Why is there sometimes snobbery against Cold Steel knives? They are great!

bladeboss said:
I know. To this day, that 600 Lbs. is still amazing to me.
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They did a whole lot more with the XL. To this day I still can't understand the mechanics of a larger knife with the same blade thickness holding that much more weight?

DemkoKnives said:
A bali is only as strong as the top handle pivot pin and blade stop pin. The latch does not matter. ( although my testing is limited). I am only referring to a blade in vise weight hang test. However, a Bali is equally as strong both directions. spine and edge pressure.
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Only when the handles and blade butt are symmetrical. There are many handles that are not these days. Certainly they are very close in strength most cases.

I thought that with the handle locked up at the tail the lock might (and I am only testing this with my armchair) be greater for the same reason that the Tri ad gains strength with the negative pressure being transferred through the handle back to the top by way of the stop pin (it would need to be a close tolerance lock for sure). I feel the overall strengths of the ballisong could be greatly improved if the handles were interlocking when in the open position. Then the interlock would also take some of the stress both positive and negative.
 
Elgreco said:
My thumb after operating the backlock on my medium voyager :grumpy:
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Try leaving you voyager open to 90 degrees overnight, close and open once or twice during the day and repeat. That will sometimes "adjust" the knife to close more easily. Cold Steel should address that problem. I haven't heard of it with the voyagers so much but with the Espadas (mostly the XL) it is known but seems to be getting better.
 
Proper flat grind Cold Steel knife wouldnt have chipped like that.....for sure!!!!!!!!The more I use these knives the more I like it!!!
 
I am a collector. Have just a few knives but not a single Cold steel. I dont know what it is but i just havent been able to buy one. Not saying i never would but for some reason I cant break the ice?!
 
LOL Take some Benchmades and Spydercos in wilderness along with few Cold Steel folders and see what performs better ....I like Spyderco but cold steel is way tougher all around knife.....The series with compression locks outperforms most other knives imo!!!And light spine whacks are not abuse...dont care what some pple say ! I will still buy Spydercos,and maybe few Benchmades but Cold Steel is damn good knife all around!Id like to see some tests between chinnok and new recon 1 clip point! I think recon 1 would win,...and i love both knives!
 
boki_zca said:
LOL Take some Benchmades and Spydercos in wilderness along with few Cold Steel folders and see what performs better ....I like Spyderco but cold steel is way tougher all around knife.....The series with compression locks outperforms most other knives imo!!!And light spine whacks are not abuse...dont care what some pple say ! I will still buy Spydercos,and maybe few Benchmades but Cold Steel is damn good knife all around!Id like to see some tests between chinnok and new recon 1 clip point! I think recon 1 would win,...and i love both knives!
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They might be better for wha exactly? All this talk about locks, what about the other 80% of the knife?
 
Yes, that may help. I tried to do that on the black rock hunter and the paradox. (see how the rear of the handles interlock.) That was one of the" patentable features" on the black rock hunter. The interlocking parts are best at keeping the handles parallel, but dont add much lock strength.
 
Freak Show Scott said:
Try leaving you voyager open to 90 degrees overnight, close and open once or twice during the day and repeat. That will sometimes "adjust" the knife to close more easily. Cold Steel should address that problem. I haven't heard of it with the voyagers so much but with the Espadas (mostly the XL) it is known but seems to be getting better.
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Im not too worried about it. I havent carried it in months. I prefer my other folders mostly because the thumb studs on the voyager get caught on my work pants pocket when pulling it out. The handle is a little thick for my taste as well. It is a sturdy little knife and the blade comes out lightning fast though.
 
All this talk about locks really makes me wonder what you guys do with your knives. I've owned a lot of knives and i've put more than a few of them through some serious abuse (read: abuse not use) and i've yet to break a lock. broken handles, broken blades, broken tips, sure but not a lock. The worst problem that i've had with a lock was a leek that locked up too tight. took a screwdriver to close it every time i used it. I guess it's nice to have the strongest lock possible but still . . .
 
DemkoKnives said:
Yes, that may help. I tried to do that on the black rock hunter and the paradox. (see how the rear of the handles interlock.) That was one of the" patentable features" on the black rock hunter. The interlocking parts are best at keeping the handles parallel, but dont add much lock strength.
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Yeah it does do that. Nice Job. How did it (or would it) work out if there was more than one bump?

On the lighter side you say that a bali will never close on your hand. I assume you mean that to be true of the Paradox and Black Rock Hunter also.

HA! I say to you!

