Hey everyone David C Andersen here
coming at you from the KnifeCenter and
today we're taking a look at some of the
best Cold Steel folding knives that you
can get in 2019 available at knifecenter.com. Let's check them out. So Cold
Steel is probably most well known for
some of their over-the-top knife
demonstration videos. Those videos have a
flair for the dramatic and a lot of
their knives have the same thing. Taking
cues from martial arts and tactical
needs but they also make a lot of really
good utility options as well and we're
gonna take a look at a broad spectrum
here today. So first we're gonna take a
look at the cold steel Tuff Lite
available in a few different colors but
right here is the blue handled version.
This is very compact knife when it's
folded up but thanks to a nice
integrated choil right here you can
still get a nice full grip on this knife
and really put that worn cliff blade to
bear. It is AUS-8 steel with a hollow
grind and Cold Steel gives us one of the
best factory edges in the business and
it's no exception here. We also get a two
position pocket clip setup for tip down
carry as well as a large lanyard slot
here but the real star is that lock and
while this may look like an ordinary
lock back this is actually Cold Steel's
Tri-Ad lock. That lock was actually
developed by Andrew Demko who has a very
close relationship with Cold Steel and
whose influence can be felt across the
range which you're about to see. Where it
differs from a standard lock back is
it's got more going on underneath the
hood that actually makes it stronger
than your typical lock back. They've
added a stop pin to the knife which when
you're putting it to hard use that kind
of helps to redistribute the forces
around the handle making it less
susceptible to breaking. They've also
angled some of the surfaces of the lock
interface as well which is gonna make
this a self-adjusting system over time.
Whereas sometimes an older lock back can
feel a little loose and wiggly over time
this is going to be just as solid as it
was when you first got it. Whereas with a
lot of companies you might see their
proprietary locking mechanisms only
available on their higher-end knives the
fact that you can get it in such an
affordable piece as the Tuff Lite is
fantastic. The price to performance to
weight ratio of this knife is really
hard to beat. Next up is another
workingman's knife from Cold Steel and
that's the Pro Lite series. You can get
it in a couple of different blade
options but right here we've got the
tanto blade. That blade shape certainly
calls to mind some of Cold Steel's more
tactical roles but
also makes a great utility knife as well
we've got Stonewashed German 4116 steel.
Like the Tuff Lite we've got Griv-X
handles which keep the weight down but
we've also got a nice pattern in the
handles that help keep your traction and
again we've got that excellent Triad
lock to keep things secure. Another
advantage of a locking system like this
is that it's not biased to right or
left-handed use it is a very
ambidextrous design and that's further
down this knife because we have a
reversible pocket clip for either side
as well as use a reversible thumb stud
here. You are able to open it with the
left or right hand while it's set up
like this. This allows you to set the
knife up to your preferred method of
carry but even so it's still easy to
open up the knife using the smaller side
of that stuff next up is actually an
update of one of Cold Steel's
longest-serving models and that's the
Recon 1 shown again here with a tanto
blade profile. This is definitely a
higher-end knife featuring s35vn steel
as well as g10 handle scales so you get
a nice upgraded materials over the pro
lights but this is still a hard working
pattern from cold steel that's been in
service for quite a few years and this
latest version is the best one yet. That
steel is gonna hold a great edge and on
this version we've even got a black DLC
coating which is gonna help protect the
blade and make it look great for even
longer. The Tri-Ad lock here in the handle
is not the only thing that helps with
the security on this blade. We've also
got a very aggressive texturing and the
way the finger grooves are lined up in
combination with the thumb ramp here to
make it very easy for that to lock into
your grip but still control it very
easily. Next up we've got a folding
version of one of the premier fixed
blades and Cold Steel's line up the SRK
and that gets us the SR1 folder. Again
we've got nicely textured g10 scales
shown here in OD green as well as a
triad lock. This knife takes things a
step further with a very thick blade
stock the SRK fixed blade has long been
a favorite of hardcore survivalists so
it's good to see that they didn't lose a
lot of strength when they went to this
folder. We've got a clip point profile
here but you can also get it with a
tanto with s35vn steel and we've got a
nice short flat grind on this blade. They
didn't take the grind too high up
because they did want to maintain a lot
of strength but it still slices quite
nicely and again we've got that
fantastic factory edge.
They've also perfectly balanced this
knife as well whereas a lot of folders
can be handle heavy they've actually
managed to keep the balance point right
there around the index finger which even
though this is a nice big chunky blade
that makes it handle very easily because
you're not fighting the weight of the
blade. Even so if you want a little bit
more control we do have a nice finger
guard here which is appreciated in any
kind of survival knife but there's a
nice area in front that allows you to
choke up much like you would be able to
if it were a finger choil. That'll allow
you to get right behind the edge and do
some really fine work very easily. One
more thing to note on this knife is
unlike the previous ones we actually
have two full-sized thumb studs. Next up
we've got a knife that has a lot of the
same attributes as those SR1 folders but
it's put together in a little sleeker
and a little easier to carry package and
that's the Cold Steel ultimate hunter.
