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My first knife with a flipper was a Cold Steel Ti-Lite so I thank it somewhat for getting me away from Spyderco’s stupid blade butthole.
Wish I could say something good otherwise but it was a flaming piece of shit. After a few months the plastic pivot washers started disintegrating and the knife became almost impossible to open. Cold Steel said I had to have exposed it to something to damage them. Fine, fuck you too. Bought some True Flite throwers. They’d all break eventually after a few hundred throws but threw better than the usual Hibben bullshit. Bought some mega folder. Pretty sure it was a Voyager. All the pins started walking out of the plastic handle after less than a year. Stuff like the SRK or GI Tanto are pretty much unrivaled in value though. They definitely have some gems in their collection. |
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Man. I got all excited and ran down into the basement to grab an old knife I've had since at least highschool. Probably earlier. But, turns out it's not a Cold Steel like I thought. So it doesn't count but I wanted to include it anyway. SOG used to make good shit. This has held up to abuse.
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Quoted: You see them from time to time on Ebay. They go for 200-300 bucks. I read that CS had to have them made using a much larger piece of steel then grind them down, leading to the high selling price. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Need to find myself an Urban Dart. https://canary.contestimg.wish.com/api/webimage/5ddd094d938d8e23c3304c9b-large.jpg?cache_buster=e1c6584f42daeaeefd09cf6a9ba28399 You see them from time to time on Ebay. They go for 200-300 bucks. I read that CS had to have them made using a much larger piece of steel then grind them down, leading to the high selling price. How much do you think a Terminator like yours is worth? |
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I always liked their knife designs, but could never afford their blades. I did own a few Mini-Pals and found them to be really useful, but the steel dulled too easily.
By the time I made enough money, I moved onto other brands. I will way that the Imperial looks really beautiful. |
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Quoted: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__6_jpg-2493032.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__7_jpg-2493039.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__8_jpg-2493037.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__9_jpg-2493041.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__10_jpg-2493042.JPG View Quote I’ve wanted the standard tanto for years, but never liked the rubber grip. I told a knife maker that I want something similar, but if you don’t mind, I’m going to send him these pics as inspiration. That’s cool. I have a few Voyager tantos and they’re great utility knifes and ridiculously huge. |
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Got a CS gladius a few years ago before Lynn? Sold the company.
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I have a seki sog desert dagger a co-worker gave me over 25 years ago, he knew I was into knives, and he got it for free. They go for a few hundred now.
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A thread full of wonderful old Cold Steel ads.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/old-cold-steel-ads.1701648/ |
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Attached File
Attached File I`ve had a thing for the old Voyagers, but I have mostly sold them off. I really like these two old large knives. I also have one that is fully serrated clip point and an XL clip point. I sold off a fully serrated X2, it was really nice and scary, but way too big to carry. the four inch old Voyagers are just about the easiest thing to carry, flat, light and damned sharp there is a couple of wheel guns in the pix too. I don`t have any pix of just the knives. |
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Quoted: Plenty more pics to come, but as I often ponder, what's left to get? I have 3 kukris, but I don't have a non-coated version, with the nice polished steel finish. They were very expensive for CS to make, and were 400 bucks or such even back in the day. I'd like to pick up one of CS's pre-tanto blades. Their first items were an all metal, no rubber, key chain style push knife. They also made something similar, that was more of a Delta Dart sticking knife. Imperial Tai Pan is on my list too, if I can get over the grand and a half price! The Bush Ranger is an outdoorsman style knife, that has a nice feel to it despite being big. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Bush_Ranger___37JS_jpg-2493145.JPG View Quote I figured I was the only person that had a bush ranger. I bought it for 40$ on the last day of a gun show in 94 or 95. I have the black coated carbon v version. |
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Quoted: A thread full of wonderful old Cold Steel ads. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/old-cold-steel-ads.1701648/ https://i.postimg.cc/nhLjCG7p/IMG-6828.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/K8qKnt6s/IMG-8568.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/2jQVHppW/IMG-1923.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/x838qmG5/IMG-1924.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/C1DzTXzW/IMG-1919.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/pLTrXpmQ/IMG-1926.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/0jP2gQgw/IMG-1932.jpg View Quote Always wanted an Urban Shiv |
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Have a safe keeper three in leather a safe keeper 2 in kydex. Would love to find the safe keeper 1 but they are commanding high prices these days. Some fine steel in these photos!
