Cold Steel SRK in SK-5 - Amazon $33.36

[The Heretic]

Amazon.com: Cold Steel SRK in SK-5: Sports & Outdoors

Buy Cold Steel SRK in SK-5: Carafes & Pitchers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

MSRP is $70, but street price is in the upper 40s

A lot of CS knives vary in price by a bit according to what sheath comes with them and in the case of the SRK (and some others) which steel is used.

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[tkdguy]

Any ideas on the quality of the steel?

 

[The Heretic]

Any ideas on the quality of the steel?

It is satisfactory from what I have read. Of course, there is always someone who abuses or torture tests any knife and then complains when it doesn't perform the task satisfactorily because they are doing something with a knife that they should do with a hatchet instead.

The SRK is one of the first knives I bought, but I have since come to prefer more of a bushcraft style blades (like the Master Hunter) than the drop point - but that is a matter of personal preference. For $33, if you want an SRK style knife, this is not a bad price. I think I paid that much and it was a second.

 

[leadcounsel]

Amazon.com: Cold Steel SRK in SK-5: Sports & Outdoors

Buy Cold Steel SRK in SK-5: Carafes & Pitchers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

MSRP is $70, but street price is in the upper 40s

A lot of CS knives vary in price by a bit according to what sheath comes with them and in the case of the SRK (and some others) which steel is used.

Thanks for the tip. I have at least 3 or maybe more of these and they are among my favorite fighting knives. Have them stuffed in lots of places and on my sets of armor too. Just ordered a couple more. Best price I've ever seen on these. They are the perfect size and design, and the sheath is "best in class."

 

[Kruel J]

Thanks for the tip. I have at least 3 or maybe more of these and they are among my favorite fighting knives. Have them stuffed in lots of places and on my sets of armor too. Just ordered a couple more. Best price I've ever seen on these. They are the perfect size and design, and the sheath is "best in class."

Have you used them for any heavy cutting? Such as rope, heavy cloth or flesh/skin?

 

[leadcounsel]

Have you used them for any heavy cutting? Such as rope, heavy cloth or flesh/skin?

I've killed so many MRE bags I've lost count!

 

[Stomper]

I've killed so many MRE bags I've lost count!

MRE's will always win, in the end. (See what I did there?)

 

[leadcounsel]

I'm a fan of Gerber knives, but they are expensive. I carried a Gerber LMF II ($75) on my IBA on my first deployment but found it a little large, so on subsequent 3 deployments went with a Gerber Prodigy ($55). I'm not sure about whether 1/2 serrated blades are ideal...

My first CS SRK was actually given to me in theater. Some Joe was done with his tour in OIF and redeploying home and didn't want his and was going to just abandon it. It had been used hard but still in great condition. I snapped it up... love it. I bought another one that was clearly used hard for about $2 at a garage sale in an Army town. But the steel is rust free and sharp with no damage to the blade. That's two SRKs that saw a lot of use and are still in overall serviceable condition.

Since then I've purchased several and $33 is a very good price for what you get. Those have seen light duty. I don't needlessly abuse my gear and I'm fully confident in CS and their product, having owned many of their blades.

The knife is made of quality Japanese SK5 steel. Very tough, takes a good edge, roughly equivalent to 1080 steel as I understand it. The sheath is fantastic and modular with a variety of lashings and belt loop.

This is a no-brainer if someone wants an excellent affordable combat knife. I'd put the value of this north of twice the current price IMHO.

 

[leadcounsel]

Not exactly apples to apples. This is my $2 SRK. Made in USA, "Carbon V" steel. A garage sale find in an Army town sold by a grunt who was PCSing. It saw hard days in the field. Handle is trashed and paracorded. Blade has been resharpened many times, but no rust and no damage. [The red is ink from the prior owner writing something on the blade, not rust.] Sheath polymer is not damaged, but some damage to the nylon.



Comparison to a current Made in Taiwan SRK using SK5 steel. My understanding is it is of equivalent make and steel. I understand the SK5 is a little softer, and the Carbon V variants hold edge a little better but are more brittle due to being slightly harder steel. I think it's probably wiser to sacrifice hardness a little and create a less-brittle blade. You can resharpen a blade, but you can't fix it if it's too hard and brittle and snaps.

Anyway, excellent knives and clearly can take a lot of field abuse as the handle and sheath are evidence of...

 

[Kruel J]

I've killed so many MRE bags I've lost count!

Well shoot I'm sold!

 

[The Heretic]

A couple of comments on the posts above:

I generally don't have a lot of 'fighting' knives - just a few. For me, fighting with a knife is a fantasy; I am a klutz, not trained in knife fighting (except LEO training how to use a baton to disarm someone with a knife) and I would probably die very quickly trying to fight with a knife - especially if the other person was a trained knife fighter. YMMV. That doesn't mean the SRK is not a good knife for survival, just that most of my knives are bushcraft or camp style knives - like the CS Master Hunter and the Fallkniven F1.

I no longer wrap the handle of a knife with any kind of cord - I once had the handle of my SRK wrapped with paracord - I have since removed it and instead wrapped it around the sheath. It occurred to me that if I was using a knife for skinning/butchering/meat prep, that blood/etc. would get onto the handle and into the cord and it would then soak into the cord - making it permanently contaminated, not a good thing.

 

[The Heretic]

I'm a fan of Gerber knives, but they are expensive. I carried a Gerber LMF II ($75) on my IBA on my first deployment but found it a little large, so on subsequent 3 deployments went with a Gerber Prodigy ($55). I'm not sure about whether 1/2 serrated blades are ideal...

I got an LMF II for sale on Amazon for about $70. I like it, but it is, as you said, a bit large and it is heavier than the Prodigy - also, the Prodigy fits my hand better (the thing I like about the CS SRK and the Master Hunter is that they fit my hand a lot better - the handle is more square where the Gerber LMF and Prodigy handles are more rectangular). The Prodigy is my go to survival knife - just the right size and weight IMO, and the price is much lower than the LMF II. I got a couple more for my kids.

 

[leadcounsel]

I generally don't have a lot of 'fighting' knives - just a few. For me, fighting with a knife is a fantasy; I am a klutz, not trained in knife fighting (except LEO training how to use a baton to disarm someone with a knife) and I would probably die very quickly trying to fight with a knife - especially if the other person was a trained knife fighter. YMMV. That doesn't mean the SRK is not a good knife for survival, just that most of my knives are bushcraft or camp style knives - like the CS Master Hunter and the Fallkniven F1.

I call the SRK a fighting knife because it doesn't have many features I'd want in a dedicated bushcraft knife. This is a stabby/slashy lightweight pointy knife for emergency when the primary firearm goes down or someone gets inside that reach and is grappling with me.

A bushcraft/survival knife, IMO, should have a broader blade, glass break or flat pounding pummel, and churling cutout, etc. For value, I like the Schrade lineup. I have several and they make a 5" that is really excellent value.