Cold Steel Talk

[James Y]

Many thanks for your excellent and very thorough review of your first impressions, Rick! It cements the idea that one day, if and when I ever get back into buying any more knives, the AD15 Lite will be on that list, if it's still being made by then!

I have another question: How is that Mini Recon 1, including (of course) its pocket clip/clipability?

Jim

[SpyderEdgeForever]

The Finn Wolf is good.

[DSH007]

Many thanks for your excellent and very thorough review of your first impressions, Rick! It cements the idea that one day, if and when I ever get back into buying any more knives, the AD15 Lite will be on that list, if it's still being made by then!

I have another question: How is that Mini Recon 1, including (of course) its pocket clip/clipability?

Jim

Hey Jim! Sorry - I've been pretty busy lately and I managed to miss this for a couple weeks..

The Mini Recon 1 is nice - one of Cold Steel's more realistic actual "edc" designs, imo..big enough to be a useful knife to the average person, microscopic compared to most CS knives haha. The FRN (or GRN, or whatever CS calls it..) is well done.. textured enough to look a little classier than most FRN.. it almost looks like a peel-ply G10, but smoother, so it's easy on pockets.. the clip still has quite a bit of retention, iirc, but it's not a big deal in and out of the pocket combined with the smoother scales.

[James Y]

Many thanks for your excellent and very thorough review of your first impressions, Rick! It cements the idea that one day, if and when I ever get back into buying any more knives, the AD15 Lite will be on that list, if it's still being made by then!

I have another question: How is that Mini Recon 1, including (of course) its pocket clip/clipability?

Jim

Hey Jim! Sorry - I've been pretty busy lately and I managed to miss this for a couple weeks..

The Mini Recon 1 is nice - one of Cold Steel's more realistic actual "edc" designs, imo..big enough to be a useful knife to the average person, microscopic compared to most CS knives haha. The FRN (or GRN, or whatever CS calls it..) is well done.. textured enough to look a little classier than most FRN.. it almost looks like a peel-ply G10, but smoother, so it's easy on pockets.. the clip still has quite a bit of retention, iirc, but it's not a big deal in and out of the pocket combined with the smoother scales.

No need to apologize, Rick H. Your reviews/ and descriptions are very detailedand much appreciated. Many thanks!

If I ever buy any more knives, and if one of those happens to be a Cold Steel, the mini Recon 1 sounds the most like something I might actually carry and use with any regularity.



Jim

[aicolainen]

8< -----
The FRN (or GRN, or whatever CS calls it..) is well done.. textured enough to look a little classier than most FRN.. it almost looks like a peel-ply G10, but smoother, so it's easy on pockets.. the clip still has quite a bit of retention, iirc, but it's not a big deal in and out of the pocket combined with the smoother scales.

Ou...
Until I read this, I didn't realize they'd changed the handle material to fancy plastic.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the mini recon 1 was the one CS I felt bad about missing out on, and the one model I hoped would make a comeback when GSM surveyed their customers for models they wanted to return.
And it did, with a catch.
In the CTS-XHP era both the regular recon 1 and the mini had similar "premium" build with G10 and CTS-XHP, while the Micro recons was a step below with GRN and AUS-8.
And while I'm a big fan of FRN, and I really don't think AUS-10A is too much of an issue for this type of knife - the super grippy G10 is one of the defining features of the recon series to me.
The new mini may still be a good option in its own right and maybe even better value, but I still feel like I missed out on the mini recon 1.

[soc_monki]

I bought a 4max Scout years ago now, and loved it. Bought a 2nd when GSM bought cold steel because I was worried the brand would go away after a short while. I spent around $75-80 each. I felt they were a great deal. Still do. Now I see I can get one for FORTY DOLLARS. $40 at midway. Like...how? Ridiculous. Anyone on the fence should buy one or two at that price. Yeah, they're big. But they're solid knives and will take anything you throw at them. The aus10 isn't bad either.

Man, I want to buy a few more now just to have more backups that I won't need anytime soon but, I've already spent enough buying firearms and optics...lol