Cold Steel Outdoorsman (San Mai) / How robust ?

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bigeard09

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Sep 8, 2016
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Thinking about pulling the trigger on the Cold steel Outdoorsman (San Mai) mainly as a collectors piece but possibly a little light bushcraft use , ie battoning , slicing , cutting , feathersticks etc . Can any forum members give me a little feedback on their thoughts on this model ?
Thanks
 
It's a great model, and very stout. The problem is that it competes with and gets overshadowed by the Tanto, even though the Outdoorsman is a much better knife for woods work. It will handle every thing, and the bonus top edge is great for scraping, light splitting, etc...., it will beat up a baton in traditional batoning though.
 
Last edited:
tltt said:
It's a great model, and very stout. The problem is that it competes with and gets overshadowed by the Tanto, even though the Outdoorsman is a much better knife for woods work. It will handle every thing, and the bonus top edge is great for scraping, light splitting, etc...., it will beat up a baton in traditional batoning though.
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
IDK about the Outdoorsman, but my Outdoorsman Lite that is supposed to hollow ground is actually convex. I don't know how it's even possible, but it's been quite durable. I have batoned it quite a bit and overall I am quite happy. Hasn't chipped or anything when I've done some carving with it. It's actually a lot better at that stuff that I had expected. Pretty comfy too, although the handle isn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination. Too thin. I think the Outdoorsman is a little thicker though. I should say all this was done with a 20 degree angle I tossed on it. Not the thicker 25 degree or whatever it came with.

For cutting up food, it's really really good.

I imagine the full Outdoorsman is even tougher. Looks much better too. Don't see much appeal in the San Mai but that's just me.
 
I have two Outdoorsman in San Mai. They are quite attractive knives, with a nice robust hollow grind.

They are well balanced, high quality, and feel great in the hand. The polished pommel is a nice touch, and the lamination lines look cool. The "bone breaker" is actually kinda sharp and useful for bashing through stuff. A full bellied blade that crosses into several genres of use.

Highly under-rated knives.
 
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