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Quoted: I have some Brigade Quartermasters and Shomer-Tec ones from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, they’re fragile but awesome to look at. Smoke bombs, climbing claws, vomit gas, ALICE gear, wild stuff. There was a company in the mid ‘80s called Parallex that had some cool catalogs as well. View Quote Ahh memories of BG and Parallex. More wasted / well spent time going over those catalog page by page. Love the climbing claws, which really did not work, the folding ninja grapple, and some super duper French made slingshot that was billet as being capable of taking out sentries. Good times, that I should have spent chasing girls. |
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Damn! OP has some awesome knives. These posts are making me want a Tanto.
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This looks just like mine, despite decades of abuse. Tougher than a Mack fekkin truck, lemee tell yas... |
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I have the city stick and the walkabout, love that they were/are trying to bring back the walking stick.
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Quoted: Needing a post by itself, is the pride of my collection, an Imperial Tanto. There were supposed to be I believe 1000 of these made, but CS only made 500 is what I've read, as they were expensive even back in the day, and were not big sellers. It's a knife that would look at home under glass in a museum. A gorgeous artwork of steel. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__1_jpg-2493020.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__2_jpg-2493025.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__3_jpg-2493026.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__4_jpg-2493027.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Imperial_Tanto__5_jpg-2493030.JPG View Quote That thing will cut you… |
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Quoted: I have one of those, the Tokyo spike: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Tokyo_Spike___53HS_jpg-2493046.JPG View Quote I have an original Bowie spike around here somewhere. Only have a couple cold steel knives. And the baseball bat. The knife I have is old and beat on. Can’t remember the name of it. It was rusty and trashed. Someone polished it up and it still looks like ass. But it’s sharp as a razor and has some character. Will see if I can find it for a photo. Started looking online. Maybe the “trail master” |
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Quoted: My first knife with a flipper was a Cold Steel Ti-Lite so I thank it somewhat for getting me away from Spyderco’s stupid blade butthole. Wish I could say something good otherwise but it was a flaming piece of shit. After a few months the plastic pivot washers started disintegrating and the knife became almost impossible to open. Cold Steel said I had to have exposed it to something to damage them. Fine, fuck you too. Bought some True Flite throwers. They’d all break eventually after a few hundred throws but threw better than the usual Hibben bullshit. Bought some mega folder. Pretty sure it was a Voyager. All the pins started walking out of the plastic handle after less than a year. Stuff like the SRK or GI Tanto are pretty much unrivaled in value though. They definitely have some gems in their collection. View Quote Never heard good things about their flippers. The Japanese made knives were good quality, hence what people call the vintage era of CS. |
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I have a Cold Steel Tanto in the black leather sheath like the OPs first picture. Bought 2 of them right before we dloyed for the 1st Gulf War. Paid around $130 each for them.
A Marine in Saudi Arabia gave me $300 for one of them. I still have the 1st one in my gun safe. It's been a really good knife. If I could find a clip point in the same length from that time frame I would get it. |
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Had a carbon V master hunter. Great knife, so so sheath. Just gave it to my nephew.
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Quoted: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51886481520_90bc1094c7_h.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51886477680_6fd6447bb9_h.jpg View Quote That Tai Pan looks sweet |
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Quoted: Man. I got all excited and ran down into the basement to grab an old knife I've had since at least highschool. Probably earlier. But, turns out it's not a Cold Steel like I thought. So it doesn't count but I wanted to include it anyway. SOG used to make good shit. This has held up to abuse. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/137867/IMG_20220817_220843306_jpg-2493159.JPG View Quote Yes, SOG made good stuff back in the day. I always wanted one of the Al Mar Pathfinders, which were these 21" long machetes. They go for about 2 grand now. |
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Quoted: I've been carrying this one for quite a few years. Opened oil cans, used it to pry open paint cans and all kinds of other stuff I probably shouldn't be. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/89/20160801_000329-558719.jpg View Quote |
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CS was a great marketing company that sold knives. I went to their ventura parking lot sale about 15 years ago and learned they made nothing in house.
