Cheaper than Harbor Freight!

C

Corn Knife

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Oct 14, 2021
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You can get a Cold Steel Axis Machete for cheaper than the one from Harbor Freight, that Cold Steel stole the design from. (Even with the 20% off coupon). LMAO!!!!​

 
I wouldn't say Cold Steel "stole the design". Sawback machetes are nothing new, I had one back in 1982. Nail holes aren't a unique feature either. It's kinda hard to come up with a new machete design that no one else has ever produced. And the handles look very different to me.

EDIT: I also just noticed that the CS machete has a choil, and a bump sticking out right before the choil. The other machete has neither.
 
It is not the sawback or the hole in the blade that makes it a knock-off.

The handle shape and overall shape were copied from the Gerber Gator.

If Harbor Freight has one like this, they also copied Gerber.

That said, I think the Gerber Gator is a weird machete to rip off.

The real question, however, is whether or not it has a conventional edge or the new "90 degree edge."
 
Benjamin Liu said:
It is not the sawback or the hole in the blade that makes it a knock-off.

The handle shape and overall shape were copied from the Gerber Gator.

If Harbor Freight has one like this, they also copied Gerber.

That said, I think the Gerber Gator is a weird machete to rip off.

The real question, however, is whether or not it has a conventional edge or the new "90 degree edge."
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Yep. It's a near Gerber knockoff. I have one in my workbench and recognized it immediately.

Zieg
 
Nothing makes a fast growing virulent thread go like hell here on Bladeforums as one filled with accusations of theft, dishonesty, lack of integrity and disrespect for the inherent nobility of members of the knife enthusiast community. And BF has some of the fastest to trigger watch dogs around to root out that kind of incredible evil.

But what if (and as I tell my wife upfront, I will go ahead and accept I am wrong, maybe stupid) GSM was looking for something to pad their catalogue? My vendors (for tools, materials and supplies) have cut their offerings way back, and their new products are non existent due to cost of development and then taking them manufacture hoping they will generate some interest. So what if GSM was looking around for some filler and they contacted 我做刀, one of the manufacturers they routinely use and they are offered that POS at ridiculously low price and it can be in their catalogue in any amount they want in 90 days?

Or what if 我做刀 contacted GSM and said "hey, while we are making a variant of Big Saw Go Fast Rubber Handle Knife #3 for another one of the arms of your outdoor conglomerate; want us to change the handle and blade a bit and stamp Cold Steel all over it? If you buy another 2500 (branding unimportant) we can knock the unit price down across the board for the GSM model and the CS model together down to $7 a unit. What do you say?"

Why does anyone think there is some kind of evil, planned theft and dishonest BS going on over a $15 POS that would cause CS to fake or copy one of the worst machete designs ever? Do you guys think that CS has picked this product as a showdown with HF or Gerber? A $15 chunk of crudely stamped and even more crudely ground sheet metal that only sells to someone that doesn't know any better? Does anyone really think this is the hill they decided to die on in the court of social media opinion?

As I said earlier, I will cop to being wrong and I am sure that will be explained to me. Personally, I think that this not knife/not machete/not saw is just a really lazy, cheap way to add product to a quickly stagnating catalogue.
 
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midnight flyer said:
Or what if 我做刀 contacted GSM and said "hey, while we are making a variant of Big Saw Go Fast Rubber Handle Knife #3 for another one of the arms of your outdoor conglomerate; want us to change the handle and blade a bit and stamp Cold Steel all over it? If you buy another 2500 (branding unimportant) we can knock the unit price down across the board for the GSM model and the CS model together down to $7 a unit. What do you say?"
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Had to jump up and grab paper towels. “Big Saw Go Fast Rubber Handle Knife #3” made me spray my beverage all over my phone.

I’m betting the conversation went pretty much like that, but I’m also betting it was soldsteel contacting them saying “hey, we know you guys make this junk machete for ______. Can you change a couple parts of it (just enough not to get sued) and give us a volume discount?”

