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Post by kalkikrosah on Sept 23, 2017 12:51:20 GMT
Spyderco is what I carry around and use the most. I use it to open any kind of packages like boxes or tape, so nothing strenuous. The one I own is the Centofante 3. It's not a heavy duty knife but it does the job for what I use it for. And since I live in New York where knife laws are really strict its nice to know that they are within the legal limit so if I do get stopped by a cop there's less "intent to do harm" bias stacked up against me. But I have been eyeing some of benchmade's knives. They are pricey, but with how sturdy they seem to be it would definitely be a knife that will last a while. And for fighting knives I like to use a karambit. I own a cheap folder by Hatchet Creek Outfitters which I practiced with and then about a year ago I bought a real deal karambit from Traditional Filipino Weapons. The TFW one is definitely way better quality and would be the one I bring to a real fight. At risk of sounding like a broken record... I think you should have a look at Cold Steels folders. I haven't had one that was anything but perfect in manufacturing quality yet. They are rock solid, and SHARP. They make a version for everyone. I trust my life to Cold Steels folders. They are that good. Are Cold Steel's knives any better than their swords? I mean that honestly because I hear a lot of mixed reviews about their swords. All the stories I hear are "Cold Steel is great, my sword is just as good as that guys and he probably paid twice as much as I did" or "Cold Steel gave me a sword that was a lemon so I sent that back and got back a new sword which was even more faulty than the one I sent back." It is because of these mixed reviews I am very reluctant to buy from them. |
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 23, 2017 15:10:19 GMT
Cold Steel's knives tend to be good. Can't say I've heard anything bad about them other than the outrageous cost of the upper-end stuff. Cold Steel's MSRP is a bit ambitious.
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Post by howler on Sept 23, 2017 20:04:26 GMT
At risk of sounding like a broken record... I think you should have a look at Cold Steels folders. I haven't had one that was anything but perfect in manufacturing quality yet. They are rock solid, and SHARP. They make a version for everyone. I trust my life to Cold Steels folders. They are that good. Are Cold Steel's knives any better than their swords? I mean that honestly because I hear a lot of mixed reviews about their swords. All the stories I hear are "Cold Steel is great, my sword is just as good as that guys and he probably paid twice as much as I did" or "Cold Steel gave me a sword that was a lemon so I sent that back and got back a new sword which was even more faulty than the one I sent back." It is because of these mixed reviews I am very reluctant to buy from them. I believe a lot of the swords are gussied up Windlass (with gussied up price, so buy from other outlets). The machete line are tough and the knives bombproof. You will see a lot of reviews on this forum and others. Just watch out for people who don't know themselves but parrot what others say, often regarding issues from decades ago. |
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christain
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Post by christain on Sept 23, 2017 20:24:43 GMT
The single best blade I own. Made by Rigid Tool Co. and given to me from my Dad...40 years ago.  .....Chris  |
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 23, 2017 20:31:15 GMT
In the last weeks I bought 4 Cold Steel swords, 3 sabers an a grosses messer, all good stuff, no lemon.
Pros and cons like it can be seen in the reviews etc.
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Post by legacyofthesword on Sept 23, 2017 21:42:19 GMT
At risk of sounding like a broken record... I think you should have a look at Cold Steels folders. I haven't had one that was anything but perfect in manufacturing quality yet. They are rock solid, and SHARP. They make a version for everyone. I trust my life to Cold Steels folders. They are that good. Are Cold Steel's knives any better than their swords? I mean that honestly because I hear a lot of mixed reviews about their swords. All the stories I hear are "Cold Steel is great, my sword is just as good as that guys and he probably paid twice as much as I did" or "Cold Steel gave me a sword that was a lemon so I sent that back and got back a new sword which was even more faulty than the one I sent back." It is because of these mixed reviews I am very reluctant to buy from them. Cold Steel knives are extremely well made. Every one I've handled (and I've owned and handled a fair number) has had flawless fit and finish, and was pretty much indestructible to boot. I can highly recommend them. The swords, on the other hand, I've never touched, so I have no idea what the quality is like on those. EDIT: I have owned and handled a few CS weapons (not swords) and they seem okay. Nothing amazing, just average - no better or worse than other weapons I own (like Windlass or Hanwei). Very tough though. |
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 23, 2017 22:04:24 GMT
Like you said, nothing amazing, same level as Hanwei or a little step better than avarage Windlass.
Some are overbuilt and they have - but could have more - distal taper.
But no reason for horror stories.
The best thing: They really are like I expected them from the reviews or other posts here.
