I believe it had two "lashing notches" instead of one).

I lashed it to a stout but somewhat flexible shaft (cannot recall, beech perhaps) using a lenght of 550. After repeated throws and thrusts into various plywoods/particle board/etc. the point/edge showed very little wear. The cord became loose so I reinfirced it with thin snare-type wire. I continued and was unable to break or seriously dame the double-edged blade.

Personally, I am not a CS fan but this sample definitely stood up to a lot of abuse.
 
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