Cold Steel Master Hunter ?

The cold steel master hunter is a good knife, but it is good because it is a copy of the arguably the best woods knife ever, the Fallkniven F1. If you can find one of these, get it. (for cheaper too) If you already have a master hunter, don't worry, it's a good knife.
Heres 2 links that should help you.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179212&highlight=master

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=366038&highlight=master
Reading my own links, seems the master hunter is better then just good.;)
The cold steel site has it listed as 139.99, but apparently it can be found much cheaper.
You will pay at least 100 for a fallkniven.
 
The Master Hunter is one of my favorite knives, and until recently, my outdoors to go knife (recently I got my NWA BFSK). The MH is full Tang and is listed by Doug Ritter as one of his production knife choices for a survival knife. (see here). Arguably, you can do better than a CS Master Hunter, Fallkniven F1, BK5 or the like, but at a much higher price.

My MH is in Carbon V, and I don't know that it compares with the newer versions in VG-1 San Mai, but been layered steel, I guess the newer versions should perform quite well. IMO the CS MH is an excellent compromise between strength, toughness, and cutting/slicing power. Many strong, tough knives have a wider profile to insure strength, but that sacrifices cutting ability. The thinner edge profile of the MH (shared by the F1 and many other woodsman knives) insures great cutting power while providing more than enough strength and toughness to take care of most, if not all survival tasks you may need. The one thing the Master Hunter is not, is a sharpened pry bar.
 
I have two of the older Carbon five models. Great knives. My oldest one is about 20 years old. The Carbon five ODA is also a good rough use knife.
 
Don't think anyone has answered the tang question. No, the Master Hunter is not a full tang knife. Somewhere floating around here are x-ray photos of one. They have roughly 3/4 tang. There are people who re-handle them. Just requires a bit more work.

It is a good knife though. If you look past all the pomp and circumstance both from Cold Steel's president and those who don't like him, they actually make some nice knifes.

Charlie
 
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The master hunter is the one in the middle. I have had it for about 9 years. Carbon V is easily one of the best steels I have ever used. Maybe VG10 comes close but nothing else.
 
Liam Ryan said:
The cold steel master hunter is a good knife, but it is good because it is a copy of the arguably the best woods knife ever, the Fallkniven F1.
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I hadn't thought of the MH as a copy, but I'll admit they are similar. The MH does have a better guard.

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Preacher Man said:
My MH is in Carbon V, and I don't know that it compares with the newer versions in VG-1 San Mai
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Carbon V is the same steel as was used in the Camillus Becker line of knives.

Phil Gibbs said:
Carbon V definately came first. It was the brainchild of the Metal God, Dan Maragni, & was, in my opinion, what put Cold Steel on the map all those years ago.

When Cold Steel came to Camillus to make their carbon steel knives, they did not want to pay for the vast amount of steel that had to be purchased in order to have a custom steel made to their specifications.
Consequently Cold Steel agreed that Camillus could also use the steel (& pay them a royalty, I believe) but could not call it Carbon V.

I came up with the name 0170-6C, based on an almost close (but NOT) steel produced by Sharron Steel called 0170-6.

All this is historical trivia.

The real issue for those who understand is Heat Treatment!

The reason that the Camillus Beckers perform so well is that Dan Maragni set up a system of heat treatment at Camillus for the Cold Steel knives, & oversaw almost every batch of knives produced. What we learnt about heat treating Cold Steel seeped over to the Becker knives.
All that is now lost forever!

In my humble opinion, the values of the Camillus Beckers may not rise significantly in the collector market, but for those interested in a high performance user, get them while you can. Without Maragni's methods, I don't care what a future maker of Beckers uses, they will just be well designed carbon steel knives covered in powder coat!

I dearly hope I am wrong & the new maker will consider trying to improve their methods. Time will tell..............
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"but it is good because it is a copy of the arguably the best woods knife ever, the Fallkniven F1."

I have both, and they are not that similar in the hand- the MH is larger and has a thin flat grind. THe F-1 is convex, and thicker.
 
I had a MH in carbon V. Great knife IMO and one of the only CS knives I would own. I also had a Fallkniven F1. I liked the carbon V and the MS sheath better than the F1, but in the end I sold it.

The F1 is still my favorite outdoor blade, and it won out over the MH in the end.

If you can find an older MH in carbon V, I would buy it. You also will not go wrong with a Fallkniven in any flavor.
 
Elen said:
Or a lot worse guard, if you don't like huge guards that get in the way. ;) Even the F1 has a little too much guard for my tastes. :D
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With bloody hands/gloves when field dressing deer, I prefer a guard. There are a couple of cuts that require a bit of pressure. Last thing I want is my hand slipping onto the blade.

That's the one beef I have with so many of Bark River's hunting knives.
 
If the MH is a copy, then so are about 75% of the other drop points out there. The guard is rubber, so it's easily removed or reduced if desired. Any knife that's still in user demand after 20 years is a good one.:) Regards, ss.

By the way, the tubular rivet goes through the tang, so that's an indication of the tang length.
 
Well whether or not the MH is a copy one thing remains... Cold steel used kraton before anyone else in production knives... So who's copying who?
 
Hey Guys..

I wouldn't spend 1/2 of $139.00 for a Master Hunter...

I Much rather have another FI...

Far better knife as far as I'm concerned..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Normark said:
Hey Guys..

I wouldn't spend 1/2 of $139.00 for a Master Hunter...

I Much rather have another FI...

Far better knife as far as I'm concerned..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
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Seems like I only paid about $60 to $70 back when I bought my Carbon V Master Hunter. Well worth the cash. Dressed the first deer I got up here in Tennessee.
 
Saying it was a copy is was pretty much an assumption on my part, Have to admit I believe cold steel has questionable ethics when it comes to some of their designs, and they do look pretty similar.
(Most notably the Grohmann original becomes the "canadian belt knife", then charge 8 bucks for it.:mad:)
Anyway, let's let that be the last word on that issue, they make some great blades for the money.
 
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