Before I bought this knife I posted a request in the rec.knives asking about this knife experience - all responses I got were very positive. In short this is an
excellent knife, holding edge well, durable and somewhat indestructible (although, if you try hard enough, you can destroy this knife and any other knives you have, yourself etc...
).
SRK features 6 inch, Carbon V, clip point blade with false edge. Blade covered with black epoxy powder,
this provides some protection from natural elements, nevertheless the sharpened edge still can rust easily if you don't take proper care of your knife. The blade is good pretty
much for all sorts of cutting applications. Now, I wouldn't expect 6 inch blade knife to be a good chopper anyways, for the rest, it is just fine ;) The point is thick & strong.
The edge is highly polished, as all Cold Steel knives I have ever seen.
Carbon V
- Cold Steel's proprietary steel, according to the Knife Steel FAQ Carbon V is similar to O-1, but more like 1095. Well, if heat treated properly this can steel can give very good results. Seems like Cold Steel is doing a fairly good job with the heat treatment, so the blade performs really well. Once I've had to use my SRK for food preparation that included frozen meat/bone cutting/chopping. The factory edge was sharp, to be more exact shaving sharp, after I was done, I examined the edge, unfortunately in couple places the cutting edge was rolled while I was chopping the bones, no chipping though :) It was fairly easy to restore the edge using a diamond sharpening stone. Few strokes on each side with fine stone then few more with extra fine & the edge was back to razor sharp. Considering that chopping bones is not an easy & usual task, the knife performed very well :)Kraton rubber handle - provides secure grip, while many people have strong opinion against Kraton, personally I feel Ok with it. The grip is secure even when your hands are oily or wet, ergonomics are good. Finally, the sheath. SRK comes with black leather sheath, it is Ok to me, here in CA, but in any tougher environment like jungles for example or some swampy place the leather is no good choice.
SRK can be used as a throwing knife. I tried ;) Not bad. You can find more info at Cold Steel web site and see what the people who used this knife say about at Randall's Adventure And Training place.
Last updated - 06/20/08