Cold Steel Knives, why so much hype?

[Zendemic]

I recently received a Cold Steel catalogue with their promotional DVDs. I was astounded how hard they try to sell their knives, and how they rant about some amazing feature that no other knife can even come close to matching. I always feel like they're like a car salesman. I know everyone has different styles of selling stuff, but their approach has really put me off of their product. Does any one else have experience with Cold Steel knives? Do they really Live up to all the hype? :confused:

Buy the way, I don't mean this thread to be any sort of flame-fest against Cold Steel...

[jabba359]

I don't own any, but there are quite a few people who swear by their Tri-Ad locks. It's supposed to be pretty dang strong.

[Franciscomv]

I sell knives (mostly to fund my own addiction), and Cold Steel is one of the brands I work with. I never liked their advertising style, but I know loads of people who do.

I have a few of their products and they work well. I haven't tried any of the weird things that they do on their DVDs, though. I think that their more expensive knives aren't really worth the price (you can get something much better for the money), but their mid-range line is quite good. Knives like the American Lawman, Master Hunter (I love my old Carbon V Master Hunter) are quite good for the price. The new Recon 1 is also an improvement on the old ones.

They aren't the best knives on Earth, and some designs are more novelty items than anything else, but they do offer some good knives. Especially if you need toughness for at an affordable price.

[Zendemic]

I always paying over $100 for AUS-8A was a little excessive (when Spyderco offers S30V for the same price). I also find those 7"+ folders ridiculous, but to each their own i guess.Thanks for the input Franciscomv, it clarifies things a little bit for me.

[HotSoup]

They make strong knives, period.
I dislike a lot of their models, and some are a little tacky, but they have models I like(d) a lot.

The old Voyager line was awesome value, and awesome utility blades.

I'm picking up a Recon 1 (2010 version) with the Tri-Ad lock. Its one **** of a solid knife, but you know, different strokes for different folks. There advertising style is pretty annoying, but, if you look passed it, some of their stuff is really good.

The store I work for is a CS dealer, so I get to play with a few models.

[jzmtl]

Their knife design is quite aggressive/extravagant, some people like that.

[HotSoup]

some people like that.

Mall ninjas.

:cool:

I hope no one at the CS forum sees this :p

[Zendemic]

Mall ninjas.

:cool:

That's who i feel is the primary crowd they are trying to target. I just prefer the "quiet confidence" spyderco has in their products, I mean they pretty much sell themselves. After handling a :spyder: for the first time in a very long time i was won over by the ergonomics and performance (and i don't see myself buying new knives from many other companies in the future); not some guy stabbing flak jackets and car doors.

Like you said before though some people just more receptive to that type of advertising...

[c.joe]

Yeah I agree with their weird style of marketing but not gonna lie, without it, a lot of people probably wouldn't buy Cold Steel. (btw, by weird I mean LT's "almost made up on the spot" talk that he uses on every video)

But I too have been one of those guys that was sucked into their products through their videos and cool catalogs. I really like the proof they have on the knives. Although many other companies could probably past the very same tests, just being able to see it will win it for me.

As for their new Tri-ad lock, I am completely in love with it. (it is my favorite lock at the moment) I have a newer version Mini AK-47 that I beat on every day. I threw it at trees, had it bounce off many times and hit rocks with a cringing feeling. But surprisingly the knife held up, no blade play, and the lock functions perfectly.

I was told as the Tri-ad lock is used over and over again, it can only get tighter and a deeper lock up. I'm not too sure how plausible this is but I was told the same thing about the Axis lock and I don't see too many differences.

Cold Steel is a great company in my opinion. They don't deserve the trash talk that everyone gives them. Many people don't even give their products a try before even saying a word. This frustrates me a little bit but I could really care less. Spyderco is still my favorite company. (btw, I have no Spyderco beaters, just CS knives :D )

As Sal always said, "All good, just different."

[Zendemic]

Thanks for the perspective C.Joe! I have never owned a CS knife so i didn't want to draw any solid conclusions. I have considered getting one or two CS blades, but they currently not on the top of my list.

I hope my original post didn't come across as trash talk, I didn't mean it to take that tone...

[butch]

hype sells the first blade or 2 but good products sell themselves for life withought the hype
you hav eot pick what maker has the right stuff for your needs

[HotSoup]

c.Joe I agree. They make good products for the most part.