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Post by 1776 on Sept 24, 2017 1:55:28 GMT
At risk of sounding like a broken record... I think you should have a look at Cold Steels folders. I haven't had one that was anything but perfect in manufacturing quality yet. They are rock solid, and SHARP. They make a version for everyone. I trust my life to Cold Steels folders. They are that good. Are Cold Steel's knives any better than their swords? I mean that honestly because I hear a lot of mixed reviews about their swords. All the stories I hear are "Cold Steel is great, my sword is just as good as that guys and he probably paid twice as much as I did" or "Cold Steel gave me a sword that was a lemon so I sent that back and got back a new sword which was even more faulty than the one I sent back." It is because of these mixed reviews I am very reluctant to buy from them. In regards to KNIVES, YES. Cold Steel folders are very, very tough. Having used their folders for batoning, and throwing, and not having them develop ANY vertical blade play... yeah, they are bomb proof. I've also not had ANY issues at all with them. I own... lets see...five of their folders. EVERY single one of them came scary sharp out of the box, and with no issues at all. Ergos are top notch too. Haven't actually handled any other folders with as good or better ergos. Now their swords seem to be another story... I haven't even handled one of theirs either. But I too have heard kinda mixed stuff about their swords. I'm not going to chime in on their swords besides that. I've got no experience with them. But I can honestly say that I believe Cold Steel's folders are amazing. Best quality I've handled yet. Not to bash CRKT... but I just bought a Folding Hissatsu, and I'm having issues with it. Going to have to send it back to get fixed. Never had that issue with Cold Steel, and Ive bought a number of their folders. |
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Post by howler on Sept 24, 2017 2:43:01 GMT
Are Cold Steel's knives any better than their swords? I mean that honestly because I hear a lot of mixed reviews about their swords. All the stories I hear are "Cold Steel is great, my sword is just as good as that guys and he probably paid twice as much as I did" or "Cold Steel gave me a sword that was a lemon so I sent that back and got back a new sword which was even more faulty than the one I sent back." It is because of these mixed reviews I am very reluctant to buy from them. In regards to KNIVES, YES. Cold Steel folders are very, very tough. Having used their folders for batoning, and throwing, and not having them develop ANY vertical blade play... yeah, they are bomb proof. I've also not had ANY issues at all with them. I own... lets see...five of their folders. EVERY single one of them came scary sharp out of the box, and with no issues at all. Ergos are top notch too. Haven't actually handled any other folders with as good or better ergos. Now their swords seem to be another story... I haven't even handled one of theirs either. But I too have heard kinda mixed stuff about their swords. I'm not going to chime in on their swords besides that. I've got no experience with them. But I can honestly say that I believe Cold Steel's folders are amazing. Best quality I've handled yet. Not to bash CRKT... but I just bought a Folding Hissatsu, and I'm having issues with it. Going to have to send it back to get fixed. Never had that issue with Cold Steel, and Ive bought a number of their folders. And lets not forget the fixed blades, machete, spears and pole arms. I saw a guy on YouTube gore a wild boar (using the boar spear...what else) and literally be picked up and pushed 30 feet backwards...the boar spear did not falter. |
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Post by randomnobody on Sept 24, 2017 3:00:02 GMT
My only experiences, first-hand, with Cold Steel were an LTC Kukri I picked up years back that I never liked, a Warrior Katana I handled briefly at a gun show (before deciding on a Hanwei Practical Katana because at least it didn't feel "dead" in my hands) and a broken Grosse Messer that ShooterMike/Mike Harris had in his collection once, many years ago.
Never liked any of them, but I haven't had a chance to handle anything new. From what I'm seeing on teh intarwebz, though, I'm not sold on anything, anyway. Their English Backsword, for instance, I want to like...but can we make it a bit...I dunno, meatier? I've been eyeing the MAA Winged Spear, but don't feel like messing with attaching the head myself, and while the Polish saber is very eye-catching, I haven't read many great things about it. Generally, it just looks like they took the same generic saber blade they use on every saber model and put a funky guard on it that kinda resembles something Polish.
I'd really like a Dragonfly tanto, but I don't like that it's through-hardened. In a similar vein, I can respect the idea behind the Steven Seagal licensed naginata-naoshi, but it's just...no. That's not how the design is supposed to work. Try agian.
