Apparently - Cold Steel Has Been Bought

[Naperville]

The contact info on the Cold Steel website reveals the new ownership in the email address. They were apparently purchased by GSM Outdoors. They own a number of companies and Cold Steel is now one of them. The Cold Steel placard is at the base of their holdings portal page.

gsmoutdoors.com

[Naperville]

I cannot say that this is a good or bad thing for Cold Steel knives, and those who collect/use them. Let's hope for the best.

Also, due to COVID, I would imagine many companies are struggling. I hope that Spyderco is not stretched too thin. If you have any thoughts regarding Spyderco....I'd say, BUY KNIVES, and keep them afloat!!!

[MacLaren]

I got a new Provence coming.
But, knowing Sal and Spyderco, if anyone could be prepared for something like this, it would be Sal.

[JD Spydo]

When did this sale and/or transaction take place??? It surprises me that Lynn Thompson is cashing his chips in at this point in the game. There have always been a few Cold Steel items I've liked over the years and I'm kind of sad to hear of this.

I sure hope they stay with the concepts that made the company famous to begin with? I also hope this new owner has the good sense to maintain the quality and reputation that Cold Steel has had over the years.

Maybe this was in the works for a while but it sure caught me by surprise :confused:

[Naperville]

When did this sale and/or transaction take place??? It surprises me that Lynn Thompson is cashing his chips in at this point in the game. There have always been a few Cold Steel items I've liked over the years and I'm kind of sad to hear of this.

I sure hope they stay with the concepts that made the company famous to begin with? I also hope this new owner has the good sense to maintain the quality and reputation that Cold Steel has had over the years.

Maybe this was in the works for a while but it sure caught me by surprise :confused:

Using StartPage search engine, I found that GSM Outdoors had moved in to one of the commercial building units at the same address of Cold Steel at least a year ago. Nothing was announced on KnifeNews, so I could not say when this all took place.

[soc_monki]

I ordered a back up 4 max scout. It's become a favorite carry of mine on off days (too big for work... People would freak out!) and it's just such a great knife and such a steal at $83! Even at $110 normal price it's worth it.

Love my AD10 as well. Hollow grind model, slices like crazy! Hope this isn't the end of cold steel as we know it!

[James Y]

Cold Steel has always offered quality products, although they’re not my favorite knife company. Regardless, I still hope for the best, and that this new owner doesn’t pull a “Gerber” on Cold Steel.

Jim

[JD Spydo]

This is just really strange in a way. Because Lynn Thompson isn't all that old and for him to cash his chips in this early is just strange to say the least. Unless they made him an offer that could let him retire comfortably. But the way things are going at this time I would have to be a billionaire to feel safe at this point. I wish Lynn the very best.

But this is really strange considering the timing and the present environment.

[BG-ThatsMe]

From what I see, the buyer is owned by a private equity shop so we should expect the standard creating of efficiencies, squeezing all the value out and then selling parts/pieces later.

Selling was probably LT’s only choice to get his equity out, so I don’t fault him for choosing this route as his succession strategy.

The company most likely will exist in name, but the products may no longer be what we once knew.

[JRinFL]

Cold Steel made many unique pieces and I have every reason to believe an equity firm will strip it to the bones. It’ll be a Chinese brand in a few years after GSM dumps the name for the last bit of profit. I guess I’ll need to get a couple of things while they can be had.

[James Y]

This is just really strange in a way. Because Lynn Thompson isn't all that old and for him to cash his chips in this early is just strange to say the least. Unless they made him an offer that could let him retire comfortably. But the way things are going at this time I would have to be a billionaire to feel safe at this point. I wish Lynn the very best.

But this is really strange considering the timing and the present environment.

I’m wondering if it had to do with any possible legal issues. Cold Steel has/had items that skirt the law, that had to be ordered from their “Arizona office”.

I guess in future, his employees will have to find other jobs to do besides the fun “breaking things” and testing-knives-to-failure. Even though I’m not a Cold Steel fan, it’s kind of sad. I can’t think of any knife company offhand that was sold to other ownership that had a good outcome for the products.

Jim

[JD Spydo]

The company most likely will exist in name, but the products may no longer be what we once knew.

And "that" Sir is what scares me. I'm very doubtful if their super high quality Gurkha Kukri models will maintain their sterling reputation. I have 3 of the Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri models ( all different) and I wouldn't part with any of them. One of them literally saved my life about 9 years ago but that's another story for another time.

A lot of Cold Steel's specialty items like their 2 handed machete that I dearly love will probably be a product of the past unfortunately. I'm afraid that the company might go in the same way as Camillus and other companies that have been absorbed and their products are sold strictly on the past reputation of their name. We'll certainly keep an eye on them. But I'm not optimistic about their future at all. I hope I'm wrong.

[soc_monki]

Warranty changed from lifetime to 1 year limited, only to original purchaser. With receipt from an authorized dealer.

If you are on the fence get what you want now. I have a feeling that in a few months it's not going to be pretty.

