Thoughts on Cold Steel knives:

[Monocrom]

oh, also, I think all those tests are stupid also.
Cold Steel has a bad habit of making goofy vids to demo the knives.
Most any knife, even junk, can do what they demo.
Its just a matter of how long the edge holds up, and it the knife would break after Repeated abuse.

~John

Thank You! You raise an excellent point.
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To: cutlerylover -

Those extreme tests seen in the CS "Proof" videos are used to help sell CS knives. The claims are that a ColdSteel knife can pass such "extreme testing." But, when an individual buys a CS knife and wants to put it to the same test that he saw it pass in the video; CS tells him, "Oh, that's abuse. It'll void the warranty."

What the Hell?...... Oh no, you can't have it both ways! You can't claim your products are good enough for use under extreme conditions when you're selling them, but then claim those exact same conditions are "abuse," after the product was purchased.

As far as the CS Trailmaster challenge goes, you're right! No other owner or CEO of a knife company is going to lower himself and get in the mud to play Mr. Thompson's game.

Here's the thing, that challenge was issued with regards to a Carbon V Trailmaster. (I think I've seen you on Bladeforums. You probably encountered the following).....

Someone bought a Trailmaster and had the steel analyzed. Turns out, Carbon V is a fairly well-known carbon steel. (I can't recall its official name now. Mostly because there are several numbers in the name). But it's not some sort of super alloy that only ColdSteel has access to. The heat treat on Carbon V blades used to be done by Camilus, before they went out of business.....

Do you honestly believe that a Custom blade from the forge of a Master bladesmith is not going to outperform a Trailmaster? Let's say the smith isn't good at heat treating, so he takes his blades to Paul Bos. When it comes to heat treats, good luck finding someone who could do a better job. Quite a few Production blades could pass the Challenge too. But why waste time even going for it? So you can prove that your product is better than one that has been hyped to a ridiculous degree? What's the point? (Other than entertainment value perhaps).

Cliff Stamp does a much more scientific job of extreme knife testing than Noss. A bit too scientific at times. But his torture tests are a bit more consistant.

 

[cutlerylover]

Thank You! You raise an excellent point.
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To: cutlerylover -

Those extreme tests seen in the CS "Proof" videos are used to help sell CS knives. The claims are that a ColdSteel knife can pass such "extreme testing." But, when an individual buys a CS knife and wants to put it to the same test that he saw it pass in the video; CS tells him, "Oh, that's abuse. It'll void the warranty."

I completely understand what your saying...but here is just my point of view...

As far as cold steel saying their knives are the best, I don't belive it, lol, but I cna understand why they are sayign it...they are in buisness and Lynn wants to sell as many knives as he can, and his gimmicks work, its not right, its not ethical to most people, and I do not think its the right way of goign about it, they way he does anyway, but I can't blame him is all for trying to sell his knives...So I don't like it or agree, but I understand it...

Now as far as the tests go...what I am trying to say is that they show how you cna abuse the knives and they hold up...Not to say go ahead and abuse them but rather to just show they can take it...but at the same time he is also sayiogn knives are not meant for these tasks, so if you try to use them this way its your falt if they do fail under the pressure and break...Agaian I don't agree with the way he does it, but I can understand it, I think its a bit missleading to most "non-knife" people to see all these "tests" and then go home and not want to try them..you know...But for knife guys like us we know better...So I don't like what Lynn Thompson does to sell knives, but I don't hate him for it...thats all...Confusing post? :thinking: I hope not, lol...Just tryign to get across my thoughts...I don't bash cold steel because of the way Lynn represents himself or his buisness, but at the same time I don't go around saying how they are the best, I know better, lol...But the smart people don't need an explanation and they can take it for what its worth, and buy the products they know to be good rather than what they see in a short video, word of mouth is a very popular thing...I could imagine if a yougn tenager got a hold of a "proof" dvd and watched it with his friends they would be a gaggle of kids with cold steel products, lol, and although I can't speak for Lynn, Im sure he wouldn't mind as long as they didn't hurt anyone with them...but thats the point right? To sell knives...I woudl say hes a genious for makign those dvd's and giving them otu for free...but not really, other knife companies could eaisly match what he does but they don't, they know their knives sell because they are good, and they have loyal customers...they don't need anything extra to sell their knives...

