Why Lynn Thompson Rules!

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shipwreck

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The guy knows how to generate publicity for one.

But besides that, you got to admit he is one of us. I mean he loves knives. And not just knives, all kinds of big, sharp stuff that you can send hurtling through the air, or chrashing through an unsuspecting watermelon.

The stuff he comes up with is, admitedly a rip off of other designs. But alot of his stuff IS origininal. And his products are just plain fun to play with. How cool is a sjambock? Or one of those torpedos? heavy double ended throwing spikes, that'll knock out prey even if it hits sideways.

I take my Cold Steel Bushman to the woods for camping and for its price it is a tremedous value.

How about , since he and cold steel are taking alot of heat elsewhere, we make this thread, a Cold Steel / Lynn Thompson appreciation thread?

Any fans of the product or the man? and why?
 
Oooh, I can already see a bunch of people posting hate on here!

I've currently got 2 Voyagers, a Kobun, an Oyabun, a ti-lite, and a Bushman - I got good deals on all of them. I carried the Voyager while I was in the Army as an EDC for 3 years and it saw some rough use. The Bushman sits in the back of my Explorer in my BOB. Not my 1st choice for a survival blade, but at $15, its nice to have on "standby" even though I don't ever use it. I've sinced moved "up" to Scrapyard/RAT/Ranger, but have gotten plenty of good use out of CS products. For the money, and many situations, CS blades are a great! And... here come the haters:
 
I got a Mini Culloden just before they went out of production.

Amazingly sharp knife and it's a great size.
Feels very, very solid.
Made in Japan.

I carry it in my shoulder bag with a ball chain; can use it as a
necker too.

It's a great knife, IMO. Paid about 40 bucks for it brand new.
_______________________________

But I don't think "Lynn Thompson Rules".
 
Cold Steel has always offered some good knives at good prices (also crap at high prices) but since LT is always smeared all over his products, I can't look at one of his products and not see him. That is a problem for me.

I don't like Lynn Thompson, and I believe that he is "eithically/morally challenged" to put it nicely (this is not in W&C yet) but he is a shrewd bussinessman and seems to always have plenty of customers. He is not stupid either, at least IMO... I just don't have any respect for him. :thumbdn:
 
haha lynn thompson is the man, right up there with chuck norris!

serously though i love the guys enthusiasm, can you imagine haveing his job? just training, makeing knives, cutting things....and you get paid to do it!
to bad ill never get to meet the guy

i think i have the most cs knives, which is good or bad depending on your view of cs.
ti-lite
triple action
scimitar
force recon
ak-47
safemaker
peacmaker
oss
desperado
twistmaster
kobun
plus a spike and corsican which are on back order..
 
rifon2 said:
The new Spikes do look very interesting!
Click to expand...

They do!, The current talon spike is really a great design as it is. If you think about, for self defense purposes it has to up there among any other neck knife on the market.
 
I wouldn't worship the guy and I think his marketing methods are a little strange, but I'll definitely say he makes some great knives at a great price.

Their fit and finish isn't what I'd call great, but for user knives it's fine. I've had differing experiences with their lockbacks. My El Hombre and El Lobo (pin construction/full zytel handles) both have some vertical blade play, but my Ultimate Hunter (thick liners, screw construction) is solid as a rock. I feel obligated to add that the Hombre and Lobo only have movement towards the spine of the knife and not towards your fingers, so the movement really doesn't seem unsafe (just annoying). The zytel Ti-Lite I gave to a friend was also incredibly solid. Kinda wish they'd upgrade the steel, though their AUS-8 performs well.

I love the geometry on my Trail Master and Recon Scout. They are great at cutting for such beefy knives. I haven't abused them though, so I can't say how well they stand up to that.

Some of the designs are pretty strange and others are priced a little high, imo.
 
Stick to the fixed blades and drop the folders.
And you might just have the best range of working knives yet.
Odd ball knives aren't knives at all, but market experiments catering to the odd exotic taste of some seriously spaced-out folks. Come on, just how much more "desperado" can anyone get? Mr Thompson readily gets my every vote as THE "triple action" "twistmaster"! Cold Steel rules.
 
