Cold Steel SRK - Revisited(after 3 years of use) And SpartanJohns's Buletproof Survival Tinder

[@tigerpisces5506]

I grew up in Idaho. I went camping 90 miles into the Bitter Root Mts every weekend and for several weeks in Sumer. We had no tent, none of cave man fire equipment. Just a sleeping bag, axe, knife, gun, and ice chest for food or a creek to refrigerate food. We had no potty or even toilet paper. We used a bush and dry leaves 🍃 to wipe. I am shocked 😲 about not knowing all the stuff I could not afford to buy anyway. If you want to know how to camp 24/7? Ask a homeless person to teach you. Hahaha

[@samthai818]

I have both the SRK SK5 and the VG10 and both have a very steep angled edge. I completely reprofiled the VG10 down to 22-23°. Now it is very easy to sharpen and gets really sharp. I like the SRK, but very surprisingly I like the Recon Tanto even more! Being an inch longer, heavier, with a thick spine up to a centimeter from the tip, and with a curved blade, it hacks and chops so much easier. The Recon is also a great batoning knife.I used them both for over a year going from Florida to Maine with stops in many states to camp and fish. I find that the Recon is 2x the knife the SRK is. I would suggest you try it out for yourself, at just $45 for the SK5, the Recon is the new king of the hill for budget knives!

[@SpartanJohns]

hmm...interesting...i must admit i have seen it...but never thought about it. I will from now on! Thanks

[@docholiday8618]

Great review as always, thanks. Love the Lebowski/Mickey Newbury quote!

[@SpartanJohns]

Took me a second! Usually I "work offscript" so I'll just say whatever comes to mind...so most of the times i have no idea what I said in a video. In this case "What condition my condition was in"....I think that is what I said...cause I have been using that for years in my day to day life and probably in a few videos. You're the first one to pick up and comment on it....so in that sense: I'll be your huckleberry...

[@WessexBladesHandMadeKnives]

Gotta love a campfire!

[@SpartanJohns]

Still better than any movie! 😉

[@Traderjoe]

I have a few Cold Steel AUS8 blades and they take a keen edge and are pretty durable. Whatever their heat treat is it seems pretty optimized to me. Other companies AUS8 are usually not as good. The ones I have are all from before the company was bought out.

[@SpartanJohns]

I also like their HT of AUS8A. Others, as you said, are maybe a bit too soft. I have recently bought a voyager xl, most likely produced after the company was sold. Steel is AUS10A. Tough to sharpen but so far no chips and the edge seems to last quite well.

[@hirayaman246]

I still got my survival tinder made by you, always carry them in my emergency pack......as my last resort. Glade to see what they can do, hope my skills are up to the challenge😁

[@SpartanJohns]

The SpartanJohns Bulletproof Survival Tinder - Patent Pending requires little skill! It just works, so you don’t have to!😁

[@hirayaman246]

@@SpartanJohns 😁👍 got it

[@tigerpisces5506]

YOU ARE GOING TO USE THEM SOON. YOUR LIFE WILL DEPEND ON IT WHEN THF.

[@southernyert7597]

Thx for the video

[@SpartanJohns]

Glad you liked it!

[@danielsmit3524]

Hi, do you have a review of the fin wolf? I purchased one a quite a while ago for edc. I ended up not using it as much, because I am not that good at sharpening a skandi. But I actually really like the design. These days I gravitate more to either a hollow grind for my edc, otherwise a flat grind with a very thin stock, like the endura or delica. (Or opinel)

[@SpartanJohns]

I do have a review of the Finn Wolf. It is not yet published. I’ll publish it by the end of the week. It is one knife that lives in my backpack. Great for woodworking. As an edc knife i can’t really speak much of it. Tested it a bit but the stock is just too thick. For edc i also prefer ffg or hollow grinds. Convexed thinned out grinds are awesome. I do like the Opinel but i have to admit that i too, like many others, don’t like to edc opinels. They are great performes but not the most beautiful/interesting knives for edc

[@keithmoylan3093]

@@SpartanJohns just curious, what do you tend to carry these days for edc? Still with the Ganzos or have you switched to something else?

[@SpartanJohns]

@@keithmoylan3093 well....the short answer would be: CS Voyager XL(Had it for 2 weeks and, even though it is quite big and i really do not need it I still find it hard to leave home without it) Long answer would be me telling you that I moved away from carrying one folder for a few weeks/months and then making a review about it just to move on to the next. Nowadays i am carrying whatever I feel like on a daily basis. The whole month of August I carried a Bugout Clone(even if I have the real Bugout) and modified the grind gradually just to see how much i can grind off until it would take damage with light/medium tasks. I carried the Shaman for a while, then the Mini Bugout and now I am carrying the Voyager XL and the Chaparral every other day to get a better feeling for the CTS XHP from Spyderco. I still carry and use Ganzo knives. I still think they are great for the money but I have not bought a Ganzo for quite some time.