I once saw a shipment of CS swords being imported withOUT the CS logo. I guess they added that on in ventura. Still got the carbon-v usa made tanto. |
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Quoted: A thread full of wonderful old Cold Steel ads. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/old-cold-steel-ads.1701648/ https://i.postimg.cc/nhLjCG7p/IMG-6828.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/K8qKnt6s/IMG-8568.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/2jQVHppW/IMG-1923.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/x838qmG5/IMG-1924.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/C1DzTXzW/IMG-1919.jpg Nice ads. Yes, the early knives are the Urban Pal, the all metal little push knife, and the Urban Shiv, which is even rarer. The very first Urban Skinners had a smooth pattern on the handle, then CS changed to a more textured pattern for a better grip. They were expensive knives back then - 130 bucks for a tanto was a lot in the 80's. https://i.postimg.cc/pLTrXpmQ/IMG-1926.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/0jP2gQgw/IMG-1932.jpg View Quote |
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Quoted: I figured I was the only person that had a bush ranger. I bought it for 40$ on the last day of a gun show in 94 or 95. I have the black coated carbon v version. View Quote I got this one on Ebay, for 150 - 175 bucks or so, which was a steal for how rare they are, and how nice of a knife it is. I need to get the one you have to complete the set. |
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Quoted: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51886481520_90bc1094c7_h.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51886477680_6fd6447bb9_h.jpg View Quote Hubba hubba! I need to get me an Imperia Tai Pan, only 250 or so were made. Beautiful knife. |
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Quoted: I've got one of those that I've had for years. I had to relegate it to a toolbox knife because the molded clip broke off the back. View Quote I had one of those with the molded in pocket clip. Broke it years ago. Got an RMA from Cold Steel. They sent me new one with the metal clip. Still have it as a spare. Still NIB in my gun tool box in the basement. I have a sheep's foot serrated blade Spyderco clipped to my drivers side visor in my truck. Got one to clip on the visor in the wife's Rogue alao. |
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Quoted: Had a carbon V master hunter. Great knife, so so sheath. Just gave it to my nephew. View Quote Good solid knife. Attached File |
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Quoted: Found the knife. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/77421/4BD3E8EA-548C-4BFF-BA9E-5F82259B1F61-2493245.jpg View Quote Yep, that's the Trailmaster, their Bowie knife. Most likely in their Carbon V steel, though some were stainless and Made in Japan. Awesome knife. Be sure to oil it up, as it will rust if it gets wet. |
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Quoted: I've got one of those that I've had for years. I had to relegate it to a toolbox knife because the molded clip broke off the back. View Quote After the first few years, CS started making the clip out of metal, instead of being molded plastic. Works a lot better. You sometimes see nice looking folding knives on Ebay, for cheap, and then you see the picture of the snapped off clip and know why. |
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Quoted: CS was a great marketing company that sold knives. I went to their ventura parking lot sale about 15 years ago and learned they made nothing in house. I once saw a shipment of CS swords being imported withOUT the CS logo. I guess they added that on in ventura. Still got the carbon-v usa made tanto. View Quote Yeah they outsourced all their knives. I think Lynn Thompson came up with a lot of the designs, and worked with the vendors on making them, but yes, they did not directly make the knives themselves. Still, the vintage versions were great. The quality of the Japanese versions is very high, and Carbon V was a great steel. It's not a technical term for a type of steel, so it could have been anything CS wanted it to be, but it could be sharpened to a very sharp edge, and held an edge well too. |
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CS made a few rescue style knives.
