Cold Steel Knives, why so much hype?

[ceya]

Guys, if you been around the knife industry, Cold Steel has been like this for years.

I have bought their stuff yrs ago , still have some in storage Hudson Bay knives, Irish walking stick (MIA at the moment), the darts (awesome).

I met Lynn a few times at shows, he will talk to you. Is it hype , to me no.

He promoting his items the best way he knows, before the video/DVD it was talked in his catalogs.

There is a little something for everybody no matter what blade you want in this industry.

S/F,
CEYA!

[araneae]

All i know is they made a quality knife.

Just thought I'd mention that this planbreaker "person" responsible for bumping this thread a couple days ago was likely a spammer/spambot. Only one post, sig link selling CS.

Continue if you like.

[marshallb]

I own quite a few CS knives for quite a few years now and this is my verdict: The laminated VG-1 core fixed blades made in Japan are pretty well made with a good heat treatment. They tend to be rather heavy as the blades are THICK, but the balance is pretty nice, usually due to heavy steel pommels. "Fit and finish rivaling the finest hand-made custom knives" IS an exaggeration for sure. One trip to the Blade Show in Atlanta will make that very clear. It's more like "Fit and finish are quite respectable for a MASS-Produced knife". "World's sharpest strongest knives", also an exaggeration. I don't abuse my knives enough to really test the "strongest" part, but I've had mixed experiences with the "Sharpest" part: Gurkha Kukri San Mai came out of the box shockingly sharp. So sharp I feared it wouldn't suit it's purpose, but the convex edge and a good heat treatment put those fears to rest. I have chopped up old growth rock maple with 150-250 rings in a 7-9 inch diameter from Linville Gorge, NC for firewood while camping and CLEANLY sliced magazine paper with it when I got home. Had the same basic experience with the Natchez Bowie, but it is unusually heavy even for it's size. Good balance offsets this a little bit, but you wouldn't want to have to swing it around for too long, so calling it "the definitive fighting Bowie" seems a bit of a stretch. The Black Bear Classic came out of the box pretty dull, wouldn't slice paper at all, and I'm guessing it wouldn't get through heavy clothing or leather except by stabbing-you can do that with a sharp pencil. It did sharpen well and easily though and I've used it to trim many trees and bushes in the yard with no damage to the edge (much more fun than an electric trimmer). It's not too, too heavy; but I'm guessing it's considerably heavier than a Loveless original-fit and finish pretty nice considering it's complexity. I found an OLD Magnum Tanto XII new in the box, with the carbon steel core. It's actually pretty light and balanced but was also pretty dull, the core on this one is VERY hard took a long time to sharpen much longer than the VG-1 but it also holds it well (I used it regularly to trim the many bushes at work because the boss was to cheap to replace the 30 year old electric trimmer). The SK-5 carbon Kukri takes and holds a good edge but came dull as dish water. Friend of mine has a Bushman, older model, I think it's the old 1055 with a "hard spring temper" and it won't hold an edge for squat. He's a Boy Scout Leader and has to sharpen it constantly on outings with the troup. CS's new lit says they're made with SK-5 (1080) and hardened to 54 so it's probably better now. I'm a little embaressed to say I have one of their Warrior katanas, not too sharp but not dull, very heavy, poor balance makes it feel and handle even heavier. The ray skin is just a decorative panel on each side and wasn't cured properly shrank up within a couple months, revealing the wood underneath and the fact that it was just a panel. This also allowed the wrap to loosen, not during use (only made 5 or 10 cuts with it, cardboard, 1 small green softwood branch) much later, while in storage. I also find it hard to believe that a spring tempered 1055 blade can cut endlessly through miles of abrasive material such as large mailing tubes and heavy sisal mooring rope. If they really wanted to demonstrate this and prove something perhaps they should have the entire run play out in real time with NO CUTS. There are enough breaks in this "test" that we could be watching the "amazing" performance of many different swords. They say they are marquenching them now so theoretically the edge should be much harder than before while retaining a softer, springier spine. Hanwei will give you a 2lb-ish katana with a clay hardened blade and a full same' covering that is balanced like a wand for just a bit more and a marquenched one for about the same. Finally CS Taiwan made folders-I have nothing really good to say about them. Major blade play that won't go away until you tighten it to the point where it won't open or close. Grivory pommels that shatter if you drop the knife, but marketed as a bludgeoning tool. G-10 scales that are only secured to the liners on one end and are so thin they flex out if they catch on things (and they have a little lip around the edge so they do, often pinching the flesh of your hand). And the heat treatment spotty at best (AUS-8A) poor edge retention, probably why theyr'e switching it all to the VG-1 san mai. Do yourself a favor get a Spyderco or a US made Kershaw or a Buck or a SOG or something instead if you need a good folder. I'll shut up now.

[jackburton9807]

Well, since the thread was bumped I'll add my bit.

Whatever on their knives. One word: SJAMBOK. Try one of these things out, they're a gas and worth every penny and the reason I hope CS is around for a long time.

Jeff