Cold Steels Knives

Are Cold Steel's Knives as good as they claim they are. I was just on their site and I never heard of any of the steels they use.

What is everyones opinion?

Thanks

Bill

fnmag said:

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Oh no I didn't open a can a worms did I? I never gave that a thought when I typed in my question.

Bill

In the last few years the country of origin for many of their old standbys has changed. I go out of my way to avoid products produced in low wage, poor QA regions. My older Cold Steels have worked well for me, I like their Kobun boot knife, Trailmaster bowie, and especially my "made in usa" Recon Tanto.

Paladin

THE NEW COLD STEEL QUALITY IZ CRAP..........:sigh:

I carry a Safemaker I as a backup weapon to my handgun on and off duty. As a sharp piece of steel with a rubber handle, it seems up to the job.

Hitthespot said:

Oh no I didn't open a can a worms did I? I never gave that a thought when I typed in my question.

Bill

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You threw a barrel of gasoline on a ragging inferno!

Topics about C.S. knives often turn very ugly on BladeForums.


Lynn Thompson over-hypes much of his product line. Carbon V, for example, is not some Super Steel exclusive to C.S.

Someone once bought a Carbon V blade, and sent it to a lab for testing. Turns out, it's nothing more than a fairly common carbon steel with a very good heat treat. Hell, Camillus was the company that made Carbon V blades for C.S. (Until the day Camillus went out of business)!

The other problem? Lynn Thompson is considered by many to be little more than an @$$. He over-hypes his products by blatantly insulting his competitors. And, he likes to blatantly rip-off popular designs from his competitors, makes them cheaper, and then actually refers to them, as rip-off artists. (Like he recently did with Mick Strider and his fixed-blade Tanto design. Strider is far from squeaky clean. Far from it. But many folks consider Thompson to be lower than him. And that's saying alot).

A lot of us who are into knives, refuse to buy C.S. products because we don't want Thompson getting our hard-earned money. There are folks on CPF who'll buy lights from Communist China, but not knives from C.S. (And I'm one of them).

That says alot when folks would prefer to buy from China, than from one particular America company.

Truth is, C.S. knives are generally good quality. I owned a few of them years ago. Can't say if the quality has gotten better or worse in recent years. I also like some of the company's designs..... Well, the ones that weren't blatantly ripped off from others.

Hitthespot said:

Oh no I didn't open a can a worms did I? I never gave that a thought when I typed in my question.

Bill

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after reading Monocrom's post, talk about hitting the spot:thumbsup:
:Thanks: for the warning Monocrom

Illum_the_nation said:

after reading Monocrom's post, talk about hitting the spot:thumbsup:
:Thanks: for the warning Monocrom

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No problem.

I'm hoping this thread doesn't degrade horribly.

to Monocrom --


Thank you for the information and insight.


:twothumbs
_

Monocrom said:

No problem.

I'm hoping this thread doesn't degrade horribly.

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Yea, Me too. I have a number of very good quality knives. I even own a number of Randalls. I have never been a member of any knife forums or even bothered to go to many knife web sites. I have just always enjoyed knives and bought what I heard was good and what I liked. However I did go to the Cold Steel site after remembering claims they used to make years ago. That's what prompted the question. I was just wondering if people considered them a great knife manufacturer or little more than a fad. I really didn't know.

Anyway thanks for the post Monocrom. I believe that pretty much sums it up. If I could close the thread myself I would.

Thanks

Bill

I own and carry a cold steel recon one. a tanto folder.
It is one hell of a tough knife.
It isn't a custom. it is a very good knife.
They are a USA based company (Ventura, California).
They produce a good quality knife.
The one I have is a Japanese made unit.
The blade is very nice and holds an edge.
For a value for $$ knife product the Cold Steel company produces a fine product.
Yaesumofo

Monocrom said:

No problem.

I'm hoping this thread doesn't degrade horribly.

Click to expand...

Yea, Me too. I have a number of very good quality knives. I even own a number of Randalls. I have never been a member of any knife forums or even bothered to go to many knife web sites. I have just always enjoyed knives and bought what I heard was good and what I liked. However I did go to the Cold Steel site after remembering claims they used to make years ago. That's what prompted the question. I was just wondering if people considered them a great knife manufacturer or little more than a fad. I really didn't know.

Anyway thanks for the post Monocrom. I believe that pretty much sums it up. If I could close the thread myself I would.

Thanks

Bill

To: Hitthespot ~

Glad I was able to answer your questions. It's your thread, and it's up to you if you really want it closed or left open.

Just PM a moderator if you think it would be best to close the thread.

cant say anything about their whole lineup....but....i own a couple of voyager folders and they have held up well. i like them and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the voyager line.

That is.........if they still use aus 8 steel. mine do but they are about 15yrs old.

Bill

I have two CS, a tanto and a tanto folder with san mai steel, both are about 17-or 18 years old, both are excellant knives, do not know about the new stuff, it looks ok, but now i prefer custom stuff...

iTorch said:

.... a tanto folder with san mai steel, both are about 17-or 18 years old, both are excellant knives......

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Those old CS Shinobu folders (tanto blades) and their Clip Mate cousins (clip point blades) are the only knives I've ever had any real affinity for. I can't seem to pass them up when I see one for sale at a decent price. Most other knives don't have any special appeal for me.

I have several full custom made knives and even more factory knives. I've owned CS for about 14 years and I've never had one fail or perform poorly. I'm an outdoor enthusiast and archery hunter and I'm picky about blade performance. I've been completely satisfied with their knives and have owned about 18-20 of them over the years. I believe that the value of their knives is unsurpassed. Many hunting friends want to know what kind of knife I'm using when we've been been field dressing or skinning elk...then they end up buying the same knife.

Hey, there are many good factory knives out there and I definitely think that CS can be included in that group.

I'll post a pic of my newest one later..........

Cold Steel's general quality has gone downhill as of late. They still make good knives, but one would be wise to do research on a particular model before buying. Also, consider Spyderco, Kershaw, or Benchmade as well. Those three represent to me the best of the mid to upper level knife manufacturers today.