Cold Steel Outdoorsman Lite

For the price at which Amazon offers this remarkably fine knife for sale, the Cold Steel Outdoorsman-Lite Knife is clearly the best made, sharpest, most rugged, and most practical knife that I own (at this price point). Throughout the internet as well as here in the Amazon.com knife review section I have read very many excellent and seemingly truthful reviews regarding this knife, and sadly, I have also read many distasteful and overtly inaccurate reviews. The latter (very negative and distasteful) reviews have, for the most part, been included in other (non-Amazon.com) internet knife forums and some of these very negative and distasteful reviews have aluded to supposed involvement of this knife's steel supplier(s) in World War Two Axis Power activities and support. Perhaps it is now a convenient time to remember that WW II is long concluded, that today's average German steel worker and German metallurgical industry participant is a man or woman who owns a high personal ethic, and that these same German workers own a great knowledge of their trade as well as a high degree of scientific-industrial ingenuity. All of that being said, the knife I own (my Cold Steel Outdoorsman-Lite Knife) is "Lite" in only two attributes that come to mind: 1) weight, and 2) cost. This knife is light-weight, exceptionally strong, exceptionally sharp (out of the box), and retains it's keen edge with minimal sharpening after extended and heavy use in the field. My Oitdoorsman-Lite is as easy to use as a keenly honed pocket knife. This is not a "cheap" field knife, it just happens to be (fortunately!) of remarkably low cost. As it pertains to the following details: 1) my knife's keen edge, 2) it's uncanny ability to remain sharp despite rugged use in the field and at home (my year-round sporting activity is the hunting of feral hogs in southeast Georgia), 3) the very high quality of stainless steel alloy from which it's blade and tang are constructed, and 4) the extremely comfortable and surprisingly ergonomic grip, I can conclude that this knife is one of the best field knives I have ever owned and that it is anything but "Lite" as it regards the remarkably high quality of its construction for such a low cost of ownership. Therefore, today, I have purchased two more Cold Steel Outdoorsman-Lite knives: one for my kitchen, and another for the field. Thank you for permitting me to share my personal experiences and opinions regarding this remarkable knife. Sincerely yours, N. M., Georgia

This thing is a beast. Everything an outdoor fixed blade should be and it's cheap as well. Razor sharp and extremely grippy on the handle . There is always a downside to something when it's this cheap and this useful and this item is no exception. In the case of this particular item the problem is the sheath. It fits into the sheath good and tight and the edge doesn't rub anywhere I can see the issue is the fact that so little is sticking out when properly seated that you can only get a thumb and two fingers on it to draw. Not the greatest sheath.

For the price this knife is perfect for hard use, is a great price, and comes with a durable plastic sheath. Super sharp out of the box, feels great in hand all while if you damage it you didn't waste a lot of money on it. However, this knife is tough and you needent worry about damaging it. Biggest thing I've had to do is resharpen it once in a while. Get one today, I Highly recommend this knife! Cold steel makes some very reliable knives with some of the best safety features.

So I opened the box with my Outdoorsman Lite about an hour ago. I'm waiting for my SOG Aura Camp to arrive and whichever one I like best will be on my belt whenever I'm hiking/camping or on my family's land (in the sticks). The second best goes in the bail-out bag. I'm mostly a folder guy. I'm still learning about fixed blades and what I want in one, hence my purchase of "high-value" knives right now. Initial impression is that it's a SWEET knife for the price. Size: It's bigger than I thought it would be, but not terribly over-sized for my purposes. I have small hands and I would love it if they took .5-.75" off the handle, but the balance is great so maybe its better this way. Blade: The blade is sharp, but not scary sharp (almost though) which is about perfect for an outdoor-type knife, IME. I will try to remember to update once I put this thing to use and see how it holds its edge, especially with the steel used. Thickness is just about right at .1" or 3mm, not ridiculously thick but strong enough for its purpose and no unnecessary bulk. I doubt I will ever use the bone-breaker on the back but don't mind it. I do wish the jimping was more aggressive. EDIT: So I tried using the knife for some detail work around the property and I sliced the heck out of my finger on the bone-breaker on the spine. Since I think people would want to choke up on the blade for detail work alot more than they would want to break bones, I think that feature sucks. I wish it the spine of the blade was just squared off. I really don't like the bone-breaker now. Just wanted to add that while I try to stop the bleeding. :) Handle: See above for my thoughts on size (too big for me). Grip is fantastic, materials provide very positive traction, even when I got my hands wet. The hilt/cross-guard or whatever it's called is just big enough to do its job and keep your hands from sliding up to the blade. Sheath: The sheath is the reason this knife didn't get 5 stars. For the money, the sheath is good. The materials seem to be of decent quality. But, the knife rides too low in the sheath. I either have to pluck it out of the sheath with my index finger and thumb, or if I want to try and get a decent grip on the knife out of the sheath, my pinky and ring finger and palm. It just doesn't feel right drawing this knife out of the sheath. I really wish they would have allowed the grip to extend another .5" out of the sheath. Obviously, they put it that deep for retention purposes but it doesn't seem to be a problem. Maybe the sheaths loosen alot (all sheaths do to an extent IME) and Cold Steel put the knife in so deep for that reason. Once again, I'll try to update after some use and time. Overall, I think this knife is well worth the price of admission and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an inexpensive outdoor fixed blade. Once again, good job Cold Steel! Edit #2: After a weekend of frequent use, I still love the knife and I still hate the sheath. I de-sharpened the "bone-breaker" on the spine of the knife so I could do detail work without slicing my index finger. Planning to enhance the jimping, just trying to decide the best way to do so. The knife is very light in the hand, love it. The sheath on the other hand, not so good. The mouth is looking really torn up after 1 weekend. Its the friction from the handle that's tearing up the cheap nylon. My SOG Aura Camp showed up a couple days ago and the sheath is leaps and bounds better. I think I like the Cold Steel knife better, but give me a weekend in the woods using the Aura and I'll get back to you.

