Buzz on Cold Steel Espada?

[The Tourist]

I like to be ahead of the curve when it comes to newer knives for my clients. Some of them like the biggest blade they can get.

Cold Steel now offers their Espada model with a 7.5 inch blade. It is my understanding that this model has not been officially released, and "pre-orders" are being gathered now.

I have not heard one word from clients, or other tinkers or even a review in a knife rag. Nothing, de nada, nil, zilch, zero.

Granted, the blade is very mundane, it's AUS 8A. It's "good" steel, fairly easy to sharpen and it cuts just about as good as any other Japanese cutlery steel, except laminates of course.

But I can name one client who's going to call me in sweat when this giant knife hits the market.

What's buzzin' cousin? Any dealers, testers, writers or knuts ever seen one? Tell me about build quality.

 

[Mongrel]

I haven't heard anything...

Is this it?

http://http://www.emergencyoptions.com/catalog/product.aspx?ItemCode=62NX

Blade is 7.5" overall is 16.7"

Big knife...hahah

 

[kamagong]

Here's a link.

http://www.ltspecpro.com/espadaseries.html

It looks like a hi-tech version of the Navaja. I've never heard of that lock they're using.

AUS8A is a good steel. Fine-grained, so it is capable of taking a scary edge. The problem is the prices that CS charges. For the price point of that knife I think they should use something better like VG-10. But people continue to buy their knives, so I guess the problem lies with me and not CS's pricing.

 

[Mongrel]

I've never heard of that lock they're using.

From what I can tell it looks very similar to the locking system used on a pair of late1950's Switchblades I inherited. Basically a 'pin' is machined into the back of the blade at the joint that is designed to fit into a 'hole' drilled into flat extension of the lock bar. The 'pin' replaces the notch of a traditional lock back.

Of course there's not much to go by in that pic but it sure looks similar...

 

[Eleven Mike]

I've never heard of a "buzz" on a knife, but whatever it is, let the manufacturer know about the problem you are having. They should repair or replace it at their expense.

 

[hso]

T'warnt no "buzz" at the Blade Show about it and that's a beehive of activity for new knives.

 

[The Tourist]

The reason I asked is that CS seems to be offering a lot of knives over what we have come to believe as a "normal" length.

Most of us carry folders with blades from two to four inches in length. A Buck 110 is actually 3 3/4 inches in length, and it does pretty much anything.

CS makers a Voyager in six inches, a Vaquero in six inches and now this Espada in almost seven inches.

Historically, it is derived from the ratcheting Navaja, a design almost 250 years old.

But this is modern times. I can't imagine the market where you're going to sell a lot of numbers. Then again, large portions of their catalog befuddle me.

It did make me yearn for a real-deal ratcheting Navaja, and yes, I found one. I just bought another custom knife this morning, the wife is edgy, I want to take the day off tomorrow...yada, yada...motorcycles...

 

[Mongrel]

To be frank, I have never been the least bit interested in any of Cold Steel's folders. No matter what size they just never 'spoke' to me. The larger they make them the less attractive they are (to me). And I never could stand their 'plastic' handles. I know guys who love 'em so to each his own.

I do have respect for their fixed blades though and felt that models like their SRK, Ghurka, and others were good 'sensible' models.

I pretty much have settled on Benchmade AFCKs and TSEKs (unfortunately both discontinued) for large 'pocket' folders.

I have one 'pretty' knife I carry in a sheath when the occasion calls for it, but I'm in no way a custom carry or collector guy.

The only non-factory knives I have currently are John Grecos. Pretty in a girl next door kinda way...lol

 

[Joe Demko]

Don't know if I'd buy anything by a designed by somebody with a goofy name like that.

 

[Mongrel]

Don't know if I'd buy anything by a designed by somebody with a goofy name like that

Huh?

Is that for me?

 

[Joe Demko]

Available in three sizes to suit the bold, the bolder and the boldest, the Espada was designed by custom knife maker Andrew Demko and Cold Steel President Lynn C. Thompson.

 

[Mongrel]

ahhh...

THANKS for the clarification on that...!

Thought you meant John Greco

 

[Joe Demko]

Who's John Greco?

 

[Mongrel]

Hi Joe, see here:

http://www.grecoknives.com/

You can also find him on ebay.

