XHP Recon 1

Mike Sastre

Mike Sastre

Custom Crafted Concealex Sheaths
Joined
Mar 23, 1999
Messages
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Many people have been asking Cold Steel for an upgrade option on some of their knives, saying they would not mind paying the extra costs. I guess somebody was listening because exclusively at Blade, CS had an upgraded Recon 1 available for sale. XHP Super Steel, DLC coating, and a refined Triad Lock (less stiff in unlocking, but just as strong). This should take care of those who have complained about AUS8, Teflon coating, and stiff locks. I've got a few knives with the DLC coating and can attest to its toughness and good looks. I'll post a couple pics, one with old and new together, and you can see the deep luster of the DLC compared to the flat black of the Teflon coating. I definitely noticed the difference in closing the new Recon (I close a hell of a lot of Triads when I pack up from a show) and like it. MSRP was $169.99 and CS had a show special price of $120. I was impressed enough that I picked up a few while I could. Here's a couple of pics.

Recon 1 XHP.jpg New & old.jpg
 
The amount of excitement this instills in me is downright undignified. Cold Steel, if you're listening, put XHP or something similar in the Tuff Lite and I'm down for two.
 
I own 4 Cold Steel folders, and if they made them in XHP I would buy all 4 again in it!
 
I would Gladly pay full MSRP for one of these folders with the upgraded steel.
I hope that this is an indicator of good things to come.

-nate
 
As a happy consumer of AUS8A, I'm not a fan of a more expensive Cold Steel knives. Value pricing is much of the appeal of Cold Steel for me. But as long as they keep their bread and butter, that's cool.
 
powernoodle said:
As a happy consumer of AUS8A, I'm not a fan of a more expensive Cold Steel knives. Value pricing is much of the appeal of Cold Steel for me. But as long as they keep their bread and butter, that's cool.
Click to expand...

I really doubt we'll ever see the inexpensive gems vanish, but I think the upgraded steel allows them to compete in a slightly different market segment as well. A design like the American Lawman in XHP with a kinder, gentler Triad lock would, IMHO, be an immediate competitor for such metaphorical heavyweights as the Para 2, Benchmade Rift and ZT 0350.
 
The difference in unlocking tension is very minor and takes nothing away from the Triads superb lock-up strength. If you have not encountered some of the Triads that are initially harder than others to unlock, chances are you won't notice the difference.
 
Mike Sastre said:
The difference in unlocking tension is very minor and takes nothing away from the Triads superb lock-up strength. If you have not encountered some of the Triads that are initially harder than others to unlock, chances are you won't notice the difference.
Click to expand...

That's sort of what I figured. My Voyager and Tuff Lite aren't difficult to operate at all, but my Talwar (not even the XL) is a literal pain to unlock.
 
Can't wait for this one to come on sale without the serrations. And the price is good too. :thumbup:
 
I am going to wait for the plain edge versions for 2015.

It looks to me like they may phase out the AUS-8A on a lot of their products.

They have been moving some of their products to Taiwan that were previously made in Japan.
 
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