They're Japan made, according to all I seen.
Which means they should be quality, I've never had a bad knife from Japan.
I wonder if recent product moves by LT was a start in different direction...
- Thread starter PocketKnifeJimmy
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They're Japan made, according to all I seen.
Which means they should be quality, I've never had a bad knife from Japan.
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My first BBC was from Taiwan. Was back in the 90s and I got a Special Projects flyer that had them for $100, which was half the price of the Japan model. All I can figure is that they had a test batch made to see if it was feasible...they had some R1's made there back then too. Anyway, had always wanted one but couldn't justify the cost, so jumped on the Taiwan one. Had it for many years and then got a Japan one, and you could put them side by side and not tell the difference in terms of fit and finish. Only noticeable difference was that the handle pins were slightly different diameters.
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Wow, what a deal! I missed that one. If I could go back in time I would have bought a dozen of those at that price. I have thought about having an OSS rehandled but it would probably be as expensive as just purchasing one of the San Mai versions. OSS is an excellent knife but I prefer the steel guard and subhilt not to mention the micarta handle of the San Mai model.
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Find it a bit odd how for years we've wished the knives with integral kraton guards like the SRK, OSS, etc had metal guards, and then they come out with a bunch of new $25 knives with metal guards, but the other ones remain the same.
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I'd like it if they did the handle of the OSS like they do the Tanto Lite, polypropylene overmolded with kraton!
The Tanto Lite resembles it's more expensive counterparts in many ways, (with similar blades, guards and pommels) but featuring sub-zero cryo-quenched German 4116 Stainless Steel blades, and newly designed handles. The handles are made in two parts. They feature a Polypropylene guard, pommel, and core section, which envelopes the knives full tangs. The core is then over-molded in a deeply checkered Kray-Ex for a non-slip grip thats easily cleaned with soap and water. To carry your knives safely and conveniently in the field, we are including a pouch-style versatile low profile polymer sheath with integral belt loop that can be easily worn on your hip or tucked into your pack or tackle box.
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I ordered a new Cold Steel Leatherneck SF in D2 steel a few days ago, (I am expecting it to arrive tomorrow). It's guard and pommel are made of steel, and the price was just under $60 shipped. I must say, that seems like it places the Leatherneck as a Cold Steel best buy. But, why can't such a thing be done on other lower priced CS models? So, I agree with you, their more basic and budget line models should be able to be made with such features, and still remain pretty affordable.
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For whatever it's worth, these little things came in. I'm wasted from metal detecting in the cool spring air all day, so I just banged off a few pics. Impressions are that the Kyoto feels like a shorter grip in hand, than the Leatherneck, although they appear to be identical lengths. I can kinda sorta get a decent grip on the leatherneck if I'm willing to snug up to and almost over the blade guard. The Kyoto has a more robust look and feel blade wise. They are both about an inch too short in the grip, and blade, for me with XL hands. I asked the warden what she thought of them as a purse knife, on an out of town trip by herself. She likes the mini leatherneck for its grip, and will take it. The Leathernecks blade looks and feels thinner, very slicey. I had a good pic but it was lost somehow. I haven't figured out if I can use the Kyoto for anything yet, it's really tiny in hand. I like both of them, but they're just so small.
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I'm a new member to the forum (joined today 4/6/21). I have visited here many times and was truly impressed by the extensive knowledge on the site as well as the apparent comaradarie. I hope I am posting this correctly as a comment on the Black Bear Classic. I purchased one and received it on Friday of last week. Mine was made on Taiwan. The inscription on the ricasso simply states "Black Bear Classic" on one side and "Cold Steel, San Mai, Taiwan" on the other side. The side you never see in any of the pictures on the internet. No mention of whether it has a VG-10 core or anything. Overall the quality seems ok but there are a couple of issues. On the underside of the sub-hilt there is a 3/4th inch long gouge(?) in the G-10 approximately 1/32 to 1/16th inch deep, and the blade is not the "razor sharp" as San Mai is reported to be. I do not like that gouge in the G-10 and I am currently in contact with GSM about materials or workmanship issues. Mainly I wanted the members who are interested in this product to know what are the inscriptions on the side you never see. I've not seen a VG-1 version that does not list the nature of the core steel. Is leaving out the core steel designation something that is sometimes done? I would post pictures of the knife and gouge so you could see for yourself, but I don't know how to do that yet.Update: tried uploading the picture of the BBC, the error message says "file too large" so I have to find my post processing software and reduce the size of the file to what is acceptable. Which means I'll have to do some studying of forum protocols so I'll know what is and isn't acceptable.
Update2: Well, I have removed all the unnecessary personal information, downsized the files, converted them to a different OS and (hopefully) I will be able to upload
View attachment 1543805 View attachment 1543805 View attachment 1543805 some of them now. This is a few to see if everything works. If it does, I'll convert and post more. Thank all of you for your patience and I promise to put the horse before the cart if there is a similar oc urence. This is the first cold steel knife I have received that was in it's own protective sleeve and the placed in bubble wrap. Notice the sheath is in its own sealed plastic bag.View attachment 1543794 View attachment 1543794 
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1-As a Platinum member I believe you should be able to post pictures (1) directly when posting by using the either the 4th or 7th icon at the top of the posting text box, or (2) upload your pictures to an image hosting site like imgur or google photos (if shared) and use the 7th icon from the right to insert the photo.