The Land and Sea Rescues had a sheepfoot style blade, to be less likely to stab who you're trying to rescue. The blue handle version is pretty rare, and I think was only offered for one or two years. Attached File The Emergency Rescue Knife was a sort of manual switchblade, where you pushed up on the knob to get it open or close. I would fiddle with my first one so much that I ended up breaking it, so had to plunk down for another: [img]https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Emergency_Rescue_Knife___32NS_jpg-2493275.JPG[/img} |
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Quoted: Great thread ??! ?? I always had an obsession with the Peace Keeper series.. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2XCjFf-iVLs/maxresdefault.jpg View Quote Attached File They are nice knives. Very light. Sort of the little brother to the Tai Pan: Attached File |
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Quoted: They were known as 'Solid Proof' and theres a ton of clips on basically every model they've ever made on Youtube now. One at random: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXyDgvOEYUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQhrOGz9cFU View Quote I have both of those. The Recon Scout is one I would pick if I could take only one knife for survival. |
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Quoted: I got this one on Ebay, for 150 - 175 bucks or so, which was a steal for how rare they are, and how nice of a knife it is. I need to get the one you have to complete the set. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I figured I was the only person that had a bush ranger. I bought it for 40$ on the last day of a gun show in 94 or 95. I have the black coated carbon v version. I got this one on Ebay, for 150 - 175 bucks or so, which was a steal for how rare they are, and how nice of a knife it is. I need to get the one you have to complete the set. Yeah its a great knife. Its actually lite for its size. I may still have the box. Never used it and stuck it in a safe. I got a great deal on a bark river halo 13 and use that or doubleplusgood knife for my my fixed blades now. |
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Quoted: Yeah they outsourced all their knives. I think Lynn Thompson came up with a lot of the designs, and worked with the vendors on making them, but yes, they did not directly make the knives themselves. Still, the vintage versions were great. The quality of the Japanese versions is very high, and Carbon V was a great steel. It's not a technical term for a type of steel, so it could have been anything CS wanted it to be, but it could be sharpened to a very sharp edge, and held an edge well too. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: CS was a great marketing company that sold knives. I went to their ventura parking lot sale about 15 years ago and learned they made nothing in house. I once saw a shipment of CS swords being imported withOUT the CS logo. I guess they added that on in ventura. Still got the carbon-v usa made tanto. Yeah they outsourced all their knives. I think Lynn Thompson came up with a lot of the designs, and worked with the vendors on making them, but yes, they did not directly make the knives themselves. Still, the vintage versions were great. The quality of the Japanese versions is very high, and Carbon V was a great steel. It's not a technical term for a type of steel, so it could have been anything CS wanted it to be, but it could be sharpened to a very sharp edge, and held an edge well too. All the Carbon V knives were made in upstate New York by Camillus Knives, who declared bankruptcy in 2007. IIRC, Camillus had merged with Ontario Knives. If you're at all familiar with Ontario Knives they look much like the CS Carbon V line. |
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Quoted: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Peace_Keeper_I___10D_jpg-2493282.JPG They are nice knives. Very light. Sort of the little brother to the Tai Pan: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105421/Tai_Pan___13D_jpg-2493284.JPG View Quote Dibs on yours if you ever sell it ?? How rare are the black blade ones? |
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Quoted: I've posted these before, Recon Tanto I've owned since the late '80s. I think this was the version sold through Cutlery Shoppe, nylon sheath setup instead of the leather. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/113647/ColdSteel_ReconTanto_01a_-_Copy-2493300.jpg https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/113647/ColdSteel_ReconTanto_01b_-_Copy-2493301.jpg https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/113647/ColdSteel_ReconTanto_01c_-_Copy-2493302.jpg View Quote Very nice. The first Recon Tantos were sort of a stealth version of their regular tanto, with a subdued finish. Later on, they called the Carbon V, epoxy coated, rubber hilt tanto the Recon Tanto as well. |
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Quoted: Dibs on yours if you ever sell it ?? How rare are the black blade ones? https://s3.amazonaws.com/mgm-content/sites/armslist/uploads/posts/2017/03/10/6567510_01_cold_steel_peace_keeper_1_640.jpg View Quote Not that rare, the stainless versions are probably fewer. There were 4 Peacekeepers in total - two each of black epoxy coating over Carbon V, and two stainless versions from Japan. Then a 7" version, and a 5-1/2". Mine's the 7", Japanese version. |
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