Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter for 2015 in CTS XHP steel and G10

I agree, the more pointy blade is a more useful blade, at least with the type of every day things I use a knife for, others may disagree, but that's why we have so very many choices ;)

For me, the following sums up my likes for this knife;

Blade steel, very sharp, ground down thin, there isn't a notch before the edge to catch on material, blades tip is down from the spine a bit, not quite centered with the handle so it provides a good deal of belly

The LOCK, an amazing lock system, that was a big draw to this knife for me too.

Handle style, material and size, all work well together

Lanyard hole, always like a lanyard when I can on a knife

clip, small yet strong, like me ;)

and now, I like the blade's profile better with a pointier outlook on things. Please note that when I ground down the blade, I did so without lowering the very point so that is still in the same exact position, I just took away some of that hump that tended to block the blades efforts on pushing into cardboard and the like.

G2
 
Your pictures are a revelation. The stock pics show a hollow grind. Yours do make the knife look flat-ground.

Did you copy the pics of your modifications to CS?
 
I didn't send directly to them but posted some shots in their forum within BladeForums

And at least mine, is flat ground blade, just laid the edge of a ruler along side to make sure there wasn't any subtle hollow grind to it and it appears to be fully flat.
And, again, this rascal takes a very keen edge!!
G2
 
Thank you for your response - and for the very useful review.

Interesting that for a 'hunter" it has the blade profile beloved of the "bushcraft" folk in the UK. They have even become resigned to stainless steel.
(What they would demand -- forget how sharp it is -- is that the bevel on each side meet to form the edge with no convexing or secondary bevel. They had a contest once and the knife adjudged the best and the winner was taken off by the author of the article to have its [typical] offending secondary bevel removed so it could be a "proper" bushcraft knife. 0___0 )
 
Yes, hard to say just what their thinking was, but, as I have more use of a pointier blade, I did the deed of making it so. As to secondary bevels, convex is very good style edge, while possibly harder to maintain on the go, but none the less, a good edge profile. This one is ground down fairly thin and takes an exceptional edge, it's filled my right front pocket since it's arrival. I did put off modifying the blade for quite a while but this week I was off on vacation and took the opportunity.

G2
 
More importantly, do you like it?
G2
 
Bapple said:
Nice review Gary! Loving mine and the XHP is fantastic on this one! I am a choil man so I added one to my UH! Very sweet knife!

CS15%20002_zpstjmkjprm.jpg


CS15%20003_zpsycdmyu2i.jpg
Click to expand...
That looks just about perfect, Cold Steel should consider this for future versions.
 
Is there a way to bring the point/tip lower into the handle? I really like the knife but I am afraid that after a couple of sharpenings the tip will become exposed.
 
Thanks for your review! :thumbup:

I think your mod proves this knife was a missed opportunity. They shouldve made it a clip point a la the Recon 1. Or done an alternate version with a clip point profile. Personally the drop point with its blunt tip is a total buzz kill for me. I insist on a good point on my knives because so often I used them to open stuff and so often packaging nowadays is the ever infuriating blister pack. One of the many reasons my EDC is a SOG Pentagon Elite - SOG really nailed it with their shark tip feature!

Your report on the CTS-XHP is encouraging... however, the clip makes me nervous.

I had a AK-47 before and the clip was a disaster due to the very narrow lip opening. Would only work on some pants - thick material was a no no. I hope they've addressed that, if not I will have to remove the clip and carry in a sheath, not ideal.

I am looking to pick up a Recon 1 but ultimately would prefer a regular satin finish but CS in their wisdom likes to coat the Recon blades, lord knows why.
 
The clip is tough to use one pockets with thick edges

I don't think that you can get the blade to sit any lower but you would need to remove a lot of metal to get to that problem and then I'd just grind down the spine to lower the point
G2
 
Thanks for the great feedback. When I first saw this knife I was a little turned off by the rather bull nosed tip. However all of the overwhelming praise led me to purchasing this recently. And after a couple of weeks the lack of a decent tip led me to stop carrying this otherwise great knife. So like G2, I took matters into my own hands and started grinding....after a couple of hours...

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Now it's the ULTIMATE Ultimate Hunter :)
 
Nicely done sir !
G2
 
Buffalohump said:
Thanks for your review! [emoji106]

I think your mod proves this knife was a missed opportunity. They shouldve made it a clip point a la the Recon 1. Or done an alternate version with a clip point profile. Personally the drop point with its blunt tip is a total buzz kill for me. I insist on a good point on my knives because so often I used them to open stuff and so often packaging nowadays is the ever infuriating blister pack. One of the many reasons my EDC is a SOG Pentagon Elite - SOG really nailed it with their shark tip feature!

Your report on the CTS-XHP is encouraging... however, the clip makes me nervous.

I had a AK-47 before and the clip was a disaster due to the very narrow lip opening. Would only work on some pants - thick material was a no no. I hope they've addressed that, if not I will have to remove the clip and carry in a sheath, not ideal.

I am looking to pick up a Recon 1 but ultimately would prefer a regular satin finish but CS in their wisdom likes to coat the Recon blades, lord knows why.
Click to expand...
The clip sucks! It won't go over the pocket of my jeans. I shouldn't have to remove the clip and bend it in a vise to be useable.
 
I've only found it to be real trouble for me when I try to clip it to my Carhartt pants pocket that are slanted, those seem to have extra thick edges to the pocket.

BUT in looking at the clip, I wouldn't bend the clip much, I'd take and hammer the VERY beginning of the clip so it angles up slightly, to allow the thicker material to slip under the clip.
I may do this at some point and how that affects the carry, a ball peen hammer and a block of steel to 'bang' it into the better angle.

If it works out...I'll be back with a photo ;)
G2
 
Ok that does seem to help, without causing much if any hot spots from it's new angle

Here's the original set to the tip of the clip

IMG_5169.jpg~original


and here's the hammered tip which allows it to slide over thicker material while still having a good strong retention from the clip's spring force, so I did not change how tight the clip is, just the amount of access for material to be able to slide beneath the tip;

clip_tip.jpg~original


G2
 
Nice work! I just feel this is a bit of sticking point, excuse the pun. Surely it cant be THAT hard to get a pocket clip right, ie, designed to accept ALL types of material?

I personally insist on this because I often wear pants with thick material - jeans and sweats are two obvious ones - and if the gap between the lip and the scales is too narrow, you gonna have problems!

Gary W. Graley said:
Ok that does seem to help, without causing much if any hot spots from it's new angle

Here's the original set to the tip of the clip

IMG_5169.jpg~original


and here's the hammered tip which allows it to slide over thicker material while still having a good strong retention from the clip's spring force, so I did not change how tight the clip is, just the amount of access for material to be able to slide beneath the tip;

clip_tip.jpg~original


G2
Click to expand...
 
That's true, things should be perfect, but, they often aren't, look how long it's taken Cold Steel has stepped up their production? I wouldn't wait on a new version of clips, at least right away, this small mod took less than 2 minutes to do, or there about. It shouldn't have been necessary, but as you can see they tried to keep the lip low so those that complain of being stabbed in the palm would quiet down, ;) win some they lose some, but at least it isn't too hard to remedy.

G2
 
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