 

[Bushman5]

Cold Steel Checklist before leaving out the front door:

- blowgun slung to back, chest pocket full of darts
- Sjambok in left hand
- Spetznaz shovel on waist, shovel sharpened to razor edge
- Sharkie, RPG, and Honeycomb in right shirt pocket
- Torpedo, Koda SG, Delta Dart and Sarong in right handwarmer pocket
- Riflemans Tomohawk and Bad Ax on left side of belt
- Indian WarLCub on right side of belt
- FGX Karambit, Push blades 1 & 2 in left handwarmer pocket
- Recon Tanto, CounterTac, and Black bear Classic on belt
- Steel tiger, Urban Dart and Corsican boot knives in right boot
- The Spike, Braveheart and Safemaker boot knives in left boot
- Sword cane, City Stick and Japanese tanto Warrior sword slung over back
- Black Talon, Salwar,and Black Sable Folders in right front pocket
- Recon 1, Ultimate Hunter, and Hamoto folders in left pocket
- Bad Ax in right hand

ok that should do for the walk to the coffee shop, but first i have to sit down and watch the PROOF videos, i ned to be prepared for all the marauding watermelons and dangling ropes that roam the streets where i live. Worst of all is the vicious car doors that pop open! i'd best add a few more tanto's to the belt !

ok i've watched the all the PROOF videos, man i'm frickking hyped up now! YEA!! ITS A WAR ZONE OUT THERE!! I'M PREPARED (sucks in chest to make it look bigger) YEEAH!!!!!! COME ON YOU B:green:ST:green:RD watermelons and dangly ropes!! I'M COMING FOR YOUI!!!!! LOOK OUT CAR DOORS!! YOU DONT STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME!!!

opens fornt door, fires off a volley of blowgun darts, then grabs the Brooklyn Smasher bat and dispatches a watermelon thats sneaking up the drive. Runs out into the street waving a Tomohawk, plunging it into another watermelon, pausing to stab it with boot knives. Quickly darts to the side and stabs a car door, but not before throwing a Torpedo dart and a Delta Dart at two small watermelons and Sarong'ing a dangly rope. whip out the japanese Sword and sever the rest of the ropes that are attacking. Two mroe car doors open and attack, The Recon Tanto dispatches them. Time to whip out the Sjambok and beat a whole herd of watermelons back! drop the Sjambok and pull out the Special Forces shovel, throwing it and severing a rope thats crawling up a wood round! Indian War Club time! back you damn watermelons!!! crushing their skulls! Pull out the Sword Cane and parry off not only a dangly rope and three watermelons but a car door too! slice lunge jab! Pull out the honey comb, comb the hair and pull out the hideen xray resistant kinfe, stabbing a baby watermelon, then usign the RPG and Sharkie to disptach it, DIE DAMMIT DIE!!!!!
City Stick time! WACK WACK WACK!!! back you infernal fruit, i need my coffee!




AAAUAUAUAUAUAGAGHAHAHAHHAAGGAAHGAGHAAGHGAGHAH!!!!!!!! VICTORY!!!!

and that my fellow CPF'ers, is what COLD STEEL is all about.

 

[Lightraven]

I watched the latest proof video that came with my new CS push dagger. I certainly wouldn't have bought the video, but it was mildly entertaining for a freebie. A significant misunderstanding of self defense was demonstrated by Lynn Thompson comparing a .357 Magnum against one of his knives.

I just watched a U.S. soldier speak about his experience at surviving a 9 or 10 inch knife pulled out of his brain by Army surgeons, where it was stabbed to the hilt by an enemy in Iraq. The soldier says he thought he felt like he was punched. Where was his helmet? I don't know. But a .357 Magnum in the same location would have killed the poor guy, instantly. Bullets do more damage than what is seen by the hole, where knives only do that damage that the blade causes directly. Lynn doesn't help his credibility (what he may have) by implying that a knife is superior to a .357 Magnum for self defense.

 

[gorn]

A significant misunderstanding of self defense was demonstrated by Lynn Thompson comparing a .357 Magnum against one of his knives.

In what context was the comparison made? If it was about damage and said the knife was better that isn't even close to true. If it was about his push daggers ability to penitrate a kevlar vest then it is accurate.

 

[cutlerylover]

In what context was the comparison made? If it was about damage and said the knife was better that isn't even close to true. If it was about his push daggers ability to penitrate a kevlar vest then it is accurate.

NOT THAT I AM DEFENDING HIM, lol, but I think he might have meant is it was one shot and in a non lethal place on the body...Obviously we all know it only takes one good shot in a number of places to put somebody down for good...What he was doing in the video for the comparison was to show the one shot makign a small hole, compared to a few slashes of one of his knives...to a regular citizen "sheeple" lol, this might have been convincing enough to think a knife is a better tool against an attacker...but again, most of us forum guys (CPF, kF, BF, and gun forums) know better than to believe this kind of stuff...

 

[Bushman5]

^ what about the Special forces Shovel against a .357 magnum?

 

[paulr]

Carbon V isn't any specific type of steel. It's just a marketing term that they can slap onto whatever they happening to be getting from their supplier that week.

 

[mossyoak]

Their redneck marketing turned me off the first time I saw it.

Hey now, dont be bringin us Appalachian-Americans into this.
that is west coast junk-in-the-trunk advertising.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

Wow, Bushman, you must live in a really bad part of town!

That was one of the funniest posts I've seen in a while.

"back you infernal fruit, i need my coffee!"... That should totally be in your sig.

Does CS really compare knife damage to firearm damage by looking at the entry wound? They should be looking at the exit, as most rounds make a little hole going in, then expand/break/tumble/etc., and leave a larger hole going out.

