What's up with the hate on Cold-Steel?

[Hexa-Tula]

I see a lot of hating on Cold Steel products on here. What's Up? I've always liked Cold-Steel products, and they've always seemed GREAT to me. So why all the hate?

 

[tyler34]

use the search function so we don't have to go over this for the millionth time please.

 

[Knife Lady]

I see a lot of hating on Cold Steel products on here. What's Up? I've always liked Cold-Steel products, and they've always seemed GREAT to me. So why all the hate?

Since you love Cold Steel so much I have 2 left please buy them.

 

[451_Detonics]

A lot of folks dislike LT's over the top advertising and videos. They claim he has stolen designs even tho his are some of the most copied in the world today. A lot of folks just parrot what they read online so they can fit in with the cool crowd and have never even owned one of his knives...I call it the Chuck Norris syndrome.

 

[tyler34]

A lot of folks just parrot what they read online so they can fit in with the cool crowd and have never even owned one of his knives...I call it the Chuck Norris syndrome.

and then you have ^ the standard fanboy rebuttal because facts are a stubborn thing

bottom line the knives are over priced for the materials used regardless of retarded marketing.

 

[paddling_man]

use the search function so we don't have to go over this for the millionth time please.

Or one can just cut-and-paste.

Some folks parrot what they've read on the 'net, some folks get their info about their Far East knives from Smoky Mtn Knifeworks propaganda , and there are actually folks on here who know a bit about steel and the knife industry.

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.

Another Cold Steel Thread with the same cast of characters.

 

[tyler34]

there are actually folks on here who know a bit about steel

did someone say steel? oh crap now I can't stand up.

 

[E5RANGER375]

use the search function so we don't have to go over this for the millionth time please.

it works as well as the DPMS customer service department

 

[tyler34]

it works as well as the DPMS customer service department

DPMS CS is fantastic what are you talking about troll

 

[PatriotPride]

DPMS CS is fantastic what are you talking about troll

Now THAT...THAT was a good joke! DPMS CS and "fantastic" in the same sentence?!?!?!

 

[cedartop]

use the search function so we don't have to go over this for the millionth time please.

Did as tyler suggested, not so glad I did because it gave me a headache. Took quite awhile, learned a lot. Nothing new about CS, but a lot about some of the people on the board here. Not saying that is good or bad, just informative.

 

[Destro]

I have a cold steel SRK knife that I used for about a million different things in "far away lands"......best $70 knife I ever had. I had to order a new belt clip for the sheath, they sent me one at no cost.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

Hexa,
When I'm out in the woods, I still will sometimes carry and use my Cold Steel LTC Kurkri and Cold Steel Bush Ranger I bought in 1995 and have been using since then. Round about 2001, I learned bladesmithing from Tim Lively and one of his students and took over running the Primal Fires web forum in about 2003 and kept it going since then for anyone who wanted to learn Tim's primitive style of bladesmithing. I still occasionally bladesmith as a hobby but not nearly as often. Anyway, through this I learned about how to work steel and how to heat treat carbon steels and the benefits and drawback of certain steels and how they perform based on the steel itself, and more importantly how you heat treat it. Your perspective on knives will never be the same after you start hardening and tempering steel and actually feel the difference between a piece of annealed steel and a piece of martensite. This is part of the reason I love Gransfors Bruks axes. I can tell the heat treat they put in those bad boys and love it. Anyway, the steel in the Carbon V Cold Steel knives I've had behaves most similarly to differentially hardened 1084 on both knives but there is certainly more martensite left towards the edge in the Bush Ranger.

Since then I bought a Cold Steel Carbon V Trailmaster and a Carbon V Recon Tanto. I don't like the edge geometry on these ones as much and will sell them as soon as I get around to it. If you can find a Carbon V Twistmaster, it is a superb knife. Far better than the Opinel it was patterned after (thought the Opinel is much more classy when trout fishing or taking a lady on a picnic). However, you have to take care of the blade on the Twistmaster as it is Carbon V and was rather rough ground and was not coated. I've found with "carbon steels" that you need to either coat them or finish them to a near polish to mitigate rust. I bought 2 Cold Steel knives in 420 subzero quench when they were experimenting with that and they're garbage. 420 is a soft steel and I had hopes the subzero quench would do something that it ended up just not doing. I did end up getting an OSS in Carbon V as well and it strikes me as a good blade for what it's intended for (self defense) but I really haven't used it as much.