I never thought I’d ever say I missed Lynn T., but I’m not digging this new iteration, at all.
 
to me it looks like the gerber. never said stolen or anything like that myself. it does remind me of the gerber junk version.

the disappointment is rather than designing items like Lynn, Demko, and Mike Wallace did..sure a few others in there helped or whatnot....now company is adding box store driven type stock generics. its their company they can do what they want with it. I just dont care for it, that is all.......
 
midnight flyer said:
Nothing makes a fast growing virulent thread go like hell here on Bladeforums as one filled with accusations of theft, dishonesty, lack of integrity and disrespect for the inherent nobility of members of the knife enthusiast community. And BF has some of the fastest to trigger watch dogs around to root out that kind of incredible evil.

But what if (and as I tell my wife upfront, I will go ahead and accept I am wrong, maybe stupid) GSM was looking for something to pad their catalogue? My vendors (for tools, materials and supplies) have cut their offerings way back, and their new products are non existent due to cost of development and then taking them manufacture hoping they will generate some interest. So what if GSM was looking around for some filler and they contacted 我做刀, one of the manufacturers they routinely use and they are offered that POS at ridiculously low price and it can be in their catalogue in any amount they want in 90 days?

Or what if 我做刀 contacted GSM and said "hey, while we are making a variant of Big Saw Go Fast Rubber Handle Knife #3 for another one of the arms of your outdoor conglomerate; want us to change the handle and blade a bit and stamp Cold Steel all over it? If you buy another 2500 (branding unimportant) we can knock the unit price down across the board for the GSM model and the CS model together down to $7 a unit. What do you say?"

Why does anyone think there is some kind of evil, planned theft and dishonest BS going on over a $15 POS that would cause CS to fake or copy one of the worst machete designs ever? Do you guys think that CS has picked this product as a showdown with HF or Gerber? A $15 chunk of crudely stamped and even more crudely ground sheet metal that only sells to someone that doesn't know any better? Does anyone really think this is the hill they decided to die on in the court of social media opinion?

As I said earlier, I will cop to being wrong and I am sure that will be explained to me. Personally, I think that this not knife/not machete/not saw is just a really lazy, cheap way to add product to a quickly stagnating catalogue.
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The big difference for me , now with GSM introducing crap products under the Cold Steel brand name , is simply that I can no longer recommend this brand to anyone without lots of qualifiers .

I'm not sure what "evil " even means ...but if greedy , stupid and short sighted is part of being evil ...?

And using the hard earned reputation of Cold Steel to deceptively sell garbage is maybe a bit "evil" ,IMO .
 
I really doubt anyone here is offended by a Gerber knock-off.

IMO it is more that we see the fact that GSM made an obvious knock-off of a weird machete from Gerber to be pretty funny, especially with how GSM doesn't sharpen their machetes.

I think Gerber may have discontinued this model and replaced it with another model.

There are so many machetes they could make.
 
jbmonkey said:
to me it looks like the gerber. never said stolen or anything like that myself. it does remind me of the gerber junk version.
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It probably IS the Gerber junk version.

When buying tools (frequently as a contractor) I met some of the tool reps in Home Depot that go into the stores for promotion of new products, Father's Day sales, etc. I noticed that at one store the rep would be wearing one manufacturer's shirt, then at another store a different shirt. Since he actually worked for the parent conglomerate he told me that he wore the shirt and carried the business cards they wanted. He assured me more than once that some parts were actually interchangeable among the conglomerate's brands as they were exactly the same, and in some cases the manufacturer of the branded tools made tools for other brands on parallel manufacturing lines. Different color tool case and sticker graphics, some different internals, but the manufacturer was only there to make product. No wonder so many power tools look alike and some parts (triggers, motors, cords, brushes, bearings) are all the same.
jbmonkey said:
The disappointment is rather than designing items like Lynn, Demko, and Mike Wallace did..sure a few others in there helped or whatnot....now company is adding box store driven type stock generics. its their company they can do what they want with it. I just dont care for it, that is all.......
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jbmonkey jbmonkey , I am with you on that. Since Kershaw crept away from heavy duty work knives, then took ZT wiht them, I have relied on Cold Steel to provide overbuilt, hard working knives. Bought an American Lawman at the advice of a member here, and haven't looked back until recently. I am glad I have the CS offerings I have now and they will outlast me, no doubt. When I am doing the nastiest of the work I do I clip the SR1 tanto on the pocket and I am set for anything on the job site. I love my AD10, it's just about perfect. I may bite on the AD10 Tanto, and sadly call it a day on CS.

