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Pros: Handle Material, Blade Material
Cons: None
One of the Best Cold Steel Folders
I’ve owned many Cold Steel folders, and I think that the serrated Spartan is right up there with my favorites for self defense. I also love the Frenzy, but that is a very different knife. The ergos and grip are just perfect - it locks into your hand like nothing else I’ve ever handled. It wouldn’t matter if it got wet or greasy - it’s going to stay in place.The grey color is right up my alley. I’d love it if Cold Steel would do more knives in this color, so hopefully that will become an option for others soon.The blade is reminiscent of both a Rajah and a Vaquero, but it’s designed slightly differently than either of them. The spine starts out pretty thick, but the long swedge quickly helps to reduce that for better cutting as it approaches the tip, while still maintaining plenty of strength. The tip geometry makes its very strong - it would have to be seriously abused to damage it. The blade is plenty thin and slicey by the time it gets to the edge. It’s a well thought-out balde for sure, and the serrations make it all the more able to do what it was designed to do. The large belly and curvature of the blade also makes it particularly nasty. I’ve always had good experiences with Cold Steel knives that use Aus 10A, so I can’t imagine that this one would be different. The serrations will slice and tear through just about anything, but don’t use any serrated CS as a chopper, as they can break off pretty easily that way. The grind lines, serrations, and edge bevel (near the tip) are all done very well. The fit and finish of the whole knife is excellent - as is generally the case for Cold Steel. Overall, this is a really nicely sized knife - a bit smaller than an XL Voyager, but a bit larger than a 4-Max. It is a bit lighter than a 4-Max, but still pretty heavy and beefy in hand. The Emerson wave copy mechanism works well, and makes deployment very quick. The Triad lock functions as per usual, and you’ll never have to worry about it failing. This is probably one of best self defense knives ever made. It’s not so huge that it is cumbersome, but it would certainly make someone think twice about coming at you because of its intimidation factor. It’s quick to deploy, rock solid in hand, as strong as any folder out there, and it would be completely devastating in usage.
