How many people hate Cold Steel?

Cold Steel is makes a fine knife with the following exceptions.
  • Any Blade that is Serrated, sorry they are garbage and the factory won't even resharpen them for you. If it's dull they say "Buy another knife"
  • The lightweight models are nothing to brag about (i.e.: Voyager, Vaquero, Ready Edge, Mini Pal) The Scimitar is the only decent LW I have seen. It's only problem is the Liner Lock looks like an afterthought to me.
  • Triple Action Folder, what the.....???

In defense of the Shilelagh I will say that they are (or should be) made from the base fo the Blackthorn Bush, thus the black bark. If you are ever in the British Isles you should check one out. The needles on the bush are about 2" long, hard, and very sharp. CS does a good job of making it a true shilelagh and rounding the end into a ball. Not like the cheap tourist knockoffs in the duty-free shop. Also, I don't think their prices are that good, they are pretty run of the mill to me.


------------------
EXCUSE ME WHILE I WHIP THIS OUT.
**Blazing Saddles**

kansasC.gif
 
Ah yes. One man's ceiling is another man's floor. That's one of the things I like about the forums. You can check out all the angles.
smile.gif


Personally, I really like Cold Steel and Special Project's products. I have old & new style Tantos, Recon Tantos, a Gunsite folder, XL Voyager, Trailmasters, Master Hunters, SRK's, Shillelagh's, Blackthorn & rataan sticks, VN Tomahawks, and on and on.

I don't really like that 3-way funky folder, the Scimitar, or that Scottish sticker.

I own and carry at times custom folders that go for for 4 or 5 bills, but I've no problem carrying a nice CS blade.

AL

------------------
"When loss and gain are alike to one, that is real gain.."

[This message has been edited by Kwaiken56 (edited 09-29-2000).]
 
Yup, I STILL hate Cold Steel knives!
wink.gif
.
(Now I have 14 of 'em, and I hate 'em
all!!!).
biggrin.gif
.
biggrin.gif
.



[This message has been edited by glockman99 (edited 10-16-2000).]
 
would someone PLEASE lock this thread before it gets out of hand.its been going for more than three months,kill it.please.
BTW,i dont hate cold steel.
biggrin.gif
 
Originally posted by not2sharp:
Al Mar (down to six crappy folders in basic black)
Click to expand...
mad.gif
If the SERE 2000 is crappy, what isn't?
My only CS is a imperial tai pan won on bladeforums courtesy of DeltaZ knives. No complaints.
biggrin.gif


[This message has been edited by chief dignitary (edited 09-30-2000).]
 
Sorry Chief, I guess I was flashing back to when they use to produce a highly innovative line of 50-60 knives, all with absolutely outstanding fit and finish.

There is nothing wrong with the Al Mar 2000 knife. But this company use to be capable of so much more. Once upon a time (o.k. about 10 years back) there use to be entire display cases full of Al Mar Knives, there were folders of every description from tiny ivory micarta handled pen knives to the large tank-like SERE lockback, and plenty of fixed knives. Gone are the SERE combat knives, the Pathfinders and Quest, the Tanken tantos, Alaskin Bowie and Smatchets, the Grunts, Shadow, SF-10 and Warrior and many others. Most of which were available in several sizes.

Some of these knives like the Warrior fixed blade were major breakthroughs for the knife industry. No one had ever to commercially produce such a complicated pattern previously [take a good look at the complexed sawteeth on this thing], and few still do today. We should give credit to Cold Steel for maintaining the integrity of their product line where so many other have failed.

frown.gif


Here are some pictures of some of the discontinued knives.
View



View


View


Images taken from The National Knife Magazine, December 1987.


[This message has been edited by not2sharp (edited 10-01-2000).]
 
Here are some more Al Mar knives picture barrowed from Battle Blades (a good book to add to your collections). The cover picture knife is the Al Mar Warrior, The bottom picture shows some of the Tankens.

View


 
Since this topic has been up for quite some time I think I will officially put it to sleep. Thankyou for the responses, very diverse and interesting.
 
I've only owned two CS knives. A Master Hunter in stainless, and a Large VG that I found in a pawn shop for $12. (It even had that nifty little kydex sheath, but was too big for my carry applications.) Anyway, the Master Hunter skinned alot of deer and antelope for me until it was stolen.

I havn't owned any of the carbon V blades yet but am considering a Bush Ranger for military applications. The other knife that I am considering is the SOG Government. They both fall in roughly the same price range. Does anyone want to add their two cents worth? (What a question for this forum) Let me know.
 
I've purchased several CS knives since 1993 and love them all. My favorite daily carry piece WAS the CS X-LG tanto w/ serrations. But I've been catching someconstructive criticism from the brass about carrying it daily in public view. I never did flaunt it but when it's plled out for anything the reaction is "Holy S***"! I've decided to begin carrying a 4" blade from now on as that is my states legal maximum length. There is nothing wrong with the CS products other than,IMHO, a lack of progressive vision. They have excellent quality but they need to put their quality into the production of new tactical folders using G-10,micarta,titanitum,etc. This would also benefit their fixed blade models as well. They need to quit making a new copy of an old blade style ( i.e. same model half serrations,GS models,etc.) Their production quality along with a new knife design coupled with a liner lock would be awesome. I await commonsense to revail. Until then I have begun to carry the CRKT LG Crawford/Kasper as the ergonomics are great for hammer grip/sabre grip. Icepick grip sucks though. I still use the old BM 975s for icepick. Iblieve that Thompson will catch on eventually and we will see some high end quality tactical folders WITH liner locks and great blade designs, not the crappy looking scimitar.
 
Cold Steel makes a fine product. I have 3 of CS fixed blade knives, a magnum Tanto in AUS8, a bushman and a Culloden in Carbon V. The Mag Tanto is incredible. The edge on it is so sharp! Once on a camping trip we were all going to toast little pieces of steak over the fire on sticks. The job of cutting it up fell to me. The weight of the blade alone was enough for the edge to cut into the steak. I just set it down and pressed lightly and it sheared through it like it wasn't there. Very sharp. When I got my Bushman I figured I would test the point strength. I figured, "what the hell, its only sixteen bucks". I was over to my Dads place and he had a few large, empty 55 gallon oil drums in his back yard. I repeatedly stabbed the bushman into the metal drum to see if I could damage the point. No such luck. The Culloden is a nice piece, but I found the grind angle to wide. I have been redoing it on my sharpmaker and I will say that the Carbon V is some tough stuff. Can't wait to see what kind of edge I can get on it. Just purchased my first CS folder (ser El Hombre) and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I agree that their marketing can be a bit over zealous, but for what I can see, they do hold up to their claims. I've got no complaints so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top