I agree that they will never close on your hand while you are using them as intended (no matter what grip you chose) but a Balisong will close on your hand every time you try a new trick or aerial and the BRH and Paradox will do the same while closing if you don't pay attention and follow the correct procedure.

Given the dangers (and draw backs) of all three and the advantages of all three I am glad I own all three. (Still have yet to get the large Paradox). Thanks for the posts and for the designs. Most anyone can make knives that look cool. It is harder to come up with innovations (Tri Ad and double handled slipjoints) that can work across the broad spectrum of knives.
 
fatherhudson said:
All this talk about locks really makes me wonder what you guys do with your knives. I've owned a lot of knives and i've put more than a few of them through some serious abuse (read: abuse not use) and i've yet to break a lock. broken handles, broken blades, broken tips, sure but not a lock. The worst problem that i've had with a lock was a leek that locked up too tight. took a screwdriver to close it every time i used it. I guess it's nice to have the strongest lock possible but still . . .
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Good point. I've never had a lock fail either.
 
While I have not had a knife with a lock that failed during use I do have several that I no longer trust. They are both liner locks that I can get to fail by putting back pressure with just my hands. Others developed play side to side and up and down. A lock that can survive hang, spine whacks and over strike test with out loosening up will probably last longer before developing play with normal hard use.
 
I tested my Triad lock knife lastnight by batoning a block of cheddar. It performed great, no wiggle afterwards or nuthin.
 
I've had liner-locks lock up on me going all the way over and needing tools to disengage and seen several liner-locks, frame-locks, and lockbacks let the blade disengage for other people - even one arc-lock or whatever SOG calls their axis style. Tried different locks a little wet from bottle water to see if they would let go and wouldn't trust a heavy duty $100+++ frame-lock folder in the rain or snow.

The only ones I had 100% good experience and feedback from with knives used a lot for a long time is old Spyderco and CS lockbacks and new Tri-Ad's.

There is mostly huge leaning towards all locks being good enough on forums because there is a large percent who don't use them heavily outside of the house or here and there for tasks that even a tiny Vic Classic keychain knife is plenty for.
 
Cold Steel USED to make some of the best mid-level commercially produced knives you could buy and were comparable in quality to Spyderco and Benchmade.

I absolutely loved the Culloden sgian dubhs (discontinued) and the Terminator push dagger (bastardized into a crappy chisel ground POS with an uncomfortable grip). The Vaquero Grande was one of my favorites, especially when they offered a Kydex sheath for it. It is still offered, but with a pocket clip.

I hate the fact that they cheaped out on materials, labor, and apparently design as well: nothing says "we just don't care anymore" like keeping half the blade flat and unground.

I hate those retarded "Secure-Ex" sheaths that now replace the "Conceal-Ex" . . . impossible to pull the knife out of the sheath without manually prying the sheath away from the handle with your thumb.

I hate the fact that some genius thought it would be a good idea to put an overbuilt Triad lock on a small pocketknife with a 3" blade. Impossible to unlock and close the knife with one hand now.

I hate the fact that a brilliant concept like the Hold Out III was ruind through an asinine combination of an Triad lock and a pocketclip so incredibly overbuilt to the point of nonfunctionality -- seriously, it is so tight it could hold tiles in place on the space shuttle. Nearly impossible to clip the knife to your pocket, and if you can manage to do it, it's stuck there until you can pry it off. Everyone who buys one of these things ends up either needing to bend the clip with pliers or remove it to sand the G-10 underneath smooth. Lynn is well aware of the problem, but apparently it will cost too much to reconfigure the pocketclip.
 
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While the scratch needed for a Cold Steel Custom Series is hard to justify for me during this economy I sure miss them. It was easier to lust in my heart after a SM III Talwar with a bullet proof rocker-lock than an Aus8 Medium Espada with an even stronger Tri Ad lock.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
I hate the fact that a brilliant concept like the Hold Out III was ruind through an asinine combination of an Axis lock and a pocketclip so incredibly overbuilt to the point of nonfunctionality -- seriously, it is so tight it could hold tiles in place on the space shuttle. Nearly impossible to clip the knife to your pocket, and if you can manage to do it, it's stuck there until you can pry it off. Everyone who buys one of these things ends up either needing to bend the clip with pliers or remove it to sand the G-10 underneath smooth. Lynn is well aware of the problem, but apparently it will cost too much to reconfigure the pocketclip.
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Do you mean to say triad lock here? If so, I haven't had any problems with mine. Also I never clip my 3" knives to the pocket, I always remove the clip and carry them IN the pocket, so that gives me no problems :P
 
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