Cold Steel OSS

[MrHank]

A guy were my son works gave him a brand new Cold Steel OSS knife. It seems to be a good looking knife as I only got to see it for about five minutes before my son whisk it away from me. I watched a couple of videos on it and it seems to be a pretty cool knife. Just wondering if anyone has one and your opinion of it?

38SSM : OSS SAN MAI III ®

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCVhsDmrMSA

 

[Bradsknives]

 

[DanO]

I have one I bought from Traderator. Surprisingly light knife and wicked fast. I have a few other dagger, so I have not used it, it is like new. I would seel it for the $50 I have in it if you are interested.

 

[451_Detonics]

There are a couple versions of the OSS. The one in the video is San Mai steel and is a higher end knife. They also do the OSS in AUS 8 for about half the price. Good well made knives tho you will find a lot of Cold Steel haters here. They just love to parrot what they have heard from others online...mostly BS.

 

[tyler34]

Good well made knives tho you will find a lot of Cold Steel haters here. They just love to parrot what they have heard from others online...mostly BS.

 

[Will0369]

I have a Cold Steel Gunsite Folder and I absolutely love that knife.

 

[tradertator]

As stated earlier in this thread, I formerly owned one of these knives. It should work fine if you are wanting a knife that will stab the be-jesus out of stuff, but I think you can do better. Their are so many knives out there now that use better steel, better handle materials, etc.... One thing I really didn't care for was how the the guard would flex when your hand came into contact with it. I also didn't care for the sheath.

I would be one of those "Cold Steel Haters" also mentioned previously in this thread, only my opinion is based on experience, not "parroting what I have heard from others online". Cold Steel stuff is what it is. Business ethics aside, you could do better, and you could do worse. Go to a gun and knife show and put your hands on as much stuff as possible before buying. I'd suggest checking out the Gerber Mark II. It's in the same price range, American made, and a much superior dagger IMO, though it's a shame you can't buy one with out the blade serrations anymore.

 

[DanO]

Traderator,

Thanks for your input. I have had varying experiences with CS stuff also.

I have an original CS Tanto (#13) I bought at Ft. Bragg in 1985. GREAT KNIFE! It was made in Japan.
I have a Master Hunter I was not really enamored with. Just don't lik the grid, and may change it when I get the time.
I had an old-stule 5" Voyager clip point with the plastic clip. It was fantastic, and I cleaned a lot of deer with it. Lost it out of a pocket in the woods. Great steel, sharpened easliy, strong lock and flat profile.

I am not a CS hater, I just put them in a different category than my blacksmith-made carbon and damascus knives. For the price, they can be a good deal.

 

[IndyBeerman]

There are a couple versions of the OSS. The one in the video is San Mai steel and is a higher end knife. They also do the OSS in AUS 8 for about half the price. Good well made knives tho you will find a lot of Cold Steel haters here. They just love to parrot what they have heard from others online...mostly BS.

I've got a Cold Steel folder (can't remember model) that was my dad's when he passed away. That was 10 years ago and this day I still ave not sharpened the blade, it's just like it resharpens itself, keeps an edge and keeps on cutting.

I have a decent collection of older Cold Steel knifes because my father must have really liked them.

And as far as parroting, it seems that there is a ton of followers out there that like to replicate the spew about other items also. Too bad they can't really experience them first hand.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

Careful. The only negative rep I've ever gotten on INGO was when I dared to speak in support of some Cold Steel knives.

The Oss is a fun blade but rather limited in real function. I have 2, one is in that 420 crap they tried for a very short time and the other is in carbon v. The 420 crap blade is somewhere in the basement and the carbon v is in the kitchen. It slices the heck out of a chicken tenderloin.

 

[tradertator]

The AUS8 or San Mai would definately be a big improvement over the 420 stuff.
Still, I think their is something magical about the old Mark II's and Gaudians (not Gaurdian II).

 

[Bradsknives]

Most of the Cold Steel haters have this attitude because of the business practices that Cold Steel uses, and not so much because of the quality of their knives. Cold Steel does not design or manufacture any of their own product line. They basically steal other peoples designs and then contract out to another knife making company to produce them with their name on them.

 

[paddling_man]

Most of the Cold Steel haters have this attitude because of the business practices that Cold Steel uses, and not so much because of the quality of their knives. Cold Steel does not design or manufacture any of their own product line. They basically steal other peoples designs and then contract out to another knife making company to produce them with their name on them.

Ex-actly.

They are the old Sears firearm/small engine department with poor business ethics. They make nothing except a video. Everything is made by other blade manufacturers and rebranded. Some are good, some are trash. The bulk of their old "Carbon V" series was just product from the Camillus factory before years of bad economics and poor management got that legacy of a place shut down. Lynn though... eh, forget it.

To the OP. The knife is fine. Especially if San Mai. (Again, it wasn't really something CS *made.*) It will stab just fine if treated with the same care as a Gerber MkII. Daggers are made for one use it is not to chop or abuse.

