The General
10-11-03, 06:13 PM
Tai Pan by Cold Steel
Well this certainly is an interesting knife! 7.5" double edged broad spearpoint blade. The knife came with a stunning factory edge, literally scary shaving sharp! The grind lines are very precise, but the tip is not quite perfectly geometrically ground. OK so its not as good as my Randall model 2 but it is none the less well presented. The blade has a very nice satin finish and it really shows the fine grain of the steel used. The tsuba (cross guard) and pommel are well appointed and very much in keeping with the knife style. The Kraton grip is superb and makes loosing this knife even when the hands are slick with soap nearly impossible. The quality leather sheath also deserves comment, it is well above average for a factory knife. The leather used is obviously of quality and the stitching is excellent.
This knife feels 'alive' in the hand, it is very positive and is very easy to precisely place the knife for a cut with your eyes closed. You are never in any doubt where the knife is at any time. This is excellent for kitchen work, when you don't want to be constantly thinking about your knife, but rather on the ingredients! The double edged design effectively gives you twice the edge of a more traditional knife. This is excellent as you can sharpen one side to a wider angle for de-boning or chopping and the other can have its factory angle for slicing/paring cuts. I found the knife particularly suited to splitting a chicken carcass as well as slicing and dicing veg from mushrooms to carrots. This style of knife is far less suited to outdoors use as a camping or bushcraft knife. In fact I would argue that the double edge would make it very dangerous to use in such a situation. Just think about pressing on the back of the knife for extra control and a visit to hospital would result! Splitting and battening would be rather difficult to say the least!
Lets talk about the steel used. Cold Steel use AUS8 which is also known as 8a steel. If you see it called AUS8a then that is incorrect! This is a Japanese version of the American 440B grade steel. 440B grade steel is the stainless steel used by Randall made knives. This steel contains around 1% carbon and is essentially a stainless steel. 8a has slightly more alloys in the mix and is generally accepted to be a hairs breath better than 440B grade steel As ever however the heat treat will have far more to do with any difference in performance. Randall knives are mostly forged, whilst this knife is stock removal. Forging by hand is far more expensive and arguably gives the superior product. 8a steel has a good mix of edge holding and superior rust/stain resistance. Unlike many stainless steels, it is a dodle to sharpen and takes a breathtakingly sharp edge with little effort. It is worth noting that Spyderco used this steel for many many years as their standard knife steel. If you were to get critical, I would argue that for a pricey knife like this 8a is perhaps a rather dated steel. One would expect a superior steel like VG10 or the excellent S30V. However 8a has been time tested as a good steel with excellent toughness and very good stain resistance. In a larger knife this is desirable.
I am sure people could think of uses for this knife that I have purposely avoided touching on... I will ask all to avoid stating the obvious about the intended speciality that this knife may excel at! What kind of snake is a Tai Pan I ask you? What is its reputation? Remember this is a family board and any mention of 'combat' or MBC will get me wielding my Goderators stick!
Well this certainly is an interesting knife! 7.5" double edged broad spearpoint blade. The knife came with a stunning factory edge, literally scary shaving sharp! The grind lines are very precise, but the tip is not quite perfectly geometrically ground. OK so its not as good as my Randall model 2 but it is none the less well presented. The blade has a very nice satin finish and it really shows the fine grain of the steel used. The tsuba (cross guard) and pommel are well appointed and very much in keeping with the knife style. The Kraton grip is superb and makes loosing this knife even when the hands are slick with soap nearly impossible. The quality leather sheath also deserves comment, it is well above average for a factory knife. The leather used is obviously of quality and the stitching is excellent.
This knife feels 'alive' in the hand, it is very positive and is very easy to precisely place the knife for a cut with your eyes closed. You are never in any doubt where the knife is at any time. This is excellent for kitchen work, when you don't want to be constantly thinking about your knife, but rather on the ingredients! The double edged design effectively gives you twice the edge of a more traditional knife. This is excellent as you can sharpen one side to a wider angle for de-boning or chopping and the other can have its factory angle for slicing/paring cuts. I found the knife particularly suited to splitting a chicken carcass as well as slicing and dicing veg from mushrooms to carrots. This style of knife is far less suited to outdoors use as a camping or bushcraft knife. In fact I would argue that the double edge would make it very dangerous to use in such a situation. Just think about pressing on the back of the knife for extra control and a visit to hospital would result! Splitting and battening would be rather difficult to say the least!
Lets talk about the steel used. Cold Steel use AUS8 which is also known as 8a steel. If you see it called AUS8a then that is incorrect! This is a Japanese version of the American 440B grade steel. 440B grade steel is the stainless steel used by Randall made knives. This steel contains around 1% carbon and is essentially a stainless steel. 8a has slightly more alloys in the mix and is generally accepted to be a hairs breath better than 440B grade steel As ever however the heat treat will have far more to do with any difference in performance. Randall knives are mostly forged, whilst this knife is stock removal. Forging by hand is far more expensive and arguably gives the superior product. 8a steel has a good mix of edge holding and superior rust/stain resistance. Unlike many stainless steels, it is a dodle to sharpen and takes a breathtakingly sharp edge with little effort. It is worth noting that Spyderco used this steel for many many years as their standard knife steel. If you were to get critical, I would argue that for a pricey knife like this 8a is perhaps a rather dated steel. One would expect a superior steel like VG10 or the excellent S30V. However 8a has been time tested as a good steel with excellent toughness and very good stain resistance. In a larger knife this is desirable.
I am sure people could think of uses for this knife that I have purposely avoided touching on... I will ask all to avoid stating the obvious about the intended speciality that this knife may excel at! What kind of snake is a Tai Pan I ask you? What is its reputation? Remember this is a family board and any mention of 'combat' or MBC will get me wielding my Goderators stick!