Ever heard of GSM Outdoors? They just bought Cold steel.

herisson said:
Due to the current GSMO shenanigans, I just thought to myself, maybe you should buy now that sword cane you were circling around for the giggles. Now, I remember a year, or so, ago, it was offered by one of my favorite retailers and the steel was 1055 (a good steel for swords). When I checked in to the site, they still have it in stock but the steel is 420. Not a problem by itself, it will do the job, but for Bob's sake can't you honestly state exactly what steel you use ? 420HC ? 420J2 ? Unspecified 420 something from China ? It feels like the quackster information you get on an EB sale (blade : stainless, handle : plywood...). Won't buy. It seems the demise of CS didn't start yesterday.
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Well...
Zknives describes 4034 as a "420HC steel class alloy," and they've used it a bunch lately, so that's a possibility.
BHQ has CS sword canes listed in 1055, 3Cr13MoV, and 420J2.
KnifeCenter has them listed in 1045, 1566, 2Cr13, 3Cr13, 4116, 9260, some variety of damascus, and the ever popular "unidentified stainless steel."
Did that help?
 
That's a whole bunch of unidentified (more or less) crappy steels. Cool stuff... Won't buy.
 
Kiteman72 said:
Back in the day, I considered my tanto Voyager a MAJOR upgrade to my Spyderco Endura. It was almost too powerful, as I nearly cut the end off my left middle finger once in a drunken encounter with a package of frozen burritos.
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Bruddah, did you learn nothing from the "Tanto VS Banana" thread about the power of the tanto? Should be required reading for tanto owners.

Tanto Blades Suck with Example | BladeForums.com
 
I dont think Andrew Demko would allow the new company to make the tri ad lock to sub standard levels.
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
What's your minimum acceptable steel for a sword cane?
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Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane is not great steel , but entirely functional for what it is .

Better than most anything close to price point .

I've tested it ...it will keel !

It's not for chopping wood or dueling with other swords , etc .

If you have to pull it , should be a surprise and used immediately .
 
DocJD said:
Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane is not great steel , but entirely functional for what it is .

Better than most anything close to price point .

I've tested it ...it will keel !

It's not for chopping wood or dueling with other swords , etc .

If you have to pull it , should be a surprise and used immediately .
Click to expand...

Ok, so. All this talk of sword canes, does anyone ever see anyone who uses a cane in real life and NOT immediately think "sword cane"? I think I've seen only someone using a cane once or twice in recent memory and both times, I was like "Sword cane". It's just safe to assume at this point that if anyone sees you with a cane, they know you have a sword. It's like when older guys wear one of those fishing or photography vests to the mall. You are fooling no one, even non-gun people know you have a gun. LOL
 
I'm kinda puzzled at the moment.

So... A.D. patented tri-ad lock?

And he sold the patent to Sold Steel?
Now Sold Steel is bought by GSM, and they can do whatever they want with it?

Lodd said:
And another thing that I've just read on the Dutch Knife forum I sometimes visit: They're saying that this deal prevents Andrew Demko from ever using the Tri-Ad Lock in his customs.

If true, that sucks.
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This is worrying me.

If that's true then A.D. really has no say in it. They can massacre his patent in any way they want if this is correct.
 
Quiet said:
Ok, so. All this talk of sword canes, does anyone ever see anyone who uses a cane in real life and NOT immediately think "sword cane"?
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The Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane does not look like a sword cane.
It looks like you bought it at the drug store. Seriously.

It is not fancy, and will actually support your weight.
It is also too short for me, so I gave mine to someone else who is far shorter. :)
 
Quiet said:
Ok, so. All this talk of sword canes, does anyone ever see anyone who uses a cane in real life and NOT immediately think "sword cane"? I think I've seen only someone using a cane once or twice in recent memory and both times, I was like "Sword cane". It's just safe to assume at this point that if anyone sees you with a cane, they know you have a sword. It's like when older guys wear one of those fishing or photography vests to the mall. You are fooling no one, even non-gun people know you have a gun. LOL
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On the flip side of that. I remember when the only readily available sword canes were the flea market finds. Gaudy brass derby head, some sort of molded in cross/plus/X, had to unscrew it about 17 times to unsheath the blade and rattled when it struck the ground. They all looked about the same. I remember being at prom my junior year and one of the skeezy kids had one to dress up his tux. I wasn't going to rat the guy out. I knew he was just trying to be cool and sneak a sword into the prom, but even at 17 I knew what I was looking at was a walking felony at the time.

At least the Cold Steel Sword Canes look something like a medical cane. The only issue is that if you are carrying one, it might make you MORE likely to be attacked because it looks like you are shuffling home with your bingo winnings. At least with a fancy sword cane people are left to wonder: Sword cane? Hipster? Dashing Eccentric Billionaire Playboy?....all of the above!?
 
