Cold Steel - Ultimate Hunter

marthinus

marthinus

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
5,866
I recently got hold of this Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter out of curiosity mainly.

Some specs from Cold Steel.

  • Name: Ultimate Hunter
  • Blade Length: 3-1/2"
  • Blade Thickness: 3.5 mm
  • Handle: 5" G10
  • Overall: 8-1/2"
  • Steel: Carpenter CTS-XHP Alloy
  • Pocket Clip: Ambidextrous Pocket / Belt Clip
  • Weight: 4.9 oz.
  • Made in Taiwan

Some tests done on the lock by Cold Steel (I generally take these videos as more entertainment really).

[video=youtube;9rvon6CoeHk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rvon6CoeHk[/video]

Mine came in the older packaging.

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Initial sharpness test. Aggressive edge, shaving with some effort.

[video=youtube;FUErGs9vBG0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUErGs9vBG0[/video]

I used the knife for some small tasks around the house. Cutting dead branches, cutting greener branches with a slight chopping motion holding the blade lower on the handle for snap cuts. The knife proved to have no issue operating it with gloves.

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Then cut up some old dirty cardboard.

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Whittled some wood. Harder cuts shown first, and finer cuts shown second. Both were alright, but dropping the edge angle would dramatically increase performance in this aspect.

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How the knife looked after the work.

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Final sharpness test. Slightly duller.

[video=youtube;kBVQdOzc2H0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVQdOzc2H0[/video]

Washed the knife and with Sunlight dish washing soap over the handle grip remained secure.

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After some additional use I sharpened the blade.


Bevel was around 20 degrees on the one side (presentation side) and 12 degrees on the other side (back side). So sharpening on a Sharpmaker one could easily see the 15 dps would micro bevel the one side and hit the shoulders on the other side.


Back side with micro bevel.


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I swapped the stones to the 20 degree slots and one would start to hit the entire edge on the presentation side.


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After this I decided to reshape the edge.


The low angle side (back side) was easy of coarse as my freehand sharpening tend to be around 10-12 degrees. The only place I needed to spend more time on was towards the base of the edge.


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20 degree per side (presentation side) took a bit longer but the bevel was more consistent towards the base of the edge.


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I ran 320 - 600 (diamond stones) and the UF ceramic stone. Results were a nicely polished edge.


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Thoughts thus far.


1) The design of the blade remains utilitarian and a good general use blade profile.


2) The knife is really well finished for the price. Similar to that of Spyderco Endura, no 60 grit finishes all over the place (lately seen customs in the $1000 range and midtechs in the $500 range with tooling marks etc that leaves my mind boggled). Only one small area on the lockbar on the inside of the frame is rough.


3) CTS-XHP: From sharpening it feels and takes a polish more like RWL-34 than D2. This surprised me. So far I am enjoying it.
 
Great review! I have been looking at this knife for a while. Looks good. Too bad I don't really have the need for another big blade since I work in an office environment.
 
Nice review Marthinus, the only thing short in your review is a braai photo ;)

Johann
A man without a knife is a man without a life. - Nordic Proverb
 
Nice Marthinus. Almost surprised to see you with a cold steel.

Is it comfy in the pocket?
 
That unsharpened part at the back and the uneven bevel would irritate me. Other than that it looks like a folding version of the Pendleton Lite Hunter, one of my favorite fixed blades in my current collection.
 
Thanks for reading everyone.

Mikel_24 said:
Great review! I have been looking at this knife for a while. Looks good. Too bad I don't really have the need for another big blade since I work in an office environment.
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It is a bit big for office work, especially if you work in a cubicle environment. I bought it to lend out on site etc. My customs, that remain my most EDC'ed knives, are ground for slicing and not general neglect. The UH has a more robust grind.

JohannD said:
Nice review Marthinus, the only thing short in your review is a braai photo ;)

Johann
A man without a knife is a man without a life. - Nordic Proverb
Click to expand...

Thanks, but doubt this will see much braai time. More for site.

MACHAVEN said:
Nice Marthinus. Almost surprised to see you with a cold steel.

Is it comfy in the pocket?
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Rides well in the pocket, more like a Benchmade Griptilian due to the contouring of the handles, but I prefer the contoured handles over flat handles.

me2 said:
That unsharpened part at the back and the uneven bevel would irritate me. Other than that it looks like a folding version of the Pendleton Lite Hunter, one of my favorite fixed blades in my current collection.
Click to expand...

It looks to be a Pendleton Lite Hunter. Did not even know about that fixed blade.

I did modify the blade now to minimize the unsharpened part. Forgive the dirty blade, took it out of the sampling bag and took the photo. I am not too bothered about the thickening of the edge towards the heel as I will most likely regrind the blade some time in the future. Will sort it out then.

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Last edited:
Chiral, when I saw those pics, I was thinking in my head, "Now THAT is how you grind a hunting knife!", and then noticed your comment at the bottom. Like the EXACT words I was thinking! I grind my hunting knives like picture above (with a hand rubbed finish lengthwise tho). Looks to be slightly convex toward the edge.....looks great and I know how a knife ground well like that is a real pleasure to use over the stock grind.

Thanks for the thread, Marthinus, and thanks for the post/pics Chiral. Very cool. That's how it's done, folks.
 
Thanks for the review Marthinus, I wonder why Cold Steel puts that flat spots at the base of the edge? I agree w/ ME2 that would drive me crazy!
 
TickTock said:
Thanks for the review Marthinus, I wonder why Cold Steel puts that flat spots at the base of the edge? I agree w/ ME2 that would drive me crazy!
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I like that flat spot, because when you choke up on it, you don't cut your index finger. But that's just me, YMMV.
 
TickTock said:
Thanks for the review Marthinus, I wonder why Cold Steel puts that flat spots at the base of the edge? I agree w/ ME2 that would drive me crazy!
Click to expand...

That has to do with the sweeping grind. It creates that flat spot.

Update to this:

I have used the Ultimate hunter on and off for some time now, light processing of some poultry and some meats. I did not like the thick grind. Rather than copy what REK I decided to do a hollow grind.

Average thickness behind the edge is 0.25mm with 0.5mm (0.0020 inch) about a centimeter up from the edge. I did a full mirror to see how it feels on the belts, then went back to 60 grit with a light 800 grit over the 60 grit to smooth it out a bit.

CTS-XHP is still far more similar to RWL-34 than I anticipated, polishes, grinds the same way on the belts. RWL-34 for me is the bees knees of balance between properties so this has been a pleasant surprise.

The lock has settled in deeper than when I received it.

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Either one of those modifications is the way it should have been made. Looks great guys. DM
 
Mine has been a very nice daily user. The steel/ heat treatment seems very good with excellent edge retention and toughness.
 
Great review! That CTS-XHP really holds an edge. The blade shape looks very similar to Dozier's folder.
 
The Ultimate Hunter is somewhat like a smaller, lighter less expensive version of the 4 Max.
 
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