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

res1cue said:
Some AUS8 is more equal than others :p

I hated AUS8 until I tried their CS. Their HT is really noticeably better. Like I said in another thread, don't knock it till you tried it
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Butch vallatton is known for his dual action. Matt diskin is know for his high end folders. It's excellent use of AUS8 but still doesn't change the fact of what I said
 
res1cue said:
A few weeks back I was carving out a new bow. I would spend about 2-3 hrs a day removing wood with my Recon 1, which I chose because it was the most comfortable on my hand. I would start out the day with hair-whittling and TP pushcutting edge

At the end of the day, it could barely scrape hair, but it was still definitely "functionally sharp". 5 minutes on the sharpmaker, and I am back to where I started.
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My experience mirrors your own. My work knife was AUS8 for five years; now I'm using a Spyderco Tenacious, which is 8CR13MOV. I carry a small strop on my tool belt and I touch up the blade when it needs it. I typically only have to sharpen my work knife once a week, and I'm primarily cutting wood with it.

The idea that I would need to use it long enough to let it go totally dull and then have an emergency where I needed it to be sharp is pure fantasy.

Even if I was lost in the woods, I carry pocket stones, and I can touch it up easily. In fact, I prefer to have an AUS8 knife plus a pocket stone than to have CMP-*insert super steel* with no stone
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This isn't a realistic scenario for me, either. There are way too many variables in place that prevent this happening for far too many reasons. But my preference would be D2 and my small stone and strop. I'd be set. :D
 
Chipped Karambit said:
Butch vallatton is known for his dual action. Matt diskin is know for his high end folders. It's excellent use of AUS8 but still doesn't change the fact of what I said
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In that case, I am sorry you can't enjoy such a cheap and widely available steel


allyourblood said:
But my preference would be D2 and my small stone and strop. I'd be set. :D
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Ugh, not me. D2 is now my least favorite steel
 
allyourblood said:
Just goes to show you!
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Exactly :thumbup:

Steel choice is much more a personal decision than a discrete hierarchy


Edit: I do have to add, that I am enjoying CPM D2 very much... totally different animal from plain jane D2
 
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res1cue said:
Exactly :thumbup:

Steel choice is much more a personal decision than a discrete hierarchy


Edit: I do have to add, that I am enjoying CPM D2 very much... totally different animal from plain jane D2
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....................something about this............. Most people cant tell the difference between D2 CPMD2 and Slepneir (cant spell it). I understand one is better than the other but they are still close..........
 
Chipped Karambit said:
....................something about this............. Most people cant tell the difference between D2 CPMD2 and Slepneir (cant spell it). I understand one is better than the other but they are still close..........
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When I sharpen CPM D2, I don't get any carbide tearing ever. Takes a much finer edge than normal D2. It is fairly obvious to me. On using, the edge retention difference (if any) is imperceptible
 
res1cue said:
When I sharpen CPM D2, I don't get any carbide tearing ever. Takes a much finer edge than normal D2. It is fairly obvious to me. On using, the edge retention difference (if any) is imperceptible
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k sharpenability makes sense. I thought u meant overall. (toughness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance)
 
Some would stay putting a Tri Ad Lock on a 1 1/2" blade is like putting a High Security 7 pin tubular pin tumbler lock on a screen door.
 
snowreaper1 said:
Kill them all Lynn..... you da MAN.....! no, not really ;p

[youtube]sKTeEmNUkjw[/youtube]
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Thank you for posting that.

I'll be buying a Kershaw.

I don't hunt myself, but the time my friends took me along, it involved stalking, coordination and sportsmanship.
The deer that was killed ended up in our freezers.

Is LT going to eat the 38 dairy cows that he shot in the face at point blank?
 
Freak Show Scott said:
Some would stay putting a Tri Ad Lock on a 1 1/2" blade is like putting a High Security 7 pin tubular pin tumbler lock on a screen door.
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I would say that it is more akin to putting a High Security 7 pin tubular pin tumbler lock on a small heavy door. But that's just me.

Shot blades are actually stronger than longer blades, assuming the same material, width, and thickness.
 
Viper2 said:
Like it or not, Cold Steel knives (especially their folders) are some of the best value knives out there! Their folders, in particular, have the best locking system on the planet (Tri-Ad Lock) and some of the best designs as well. Also, no other company has as much variety of truly large folders available as Cold Steel.

Even many of their fixed blades knives are a very good value. And their knives, whether folders or fixed blades, have demonstration videos to prove just how tough and sharp they are. The old "but AUS 8A isn't the best blade steel out there" argument is so pointless. AUS 8A steel is very strong and holds a very good edge for any task that is expected of a knife. And even if AUS 8A does dull a little faster than the most high-end blade steels on the planet, it can still be sharpened rather easily, no big deal. And of course, the other steels (SK-5, San Mai III, etc.) that Cold Steel offers with particular knives are all high quality steels that are great as well.

There is really no reason to hate on Cold Steel. I think most of the Cold Steel hate out there stems from one or more of the following:

  • People who want to feel elite and don't want to buy a brand of knife that is well known by non-collectors of knives and sold at shopping malls.
  • People who are bitter of the fact that they overpaid for their knife and therefore want to insult the much better value (and possibly stronger - especially folders with Tri-Ad Lock) Cold Steel option.
  • People who are against any knives made in non-1st world countries (even though these knives may be better than the knives they currently have).
Opinions?
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I have some old Carbon 5 fixed blades that I like.

But overall, my opinion is that a new member raving about how cold steel is "The best" is either a new knife enthusiast that has lots to learn, or a paid shill for the company.
 
I own a decent amount of knives and for me it all comes down to the fact that if i had to get into a knife fight, and had no other option but to use my blade, I would have to pick my cold steel recon one. I own a few large emersons, a large sebenza, multipule spyderco milies, various benchmades, a ton of crkts and i would still go with the cold steel. That is saying something. You may not like their marketing techniques but you cant argue the fact that the tri ad lock is a strong system.
 
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Like the Phoenix it rises once again from the ashes. Having read through this thread three times now (the old memory ain't what it used to be and I also forget to ck the date) I've come to a conclusion regarding the Cold Steel haters. Lynn Thompson runs around doing what most of us would really, in our hearts, love to be doing; spearing cape buffalo, dismembering pig carcasses and meat filled boots, sticking it to over-hyped expensive sharpened prybar makers and making mucho dinero at the same time and we're jealous. We don't have the huevos to pack our fat butts into bike shorts and make bizarre videos and we're eating our hearts out. Long live the King!

Actually, I have a few CS pieces; they're affordable and capable of the work I do with them.
 
GronK said:
I've come to a conclusion regarding the Cold Steel haters. Lynn Thompson runs around doing what most of us would really, in our hearts, love to be doing; spearing cape buffalo, dismembering pig carcasses and meat filled boots, sticking it to over-hyped expensive sharpened prybar makers and making mucho dinero at the same time and we're jealous. We don't have the huevos to pack our fat butts into bike shorts and make bizarre videos and we're eating our hearts out.
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I've tried to study this objectively and I've come to the same conclusion. Lynn Thompson is a bit goofy but everybody is jealous of him.

I can't find anything really wrong with their products. The people that buy $400 knives will be critical of them because they are so inexpensive, and granted some people have trouble respecting a product that is very inexpensive. Also there will be people that prefer their knives to be American-made.
 
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