Some of the "spewing folks from the internet"... you will find that here. You will also find folks who have worked in the knife industry and know the stories - and seen the evidence - that you won't find on the 'net. Folks who know both manufacturers and well-known custom makers know by face and name.

Others get their knowledge from Smoky Mtn Knifeworks catalogs.


Paddling-onlygivenonenegrepandthatwasaccidently-man.

 

[grunt soldier]

Ex-actly.

They are the old Sears firearm/small engine department with poor business ethics. They make nothing except a video. Everything is made by other blade manufacturers and rebranded. Some are good, some are trash. The bulk of their old "Carbon V" series was just product from the Camillus factory before years of bad economics and poor management got that legacy of a place shut down. Lynn though... eh, forget it.

To the OP. The knife is fine. Especially if San Mai. (Again, it wasn't really something CS *made.*) It will stab just fine if treated with the same care as a Gerber MkII. Daggers are made for one use it is not to chop or abuse.

Some of the "spewing folks from the internet"... you will find that here. You will also find folks who have worked in the knife industry and know the stories - and seen the evidence - that you won't find on the 'net. Folks who know both manufacturers and well-known custom makers know by face and name.

Others get their knowledge from Smoky Mtn Knifeworks catalogs.


Paddling-onlygivenonenegrepandthatwasaccidently-man.

don't lie sir you know you deserved that negative rep

what brad and paddling said is exactly right. most people just don't like them based on their ethics in the knife industry and the fact they don't actually make there own products

 

[TiminMishawaka]

They basically steal other peoples designs and then contract out to another knife making company to produce them with their name on them.

I don't accept this as a reason to focus negativity on Cold Steel. Give me the name of anyone who claims their knife design was stolen by Cold Steel and I will show you how their knife steals designs from other makers, other companies or other cultures.

It amazes me when no one applies this same vitriol for Cold Steel against Ranger Knives who outright uses Busse designs. Heck they even bought thousands of Busse blanks back circa 2000.

Lynn Thompson is an arrogant douche. You can see that in the ridiculous self promoting australian hunting video he put out. If you want to dislike him for that, you won't hear any argument from me. Let's just focus on what his faults really are and not execute him for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby.

 

[Bradsknives]

I don't accept this as a reason to focus negativity on Cold Steel. Give me the name of anyone who claims their knife design was stolen by Cold Steel and I will show you how their knife steals designs from other makers, other companies or other cultures.

It amazes me when no one applies this same vitriol for Cold Steel against Ranger Knives who outright uses Busse designs. Heck they even bought thousands of Busse blanks back circa 2000.

Lynn Thompson is an arrogant douche. You can see that in the ridiculous self promoting australian hunting video he put out. If you want to dislike him for that, you won't hear any argument from me. Let's just focus on what his faults really are and not execute him for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby.

First of all...I was explaining why there is a group of people that hated Cold Steel knives. The Cold Steel "hatered' comes from the custom knife makers world and not from companies that mass produce knives. With companies that mass produce knives, originality in any design is apt to be limited at best. I do have to give credit to Cold Steel for licensing the Axis lock from Benchmade and I'm sure there are other examples of Cold Steel properly doing business with other companies, but in the custom knife world it is an entirely different mind set amongst those people. All you have to do is go to an actual custom knife show and and talk to the makers. There is a great hatered towards Lynn Thompson (Cold Steel owner) from a large percentage of makers that I have talked to over the 30 years that I have been fooling around with knives. Talk to Ron Lake (designer of the first inter frame), Mike Walker, Brian Tighe, Michael Lovett, and Mick Strider about Lynn Thompson and you might get escorted out of the show. The common consensus is that Lynn Thompson is famous for ripping off "Custom Makers". I could come close to writing a book about the designs that Cold steel uses that they have blatantly used with no royalties going to the original maker. You wanted names...well there you go. Go talk with those makers and hear their side of the story, your opinion about Lynn Thompson (Cold Steel) might change.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

I started researching the individual makers and almost immediately saw a lock design being marketed as original that I recognized as a pretty traditional design from Lagouile, France... It had some modifications of course, but wasn't credited where it was inspired from.

Such is the word of intellectual property. You only need, what is it 20% modification to make it your own? Don't quote me, I really have no idea on the particulars but I do know it explains why everyone and their brother manufactures a multi tool.

 

[tradertator]

Lynn Thompson is an arrogant douche. You can see that in the ridiculous self promoting australian hunting video he put out. If you want to dislike him for that, you won't hear any argument from me. Let's just focus on what his faults really are and not execute him for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby.

Lynne C Thompson's Death Down Under
"The ultimate hunting machine"

 

[TiminMishawaka]

You saw that too huh?

I love how they have to say in every video that the meat did not go to waste. Well....yeah. Have you ever seen Lynn? Does he look like the kind of guy who'd ever let a steak go to waste?

 

[amhenry]

That Lynn Thompson video is ridiculous.

"Guys, I have the biggest handgun in the world, lets go run around the bush in shorts and shoot everything we see."