Thanks to
Quiet
's enablement, I took receipt of a shiny new knife today.
It has been many years since I bought a Cold Steel folder - the last one I bought had the Axis-style lock and I used the heck out of that blade. It is nice to come back to Cold Steel and find that they can facilitate the production of something that is of such good quality.
I won't do another review - I think Forrest hit all of the high points. I will make a few comments though regarding its size, function, and overall awesomeness.
My first impression is that this is smaller than I expected - Cold Steel has a penchant for making gigantic folders and with some of the reviews calling the Bush Ranger bulky, I was expecting a bit of a brick. Well, it is no brick and one should be able to carry this comfortably - below, you will find some comparison shots with a PM2 and a GEC 23. Obviously, it is thicker than a PM2 but other than that, they are relatively the same size and though the Bush Ranger has a more robust blade, it has a longer cutting edge than the PM2.
The lock on mine was a bit stiff but it is already smoothing out for me after a few dozen openings. The action is smooth, the centering is perfect, and the edge geometry is plenty acceptable for a knife of this type and caliber. It could be thinner but that is what my PM2 is for.
My only nitpick is that with the sculpting of the handle, it is almost too small for my hand - it's kind of weird to be saying that but it is what it is.
Overall, it is a fantastic knife at a great price - I have absolutely no regrets in purchasing this, it's going to get a lot of use.