[James Y]

Warranty changed from lifetime to 1 year limited, only to original purchaser. With receipt from an authorized dealer.

If you are on the fence get what you want now. I have a feeling that in a few months it's not going to be pretty.

I recall, when I bought my first Cold Steel products in the late ‘90s, their original warranty was for only one year. At some point they changed it to a lifetime warranty. So it looks like they went back to the way their warranty used to be.

I’ve already gotten all I’d ever want from Cold Steel. But that said, it sucks to see any knife company go downhill. I know that sounds alarmist, because we’ll have to see what happens. But as history has borne out in the past, whenever established knife companies are sold to new owners, it’s almost always the death knell of that company, in terms of quality.

I guess the major difference here is that while Cold Steel is a knife company, they have never actually manufactured knives themselves; they’ve always contracted out to various manufacturers to make their knives for them.

Jim

[soc_monki]

Warranty changed from lifetime to 1 year limited, only to original purchaser. With receipt from an authorized dealer.

If you are on the fence get what you want now. I have a feeling that in a few months it's not going to be pretty.

I recall, when I bought my first Cold Steel products in the late ‘90s, their original warranty was for only one year. At some point they changed it to a lifetime warranty. So it looks like they went back to the way their warranty used to be.

I’ve already gotten all I’d ever want from Cold Steel. But that said, it sucks to see any knife company go downhill. I know that sounds alarmist, because we’ll have to see what happens. But as history has borne out in the past, whenever established knife companies are sold to new owners, it’s almost always the death knell of that company, in terms of quality.

I guess the major difference here is that while Cold Steel is a knife company, they have never actually manufactured knives themselves; they’ve always contracted out to various manufacturers to make their knives for them.

Jim

Well, they didn't change the warranty, GSM Outdoors did. Oh well I guess. I have my 2nd 4 Max Scout coming, and I may try and pick up an AD15 and another SRK in SK5, because I really like these knives. Demko is on **** of a designer. The 4 Max is huge, yet carries so well. I hardly even notice it, even though its 10 oz! It's ridiculous, but it really is a very good knife.

So I'll be trying to pick up a few that I like and that will be that. I don't have high hopes for the future of Cold Steel. Sure, they didn't manufacture their own knives, completely at least (some they did do blades then send them overseas for final steps), but they usually had excellent fit and finish, quality, and very robust. I don't think a nuclear bomb could hurt any of mine.

Man...this, and of course Spyderco's online 2nds sale...I need to go find some buried treasure...haha!

[Doc Dan]

Everyone could be over reacting. GSM owns a lot of brands. This could be a good thing for CS and might put a stop to some of their goofy models. GSM is really into hunting and outdoor activities. This might be good. We need to wait and see.

[BG-ThatsMe]

The company most likely will exist in name, but the products may no longer be what we once knew.

And "that" Sir is what scares me. I'm very doubtful if their super high quality Gurkha Kukri models will maintain their sterling reputation. I have 3 of the Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri models ( all different) and I wouldn't part with any of them. One of them literally saved my life about 9 years ago but that's another story for another time.

A lot of Cold Steel's specialty items like their 2 handed machete that I dearly love will probably be a product of the past unfortunately. I'm afraid that the company might go in the same way as Camillus and other companies that have been absorbed and their products are sold strictly on the past reputation of their name. We'll certainly keep an eye on them. But I'm not optimistic about their future at all. I hope I'm wrong.

“Super high Quality Cold Steel products” will now be an oxymoron.

That concept just doesn’t fit once CS becomes a portfolio company. It’s being managed by gsm, which is a marketing company/manager of brands. How does any priority of Cold Steel’s over the last 30 years survive when it’s purpose is now to generate cash so it can again be sold again in the next couple of years? Private Equity shops do not invest long term in these deals, so it is reasonable to expect massive cost cutting and short term changes that generate sales.

Anything beyond 2023 is probably not on their radar.

[cbrstar]

Cold Steel was everything I hated about knives as I thought they were too over the top and ridiculously huge. But then I bought a used Spartan for cheap thinking to use it for trading. Well I absolutely fell in love with it! I didn't realize that there was such a huge hole in my collecting that needed filling. After I even started to enjoy watching the crazy video's Lynn was putting out.

For me this is sad news. They make some unique and crazy out there products that you don't think you "need" until you actually need one.

[ladybug93]

i'm glad i already got my xl voyager tanto before this. i wish i had money for a 4 max scout and a xl espada g10 also. if there's one thing i love cold steel for, it's ridiculously sized knives on a budget. then i don't have to feel so bad about buying knive's i'll almost never carry just for the novelty of it.

[GarageBoy]

Someone had noted that cold steel was kinda like spyderco's evil twin. Lots of cold steel designs that were ergonomics and cutting performance oriented, just kinda got buried with the cold steel ad copy. Out of the box sharpness was also something cold steel always gave you. The old Seki City and Taiwanese models are modern classics. Looking through gsm's portfolio, I'm not sure how cold steel will continue.