Otherwise, yeah, their knives are great. I've been wanting an OSS or OSA for years, would love a Black Bear Classic, but I'm not about to drop that kind of cash for what they offer in the former (plastic handles oh boy) and especially not Black Bear Classic money on, well, anything.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Sept 24, 2017 4:12:07 GMT
Like you said, nothing amazing, same level as Hanwei or a little step better than avarage Windlass. Some are overbuilt and they have - but could have more - distal taper. But no reason for horror stories. Most of the CS horror stories I remember are of threaded tang extensions breaking. Some examples on youtube, some examples in reviews - I even broke one like that myself. Only the Chinese-made swords - nothing like that for the Indian stuff. (Ronin Katana European sword had the same problem initially.) Don't recall seeing that happen with any CS sword for many years (since c. 2010). |
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Post by howler on Sept 26, 2017 23:48:08 GMT
My only experiences, first-hand, with Cold Steel were an LTC Kukri I picked up years back that I never liked, a Warrior Katana I handled briefly at a gun show (before deciding on a Hanwei Practical Katana because at least it didn't feel "dead" in my hands) and a broken Grosse Messer that ShooterMike/Mike Harris had in his collection once, many years ago. Never liked any of them, but I haven't had a chance to handle anything new. From what I'm seeing on teh intarwebz, though, I'm not sold on anything, anyway. Their English Backsword, for instance, I want to like...but can we make it a bit...I dunno, meatier? I've been eyeing the MAA Winged Spear, but don't feel like messing with attaching the head myself, and while the Polish saber is very eye-catching, I haven't read many great things about it. Generally, it just looks like they took the same generic saber blade they use on every saber model and put a funky guard on it that kinda resembles something Polish. I'd really like a Dragonfly tanto, but I don't like that it's through-hardened. In a similar vein, I can respect the idea behind the Steven Seagal licensed naginata-naoshi, but it's just...no. That's not how the design is supposed to work. Try agian. Otherwise, yeah, their knives are great. I've been wanting an OSS or OSA for years, would love a Black Bear Classic, but I'm not about to drop that kind of cash for what they offer in the former (plastic handles oh boy) and especially not Black Bear Classic money on, well, anything. For western, Italian Longsword, 1796, and some others are good. Don't know much about Japanese, except heard they were heavier built (probably for backyard cutting warriors). Folders, fixed blades, Assegai, Boar spear, MAA Lance Point, machete, ...all good. |
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Post by MOK on Oct 1, 2017 14:52:52 GMT
Cold Steel do make really good knives, even if a lot of them are shamelessly overpriced.
On the other hand, they treat swords as if they were simply scaled up knives, which leads to a lot of clunkiness, dead weight and subpar ergonomics and performance with most of their models. There are some notable exceptions, though, and for affordable crude beaters I honestly don't think you can do much better than their sword-sized machetes.
That said, personally I find their always overstated and sometimes borderline fraudulent marketing hilariously obnoxious.
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Oct 1, 2017 15:20:10 GMT
I believe a lot of the swords are gussied up Windlass (with gussied up price, so buy from other outlets). The machete line are tough... A few years back, not long after CS introduced their scimitar, someone did a review. He stated that when the light reflected just right off of the blade and looking hard he could see Windlass’ logo, stating that confirmed what he had expected. I have several of their machetes dating back to their Chinese manufacturer and find them hard to beat. I only have a pair of their swords, the butterflies. Their quality is good but nothing special. The scabbard is, or maybe I should say was, poor and they have since redesigned it. The workmanship was good just a poor design as it in the long run would not support the weight of the swords. And to add salt to the wound, they would not even replace it at a reduced price. My cost on receiving a replacement at their price would have been about 140 USD, NO WAY. The scabbard is still usable as I can insert it under my belt. But it does leave a soar taste in my mouth. |
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Oct 2, 2017 5:42:28 GMT
Me being left hand I don't have much of a variety of folders to chose from. That's why I like Cold Steel folders because almost every folder that have is 100% ambidextrious. I have had three different ones. My first one was El Vaquero I got back in the late 90s. My EDC that I carry now are the American Lawman and The Spartan. Both of them pass my pork rip test and I really like the Tri-Ad Lock.
