You ever have that thought about a knife...

[plue]

I'm in with the opinion of the ZT Emersons. Wish they scaled them down a bit and made them lighter than the 620, otherwise it seems to blow a real Emerson out of the water.

 

[Helleri]

Kind of the opposite. I wish someone else had made the Cold Steel Master Hunter 3V. It's a great knife with a great price, but it has 4 bits of info on the blade and each one is in a different font, each worse looking than the last. And 3V is spelled "3-V" on it too.

Great knife made by a company with no taste.

This is aside from the main topic. But that is kind of how I feel about most of cold steels stuff. That I would really like it if not for one thing. They are big into material science. But aesthetic quality with their stuff is a little lost on me. I feel like they would be better as a company that tests and grades blades but doesn't make them.

As for the the main topic. I feel that way about knives sometimes. It's that same feeling I get with some music... For instance I like Willey Nelson songs, when they are not performed by Willey Nelson. I can't think of any specific knife examples off the top of my head. But I empathize with that general feeling you can sometimes get about a blade.

 

[madcap_magician]

Are you sure Swedes are building them? Fallkniven are made in Japan.

Didn't know that, thanks. Is it all Fallkniven or just the Northern Lights ones?

 

[nighthawk7.ni]

yes most certainly, i think the bushcraft knife used by a british survivalist was well thought out and designed, very comfortable but think it would b a tough knife to beat if were usa made and not imported, like it is have the flashlite and i must say its been around the block and its still works great so if they would make this line of products by someone else would love to see them

 

[tacticalgearlover]

I've always really wanted the carson m-16 series to be made by benchmade or spyderco or any other company using better materials and QC. I can't find much I don't like about the design, but CRKT aus8 and a crappy liner lock just don't quite cut it.

 

[Knave]

Yes. I know they're both owned by KAI, but there are several cheap, imported Kershaws that I wish were made by ZT, or at least made in America by Kershaw. In particular, the RJ Martin designs like the Scrambler and Volt.

 

[Mikael W]

Didn't know that, thanks. Is it all Fallkniven or just the Northern Lights ones?

Fällkniven fixed knives are made by Hattori, the folders are made by Moki.
There are no production makers in Sweden, that can rival the Japanese makers.


Regards
Mikael

 

[KenHash]

Didn't know that, thanks. Is it all Fallkniven or just the Northern Lights ones?

http://hattoricollector.com/2015/09/29/fallkniven-of-boden-sweden/

 

[acphillips3]

Iron Dragon made by ZT but made beefier.

 

[ebidis]

Would love the Fallkniven Northern Lights series to be made by someone like Ka-Bar, Cold Steel or Condor for 1/2 or 1/3 the Fallkniven price or less. Even if the steel was a less expensive carbon steel standby like 1095 that would be great.

That's a good example. Not too many people making super-high-quality traditional stacked-leather handles these days. The Northern Lights knives are fabulous, but the Swedish build and the materials do add a premium. Would be awesome if a resurrected Marbles or Camillus were to take it on. Or like you said, Ka-Bar could do it.

Have you seen these? Blackjack Knives (made by Bark River), A2 tool steel,convex grind, excellent fit and finish. I have a Model 1-7, awesome knife. They have other handle materials too, and other models, these are just the stacked leather ones. I haven't priced them lately, but when I bought mine a couple of years ago I found it for well Under $200.00 after some shopping around.

 

[ursamajor]

Would love the Fallkniven Northern Lights series to be made by someone like Ka-Bar, Cold Steel or Condor for 1/2 or 1/3 the Fallkniven price or less. Even if the steel was a less expensive carbon steel standby like 1095 that would be great.

They already are. San Mai 3 Trailmaster, Recon Scout, and Master Hunter

 

[ursamajor]

That's a good example. Not too many people making super-high-quality traditional stacked-leather handles these days. The Northern Lights knives are fabulous, but the Swedish build and the materials do add a premium. Would be awesome if a resurrected Marbles or Camillus were to take it on. Or like you said, Ka-Bar could do it.