Steely_Gunz said:
On the flip side of that. I remember when the only readily available sword canes were the flea market finds. Gaudy brass derby head, some sort of molded in cross/plus/X, had to unscrew it about 17 times to unsheath the blade and rattled when it struck the ground. They all looked about the same. I remember being at prom my junior year and one of the skeezy kids had one to dress up his tux. I wasn't going to rat the guy out. I knew he was just trying to be cool and sneak a sword into the prom, but even at 17 I knew what I was looking at was a walking felony at the time.

At least the Cold Steel Sword Canes look something like a medical cane. The only issue is that if you are carrying one, it might make you MORE likely to be attacked because it looks like you are shuffling home with your bingo winnings. At least with a fancy sword cane people are left to wonder: Sword cane? Hipster? Dashing Eccentric Billionaire Playboy?....all of the above!?
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There is that!! I know that my viewpoint is primarily driven due to TV and movies from the 70s/80s. Eccentric old rich guy walking with some cane with an elaborate headpiece? Yeah, that's either a sword, or maybe even some sort of trick gun. Also, I know the exact cheapo sword canes you're talking about, because they're found at flea markets all over to this day!
 
Quiet said:
Ok, so. All this talk of sword canes, does anyone ever see anyone who uses a cane in real life and NOT immediately think "sword cane"? I think I've seen only someone using a cane once or twice in recent memory and both times, I was like "Sword cane". It's just safe to assume at this point that if anyone sees you with a cane, they know you have a sword. It's like when older guys wear one of those fishing or photography vests to the mall. You are fooling no one, even non-gun people know you have a gun. LOL
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Maybe if it was a person who didn't appear to need the cane to get around. In Florida, I can't think of a time where that's ever been the case. God's waiting room...

Smiling said:
I'm kinda puzzled at the moment.

So... A.D. patented tri-ad lock?

And he sold the patent to Sold Steel?
Now Sold Steel is bought by GSM, and they can do whatever they want with it?


This is worrying me.

If that's true then A.D. really has no say in it. They can massacre his patent in any way they want if this is correct.
Click to expand...

Demko was the head of R&D at CS, and at assigned the Tri-Ad lock patent to Cold Steel. PATENT
That means Cold Steel and their various owners control the patent until it expires in August 2026.

HOWEVER, Demko has continued to use the lock in his custom AD10 knives under a licensing agreement with Cold Steel.
Supposedly he's limited to a certain number each year. SOURCE

Since there's likely a contract in place, it'd be pretty hard for the new management to deviate from whatever its terms are.
And, if they have any desire to keep him around in the future, there's no chance they try to cut him off anyway.
It's not like the handful of custom AD10s is affecting Cold Steel's sales numbers.

So, while there's no way for Demko to keep them from slapping the Tri-Ad lock into a cheap knife (and since it's already in my $20 ProLite Tanto, that ship has sailed), I doubt it keeps him from continuing his current limited use of the design.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
On the flip side of that. I remember when the only readily available sword canes were the flea market finds. Gaudy brass derby head, some sort of molded in cross/plus/X, had to unscrew it about 17 times to unsheath the blade and rattled when it struck the ground. They all looked about the same. I remember being at prom my junior year and one of the skeezy kids had one to dress up his tux. I wasn't going to rat the guy out. I knew he was just trying to be cool and sneak a sword into the prom, but even at 17 I knew what I was looking at was a walking felony at the time.

At least the Cold Steel Sword Canes look something like a medical cane. The only issue is that if you are carrying one, it might make you MORE likely to be attacked because it looks like you are shuffling home with your bingo winnings. At least with a fancy sword cane people are left to wonder: Sword cane? Hipster? Dashing Eccentric Billionaire Playboy?....all of the above!?
Click to expand...

It's not the cane, it's the monocle:D
 
Quiet said:
There is that!! I know that my viewpoint is primarily driven due to TV and movies from the 70s/80s. Eccentric old rich guy walking with some cane with an elaborate headpiece? Yeah, that's either a sword, or maybe even some sort of trick gun. Also, I know the exact cheapo sword canes you're talking about, because they're found at flea markets all over to this day!
Click to expand...
A few years ago, I needed a cane to walk for several months. The Cold Steel African Walking Stick worked really well. (I also have a Purpleheart Armory rattan cane for stick-fighting, but it's too flexible to make a very good cane, unless the user is significantly lighter than I am.) I suppose that the sword canes are cool, in a super-cheesy 80's sort of way, but I'm glad that Cold Steel actually made some useful canes, too. Much nicer than the $7.99 aluminum ones at the pharmacy.

That combination of products - super-cheesy (sword cane) and awesome but ridiculously overbuilt (African Walking Stick) is what Cold Steel brought to the table, really. As they almost certainly turn into the company that makes clamshell packaged camping knives for Costco or whatever, that will be the thing I miss, more than any particular knife they currently make.

-Tyson
 
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