Thursday, July 1, 2010

Selous's Gear - New Toys

I received some new toys in the mail today! I took advantage of the Cold Steel July 4th sale and purchased some of their products. I bought 2 of the Long Hunter knives and one each of the 12" and 18" Spear Point Machetes.

If you buy 2 of the Long Hunters you can get them for $25.00. The Machetes were $7.99 for the 12" and $9.99 for the 18".
The sheaths for the Long Hunter are made of Cordura and seem to be made well enough. When you get them out the box, the blade is protected by a cardboard sheath and is in a small plastic bag. At first look, when you place the knife in the sheath, it seems to be overwhelmingly sloppy. In fact it would most likely fall out if you wore it on your belt and went out into the woods. 

There is no keeper on the sheath like others have as there is no finger guard to be captured. After looking at the website ad I noticed that the knife was seated deeper in the sheath. So I did that with mine. The knife was now held firmly and will not fall out. The grip may loosen over time so that is something to watch for.

Here is the blade compared to my Becker BK7.



















Here are the toys and my BK7 for size comparison.

I was disappointed to find that the Long Hunter was made in Taiwan and not the US. The handle of the Long Hunter is made of polypropylene. I find it comfortable enough but am concerned that it may become slippery if you have any blood on it from butchering game. Time will tell if this is a valid concern.

The machetes are worth every cent and seem to be solidly made. Their sheaths are also made of Cordura and the ad says that the handles are also made of polypropylene, though they feel a bit like hard rubber to me. The handle feels good in my grip, and the 18" has a very nice heft to it. The upper false edge is nearly as sharp as the bottom of the blade, but they both need some serious sharpening to be able to use them effectively. Here again the blades are made outside of the US. These are made in China. I would not let that put you off though.

Overall I am pleased with the quality of the merchandise and do not feel guilty recommending any of them to my readers. It is a sale so you need to move on these items quickly if you wish to take advantage of it.

11 comments:

  1. Helluva good price on those knives 'n machetes there sir, for the money, you couldn't go wrong. I do agree that handles get slippery with use - my Cold Steel Bowie sure does, I NEED to use a glove when swinging that around.

    Cold Steel makes a decent blade - I for one think you did well. Having said that, those Tramontina 'big knives' are a bargain as well. Old Hickory carbon blades stain like crazy without care, though they take a really good edge with a little work.

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  2. I've got a box of those waiting at the post office for my better half to pick up today.

    I also added a Peace Keeper III second, Pendleton Light Hunter, and several others.

    I hope the zombies don't show up before I get the machetes out of the box!!!

    I'm surprised to hear that the machetes aren't sharp. The other Cold Steel knives I've bought were all very sharp out of the box. Even the inexpensive Kudu (made in China) that they threw in as swag was sharp.

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  3. I tossed some money at that great deal also. We chose the same products though I can't remember what quantities I got.

    I don't see the knives being first round picks but more of tertiary backups. For $12.50 a piece there is no excuse not to have a couple just in case.

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  4. Scout,I have have Cold Steel Pendelton hunter,mini hunter,Srk,Kuk machete.Great products.None of items I have purchased are made in USA.

    China
    III

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  5. Sweet! Might have to get me a couple...

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  6. I think the Long Hunter will make a great camp knife for general cooking chores. Unlike the machetes, they arrived very sharp!

    I bought The Kukri Machete for 3ohEight for Christmas a year ago.

    I says on the box that the Long Hunters came in that some of their products are manufactured in the USA, Japan, China and Taiwan. If it were all made here in the USA, you wouldn't get it for the current price!

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  7. Cold Steel normally has good stuff, I have a couple of them and they seem pretty solid. If you get a chance check out one of the Sig-Tac knives, they are pretty good as well.

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  8. For some reason this comment didn't show up on the blog, but I got it in my email:

    BLW has left a new comment on your post "Selous's Gear - New Toys":

    Cold Steel normally has good stuff, I have a couple of them and they seem pretty solid. If you get a chance check out one of the Sig-Tac knives, they are pretty good as well.

    Anyone else ever have this happen to you?

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  9. Blogger is having problems with comments. I've had 5 comments that won't post on my blog. There is a rapidly growing thread on this problem on Blogger help, so it's happening a lot, apparently...

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  10. Check out my blog for my solution to the slippery poly grips on some of these knives.

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  11. They make good knives. I have their mid-range priced Kukri, not the cheap one but not the several hundred dollar one either, and I have the Bushman. They all do well, and they can get the job done. Texas brush and ceder does not beat them in any case.

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