San Mai Black Bear Classic , on sale now !

Available at a very tempting price .

Got it in the cart , trying to hold off long enough that the sale ends .

IIRC it was this low before and I let it pass .

Not sure if I'd really like a sub hilt like this one or not . I like to be able to quickly shift grips on a fighter .

Pretty much a pure fighting knife . Hard to justify as anything else .
 
Of course , some fighting style grips cannot be used , but would be more limiting on a single edged blade . This one is DE .

IDK , never had one to play with .

Uh ..oh , this is not working to talk myself down ! 😬
 
The Cold Steel Black Bear is a classic sub-hilt design fighter that was first developed by Bob Loveless, one of the founding members of the knifemaker’s guild. It’s perhaps the quintessential combat knife. Its 8” blade offers excellent reach and incredible penetration with very little physical effort. The sub hilt practically eliminates the possibility of the hand being dislodged or coming into contact with the blade. Plus, the sub hilt facilitates rapid and effortless withdrawal after insertion. The VG-10 San Mai III blade is perfectly heat treated and a double grind is expertly applied. Then the surface of the blade is polished to a beautiful satin finish and the edges are honed and buffed to hair shaving sharpness! The black G10 scales are fastened to the blade tang by 6 stainless pins and expertly hand shaped and contoured
Cold Steel San Mai Black Bear Classic Fixed Blade Knife 8.25 Clip Point VG-10 Satin Blade G-10 Handle Black
 
The Black Bear Classic holds the distinction of having some of the highest penetration capabilities of any fixed blade they've produced. With nearly all the weight in the handle, combined with that thin double edge and needle sharp point the knife, like Lynn say's "Drives like a freight train.

Watch here at the 2:01 mark, the Black Bear penetrates through 4 Flak Jackets. Never seen that before in ALL of the Cold Steel test videos I've watched, and I've seen a lot.


The subhilt offers a wonderful sense of security. No, you cannot change grips as easily, but I think the security it adds in the grip is worth the tradeoff.

Of my entire Cold Steel collection, there's no doubt the Black Bear Classic would be one of the last one's to go, it's that good.
 
Its a nice knife, but every time I look at it I think of that "we have (...) at home" joke. There’s the Loveless big bear & then there is this knife. The big bear "we have at home". You know what I mean. Just feels a bit like a "cheap" copy, lacking the elegance & character of the original.
 
Olumin said:
Its a nice knife, but every time I look at it I think of that "we have (...) at home" joke. There’s the Loveless big bear & then there is this knife. The big bear "we have at home". You know what I mean. Just feels a bit like a "cheap" copy, lacking the elegance & character of the original.
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Haven't seen a Loveless in person, but there is nothing "cheap" about the BBC, at least not the one I have (which is an older one in AUS8). Absolutely one of my favorites.
 
jlauffer said:
Haven't seen a Loveless in person, but there is nothing "cheap" about the BBC, at least not the one I have (which is an older one in AUS8). Absolutely one of my favorites.
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I haven't ever seen an original either, but I'm just talking about the overall finish work & styling. Much simpler shaping on the hilt & sub hilt, no tapered tang, no liners, G10 instead of micarta. And then there is that awful plastic sheath. Of cause I'm comparing apples to oranges. If I ever get something like this I think Ill be a lot happier spending twice its MSRP on a custom loveless style subhilt.
 
Olumin said:
I haven't ever seen an original either, but I'm just talking about the overall finish work & styling. Much simpler shaping on the hilt & sub hilt, no tapered tang, no liners, G10 instead of micarta. And then there is that awful plastic sheath. Of cause I'm comparing apples to oranges. If I ever get something like this I think Ill be a lot happier spending twice its MSRP on a custom loveless style subhilt.
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Mine being older it has micarta scales, and the leather sheath with sharpening stone.
 
Just buy the knife and buy a leather sheath from Harry Savage
 
fonedork said:
Just buy the knife and buy a leather sheath from Harry Savage
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At $75+ for that custom sheath (don’t see one in stock but that’s what his large CS sheaths cost), might as well get a handmade with a tapered tang.
 
$75 is a pretty standard price for a quality custom leather sheath. Ive seen custom sheaths offered for well over $100. A full custom Sub Hilt in a steel like 3V would probably be at least over $6-700 if I had to guess (at least if its supposed to be comparable to a loveless), which might not include the sheath. At the moment I have my funds tied up elsewhere.
 
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