This is actually one of our all-time
favorite pocket knives for use in the
outdoors. What they've done with this
knife has taken a classic drop point
hunting profile and translated it into a
folding knife that's gonna work great
for camping, hiking, bushcraft or survival.
We've still got that nice Tri-Ad lock
here in the back, but instead of textured
flat g10 we've actually got smooth
contoured g10 because of that this is
actually one of the most comfortable
folders out there and it allows you to
put it to really heavy work without it
digging in as much as some other designs.
The blade shape has versatility in mind
as well it's a bit thinner and still has
a higher grind than those SR1's but we
still get s35vn steel and overall this
is a great compromise between strength
and slicing efficiency. We've also got
nice color options for the handle you
can either get it in black or this
orange g10. In addition to having the
lock that he designed this is actually a
collaboration between Andrew demco and
Cold Steel's president Lynn Thompson.
This next design however is all Andrew
Demko and this is one of the hottest
releases from Cold Steel in a long time
and that's the AD15. these are modeled
after Andrew Demko's custom versions
of the AD15 and they come with the same
lock that made them famous, that being
the Scorpion Lock This does bear some
similarities to a lock back design in
that the lock up does occur here between
this yoke and the tang of the knife but
it operates very differently. To
disengage the blade you actually lift up
on the yoke
and then fold the blade shut opening
however is just as easy as any other
thumb-stud equipped knife. This being
such a new system it does take a little
bit of getting used to to operate but
once you do it's very easy to open and
close very quickly without much effort
because of the thumb studs and the
nature of that yoke this still is a very
ambidextrous design. One of the other
nice things about this lock is that no
matter how hard you use it the tighter
you squeeze the less likely it is to
come open accidentally and also because
of the way it operates you're actually
able to keep your fingers out of the
closing path of the blade when you're
disengaging which is a huge advantage
and inherently safer than some other
systems.
Now with cold Steel's reputation they
certainly could have chosen to put this
new lock on something a little more out
there but I for one am really happy that
they put it on something like this knife
which is so usable. you got a nice drop point
blade with s35vn steel with a flat grind
and a swedge. The handle feels nice and
comfortable and you can just tell when
you hold it that this is a knife that
can hold up to hard work and it's gonna
feel great doing it. Cold Steel certainly
made a splash with the introduction of
the AD15 and the same thing can be said
with the Luzon series. There is a six
inch version of this knife that is just
out of this world but I actually prefer
the slightly smaller four inch version.
It still got plenty of cold steel
swagger but it's a nice easy to carry
size and you could get a lot of work
done with this knife as well. The shapes
of these knives were actually inspired
by Balisongs from Lynn Thompson's
personal collection so if you like that
kind of style but want a more standard
folding knife the Luzon's have it. Great
thing about these series is they're
affordable as well with synthetic
handles and 8CR steel you're getting a
good amount of performance for what
you're paying and the lock up is still
nice and solid. Rather than the Tri-Ad
lock we've got a liner lock on the
backside we actually see when a cold
steel's latest innovations that makes
that liner lock even tougher it's a
secondary slide lock which actually
holds the liner lock in place when the
blade is open. Thanks to that secondary
mechanism we get an extra layer of
safety on an already fantastic lock. And
now for something completely different
we're starting to get into things that
cold steel does just because they can
and we love them for it and this is the
FGX balisong.
In the construction of this knife they
actually use no metal at all this is all
synthetic material but we do have some
pretty aggressive serrations on this
blade however at first look this may
seem just like a novelty but we actually
like it for a few reasons beyond the
cool factor.
It's never gonna flip as nicely as a
high-end balisong but it does flip well
enough to make a capable trainer. This is
something that you'd have no qualms if
you're flipping it over concrete because
if you drop it you're not gonna mess up
your high-end blade. It's gonna help
teach you to respect the blade when
you're flipping. If you do happen to make
a mistake with this knife it is gonna
cause you some discomfort but you're not
gonna have to worry as much as you would
with a live blade. And of course it
wouldn't be a complete Cold Steel list
without something completely
over-the-top and right now our favorite
is the Espada XL. This is a two-handed
pocket knife with a Tri-Ad lock again and
CTS-XHP steel with a DLC coating. Knives
like this are why we love cold steel
because while some of you out there
might think this is a novelty they've
built it to exacting specifications to
make this an actual hard-working tool.
The handles on this knife are actually
modeled after the Recon series and it
has that same nice texturing on the
black g10. Because of the length of the
handle you can also choke back on this
in a number of different ways. I like
holding it back here and it actually
makes it swing very nicely. Pocket
machete anyone? And finally we've got
another area where Andrew Demko has left
his stamp on a cold steel knife and
that's with his patented thumb plate. Not
only does this allow ambidextrous use
but it actually allows it to function
like some of their tactical competitors
and it lets you open the blade as you're
extracting it from your pocket. If you
don't think that fits in your pocket you
might be surprised. Ultimately it may
have been a little hard to narrow this
list down to just nine items but we
really think that these are some of the
best items from Cold Steel that you can
get in 2019. If you want to get your
hands on any of these or any of their
other great products click the link in
the description below to head over to
knifecenter.com