There is no "Swedish Builds" there. They are Trail Master and Recon Scout copies, made by the same maker as Cold Steel's laminated originals.

 

[hermit dave]

I wish all CRK's were made by Frost Cutlery.

 

[ursamajor]

I had to comment on this - I just could not agree any more with what you've said above. And I'll preface this with the gratuitous "no offense", but I just don't get CS & why the company has the great following it does...I want to like their stuff, but I largely don't, I think it's mostly the handle materials they choose to use, but it's also little stuff like "3-V".

Swap "handle materials" for "Grip and frame materials" and we heard the same stuff from 1911 guys back in the day about Glock.

Why does Cold Steel have the following it does. Innovation. Right now, one of the very best folding knife designers on the planet is in their employ.

I hear KAI get throw out there as an ideal maker, but like you with Cold Steel, I can't understand it.

Where is the innovation with KAI?

I mean Benchmade has shown that they can create with the Axis Lock. Spyderco has shown it with the pocket clip, the hole opener, the Ball Bearing lock, the Compression Lock, and the Power Lock. And Cold Steel's Demko, with his thumb plate opener, the Triad Lock, the Ram Lock, and the Scorpion Lock.

Where is the innovation from KAI? All I have seen them do, is throw materials at other innovators designs. It does not excite me in the least. Nor does it many others, who do like to see the knife world move forward, and get excited for makers and designers who do that.

 

[dozer2025]

I wish all (decent) knives were made by Grohmann Knives, and that they had a huge plant here in Windsor.
I further wish that I had a job there making knives, and got a bonus paid in knives for every holiday.
Plus, the salary would be huge, with full benefits, and I could afford a car and a house...both of which would be full of knives that I would get an employee discount on.

Hey, if you're going to wish, wish big, right?

I hear ya! I wish I could look at expensive knives and think "Which knife would be best to use when I'm saving Gotham City?" Because if I'm dreaming big, then I'm Batman.
😎

 

[Hickory n steel]

There are a lot of cheapo frost,mtech,tac force...ect knives that are decent designs ( but are of 5$ quality ) that I wish could at least be gonzo/enlon...ect quality , and use 440c or aus8 ( I have a frost cutlery liner lock in my "novelty/ just for looks " knife collection ) that I wish actually had some useable quality to it
I really like the top and bottom designs, and that black one in the middle really seems to have some Ken onion style influences to it. ( if only they were actually decent, I can really see the top being a US made buck , I believe it's a frost cutlery bear hunter or some crap )

 

[ebidis]

Swap "handle materials" for "Grip and frame materials" and we heard the same stuff from 1911 guys back in the day about Glock.

Why does Cold Steel have the following it does. Innovation. Right now, one of the very best folding knife designers on the planet is in their employ.

I agree. I think that Cold Steel (and some other companies) gets an unproportional amount of hate. People say they don't like their marketing, or don't like Lynn Thompson. So what? don't buy their knives.

Why is there always a seemingly neurotic, pathological need to bash, and hate out loud at certain companies? Any companies?

This whole thread is a can of worms.

 

[Atakdog]

I've always wanted a ZT SnG. I know they collaborated with Strider for the mechanical aspects of their first Ken Onion designs, why can't they do it again and make a Strider design? With the success of their Emerson line I don't see any reason they shouldn't.

 

[photoman12001]

I've always wanted a ZT SnG. I know they collaborated with Strider for the mechanical aspects of their first Ken Onion designs, why can't they do it again and make a Strider design? With the success of their Emerson line I don't see any reason they shouldn't.

I think the ZT 0121 was a collaboration with Strider. I like it quite a bit.

 

[tholiver]

They already are. San Mai 3 Trailmaster, Recon Scout, and Master Hunter

Nope. Northern light series have metal guards and pommels with leather washer handles, Cold Steel does not. I already own a CS kraton handled Trailmaster and a Recon Scout, great knives despite the differences.