![photo[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/rGQ29NQ.jpg "photo[1].jpg")
Beginner to knife/sword/etc. collecting.
Can /k/ tell me about Cold Steel? I'm watching a few of their videos and I'm impressed, but I get a feeling that I'm falling for a normie marketing meme. High Quality or Overpriced Garbage?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hfLZozBVpM
>>30493043
swords are memes in general and are probably not gonna do what you think theyre gonna do
>>30493043
I know Cold Steel had a weird "error" on the website and had a knife for sale for $0.00 (Just $10 shipping) that alot of people on /k/ took advantage of..... Im curious if anyone actually got the knife or if its still "pending" in their account.
Is a Bowie knife a well rounded survival knife?
>>30493078
this haha
>>30493056
I just want to chop shit up and feel cool, as well as have decorations. If I wanted to protect myself and others I'd use a firearm.
>>30493043
I own a 1917 Frontier Bowie. Fucking love that thing. even if it is just a cool looking knife
>>30493056
>swords are memes in general
>memes
>>30493078
I took advantage of it and under my account it still says "pending" .... so i doubt they will ship them... might want to get that $10 shipping refunded.
>>30493104
i know what it memes my friend ;^)
>>30493043
Cold Steel is about the minimum tier for anything you might actually want to use. That means it's middling, bad design, poor blade/edge geometry, etc, but with good enough materials and craftsmanship to not be a danger to the user. Usually. Stay away from anything obviously impractical, like fantasy swords.
It's a good source for beater blades that you want to use and abuse. They are not a source for anything quality.
>>30493043
They're kind of shit.
>>30493043
Swords are made from quality material and decently constructed.
They're durable and can take punishment, but the designs are awful and the swords are imbalanced. If you want something to cleave waterbottles and pig faces and shit, it works. If you want a sword that functions and balances like a fighting weapon, look at Albion or others for comparable products.
CS quality / value in pretty much inversely proportional to the size of the object.
CS's knives are OK. they're small, they dont cost a lot, and you get what you pay for. nothing great, but ok for the price.
the machetes arent great - they're overpriced and gimmicky.
the swords are shit. They have a habit of being made much too heavy in the wrong places. one of their pattern sabres is a good example. the real one goes from about 7mm thick at the hilt, to 2mm at the tip. the CS one goes from 5mm to 4 at the tip. that saves them a lot of money and time grinding the tapers... and on a scale, it weighs about the same. but where the weight is is totally wrong, so it goes from sword, to crowbar.
![IMG_0248[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/3HZveUC.jpg "IMG_0248[1].jpg")
>>30493043
Cold Steel makes passable knives that aren't bad for the price. I have a mini Recon 1 in my EDC rotation, plus a Kobun that I carry as a last ditch self defense effort. I'm quite satisfied with both of my Cold Steel products, although I can't speak for the swords...
>>30493351
Cold Steel sells varying degrees of stuff at different price points. Their "R1 Military Classic" is a pretty good Randall knockoff now that Blackjack Knives went under.
I carried one of their ODAs (Randall knockoff, Kraton molded hilt, molded scabbard) on two Iraq tours and it was a quite decent knife for the money.
Hey, how did that thing go where they were selling some knife for $0.00 by mistake? Did all those orders get cancelled, or what did they actually end up doing about that?
You won't get a consistent answer just because Cold Steel itself is very inconsistent. They make a variety of products that range all over the map in terms of quality.
Knives (organized by price):
>0-$50
Ranges from mediocre to decent for price
>$50-150
Arguably one of the best in the price range. They stepped up their game last year with new steels and grinds. The Tri-ad lock so far seems to be the strongest folding lock in production.
>$150-up
Wildly overpriced for what you're getting.
>Axes
Decent but no reason to pick them over other axe manufacturers.
>machetes
They work okay for machetes, but overpriced because mall ninjas and edgy teenagers eat them up since they resemble swords
>Swords
Sturdiness is the only thing they have going for them. Heavy and unbalanced. Generally not worth it unless you get on sale. There are a few exceptions though where they actually talked to people who knew what they were doing and made a decent sword.
