Cold steel does the "sexy Sax (sic) prank"

[Totem Polar]

You folks would have to know how I feel about Cold Steel, in general, to truly appreciate my next statement. I think I want one of these:

https://www.knifecenter.com/item/CS88HVA/cold-steel-88hva-damascus-long-sax-damascus-blade-rosewood-handle-brown-leather-scabbard

https://www.coldsteel.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/480x/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/8/8/88hva.jpg


Damascus and Rosewood. 17 1/4" blade. Even the Taurus of sharp things hits a home run on occasion.

The bunk.... I'll be in it

[Totem Polar]

ps:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws

[Trooper224]

That may be the least offensive thing I've ever seen from CS. Nice Bowie trying to pose as a seax.

[RevolverRob]

Even the Taurus of sharp things hits a home run on occasion.

I dunno if that's a fair statement about Cold Steal...err Cold Steel - at least Taurus occasionally makes novel products. I'm not sure Lynn Thompson has ever had a novel idea in his head that didn't involve food. :rolleyes: :eek: :mad:

You want a sweet Seax? https://www.wulflund.com/weapons/saex-knives-scramasax/sigrunn-decorated-seax.html/

[Trooper224]

Never get out of the boat, unless you're goin' all the way.

Petr Florianik
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Jeff Helms
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[BillSWPA]

That may be the least offensive thing I've ever seen from CS. Nice Bowie trying to pose as a seax.

Since I know that historical swords are one of your interests, what would you expect to see in something being marketed as a seax?




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[Trooper224]

Since I know that historical swords are one of your interests, what would you expect to see in something being marketed as a seax?




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The CS offering really isn't bad in it's blade profile. Although the spine of a Seax blade won't typically widen towards the point like that, but rather maintain a straight profile. That's actually pretty close regarding the cutting edge and the clipped point. Not all Seax featured a clipped point, but that really is one of the defining features to the modern eye. However, blade profiles like the two I posted are also known. The hilt design of the CS is a bit of a departure from established norms and is more sword like than Seaxish, with the upper and lower guards along with a pommel cap. There are a couple of excavated samples from England that have those features, but the classic Scandinavian Seax typically features a straight grip without guards, with the occasional ferrule at the blade end, much like the hilt on the second photo. That's more of the classic Seax grip. The CS is also a CG rendering, so I'll be interested to see what the finished product looks like. In spite of an anachronistic design elements it's actually a nice looking piece.

[Mark D]

The CS offering really isn't bad in it's blade profile. Although the spine of a Seax blade won't typically widen towards the point like that, but rather maintain a straight profile. That's actually pretty close regarding the cutting edge and the clipped point. Not all Seax featured a clipped point, but that really is one of the defining features to the modern eye. However, blade profiles like the two I posted are also known. The hilt design of the CS is a bit of a departure from established norms and is more sword like than Seaxish, with the upper and lower guards along with a pommel cap. There are a couple of excavated samples from England that have those features, but the classic Scandinavian Seax typically features a straight grip without guards, with the occasional ferrule at the blade end, much like the hilt on the second photo. That's more of the classic Seax grip. The CS is also a CG rendering, so I'll be interested to see what the finished product looks like. In spite of an anachronistic design elements it's actually a nice looking piece.

I had to Google Seax, so I'm obviously ignorant about these. What role did they serve for their owners? Were they equivalent to a dagger, or a Bowie? Were they used in concert with a longer sword, or as back up?

On a more general note, Cold Steel makes some junk, but I've always like their Steel Voyager line. Especially the older versions. I carried a 4" tanto clipped inside my waistband for the 10,000 mile surf trip I did through Mexico. It served me well.

[Drang]

I had to Google Seax, so I'm obviously ignorant about these. What role did they serve for their owners? Were they equivalent to a dagger, or a Bowie? Were they used in concert with a longer sword, or as back up?
some were straight-up swords. Others were knives, and some (like Bowies) were short swords.

I'm no expert, but I have doubts as to the historicity of a Damascus bladed Seax...

[BillSWPA]

Regarding the quality of Cold Steel products, I think this video speaks volumes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4DNRn-sK-c

Cold Steel's product did rather well as compared to a much more expensive, much more generally highly regarded knife.

Benchmade and Spyderco knives did much better in similar tests, although not quite as good as Cold Steel.

