Cold Steel DVDs

[hubert05]

Earlier in the week I received a two-DVD set used by Cold Steel to market its products and was left with mixed feelings after watching the section on the company's line of folders.

The compilation starts with an introduction to the company's line of folders, the Voyager being Cold Steel's premier blade. Frankly, I think the testing processes for blade resiliency and lock strength were somewhat suspect: I thought it odd that a folder would bend when weighed down on a vise, but would pass with flying colors when a much heavier man would do chin ups with a knife as a support. The "stretch test" entailed placing a blade in a vise and using a section of pipe to bend the blade to an angle of 30 degrees. Oddly, the blade wasn't released in order to see if it would return to its original shape.

In all fairness the Cold Steel holds a deadly edge, as can be viewed by the damage to racks of ribs and roasts used for demonstration purposes. The Voyager is shown cutting sections of rope, and according to the manufacturer, the knife sliced the rope in excess of six hundred times. Friends, I apologize for "trolling" but I'll believe this when I see it with my own eyes.

The section on folders closes with the models in question being thrown into an oak door one hundred times. Pointless--a knife isn't a circus tool. Oddly, the Voyager's tip broke. My favorite of the group was the Scimitar. It would be interesting to test it against the similar model made by Spyderco.

In brief, while I was impressed with cutting abilities of Cold Steel's folders, I think the testing processes were somewhat suspect and unrealistic: a knife isn't a prybar or a curio, it is a cutting tool.

If the president of Spyderco should happen to read this thread, I would like to suggest following suit and producing a video showing representative blades tested under realistic circumstances, and then against other companies' models. I'm sure Spyderco would hold its own if not surpass the competition.

[JD Spydo]

Well I have seen those Cold Steel DVD's myself. I must admit that "Hubert05" does raise some good points about the videos. Although I can personally atest to the fact that Cold Steel does make some very fine knives. I have several of them myself. For instance their Carbon V steel is truly some very tough blade material. I have one of their Gurkha Kukris made from the Carbon V and I have personally put that blade through pure **** and it has held up very well. I also have one of those Scimitars that was mentioned and I have just done everything possible to that knife and it is still in my tool box getting used all the time. The one thing I don't like about Cold Steel is their serrations. Those little micro serrations are a lot harder to sharpen than the ones on the Spydercos. The pocket clips are too small and fit way too tight. I do rate Spyderco considerably higher overall but I still have a lot of respect for Cold Steel being a good hard use knife. I seriously doubt if Cold Steel will ever have the marvel collectibility that Spyderco has. As far as possible fraud on the DVD's I will not stick my neck out on that issue but every Cold Steel knife I have bought I feel like I got a bang for my buck. They are about my 3rd favorite of the production knives. :)

[4 s ter]

hubert05

I don't think you'll ever see the a video like you suggest put out by Spyderco. It just doesn't seem to be the way Sal does business. First, you don't see the hype from Spyderco - reliable high performance is what its about. Second, Sal very seldom makes comments comparing Spyderco to it competitors, particularly those such as Cold Steel or Benchmade. I think his quote goes something like "all good, just different" A videotaped breaking competition just doesn't seem to be his way.

David