2- As far as I am aware while the CS Black Bear Classic always had the steel type (or core if San Mai) the recent VG10 core Sanmai knives out of Taiwan do not state "VG10". Having the Model on one side of the ricasso, and Cold Steel, San Mai, Taiwan" on the other side appears to be the norm.
Seki made BBC VG1 Sanmai.
This is a photo of the ricasso from a Taiwan made VG10 Sanmai Tai Pan.
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The original san mai they used was just "San Mai III" without the core steel (which was AUS8). Was only when they switched to VG-1 core that they added that to the marking. And now for the Taiwan version they dropped the steel type and the "III" from the marking.
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Ken, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Your comment cleared up the issue of the VG-10 appearing on the ricasso or not. I appreciate that. Like the pictures you posted, they were instructive also as well as being well made. Later today, I will try to post my pictures the way you suggested because I would really like to know what someone who is experienced with San Mai level quality has to say about the gouge on my copy. Thanks again for your response and the nicely made pictures.1-As a Platinum member I believe you should be able to post pictures (1) directly when posting by using the either the 4th or 7th icon at the top of the posting text box, or (2) upload your pictures to an image hosting site like imgur or google photos (if shared) and use the 7th icon from the right to insert the photo.
2- As far as I am aware while the CS Black Bear Classic always had the steel type (or core if San Mai) the recent VG10 core Sanmai knives out of Taiwan do not state "VG10". Having the Model on one side of the ricasso, and Cold Steel, San Mai, Taiwan" on the other side appears to be the norm.
Seki made BBC VG1 Sanmai.
This is a photo of the ricasso from a Taiwan made VG10 Sanmai Tai Pan.
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Thank you for your response also. Your reply states everything I needed to know to get rid of the thought that maybe I had (at the very worst) a copy they didn't quite get right at the manufacturers (i.e. not first tier quality). The "missing" core steel designation coupled with the relatively large gouge on the hilt caused me to wonder, and the only way I knew to find out was to reach out to experienced owners like you and others on this forum. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I have quite a few Cold Steel knives, but this is my first San Mai purchase, and I have to admit I wanted the knife to be "perfect" (especially at the price I paid for it). Even with the not-razor-sharp edges and the gouge (groove) on the hilt, it is still a thing of beauty. Ken Hash was kind enough to explain to me how to post pictures so I'm going to get busy trying to do that so everyone can see what I'm talking about. Thanks again!
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YW. A good thing about san mai is that you can't really fake it...just look for the lamination line. So if yours has the line, it's not fake. But sounds like it may have slipped through QC, or maybe someone else bought it, they had a mishap and returned it, and the retailer just put it back on the shelf without thoroughly inspecting it.
I have only seen one Taiwan San Mai knife in person so far (a Tai Pan), and it was perfect in terms of fit/finish. Don't remember the sharpness, but that has always seemed to be a bit of hit or miss, ranging in my experience from just ok, to atom-splitting. For example, I recently bought a drop forged boot knife and survivalist. The boot knife was screaming sharp, while the Survivalist and was just so-so.
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jlauffer, (pardon me if I addressed you incorrectly I'm still learning how to do things on the forum). You know, what you wrote about someone returning this copy to the seller, etc. does sound like a plausible explanation. It could also have slipped through QC just as you said. The BBC I have definitely has the lamination lines. I paid particular attention to the clip lamination because it is so thin (top edge of clip down to outer layer of steel) and I wondered how many times it could be sharpened before the core and outer layer of steel merged. Then I realized as one sharpened, the outer layer should recede also exposing a little more of the VG-10. I don't know if that is true, but it seems reasonable to me. I mentioned the sharpness hoping for a response like you provided. Some are razor sharp, some are not. That is an easily fixed problem. I just wondered if it was out of the ordinary that a San Mai III blade would be so-so from the factory. You answered my question. Thanks!
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No worries...can call me John. If you want to tag someone so they get an alert, put an @ in front of the username, like
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Looking forward to the pictures.
As to the sharpness, sadly Cold Steel uses glass reinforced plastic for their sheaths. The sheaths will destroy the edge if they make contact at all. I don't mean over time, the sheath will trash the edge pretty much immediately, which means that you will definitely need an expensive aftermarket leather sheath for your expensive new knife.
I ran into this issue again just last week with a 3V Master Hunter. It came frighteningly sharp, but was completely dull after a half dozen trips into and out of the sheath. I like the knife so I will find and order a custom sheath.
As to the sharpness, sadly Cold Steel uses glass reinforced plastic for their sheaths. The sheaths will destroy the edge if they make contact at all. I don't mean over time, the sheath will trash the edge pretty much immediately, which means that you will definitely need an expensive aftermarket leather sheath for your expensive new knife.
I ran into this issue again just last week with a 3V Master Hunter. It came frighteningly sharp, but was completely dull after a half dozen trips into and out of the sheath. I like the knife so I will find and order a custom sheath.
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No worries...can call me John. If you want to tag someone so they get an alert, put an @ in front of the username, like
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No worries...can call me John. If you want to tag someone so they get an alert, put an @ in front of the username, like