Cold Steel products

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david a goodman
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Cold Steel products

Postby david a goodman » Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:05 am

anyone have any experience or reviews for products by Cold Steel? from the little ive seen it seems to be a good investment.....
dave
"You live for the touch, for the feel of the steel; one man and his honor."

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Vincent Le Chevalier
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Postby Vincent Le Chevalier » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:11 am

There is a recent relevant discussion happening here:
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=15643

Hope this helps,

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Benjamin Smith
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Postby Benjamin Smith » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:10 pm

I've handled a few of their products. There are two important conclusions to consider from my point of view.

1) Cold Steel products are very durable. They can take a beating. This is what they are designed for.

2) There is no serious research behind their design and they consequently do not perform in the same manner, with the same sensitivity, or the same effectiveness as a properly researched product.
Respectfully,

Ben Smith

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Randall Pleasant
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Postby Randall Pleasant » Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:05 pm

Benjamin Smith wrote:I've handled a few of their products. There are two important conclusions to consider from my point of view.

1) Cold Steel products are very durable. They can take a beating. This is what they are designed for.

2) There is no serious research behind their design and they consequently do not perform in the same manner, with the same sensitivity, or the same effectiveness as a properly researched product.



I'm not completely sure about their durability. I remember a couple of years back someone broke the hilt off of one a Cold Steel messer during normal test cutting. You might want to research this more.
Ran Pleasant

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Dave Rogers
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Postby Dave Rogers » Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:11 pm

Benjamin Smith wrote:I've handled a few of their products. There are two important conclusions to consider from my point of view.

1) Cold Steel products are very durable. They can take a beating. This is what they are designed for.

2) There is no serious research behind their design and they consequently do not perform in the same manner, with the same sensitivity, or the same effectiveness as a properly researched product.


As a newbie here, I would echo that basic assessment. I have a number of Cold Steel knives and three of their swords. Their knives are tough, and I think excellent products. The Trail Master is just a great functional camp or survival knife. The Gurka Kukri is just... plain scary.

The swords I got before I got seriously interested in the real history of things, joined ARMA, and learned better. I have the hand-and-a-half, the Viking sword, and the 1917 Navy cutlass. The Navy cutlass is probably the most historically accurate. That one I think is likely very close to the true Navy counterparts, given that there was a lot of variation in those anyway. It has a nice place on my desk at the office (it's a nautical theme... but I digress).

They seem well constructed and they're wicked sharp. They seem built to cut stuff. Functional for the price, if you're not looking for historical purity. All three are a little blade heavy. I've done a lot of cutting with them and they do it easily and without apology.

I also have an Albion Baron. There is no comparison. The Albion is the BMW to Cold Steel's Chevrolet. But then again, all three of them didn't cost what the Albion cost. So... there's that.

My .02

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Matt Bryant
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Postby Matt Bryant » Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:22 am

Ran, I remember the incident you are talking about. A guy broke his cold steel kriegs messer at the hilt. He was cutting on watermelon which are super easy to cut. Even if this is an anomaly (which I hope it is), having your sword be as historically accurate as possible is imperative.
Matt Bryant
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"Keepe the point of your Staffe right in your enemies face..." -Joseph Swetnam

david a goodman
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Postby david a goodman » Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:23 pm

having your sword be as historically accurate as possible is imperative.

whats gonna be a good place for a good accurate piece? theres some of the cold steel products that look like they'd be good for practice but if you have any other suggestions i'd like to hear. thanx matt
dave
"You live for the touch, for the feel of the steel; one man and his honor."

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JeremyDillon
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Postby JeremyDillon » Sun Feb 22, 2009 2:11 pm

david a goodman wrote:having your sword be as historically accurate as possible is imperative.

whats gonna be a good place for a good accurate piece? theres some of the cold steel products that look like they'd be good for practice but if you have any other suggestions i'd like to hear. thanx matt
dave


albion-swords.com

'nuff said.

Jonathan Newhall
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Postby Jonathan Newhall » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:36 am

Myarmoury.com (I think it has the u, heh, american english vs. british english is always a problem for me) has pretty objective reviews of a lot of swords and sword-like products. I'd check out their listings to see if the product you wish to purchase is on there.

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Jason Taylor
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Postby Jason Taylor » Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:11 pm

Dave Rogers wrote:
Benjamin Smith wrote: The Gurka Kukri is just... plain scary.


Some of you know this story, but I feel the safety issue is worth repeating it for.