Spyderco:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTt4sYrP1dA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rvon6CoeHk

Benchmade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-HjX6Hq_GM

Zero Tolerance, showing another frame lock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIPmwS3N9q4

Spyderco and Benchmade did well enough so that I would not hesitate to carry either, and a Waved Delica is still my choice for places with a 3" blade length limit. Clearly, however, Cold Steel is not junk.

I have personally owned numerous Spyderco Knives, as well as some Benchmade axis lock Knives, Emerson knives, the former Masters of Defense knives, and briefly owned a Zero Tolerance knife that I returned the day after I bought it. I have also owned some older Cold Steel Voyagers, an older Recon 1 (ultra lock), a TI Lite, and a couple of recently purchased Storm Cloud knives. The Recon 1 has seen significant use, and it still doing fine. The Storm Clouds are the absolute nicest folding knives I have owned.

[Trooper224]

I had to Google Seax, so I'm obviously ignorant about these. What role did they serve for their owners? Were they equivalent to a dagger, or a Bowie? Were they used in concert with a longer sword, or as back up?

On a more general note, Cold Steel makes some junk, but I've always like their Steel Voyager line. Especially the older versions. I carried a 4" tanto clipped inside my waistband for the 10,000 mile surf trip I did through Mexico. It served me well.

The modern mind has a strong need to define things and put them into neat boxes. When we try to define something like, "What is a Seax?" we have to remember our ancestors didn't share the same propensity. This can make things like categorization difficult. With that in mind, a "seax" is really defined by a combination of the blades profile and the hilt construction. A Seax would have a single-edged blade, often with a clipped point but not always, with the blades tang inserted into a rather simplistic grip lacking a guard or pommel and secured by some kind of natural epoxy. Sizes could range from very small, eating type knives to long sword like proportions. A longer example might be termed a "langseax", lang meaning "long". In such a case, if we read a period account wherein Snorri chops of Siggurd's hand with a "langseax" we can assume with some degree of certainty that it was a larger sword like example.

[Trooper224]

some were straight-up swords. Others were knives, and some (like Bowies) were short swords.

I'm no expert, but I have doubts as to the historicity of a Damascus bladed Seax...


Pattern welded (the correct term for what is commonly called "damascus") blades are found on Seax knives, although by what is erroneously called the "viking" age, the technology was becoming a bit old fashioned. You wouldn't have found one with a pattern structure like the CS knife.

[Mark D]

a "seax" is really defined by a combination of the blades profile and the hilt construction. A Seax would have a single-edged blade, often with a clipped point but not always, with the blades tang inserted into a rather simplistic grip lacking a guard or pommel and secured by some kind of natural epoxy. Sizes could range from very small, eating type knives to long sword like proportions. .

Thanks. Excellent description.

[NEPAKevin]

In some of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles books, he describes the seax so the reader will understand that it is a blade between a knife and a sword that is basically a flat piece of steel with a pointy end, possibly but not necessarily sharpened, that was used in the shield wall to do really bad things to guys on the other side of the shield wall. It's an inelegant weapon for a less civilized age. :)

[BigD]

I dunno if that's a fair statement about Cold Steal...err Cold Steel - at least Taurus occasionally makes novel products. I'm not sure Lynn Thompson has ever had a novel idea in his head that didn't involve food. :rolleyes: :eek: :mad:

You want a sweet Seax? https://www.wulflund.com/weapons/saex-knives-scramasax/sigrunn-decorated-seax.html/


Regarding the quality of Cold Steel products, I think this video speaks volumes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4DNRn-sK-c

Cold Steel's product did rather well as compared to a much more expensive, much more generally highly regarded knife.


I used to slag off Cold Steel, too, because it's what the internet does. Then I took an objective look and actually tried a few of their knives and ended up buying some.

The newer Cold Steel Lawman or Recon (in CTS-XHP and later S35VN and with DLC instead of the previous black coating) are excellent folders, and when you factor in price they can't be beat. (I wouldn't want the old version in AUS8). The Cold Steel Master Hunter in 3v outperforms production knives that are double the price. You can pick them up on the secondary market at a deep discount thanks to folks like RevolverRob who think they know so much about knives and won't consider them.)

[BillSWPA]

The internet can often be a valuable source of information, but sometimes I just do not understand what it chooses to like or hate, and why.



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