A lot of their items are well worth the money.

Can't wait for my Tri-Ad lock REcon 1 to get here :D

I'm going to beat the crap out of that knife :D

[Dr. Snubnose]

CS hates me...LOL...but I don't hate CS products. I think they make some pretty darn good fixed blades, and I own a lot of them. I don't trust their folding knives at all for serious SD applications, and I don't think the quality and finish is all that they are hyped up to be. That being said I am currently doing some painting and carpentry work at my center, and guess what I'm using...a CS Voyager PE..it's a beater for sure as I don't give a hoot what happens to it. Is it doing the job? I guess it is...but I do have to sharpen it quite often. The serrations on any of their folders don't hold up as they even break off while using the Sharpmaker to re-sharpen...FWIW CS suggests that you use the Sharpmaker to re-sharpen or send the knife back to them when it gets dull for re-sharpening...If I did that....I'd be sending the knife back to CS every other day....Doc :D

[HotSoup]

Why does CS hate you?
Also, their serrations suck, and so does the finish on some of their folders...Teflon...eugh...but I'm still getting the REcon 1 anyway.

[ChrisR]

They seem to make some good knives, for the price-point, and I got a Black Rock Hunter a few months back - very nice indeed ... but the advertising DVD that came with it went straight into the garbage, unopened :D

[c.joe]

Why does CS hate you?
Also, their serrations suck, and so does the finish on some of their folders...Teflon...eugh...but I'm still getting the REcon 1 anyway.

I'd take their Teflon finish over their ugly rust magnet bead blast :)

[Dr. Snubnose]

Why does CS hate you?
Also, their serrations suck, and so does the finish on some of their folders...Teflon...eugh...but I'm still getting the REcon 1 anyway.

Seems like they don't like me talking bad about their products or should I say telling the truth about their products, cause I call em as I see em, and sometimes the truth hurts....That is not to say that I don't say good things about their products when I see they are warranted...but they like to hang on to the negative comments I make on the internet about their products, I guess negative things hold more power then positive things for most people. Hey If I don't like what I see or test that comes out of the Spyderco Factory, I open my mouth and say so, but the difference is Sal and Company listen, they may not agree with me 100%, but they process what I say and think about it logically without getting defensive. If they see merit in what I say, they go about improving their knives, if they don't agree or don't see any merit in my comments which might be negative, they ignore what I say and going about their business of making knives the way they want to. Never had I have anyone from Spyderco post a challenge on the forum for me to come down to Golden Colorado and duel it out in mortal combat with Sal, to prove my points, as was done by a CS employee on this forum in a related thread just about one month ago. So I can safely say that CS hates me, or at the very least thinks there is no value in anything I say...either positive or negative about their products. They just want me to keep my mouth shut and all is good....problem is...I'm not going to do that...so it creates a little tension or lets call it a bump in the road sometimes.....Doc :D

[THG]

They make strong knives, that's for sure. And they make a **** of a fixed blade. They're all tough as ****, but none of their knives have a good balance of everything; they're focused solely on strength, and everything after that is an afterthought (from the clip placement to the 30-grit G10 under it, to the unnecessary tightness of the clip, to the ergos, to the form it takes when in the closed position; you name it.)

[jzmtl]

Never had I have anyone from Spyderco post a challenge on the forum for me to come down to Golden Colorado and duel it out in mortal combat with Sal, to prove my points, as was done by a CS employee on this forum in a related thread just about one month ago.

That was the last straw for me on CS, sending your employee to openly troll another company's forum is just low.

[jackknifeh]

A few months ago I had two of the new Voyagers on order before they cancelled the new model till next year. I read in their catalog how they were the only company that had decent knives or knowledge about knives period (paraphrasing). I thought to myself "how could anyone be stupid enough to say that?".

I emailed them a couple of weeks ago asking if they had a more specific timeframe for the Voyager to be available. I'm interested in their VG-1 san-mai blades. I also commented on the attitude they seem to have as being unprofessional and childish however I wasn't going to let that get in the way of how I felt about their products. I bought one of their Mini-tac neck knives and a machete. I like the neck knife even though I don't wear it around my neck. The machete is nice especially since an 18" machete w/sheath was about $26 including shipping.


Jack