Cold Steel Knives

I give this company 9.5 out of 10 acorns.

I have been buying Cold Steel Knives since I was old enough to appreciate how useful having a proper knife in the outdoors truly was.

Most of their knives that I have bought have been the cold-forged, black oxidised finished utility variety, mainly machete use. My favourite thus far for such activity has been my LTC Kukri. My very first was a Bushman, a socket-handled knife shaped like half a leaf with a 7" blade. The kukri is still an excellent slashing tool for thicker brush, and stands in quite handily for a hatchet in most cases. Before I broke it, I had the Bushman mounted to a hickory handle about 18" long, mainly for billhook work.

They make a whole line of machetes inspired by historical blade models, so if you want a kopesh machete, they have one for you. Incidentally, I have one of their japanese-style (the laminated steel method, not the tanto point) hunting knives, with the hardened edge and soft core, akin to traditional sword blades. They also make a wide range of highly functional replica swords and knives.

This is definitely the place to buy that one knife you want to be able to rely upon, and maybe pass down to the next generation.

-CK

I give this company 9 out of 10 acorns.

Cold Steel provides a variety of different bladed and non-bladed tools in a myriad of configurations. They keep a number of different products stocked and have not had any issue with the two purchases that I have made with them. The product that you get will need fine tuning; that is completely fine with me but some people might be turned off thinking they were getting something good to hit the ground running. Sharpening generally is just to touch up the blade with a whetstone. If the product you purchase has a wooden handle you will have to do some fit and finishing. I find this to be a good personalization opportunity.

I would recommend this company to everyone.

I have a long history with tools from this outfit. I give this company 5.5 out of 10 acorns based on my purchases. Some stuff is great. Some is awful.

5/5: Their special forces shovels are excellent. I own three (which I bought 10 years ago; hope the quality control is still good). The ones I have are a heavy, machete grade hunk of steel in the shape of a shovel. Good heat treat, and takes a good hatchet edge, and the head itself is fairly indestructible. So yes, I have chopped down small trees and made kindling, and dug a hole or three. It's not the tool i reach for when I'm at home -- like any multitool it's a compromise vs. real tools. But I keep one in each vehicle, and I know what they can do if I'm stranded and have to make shelter and fire. I tape a fine file (or coarse diamond abrasive) to the handle for field sharpening.

5/5: An oldie: a Zytel handled version of the famous Opinel knife, done in their "CarbonV" carbon steel. I  don't carry it, it's in my box of cool historical knives. But it's very strong, and will take a smokin' edge.

2/5: They did a knockoff of the famed Grohmann D.H. Russell Canadian Belt Knife in 4116 with a kitchen-style polypropylene handle. I bought one, way back. It's sort of a blob of steel (compared to the original) with a lazy grind, a handle that doesn't seem robust, and a sheath that would 50/50 impale you if you fell on it. I may just take it on the Lee Valley belt grinder one day and fix it.

-100/5: Their machetes are beyond awful. OMG, the "heavy machete" I bought is basically a flexible surplus fender off an army truck. I've had fun carving this turkey into different shapes and prototypes for laughs, or revenge. Buy Ontario at least, or any other serious maker. There are threads on this site where very serious machete people share their deep knowledge on these tools.

Bottom line: The marketing is intense and effective for a certain demographic. Those of us who have gone past the tacticool phase, where the steaming hot sales prose raises less chest pounding/grunting and more of a sceptical eyebrow, tend to find better tools elsewhere. But the shovels are worth owning.