That ak-47 is one of the strongest and most solid locking knives I've seen. For under 60 dollars its a great buy. But I still don't like a lot of his knives. LT doesn't bother me, I used to think he knew what he was talking about when I was about 10. Now I realize 97% of what he beats his chest about comes down to making a dollar.
 
his FBs are ok for the money, never have liked any of the folders, i think he's a dork myself...........
 
I'm not a CS fan and I don't have any CS product, but I must admit, he sells the only production karambit that I would consider a combat knife. He said he doesn't like karambits but offers at least a useful one for people who can't resist the hype. Makes perfect sense to me.
Besides that, CS has nothing else to offer that I would buy. If I want a carbon steel outdoor knife I'll buy a Kabar Heavy Bowie.
His folders aren't my thing either.
 
The Voyager series are great knives.
And ther Bushman is a neat fixed-blade too.

I'm not a fan of Lynn Thompson but I prefer to give my money to him over Mick "Lick my sack" Strider any day!
 
Here's a few of the CS products around mi casa:

Bushmans (2 or 3)
Voyager 4"
Voyager 3"
Master Tanto
O Tanto (warrior ver)
Kobun
Recon 1
AK47
Intruder Bowie #240 (500 made)
Recon Scout
SRK
Old SafeKeeper 1 ("Platoon's" Tom Berenger type)
Hai Honcho
Hai Honcho Kitchen 5"
Hai Honcho Kitchen 7"
Steak Knife set
Chisa Katana
Laredo Bowie
Ti-Lite (original titanium)
Scimitar
Custom Series Black Sable
Twistmasters (several sizes)
Boken
SuperEdge (keyring)
Gunsite folder (large)

all I think of at the moment........
 
I've always liked the Cold Steel Voyager and Vaquero series and had several of each model over the years. They perform on par with anything else out there competing with them. The Ultimate Hunter folder is one of the best values around and flat out just works with an extremely strong build and lots going for it.

My son used a ReconScout factory 2nd in Iraq after I had used it and abused it for several years. He still has it and its still a solid performer.

Most of the stuff from them I've had is fairly good value for the money. Some of it is questionable to me and I simply stay away from those.

For years my wife bought those little Mini Pal and other key ring knives they make. She uses them for stocking stuffers for family and friends. These have always been a big hit. I've seen native Alaskan peoples use these little Ready Edge knives http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=CS42
for skinning out very large game such as moose and elk as well as using them on salmon and fish netting while we were there. No one can tell me they don't work. Sure they are crap steel but being full serrated they cut and thats all that really matters to most people.

Now if you want to talk about the man thats another story all together and one that will surely bring on multiple pages of opinions of why he is the way he is as well as flames back and forth for it. I don't care to go there.

The truth is when you focus on just the products that you can see they work fairly well and for the most part can be relied upon to perform for you. Keep in mind that Cold Steel is not a manufacturer. They are a marketing company that has other companies make their product. You can get similar quality pieces from any number of places that contract with and sell their own label of products made in Seki and Moki Japan for them as well as others that are or were manufacturered for them by Camillus Mfg.

On the down side. The Cold Steel warranty is one of the worst in the industry though. 1 year on folders and 5 years on fixed blades. You can do better and probably within the same price point with any number of other companies.
STR
 
SIFU1A said:
his FBs are ok for the money, never have liked any of the folders, i think he's a dork myself...........
Click to expand...

I think everyone who is a member of bladeforums is a dork.

I own:
a Spike
Larerdo
6" Ti lite
6" Voyager
Ultimate Hunter
Trail Hawk

They all work just fine. Absolutely No problems yet.
 
I currently own only two knives from Cold Steel, a Trailmaster and Big Bear Classic, both in stag, and I like both knives very much.

I think the Cold Steel video is very entertaining, and it did tempt me to go out and buy some of their knives. So, those videos did what they were designed to do, to get my attention. I didn't buy any new CS knives, but they inspired me to test some of the knives I own. For example, I had never attempted cutting free hanging rope, but when I saw Lynn doi it with several of his folders, I decided to try. Sure enough I found I could do it not only with a Bowie, but several of my folders. Whoda thunk it?

I think Lynn is a guy that loves his work, knows his customers and what they want. He's no Sal Glesser, but then again not many people are. ;)
 
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