There's one more Cold Steel blade I've found to be excellent and it's the Braveheart. Basically it's a sgian dubh. I've made a couple of sgian dubhs and they really are a handy style of knife. I keep this one clipped to the left shoulder of my hiking pack. I use it for light duty cutting when I'm hiking and it's done just fine, is light and stays in that sheath well.

Anyway, there's some Cold Steel knives I've found to be excellent, some good, some unexciting and some disappointing. This is a topic where your own education will aid you greatly in deciding what you want.

As to why there's Cold Steel hating on here, the answer's simple. It's a web forum.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I am essentially ignorant of the finer points of manufacture of knives, but Knife Lady sold me a Cold Steel SRK at the 1500 and I've been pleased with it so far. I've carried and used knives since I was in my early teens and use them daily to the point that I'd feel more naked without a knife than a gun (which I also carry daily yet rarely use).

I'm a little disconcerted that both Knife Lady and Tyler look down upon CS, as I generally trust their opinions. However, I'm happy with what I bought so far for the use I've intended it, and since I don't have enough experience to be able to discern the finer points, I suspect they'll be lost on me.

And before this thread and the links folks had provided to other discussions, I'd never even heard of the controversy.

 

[tyler34]

I'm a little disconcerted that both Knife Lady and Tyler look down upon CS, as I generally trust their opinions. However, I'm happy with what I bought so far for the use I've intended it, and since I don't have enough experience to be able to discern the finer points, I suspect they'll be lost on me.

I'm honestly flattered your respecting my opinions about knives. so as not to make you avoid my future knife opinions I will let you know where I'm coming from on the CS issue. I could care less about the marketing videos which is were most everyone else dismisses CS. my issue is the fact for the materials they are using in their knives steel foremost and handles as well they are severely overpriced for what they are. the vast majority of their knives use AUS8 which is mediocre steel these days and in no way should command the price that CS sells it at. for the money you would spend on a CS you could in many many cases get a different brand that will be two to three times the knife materials wise versus what you will get from CS. quick example a cold steel ti-lite-

Cold Steel Ti-Lite 6" Plain Edge Blade Dark Gray Aluminum Handle - Knifecenter.com

IMO a generic enough looking blade no wow factor design wise, then you get to the meat of it AUS8 steel and aluminum handles again nothing great, no options for tip up or tip down carry or left and right hand carry. then you see the price $90 and most likely coming from a low end factory in china. now lets take that same $90 and see ho much better we can do.

a quick search pulls up a a good contender a spyderco endura-
Spyderco Endura 2 4th Generation 3-3/4" Plain, Stainless Steel Handle Model C10P4 - Knifecenter.com

so what do we get in this knife. well first off you get VG10 steel without boring you all the metallurgical details it's a few notches above AUS8. then we move on to the handles, they are stainless steel nothing out of this world but what it does have going for it is the ability to change the pocket clip for tip up or tip down carry and left or right pocket making it completely ambidextrous, which can't be said for the CS ti-lite. the locking mechanism again is nothing fancy just a proven lockback. but where this knife shines is the price, a full $15 cheaper than the CS. now "man" logic would dictate that the CS should be the better of the two because it's more expensive. but as you can see not only is it not technically better it is also far less end user friendly in terms of versatility.

I hope this long winded explanation of why I dislike CS was not douchey or condescending as that is not how I meant it(sorry I'm a FTF type of guy and writing is not my forte) , and hopefully better demonstrates the reasons for my opinion of cold steel.

DISCLAIMER: this post was not parroted or echoed sentiment I saw in the interwebz and decided to latch on to so as to feel cool.

 

[Bradsknives]

I have covered this topic many times. Without going into details again...the hatered is NOT because of the quality , it's all about the way Cold Steel does business.

 

[451_Detonics]

And Benchmade was sued (successfully) by Spyderco for patent infringement yet nobody accuses them of "shady business practices"...and I hate to think of how many folks have copies the Loveless Drop Point over the years. Buck has knives made in China now, as does Gerber, Spyderco, and most others, why are theirs better than Cold Steel's?

The knives are good quality at decent prices...always available well under retail btw. And I am not a fan boy...I own just a few of their knives...almost all older models but I have handled the newer ones as well.

 

[22lr]

I dont buy any of their knives new, but you can get some nice used CS stuff for dirt cheap........

I like em, but id never pay retail for em. Its like Tyler said, you can buy better for the full retail prices.

 

[tyler34]

The knives are good quality at decent prices...always available well under retail btw.

even under retail they are still overpriced.

 

[sheriff125]

in this corner wearing the blue trunks the cs lovers!! in the other corner wear the green trunks the cs haters!!! ding...ding...ding