I purchased this knife originally 2 years ago, and more recently purchased 4 more. This knife is not a super steel, super design. It is designed for light to medium kitchen and camp tasks. The bone breaker will not work for deer or elk, but has functioned well for cleaning the many dozens of chickens, ducks, goats and rabbits that I have. Additionally, it is lightweight and easily concealed using this sheath. https://a.co/d/eJudUHE by Tourbon. In the last year I've taken to carrying it as added protection and have truly realized it's purpose in my carry gear. I do not baton, I find that silly. I am a lifetime outdoorsman raised by a Ozark/Appalachian bred outdoorsman from a family of do it yourselfers. We spend more time in the out of doors annually than most youtubing "survivalists" do their entire lives. I have used this blade to cut smaller branches into wedges to aid in splitting larger wood. And of course mainly rely on my belt axe for that purpose. While I've never "fought" with this blade, I have a bit of experience with blades in combat and would absolutely use this in that capacity. I tested 2 of these blades to destruction, the first finally broke after I put all my weight (201/5 depending on day) laterally on it after I got it stuck throwing it. I did that on purpose to see what it could take. The blade geometry aids in the strength of the tip as well. The second sat in salt water for almost a week, and had a very small amount of rust, it is a very rust resistant steel. It takes a hair popping shaving edge easily, and with regular touch ups comes back easily. It does not keep this edge like some higher grade high carbon steels. Again, this blade is a light/medium utility blade. Personally, I have touch up stones/diamond sharpener (work sharp makes a great one for 30$) on or near me all the time, anyone spending time in the woods should. Cost versus benefit, it far outweighs the cost. Replace the sheath with the one I inserted, it's worth it. Even if you don't, it's still worth buying. For sub $30 this blade should be in everyone's tacklebox, hunting kit, car and home. Seriously, I've cleaned fish, chickens, rabbits, goats, and ducks with it and would use it on deer or larger if it was all I had. Keep it sharp, and clean it off, it will work for many years for you. It grips comfortably, and is a great size for defensive purposes as well. Ive trained and practiced in muy Thai, bjj, escrima for over 3 decades now, I train with this blade regularly. Cold steel also has a rubber tanto you can cut down an inch to mostly match this blades geometry for training without getting cut. During training using an oak log I've driven the point in close to an inch several dozens of times and slashed hundreds of times, ive not seen any observable issues. I do not generally pry with blades, and any blade designed for prying I rarely carry because it's almost always too heavy. Again, I currently own 5 of these blades, 3 purchased on Amazon and all in 4116 kruppe, they use cryo quenched/cryo tempered and it works. Buy it, and buy 2 more, then look at others with similar blades that cost 4 times as much and know your blade will accomplish 90-99% of what their super steel blade will. Again, it may not hold an edge as long, but it takes an hair popping edge easier than super steels all day. (And yes, I've shaved, and shaved bits of hairs with it) Pictured is the blade ive carried for a few years now, it has wear and I love it.