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Oct 2, 2017 5:57:51 GMT
My only experiences, first-hand, with Cold Steel were an LTC Kukri I picked up years back that I never liked, a Warrior Katana I handled briefly at a gun show (before deciding on a Hanwei Practical Katana because at least it didn't feel "dead" in my hands) and a broken Grosse Messer that ShooterMike/Mike Harris had in his collection once, many years ago. Never liked any of them, but I haven't had a chance to handle anything new. From what I'm seeing on teh intarwebz, though, I'm not sold on anything, anyway. Their English Backsword, for instance, I want to like...but can we make it a bit...I dunno, meatier? I've been eyeing the MAA Winged Spear, but don't feel like messing with attaching the head myself, and while the Polish saber is very eye-catching, I haven't read many great things about it. Generally, it just looks like they took the same generic saber blade they use on every saber model and put a funky guard on it that kinda resembles something Polish. I'd really like a Dragonfly tanto, but I don't like that it's through-hardened. In a similar vein, I can respect the idea behind the Steven Seagal licensed naginata-naoshi, but it's just...no. That's not how the design is supposed to work. Try agian. Otherwise, yeah, their knives are great. I've been wanting an OSS or OSA for years, would love a Black Bear Classic, but I'm not about to drop that kind of cash for what they offer in the former (plastic handles oh boy) and especially not Black Bear Classic money on, well, anything. For western, Italian Longsword, 1796, and some others are good. Don't know much about Japanese, except heard they were heavier built (probably for backyard cutting warriors). Folders, fixed blades, Assegai, Boar spear, MAA Lance Point, machete, ...all good. The Italian Longsword and 1796 handle like crap like most if not all of their western swords. I've had first hand experience with a lot of CS swords and Their western stuff isn't that good when it comes to handling. After handling two to three other 1796s I got one last year on Black Friday. When I got mine it handles just has bad as the other ones but not that lone I handled and to the stats of tow antique 1796. I shaved a lot of metal of the blade of my CS 1796 and gave it a good distal tapper that was real close to the antiques. It handles and cuts awesomely now. It sucks that their western stuff sucks because they make left handed swords to and other manufacturers don't care too. |
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Post by howler on Oct 2, 2017 7:57:43 GMT
For western, Italian Longsword, 1796, and some others are good. Don't know much about Japanese, except heard they were heavier built (probably for backyard cutting warriors). Folders, fixed blades, Assegai, Boar spear, MAA Lance Point, machete, ...all good. The Italian Longsword and 1796 handle like crap like most if not all of their western swords. I've had first hand experience with a lot of CS swords and Their western stuff isn't that good when it comes to handling. After handling two to three other 1796s I got one last year on Black Friday. When I got mine it handles just has bad as the other ones but not that lone I handled and to the stats of tow antique 1796. I shaved a lot of metal of the blade of my CS 1796 and gave it a good distal tapper that was real close to the antiques. It handles and cuts awesomely now. It sucks that their western stuff sucks because they make left handed swords to and other manufacturers don't care too. I heard the CS Italian reviews were pretty favorable, and that it was not oversized...though I also heard something on guards rattling on a few peoples swords, so that would kind of suck. Mine don't rattle, but I haven't really knocked it around. |
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Post by MOK on Oct 2, 2017 14:03:57 GMT
I heard the CS Italian reviews were pretty favorable, and that it was not oversized...though I also heard something on guards rattling on a few peoples swords, so that would kind of suck. Mine don't rattle, but I haven't really knocked it around. The Italian isn't overweight as such, but has other minor problems... and IMO its proportions just look bad, ungainly and slightly off in every way. The Hand-and-a-Half, on the other hand (and a half  ), seems to have gotten rid of the structural issues that cropped up early in the run (mostly the same old poorly welded tang extension) and has found considerable popularity as a good and affordable entry level sword for competitive cutting. |
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Post by howler on Oct 2, 2017 21:58:47 GMT
I heard the CS Italian reviews were pretty favorable, and that it was not oversized...though I also heard something on guards rattling on a few peoples swords, so that would kind of suck. Mine don't rattle, but I haven't really knocked it around. The Italian isn't overweight as such, but has other minor problems... and IMO its proportions just look bad, ungainly and slightly off in every way. The Hand-and-a-Half, on the other hand (and a half ), seems to have gotten rid of the structural issues that cropped up early in the run (mostly the same old poorly welded tang extension) and has found considerable popularity as a good and affordable entry level sword for competitive cutting. I like the look of "stabby" pointed longswords (I forget what the Oak...what's his name chart designation type), and the Italian is both longer and lighter (with longer handle), so a winner with me. But I do hear that people like the hand and a half, probably for the reasons you mentioned. Cold steel and Windlass are the entry categories for people too poor, cheap, not quit interested enough in, etc...to get the better stuff. |
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Oct 2, 2017 22:01:53 GMT
Exactly! (...XVa bastard sword) |
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.....Chris
), seems to have gotten rid of the structural issues that cropped up early in the run (mostly the same old poorly welded tang extension) and has found considerable popularity as a good and affordable entry level sword for competitive cutting.