My vintage Cold Steel pictures, discussions, and general shenanigans

[strideruser]

Some nice knives! Let's see what I have....

 

[strideruser]

ATC that's grease on the blade https://pin.it/4ArL7c2

 

[1stID]

I bought and got in an ATC, and what a beast it is. Huge and ready to chop limbs off, either tree form or human.

My old LTC was much thinner, while this one is a full 5/16" thick I think.

Now I've not seen the ATC listed in any of the Cold Steel catalogs, and I have most of the online ones. I think the ATC was offered via their Special Projects line and so was in their catalog instead. Anyone know what year the ATC first came out, and what the model number of it was? What was the price back in the day for this one?

LTC and ATC set:

 

[1stID]

Here's a knife I didn't know a lot about, the Oyabun. This came out in 98, so it's part of the vintage catalog of Cold Steel knives. This one has a 9" blade, but is lighter than the tanto line. There were 4 of this line in total - the Oyabun at 9 inches and 7-1/2", and the Kobun at 5-1/2", with both straight and serrated edges. So one down, three to go!

 

[jlauffer]

I bought and got in an ATC, and what a beast it is. Huge and ready to chop limbs off, either tree form or human.

My old LTC was much thinner, while this one is a full 5/16" thick I think.

Now I've not seen the ATC listed in any of the Cold Steel catalogs, and I have most of the online ones. I think the ATC was offered via their Special Projects line and so was in their catalog instead. Anyone know what year the ATC first came out, and what the model number of it was? What was the price back in the day for this one?

LTC and ATC set:

It was in the New Products for 1990 flyer:

Old Cold Steel Ads

I added to my magazine collection a good bit last year, and I've been trying to set aside some time to update this thread for a while now. Ken Hash's recent contributions in some other threads have inspired me to get in gear. All of this post's ads come from Soldier of Fortune magazines. As...

www.bladeforums.com

 

[jlauffer]

Here's a knife I didn't know a lot about, the Oyabun. This came out in 98, so it's part of the vintage catalog of Cold Steel knives. This one has a 9" blade, but is lighter than the tanto line. There were 4 of this line in total - the Oyabun at 9 inches and 7-1/2", and the Kobun at 5-1/2", with both straight and serrated edges. So one down, three to go!

The Kobun, and 9" Oyabun, were also available in Carbon V:

Mini History of Cold Steel Kobun & Oyabun

Quickly threw this together based on catalog info...not planning to add any pics. Have included model numbers, blade steel, blade finish, type of sheath, and where made. KOBUN: Introduced in the 1996/97 catalog. Not many people realize there was a serrated version. 1996 -...

www.bladeforums.com

 

[1stID]

Interesting, now there's even more versions to buy!

The Kobun, and 9" Oyabun, were also available in Carbon V:

Mini History of Cold Steel Kobun & Oyabun

Quickly threw this together based on catalog info...not planning to add any pics. Have included model numbers, blade steel, blade finish, type of sheath, and where made. KOBUN: Introduced in the 1996/97 catalog. Not many people realize there was a serrated version. 1996 -...

www.bladeforums.com

 

[1stID]

Couple of new ones, a Rajaj III, which isn't vintage as it was made in Taiwan, but I got it cheap and it'll be a good use knife. Anyone know what year it came out and what's the model number?

On the vintage side, I finally bought a Culloden - they've been interesting to me but I've focused on other knives first. That said, it's a wicked slim knife, and does carry quite well in a boot. Neat knife.

 

[1stID]

New to me Cold Steel UWK knife - these were pattered after the SOG style knives, made of Carbon V and epoxy coated.

Strangely, all the ones I've seen on auction sites don't have the original sheath. The one I bought was brand new in the box, and yet no sheath. I'd read that CS sometimes had problems getting sheaths for their knives, hence why sometimes they'd sell a knife with a leather sheath and sometimes with a kydex or cordon one, in the same year. Maybe they had manufacturing issues getting sheaths made for this one, and just sold them out without sheaths for less cost.

This one came with a Ka-Bar sheath, which doesn't quite fit it - hence the nasty scar it left when I put the knife in.

 

[Daniel L]

Great collection!

I missed buying their vintage Walkabout sticks in purpleheart and macacauba. They also had a wart hog tusk topped walking stick from Special Projects.

I used to own all 3 versions of their original Sjamboks... 36" police issue, the medium (44" I think) and 54" XL which was a lot of fun. I always appreciated CS and Lynn making stuff that no other manufacturers wanted to touch.