He's been around a long time. He is known primarily for making a 'blue-collar' custom or hand-made knife. Did some collaborations with Lile awhile ago and you can see the Scagel influence in a lot of his work.

Practical hard-working knives.


Very nice gentleman, lives in Greensburg, Kentucky.

 

[The Tourist]

There is another aspect to my original post, that being the "buzz," does a section of the knife buying public want this knife?

Tell you why, I'm a reseller. No one who provides products wants to be behind the curve. There are many research firms who study that very thing. About twenty years ago there was a woman aptly named "Popcorn" who tried to predict trends in fads, collecting, crazes, etc.

And it's an odd science. Because of TV shows like "Sex in the City," numerous martini bars opened up. And then folded.

Somebody did research, organized capital (or leveraged it) acquired tooling and built these gigantic knives. For whom? Why?

Is there a knife trend coming I should know about?

I wish, I wish, I wish that five years ago I would have funded Josh Graham, bought his groceries, got him a nicer car and a found him a milling machine.

But like most people, I found his knives "odd." Until I bought one.

Personally, my gut tells me that in this economy no one is going to be buying many 500 dollar folding knives. And I've been wrong before.

In reality, I cannot figure out this knife. As a result, I'm not getting jazzed about stocking it--or even buying one of them--for possible clients.

 

[Valkman]

does a section of the knife buying public want this knife?

No. I edited the rest of my answer.

no one is going to be buying many 500 dollar folding knives

The guys I know who make them sure aren't having any problem selling them. Mostly because by the time you're making them you have a lot of skill, a lot of customers and a big backlog.

 

[The Tourist]

Valkman, that's because you are a custom maker. For CS, it's an "off the shelf" type knife.

For example, you can buy an Emerson CQC7 from a number of venders. But not his handmade products.

I placed my order with him for a handmade knife in December, 1996. It was finally delivered to me in May, 2006. Ten years later.

My guess is that this is the same condition for Lightfoot or Loveless knives.

I simply cannot see many people standing in line to pay premium prices for a stock knife.

 

[hso]

Who's John Greco?

We could probably have a whole John Greco thread here. The knives are tough as nails and have nice lines and the price is accessible, but the craftsmanship is not what he we see in his early work.


**********************************

TT,

I'm a bit puzzled by CS's foray into custom prices production knives lately.

 

[Mongrel]

The knives are tough as nails and have nice lines and the price is accessible, but the craftsmanship is not what he we see in his early work

Agree-first noticed it on his grind lines and micarta shaping just before he had to quit for awhile because of medical reasons. I attributed it to him just trying to survive and being able to 'mass produce' as many knives as he can while keeping the cost down. We didn't know at that time about his illness. I haven't bought or seen his latest stuff since he "came back".

I have some of his older stuff marked with an 'A' (forget what steel that was?) and like you said you can see a change as he worked up to the '8670' steel of late. I have never seen his 'prettier' (for lack of a better word) stuff up close so I'm not sure about those. My stuff is all pretty much his tactical patterns with the coating he used\uses.

If I get a chance maybe I'll start a thread and put up some pics...

 

[wheelgunslinger]

I'm not the target market for this item.
Having said that, I'll just relate that my first thought is "what the heck would I do with that thing?"

It's kinda pretty, but I still don't get it.

Again, not the the target market.

If I could get something that was useful as a shaver on one side, useful as a gp knife on the other, and was small enough to pack in to the back country, I'd be happy. But, not with a fancy pants giganto-folder for 400 bucks.

400 extra bucks would go toward some training or in my Safari bowhunt fund.

 

[The Tourist]

It's kinda pretty, but I still don't get it.

That might just be the reason. It's going to be sold, and then used as a "drawer queen."

I have several knives in my collection that never see the light of day. Most collectors have a section of their inventory for just that purpose.

But as I discussed recently with Valkman, most of the time the knife that is carefully taken from service is something "collectible." I thought the Black Sable was "pretty," but it wasn't rare. The polished surfaces marred easily, and truth be told, I gave it away.

If you channel surf at night you'll know that there are many UVC style shows that sell things as collectible or as a set. I don't see anything wrong with that, as long as the buyer knows that things may or may not rise in value over time.

The Black Sable came in a nice metal box.

However, when I get one DVD after another showing torture tests and guys hacking meat apart I simply wonder is this a handmade knife, or a knife marketed for extreme use. If the thing is to be used, by whom?