I own an old discontinued version of the Gukrha Kukri. One day trying to take it out of the sheath it slipped and fell on my index finger. The distance was maybe 3-4" of travel before it hit meat. It stopped when it hit bone. I severed the main tendon 100% and the secondary 50%, split the nerve, and severed the digital artery. I still have a 1' circle of blood on my floor where I sat and bled waiting for the paramedics. My wife put a sock over the wound (we didn't have anything else clean to hand) and it bled through in maybe a minute. The second sock was on its way there when the paramedics finally got to me and bound it up. I've already spent maybe $4000 on surgery and therapy, and thankfully my finger can work again--it bends, but its crunchy.

I'm pretty careful with my edged tools. Scratch that--I'm VERY careful with my edged tools. This was a one-second slip, and something that could have happened to pretty much anyone handling the same knife. The shape of the sheath, some factor of balance,whatever it was, and the thing just slipped, just barely. The problem IMO was that the blade was TOO sharp. Cold Steel does that. They want everything super-sharp out of the box, which sounds good on paper, but how many of us really need a knife that far beyond functionally sharp? There's sharp, and then there's stupid sharp. I actually doubt that any functional fighting blade would have been kept that sharp--it's past the point of diminishing returns, and historical blades would have suffered a lot more edge nicks if they were that thin. The old adage about sharp knives being safer really only goes so far.

So will their blades cut? Undoubtedly. Think about leaving a lit lightsaber lying around the house and you'll get the idea. But think very carefully about how sharp you want that blade. If you want a sharp for cutting, I've handled Albions and they seem plenty sharp to cut with, in addition to a balance and handling that's worlds better than my Cold Steel hand-and-a-half. But if you buy C0ld Steel, don't kid yourself--that blade can be a serious hazard, especially if you've got kids around.

I love cold steel knives, btw. But these events have made me question the necessity of such insane levels of sharpness.

I also have an Albion Baron. There is no comparison. The Albion is the BMW to Cold Steel's Chevrolet.


Yep.

Jason
I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.--The Day the Earth Stood Still

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Benjamin Smith
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Postby Benjamin Smith » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:30 pm

If you want a good sword save your pennies and get an Albion. Every Albion I've held has felt... just right. That's what solid historical research will do for you.

If you want a custom job save even more pennies and get Kevin Cashen or Peter Johnsson to make one for you. Johnsson if you can, he has better access to historical designs.
Respectfully,



Ben Smith

david a goodman
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Postby david a goodman » Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:16 pm

ah yes.... the "how sharp does the blade need to be" debate. i agree that the fightng swords edge would be more prone to damage w a thinner edge (but a double bevel just looks so pretty on a blade), but what about the smaller blades in the dagger category? ive a few kitchen knives that are just for veggies etc that ive gotten done to very fine edges and the owners are very pleased. ive got a k-bar type blade ive done the same w, but a sword type blade? mmm, i dunno if i'd do that. if it wasnt going anywhere but the wall, maybe.
and yes for albion blades i will defntly need to save my pennies, but looks worth evry bit.
dave
"You live for the touch, for the feel of the steel; one man and his honor."

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Steven Ott
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Postby Steven Ott » Fri Apr 16, 2010 8:09 pm

I have watched test cutting videos on arma and test cutting videos on the cold steel dvd. If the arma videos show albion or other high dollar swords they do not cut as well as the cold steel. Lee Emerery (?) (The guy from full metal jacket) has a show on history channel and he compared a katana to what I believe was an albion sword ( I could be wrong) but the longsword, while it cut through lettuce with ease, failed to cut through leather armor and was outclassed by the katana. I am kind of talking off the cuff here, since I only vaguely remember the show. The point is I believe performance counts as well as balance. If speed and balance are all that mattered than eppees would be the weapon of choice
In this life peace can never be an external force-only an internal source

Filip Zawadzki
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Postby Filip Zawadzki » Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:04 am

Steven Ott wrote:I have watched test cutting videos on arma and test cutting videos on the cold steel dvd. If the arma videos show albion or other high dollar swords they do not cut as well as the cold steel. Lee Emerery (?) (The guy from full metal jacket) has a show on history channel and he compared a katana to what I believe was an albion sword ( I could be wrong) but the longsword, while it cut through lettuce with ease, failed to cut through leather armor and was outclassed by the katana. I am kind of talking off the cuff here, since I only vaguely remember the show. The point is I believe performance counts as well as balance. If speed and balance are all that mattered than eppees would be the weapon of choice


When it comes to cutting through thick multi-layered cloth or leather in some cases it's all about sharpness. If you sharpen your sword to it's very limits, results may be suprising:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMkGF3EqUjU
- this sword is so sharp that a "gentle tuch" cuts through a piece of thick gambeson and half way through pig's leg (skin, muscle and bone).

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Steven Ott
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Postby Steven Ott » Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:46 am

That was a good cut. What kind of sword was that?
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