 

[carrot]

I handled a friend's Cold Steel Voyager expecting it to be garbage but was decently impressed with the build quality. Considering all the bashing people do of Cold Steel products, they seem not to be too bad at all. Though I do agree some of their stuff seems outrageously overpriced, not all of their knives deserve their terrible reputation.

 

[Lightraven]

OK, I went back and reviewed the .357 Magnum versus knife segment. In this case, the knife was the CS Ghurka Kukri, which is a pretty vicious knife, as the Ghurkas have proven. Lynn Thompson says, "There is no comparison in the stopping power . . ." in favor of the Kukri, with various other tough guy statements.

Thompson shoots his .357 125 grain at a hanging 10 pound block of beef, heavily marbled with fat, no bones, leaving an entrance and exit wound roughly the same size. He then cleaves it in two with his Kukri. Needless to say, this demonstration is designed to be dramatic if not educational--what would anybody think would happen with a bullet hole versus a big blade on a soft piece of meat?

A real self defense scenario has little in common with this demonstration, however. We can generally assume that a deadly force threat will be armed with a gun, edged weapon or blunt force type weapon. In any case, would you rather have a handgun that can shoot over a distance or a kukri which would require you to move towards the threat?

At contact range, both weapons are capable of major incapacitating injuries, but the gun requires less gross motor movement than swinging a kukri, which seems to be a limiting factor at very close distances--say from one seat of a car to another or being entangled on the ground with a threat. One has to appreciate how bad things can get before a defender begins a defense--some major differences between assassination and self defense.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Hey now, dont be bringin us Appalachian-Americans into this.
that is west coast junk-in-the-trunk advertising.

Appalachian-Americans LOL, that's some funny poop!

 

[Monocrom]

To: cutlerylover -

I hear what you're saying. But Thompson's use of gimmicks tends to turn off more knowledgeable folks like us. Also, this isn't BF. While some CPFers have accounts on both sites, there are CPFers who need good info about knives, and the companies that make them. If this topic was on BF, I probably wouldn't even bother posting.

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To: Outdoors Fanatic -

Here's the pic I promised you. Had to resize it.

 

[The Hobbit]

I had a Trailmaster that I bought back in the mid-90's. I sold it a couple of months ago to a guy who wanted to mod one. Mine had also suffered from water getting under the kraton handle, and had rusted quite a bit. He sent me a pic, and it looked like I had taken it diving or something. I would avoid those like the black death. His marketing tactics are part sideshow freak, part "damn the facts, roll camera!"

My thoughts; save your bucks for better knives.

P.S. Bushman....best post I've seen in a long time! :thumbsup:

 

[cutlerylover]

To: cutlerylover -

I hear what you're saying. But Thompson's use of gimmicks tends to turn off more knowledgeable folks like us. Also, this isn't BF. While some CPFers have accounts on both sites, there are CPFers who need good info about knives, and the companies that make them. If this topic was on BF, I probably wouldn't even bother posting.

Good point, just bcause this is the knife section of CPF, doesn't mean everyone is on the up and up...I sometimes forget where and who I am posting for...:thinking: lol, sorry...

 

[Monocrom]

I sometimes forget where and who I am posting for...:thinking: lol, sorry...

No problem. I understand what you mean. :thumbsup:

 

[Ignoramus]

Opinions on the CS owner aside, they have okay to pretty good products in their cheaper knives. They also have fun items that can be used in a wide variety of war movies. Their high end knives (I'd say anything above $100-$130+) is bad compared to comparable knives in those price ranges.

 

[jbosman1013]

now I only have 2 cold steel knives a AK-47 and a carbon V true flight thrower. I removed the coating, blued, and rewraped the handles of the thrower, thanks to camilius it is a very good knife that to my suprise holds a edge longer than D2 (in my own testing). The AK-47 is also a very good performer the AUS8 is much stronger than I thought it would be and will hold a edge just as long if not longer than my emerson's of 154cm. I am not saying they are the best or even that they are priced properly but the ones I have are very good.

 

[Dirty Bob]

I've owned several of their products, bought at sale or discounted prices over the years. I have their flanged mace, which was a screaming deal at about $20, although I still need to re-handle it. It would make a heckuva zombie smasher. I doubt I'll ever find a serious use for it, but I'm a sucker for a good solid mace.

Their SF shovel is great as a shovel, and it gets a lot of use around the house.

If you buy their high end products, however, you are probably spending more than they're really worth. If you shop around a bit, you can find real handmade knives in that price range, instead of mass-produced stuff from CS.

Lynn Thompson has also treated people I know very badly, in addition to his use of the designs of others, often without crediting the person who designed the knife. I was pleased to see that they've belatedly added Harry McEvoy's name to some of his designs that they are producing.

In summary: their low-priced stuff may be a good deal for the money, but watch out for some of the low-end steels (420 stainless, Krupp 4116, etc.) they've been substituting into some of their existing designs. Stay away from their high end products: they're very overpriced for what you're getting.

Regards,
Dirty Bob