Why do I hate Cold Steel?

midnight flyer said:
I saw many posts about how awful the pocket clip was, so I was on board when I got my American Lawman. I took an old piece of sandpaper and sanded the G10 a bit under the clip immediately (whew!) and then opend the clip a bit to my satisfaction. Problem solved. I know, 5 minutes of my life I won't get back.
Robert
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Yeah, this ^... Gotta be perfect out of the box? All you so called mechanics out there: use your skills on a 5 minute "make it work for me" modification. I watched all the videos on disc and was amused. I take clips off knives and solve the wear and tear problem and stiffness problem. Yeah, 5 minute fix!
 
I have several CS blades. I wouldn't go as far as saying I hate them but, I definitely do have some issues w/ their products and advertising gimmicks.

Just off the top of my head, one example of each would be...

Product Gripe: KYDEX, KYDEX, KYDEX AAANND YOU GUESSED IT...MORE KYDEX. :mad:

Not everyone is in love w/ the plastic sheath trend that seems to be sweeping the mass-production portion of the knife industry, I am one of these unindoctrinated (is that a word?) weirdos...SORRY GANG. :rolleyes: (and yes, no matter by what cool sounding name you want to give it...plastic is plastic)

Remember the good old days of thick double-stitched black leather or thick double-stitched HQ nylon? What was so wrong w/ that? They may have required slightly more care but, at least you weren't rattling all over the place or possibly breaking retention tabs after some alternating temp. wear & tear.

Advertising Gripe: For a company that markets themselves as having some of the strongest knives in the industry, I sure do see A LOT of convenient camera cutaways, fade-outs and other types of suspiciously edited video in their filmed abusive testing presentations. :confused:

Anyways, it's still not enough to put me off CS as a customer as I do like many of their blade designs and even wish they would resurrect some previously discontinued models. Yes, I like mall-ninja looking fare...SUE ME. :cool:
 
I don't really have an issue with anyone's marketing; it would never be a deciding factor for me. I've never met Lynn Thompson and I don't care to meet him, so how he comes off in a video (or someone's opinion of him) would never be a deciding factor (unless he did something horrible, like if it was found that buying a CS knife was supporting Taiwanese child labor or something). I would also not be embarrassed to be caught carrying the same knife some fat guy destroyed a pig carcass on youtube with. Those ads are purely comedy to me.

I really like the 4max, sr1, recon 1, code 4, ultimate hunter, American Lawman, ak-47 (fixed), master hunter, srk, and a few others. The rest I don't care for so much, but that's more than enough for me to think highly of a company. They offer some really good HARD USE folders and fixed blades at reasonable prices. The code 4 is all metal construction, tri-ad lock, CTS XHP and is just over $60 on amazon/ebay. The STOUT ak-47 field knife in CPM 3V is $118 or so. Many people say that the tri-ad lock is overkill and it's a pain. To me, so is the idea of getting a flu shot, or a top notch security system for your house. It's really easy to say "you'll never need that" when there's no way to tell either way. You never know when the day will come where you're glad your knife has such solid lockup, and it's simply that much more durable.
 
I really don’t love/hate any knife companies. Some Fortune 500 companies are a different story. I find a lot of value in Cold Steel folders. The American Lawman and Recon 1 are great knives. I would recommend their folders to any non knife nut looking for a blade. The term “Hard Use”folder is a marketing ploy but the Triad lock is the real deal. I have never been impressed by their fixed blades though.
 
I have several CS fixed blades.

They are okay.

Some are 'overbuilt' - some not.

Quite like my old CS Carbon V Master Hunter.
 
Wowbagger said:
Probly worth watching some of Lynn's videos where he talkes about his child hood and why he does what he does. I'm not so much defending him but at least you can see where he is coming from.

I have many CS knives but I definitly lean toward the work knives and not toward the swords and mayhem stuff.
I don't know . . .Thompson and the boys make some good stuff, they are passionate about it . . . if it was all crappy knives and hype it would be different but they do a good job for me. Designs that work and heat treats that can carve burs off mild steel and not ever chip on me . . .
I'll at least defend that.
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Hate is a strong word, but, being that I haven't been 12 years old for many decades, I don't care for their marketing. I also didn't care that they registered a term as old as the world(San mai®) and use that to bully the knife community around; never liked bullies.
However, after receiving one of their knives, a Code 4 in tanto grind and XHP steel, I can't deny the value for money they bring to the table and I have to respect that.
 
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SharpieB said:
Those are basically the only CS models I have any interest in.:thumbsup:
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If you want a quality outdoor/work knife look at the Ultimare Hunter. If I did such things, it might be the ultimate bush craft knife . Like all of the knives mentioned above it is a great value .
 
I've managed to get past the Lynn Thompson videos. It took awhile, but I did.

I own a CS Code 4 and Lawman. Nice knives. I'd recommend CS.
 
Yea i was pretty turned off when they tried to bully everyone with the San-Mai thing. Its a method of layering steel. Been around wayyy longer than CS has been.
I have had a couple of their knives. Not a fan ofthe fixed blades.
I had the micro recon 1 tanto and it was a great EDC for college (sheeple friendly).
Later bought a Rahja III, and quickly developed a hate for Aus8. I liked the design, inexpensive, comfortable for hard use, FFG mini kukri. Didnt like the clip. I believe they changed the steel so thats good.
Not too crazy about the marketing, i will watch the vids. But their folder marketing is Shady AF. And if you plan on doing spine whacks and hanging weight off a knife, get a fixed blade. You dont need a folder. Spine whacks are just stupid anyways. You will get hurt.
 
jaypowell0185 said:
The storm cloud has also caught my eye. The major issue I have with Cold Steel is the pocket clip/G10 combination. It almost makes it impossible to easily remove your knife from the pocket. I haven't bought a cold steel in about three years so they may have fixed this.
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they havent fixed that yet.
 
The only thing I didn't like is the way they hyped up Carbon V like it was a space age alloy, meantime it was a steel that's was around for almost 50 years,used by case and Camillus, just heat treated better.
 
Sounds like ya'll are a bunch of closet Lynn Thompson fans and probably have a Cold Steel tramp stamp.

Indifference (not hate) is the opposite of love.
 
I pay zero attention to the marketing, so it never really bothered me, why some people get their knickers in a bunch about it is a bit confusing to me. Lynn is like a big kid, he loves what he does and that's more than most can say about their jobs. As for the knives, I think there are a handful that are unarguably fantastic at doing what they are designed to do. The Recon, Code 4, Lawman, Talwar, 4max, ultimate hunter and Voyager are some of the toughest, most ergonomic and high performing work knives money can buy in this world of feminine man jewelry.
 
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