One of the things that really impressed me is how light this knife is! It is a solid full-tang tool, built to be used. It balances well in the hand, the point of balance being right about at the guard. I've used it camping and fishing and it is EXTREMELY SHARP. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN, EXTREMELY SHARP! Mind your fingers. It made short work of cleaning trout, camp chores and kindling preparation and the myriad of things a knife needs to do in the outdoors. I've batoned silver maple with mine and it came through fine, needing only a little touch-up with a diamond hone to be more than shaving sharp again. The Krupp 4116 steel sharpens easily, which for me is not a bad thing. I don't find the handle material too grippy, like some other reviewers, and I haven't gotten blisters from use. The "bone breaker" feature on the back of the blade is ideal for use with a ferrocerium or mischmetal rod and it is in no way a negative feature, in my view. I will be using this knife this fall for deer hunting and hope to post an additional an review following further use later this year. The sheath is OK, secure enough I suppose, but I can't get too excited about it. I replaced it with a Spec- Ops brand sheath for knives under 6 inches and it is now a going little concern. Given the price point of this knife, I understand a more elaborate scabbard would make it unmarketable to the target consumer. By the same token, it is such a good value and easy on the wallet, so a better sheath is an affordable and worthwhile upgrade. This knife is called the "Outdoorsman," but I think it would be an excellent fighting knife as well. if you don't already own one of these, but it now before they're discontinued.

This knife is great i am really liking it. The edge was sharp and it looks great i have not put it through super hard use yet but i plan on giving it a whoopin and seeing what happens. I have used it for skinning trees and food preparation just to see what it felt like and i really like it. I mean for the money you really cant beat it the edge has held nicely so far but like i said i havent put it through super hard use or long term use yet. But like any knife after a while your going to have to sharpen it just make sure you maintain a nice edge on it.The thing i really liked about the edge was the fact that it was sharp from tip to base and alot of knives especially budget knives like this they sharpen the base but the tip is an afterthought and this is not the case with this knife. The grip is nice i really really love the feel of it. Its a very rubbery grippy texture which is not for everybody but me personally i love it and you can hold your hand underwater completely and still have insane grip. The (bone breaker) feature on the back of the blade is nice to have if you plan on splitting really hard things or as the name says break bone but you dont want to ruin your edge. I will say that while a nice feature unless your a hunter or somebody who honestly has a need for something like that its not than its kind of more negative than positive because when your skinning trees or anything hard you cant really push your thumb on the back of the blade like you normally would because the bone breaker digs into your thumb and is very thin its almost like a really really dull edge so you cant push hard without causing pain. But even if you dont have a use for the (bone breaker) dont let that deter you from buying this knife because it is a great knife and at the price its really almost unbeatable. Hope this review helps potential buyers and if anything knew happens with the knife i will let you guys know.

I have a good number of Cold Steel knifes, and when I saw the Outdoorsman Lite, I knew it was a knife I had to have. First off, if you are going to get one, get it from Amazon. I ordered one from Cold Steel, they told me it was on back order and it would be 30 days, that's fine. 30+ days later I see it on Amazon and call Cold Steel to see how my order was coming, they told me it was still on back order and would take 30 to 45 days. I canceled my order and Amazon had one in my hand a few days later. When I got the knife, I was impress. The knife is the right kind of heavy (but not too heavy). The blade could be thicker, but is thick enough. As the other review stated, the "bone breaker" will not be as good was the $300 San Mai III Outdoorsman's. The handle is great for the price - the grip is just as good as the more expensive Cold Steel knives I own, IMHO. And, the sheath was nice - but cheap. It was everything I expected. It was very sharp and cuts great. I was also surprise/confusion about butt of the knife - the tang was sticking through. First off, the tang is thick, making this a good knife. And, the handle was tight - the glue or whatever they used was holding well. That said, the tang was still sticking out and it bothered me. I called Cold Steel's customer service and they told me that the catalog was right - the tang should NOT have been sticking out (the catalog says that tang is fully covered). I sent it back to Amazon and asked for a replacement. I got it the next day, but it looked exactly the same! I went online and looked for posts from other customers and the ones I found all had the tang sticking out the back. So, I kept is as it is still a great knife, especially for the money. If Cold Steel would have told me that the tang was sticking out to use for hammering, or if there was a hole to put a lanyard through, I would have said fine, but this seems to be a cosmetic mistake. I don't like it. Others may not be bothered by it, after all this is a rather inexpensive knife. Bottom line, if you want a cheap knife for camping, this one will do - flaw and all. ----------------------- Update: Cold Steel now admits that the tang is suppose to stick out to use for striking a blow to the skull of an animal. So, it was not a cosmetic defect after all. The have a better image of it now on their website, featuring the tang sticking out. Seeing that the metal is stainless steel, it shouldn't be an issue. I still think it looks odd, but that's just me.