 

[DangerZone98]

Here's a knife I didn't know a lot about, the Oyabun. This came out in 98, so it's part of the vintage catalog of Cold Steel knives. This one has a 9" blade, but is lighter than the tanto line. There were 4 of this line in total - the Oyabun at 9 inches and 7-1/2", and the Kobun at 5-1/2", with both straight and serrated edges. So one down, three to go!

Love the blade, not crazy about the handle. My Kobun’s rubber grip felt way too thin. A thickness similar to the SRK while still retaining the tanto style handle would have been perfect.

 

[jux t]

Love the blade, not crazy about the handle. My Kobun’s rubber grip felt way too thin. A thickness similar to the SRK while still retaining the tanto style handle would have been perfect.

The handle is one of the reasons I love the Kobun, it's very easy to conceal in the waistband.

 

[Benjamin Liu]

The Kobun is a good design and the handle is part of that. The idea was to have an easily concealable knife that was almost as long as the original Tanto or Master Tanto.

If you want a more substantial handle look into the Master Tanto. That is a very nice knife and this design is my favorite CS design.

The only flaw I see in the Kobun is the thin rubber guard. Considering those new small tantos with Kobun-inspired handles have metal guards it would be a good idea to add a metal guard to the Kobun as well as bringing back the Oyabun with a metal guard.

 

[John Phillips]

Cold Steel began selling a series of "classic military knives, around 1993. The first one was called the Military Classic, and was listed as $147 bucks in the 95 catalog, compared to $240 for their tanto. They must not have made a whole lot of these, as they go for 400-500 bucks on Ebay, compared to 300 ish for the tanos.

In 95 CS came out with the Black Bear Classic, which was a pretty wicket looking double edge knife. Price was $220. As with the Military Classic, in good shape these early models go for $400 or more.

Later on, CS made the same pattern knife, but in a more utilitarian format - Kydex sheaths, either black epoxy coating over Carbon V steel, or stainless from Japan, both with the rubber grips instead of fancy micarta. They also called them different names - the Military Classic was called the ODA, the Black Bear Classic was the OSS (both had the same outline pattern of blades and handles), and they offered another version, the UWK, which was pattered after the Vietnam era SOG knife.

Unlike the Tantos and Trailmasters, I never was that into these when they first came out. I picked up a Carbon V ODA off Ebay as it was a good price, and I have to say, based on balance and feel, it's a very good knife. It and the SKR would be great knock around military knives for close in combat, or more likely opening up MRE's and other boring stuff.

This OSS is actually a Taiwan version, so not the classic Japan or Carbon V vantage, but was being offered at like 80 buck or so on Ebay, so I had to pick it up. The double hilt does really lock your hand in place but seems like more hassle than it's worth. With the double edge and long (8-1/4") blade, it is fierce looking. I'll pick up a Carbon V version if I see one.

I need the UWK to complete the set but you rarely see those - must not have made many.

I just picked up a Black Bear Classic and I’m trying to figure out if it’s an early model. It’s AUS-8 and made in Japan. It has a black leather sheath with a sharpening stone as well. Any thoughts?

 

[jlauffer]

I just picked up a Black Bear Classic and I’m trying to figure out if it’s an early model. It’s AUS-8 and made in Japan. It has a black leather sheath with a sharpening stone as well. Any thoughts?

Yep, that's an earlier one, but not the earliest, which were "400 Series Stainless". I'll need to consult the catalog archive to see the years it changed steels, etc.

 

[John Phillips]

Yep, that's an earlier one, but not the earliest, which were "400 Series Stainless". I'll need to consult the catalog archive to see the years it changed steels, etc.

Thanks for the help!!! Any ideas on years produced?

 

[jlauffer]

Thanks for the help!!! Any ideas on years produced?

Based on the catalogs, it was AUS8A and came with the leather sheath from 1995-2004. In 2005 it was still AUS8A, but came with SecureEx, and in 2006 it switched to VG-1 San Mai III.

 

[Gimmick]

I'm late to the party, but you've got a great collection, I especially like the tantos and of course the kukris. Very, very nice.

 

[thebrain]

You still need the satin finish stainless UWK now that you have the carbon V version. Awesome collection by the way!

 

[1stID]

Since my last post, I've bought a few more Cold Steel knives.

First up is a large Twistmaster. These usually had a simple clip point, but they also made them with a tanto blade, and this drop point style:

Next up is a pretty rare one, a tanto point out the front style. The sheep's foot style was much more popular and produced longer, but in the early 90's, they also made this tanto point, as well as a double edge dagger style. This one is probably from 93 or so - it was listed in the 93 catalog, and it came with the black box which the early CS knives came with.