>spear & polearms
I've heard good things, but people don't buy those things in droves, so you don't hear many opinions on them.
>Training products
Cheap and sturdy, though not always accurate. Also arguably too hard for safe training if using hard contact.
>all of the other mall ninja shit they make
Mall ninja tier. While they probably won't break, they don't really serve a purpose.
>tl;dr
You'll hear people say they make good stuff and you'll hear people say they make mall ninja stuff.
The answer is they're both true.
>>30493043
Buying your own stuff like an adult 101: Never consider advertising coming from the seller as valid, check other sources.
>>30494155
>last ditch self defense
What, do you fancy yourself a fucking yakuza? Maybe you should work on not being a skinny fag instead of carring two fucking knives.
One sword possibly worth looking at from cold steel is their polish sabre. Richard Marsden has spoken about it when he mentioned sharp swords for cutting, but I don't think he's done a full review or anything about it.
It's not perfect, could do with the weight being brought down to 1.5 or so pounds, and the thickness at the base to be increased to 7mm.
Haven't seen anybody do any sort of abusive testing, but if it's anything like other cold steel products the results will be anything from rattling hilts due to poorly fitted guards to the handle flying off and nearly killing somebody
>>30494431
>I can't be bothered to read the first 2 replies of the thread before I start spouting off questions
Clearly.
>>30494453
Is the tri-ad lock stronger than Benchmade's axis lock? Own both, find that hard to believe.
>>30493043
Wear eye protection. I'm pretty sure the blades are just cut and ground sheet steel, and may chip. Any real fighting steel will be forged. The European martial arts types generally get theirs from Eastern Europe.
>>30493078
I was just about to ask if anyone got their knife yet lol
>>30493043
"Knife collecting"
More like accumulating an expanded set of specialized tools.
Different knives are built for very different tasks, with a different POU for each.
If your needs become a set or a collection then so be it.
But don't buy knives that will remain virgin and go unused. If you aren't going to actually use it at all, let alone for its intended POU don't buy it, there are enough meme knives on the market as it is.
>>30496777>>30496777
Forging is not necessary to make a sword anymore and the best production sword manufacturer currently on the market doesn't do any forging at all, along with several very high end custom makers like Michael Tinker Pearce, Lukas Mästle-Goer, Angus Trim (who had made at least one sword for the late Ewart Oakeshott) and you have people like Peter Johnsson saying that stock removal is just as if not better than forging
>>30496547
They did a comparison video
https://youtu.be/_-HjX6Hq_GM
>>30493043
its hard to get any real information about Cold Steel because you have two groups of people. you have people who defend them to the death because they fell for their ridiculous marketing bullshit, and you have people who hate them just because of how obnoxious the first group is.
In reality, Cold Steel is a pretty good company, but nothing outstanding. and they tend to be a bit overpriced compared to other brands out there. Ive heard that their swords are pretty bad recreations of real swords, they are usually too heavy and balanced wrong. but their knives are all made well and made of good materials. if you find one on sale, then it will probably be a good deal.
If you're getting into knife collecting, then have a look at my collection of neat cultural/historic knives, they are all knives which have been around for a long time and are classics. no chink shit here, first world countries only (apart from the okapi maybe)
from left to right, Victorinox, Higonokami, Merkator, Douk Douk, Opinel, Sodbuster, Okapi and Buck 110.
They are all pretty inexpensive knives and even though their designs may be outdated, they have better blades than any of the cheaper cold steel knives. my Opinel is the sharpest knife ive ever handled
>>30493043
dont buy direct, you can cut about $100 off a swords price by buying it from a retailer
With 51 ti lites, what could go wrong?
>>30496830
Was wondering that too
>>30496547
Id say so, the axis lock is a handy lock for flicking the blade open and shut with one hand, but i wouldnt call it all that strong, especially since a sudden shock can bounce the locking bar (i guess thats what you call it) out and shut the blade
the tri-ad lock is just a very chunky lock back design with an extra secure bit added, so it's about as strong as it gets for a folding knife. not that it matters though, because every other lock design will be strong enough for any normal use
>>30497208
aaand blades out
>>30493083
Yes
>>30497208
>>30497253
These are really neat