I understand that GSM has a responsibility to stay profitable in this hyper competitive internet driven market place for all products. Good for them, and I am also glad for any jobs whether distribution, vendor sales, etc. that stay in the USA. But, I think I have moved on...
 
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Here are some better ideas for a small machete:

Bring back:

12" Barong Machete
Bowie Machete
Smatchet Machete
Warlord

New ideas: All regular machetes 2.8mm thick and the Bushman/Warlord types whatever thickness they normally have.

12" Barong Machete with new style handle
Natchez Bowie Machete - A Natchez style blade with a metal guard and polypropylene handle.
Double edge Smatchet Machete with symmetrical handle - but not too close to the Boker A-F Smatchet
Pugio Machete - to go with the Gladius
Bushman Machete - 12" Bushman either regular or Bowie
Bushman Brush Axe - 12" Bushman with inward curved blade
XL Warlord - 15" blade
12" Latin Machete
12" 1980s Survival Machete - a 1980s "$5 survival knife" with a 12" blade.

The last one was a joke Don't make it.

Of course this is assuming they have sharpened edges.
 
Ontario makes a couple bad ass machetes. Bought a couple recently. Good steel, good sheath. Just putting this out there.
 
Hungryone said:
Ontario makes a couple bad ass machetes. Bought a couple recently. Good steel, good sheath. Just putting this out there.
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Ontario makes excellent machetes. I don't think cold Steel GSM can compete with them. There's too many really good machetes out there to settle for this junk.
 
I think if my memory is functional, I thought Gerber got sued for that toothy design, and if memory shows me correct I think they had to recall them machetes. This is all gossip so I'm not sure if any of it is true. It's true I just Googled it they recalled them machetes because people were getting hurt with them. So cold steel bought a reject of a machete and think they did a good job?
 
I started this thread mostly as a joke to poke fun at a new design that summarizes my dismay at the direction GSM has taken Cold Steel. I don't really appreciate the uneducated bravado in the new videos, or the shameless use of eye candy - and the new 'offerings' that are just regurgitated crap like this machete or the sharpeners are just as disappointing. It all goes right along with sending out unsharpened machetes. If getting your undies in a bunch, jumping to conclusions, misrepresenting a joke (of all things) and then spending time being an apologist for a huuuuuuge corporation that 1)is not part of the knife enthusiast community and 2)is in the process of pouring a bunch of metaphorical fetid fecal matter all over a company many of us have respected for decades - please go ahead, it is of course your right. I reserve the right to continue to make fun of these new 'improvements' to Cold Steel as well as anyone who defends them - and I will enjoy doing so.

I'm actually curious if Harbor Freight or Gerber came up with the design above first - either way, I think it is fairly dangerous and the sawback has a tendency to destroy sheaths. I'd rather bring a packable bow saw.

FWIW, I used an old harbor freight machete for over 15 years - the design preceded the sawback version, and it has worked just fine for clearing small brush. It holds an edge decently, sharpens quickly, and the handle is pretty comfortable. I also have a few of Cold Steel's machetes, and especially like the Kukri Plus model. It is super light, I've been surprised about its durability, excels for clearing blackberries, and has become my favorite to use for this task. I got it cheap, and it was well worth the money.
 
Gerber definitely had this first.

They've had this design for many years while Harbor Freight sold Tromontina-like machetes in carbon steel (with edges almost as bad as GSM) and very bad sheaths and later trashy sawbacks in stainless with plastic handles.

IIRC they also sold them in different sizes.

I think Gerber dropped this one because they made a new version with a more normal-looking handle.

Gerber/Fiskars machetes seem to be hit and miss. I've seen numerous bad reviews for some of the larger Gerber machetes (with pictures of the damaged blades) but have had very good experience with the Bear Grylls Compact Parang and the Fiskars Brush Axe. I've also had good experience with the Versafix although I only got it recently so it has not been through as much as the other two.
 
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