[@keithmoylan3093]

@@SpartanJohns I'd be interested in seeing you do a video on the testing you have done on a bugout clone, sounds like a cool topic.

[@SpartanJohns]

@@keithmoylan3093 If time permits it I might. I doubt that many people will like/be interested in this topic....i know I would...however the tests, since I have no idea what the steel is and I know the HT is horrible...might not tell that much It would be a "talk" video at best....like i said...if time permits it....

[@ericmolitor4445]

Can you get a spark off of it with some flint?

[@SpartanJohns]

That is a good question! May i ask why you would want to know? Emergency fire making? If you need to make fire from such a spark…you need a very good tinder. So, in this case the spark might be the least of your worries. Dave and “the likes of them” always talk about bs like that to sell their overpriced 1095 prybars. May i recommend focusing on how to make fire with a ferro rod first. Then get a Mora “carbon” and try with that one. I made, a while ago , a video about flint and steel fire. But it was with char cloth. Without it…with “natural gathered” tinder…it would be very difficult.

[@ericmolitor4445]

@@SpartanJohns I ask because I have an SRK in sk5. I have the other fire making ways down pretty much. I would be using it with charred cloth or punkwood. Flint and steel is the fire method I am currently trying to learn. I have to clean the coating off the blade of course.

[@SpartanJohns]

This one is aus8. My advice would be to practice with a flint and steel kit. An old file will do great. Safer than a knife! Stick with char cloth for catching the spark. Most important: don’t trust youtubers! Especially the ones who fake their primitive fire videos…

[@glbwoodsbum2567]

​@@ericmolitor4445 Yes, the srk with sk5 steel throws a nice spark with flint.

[@ふくぞうもぐろ-j7g]

Do Cold Steel Kraton handles hydrolyze?

[@SpartanJohns]

Like most materials it can deteriorate in different ways at rates that vary widely and that are unpredictable. Deterioration may be chemical, caused by oxidation or hydrolysis, or may be physical, or biological

[@teethan8736]

Any play in the handle ? I have some on mine

[@SpartanJohns]

Oh yeah! A whole bunch! Not so bad when you squeeze it in hand. Watch my first video on it. You'll see how much and why it's there

[@teethan8736]

I watched your other video. did your opinions change after 3 years ?

[@SpartanJohns]

Yeah! I mean if you watched the first video and now this one....In the first I was a bit dissapointed. I maybe expected something more. But after carrying with me for so long as a "wood splitting knife" and just doing the crappiest tings to it like lending it to others so that they learn how to split wood with a knife, cutting all sorts of dirty materials with it..i began to appreciate it. It does have a very thick grind and a very large edge angle... This is why I made an update video. If you're considering buying it, watch my first video again, see how I split wood and what it could do then come back to this one...you'll get the gyst of it. But then you'll have to ask yourself: is this something I like? Do I want something more, better? Something "more and better" would be the ESEE6. I have a few videos on that one. Have a look!

[@teethan8736]

@@SpartanJohns will do !

[@SpartanJohns]

Well... this guy bored the heck out of me! But I have to admit: the info was good

[@HunterRyngo]

I’m sick, laying in bed, the pace is just right for me! 😊

[@justicar5]

XD

[@bigbone88]

😂👍

[@SpartanJohns]

@@HunterRyngo well…sometimes a good sleep helps. So..glad I could help! 😉

[@N1kolai-z1o]

В начале ролика ты упорно пытаешся получить серьезную травму, надо быть осторожнее с острыми предметами

[@SpartanJohns]

you mean cutting thru the tinder pouch? I make them and I can tell you that you can't cut or stab thru those. lots of tin foil and duct tape. I call them my "bulletproof" survival tinder...and that is for good reason!

[@roguesheep1747]

If and when you do look at getting another ferro rod you should check out the Überleben top quality made in the UsofA hey are worth every penny i call mine dragon 🐉 breath lol you will not be disappointed. Looks like you've got a cracking workhorse of a blade im just about to order one and I thought to myself check YTube first it really is the encyclopedia of everything. Best regards m8 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇸

[@SpartanJohns]

I have kinda been ok with LMF. They work ok-ish...main problem with their ferro rods for me is they chew themselves up quite bad...and once that process starts nothing will stop it. as for the SRK, it is a beast. great at splitting wood and very thick so even rougher jobs won't be an issue...however the grind is also thick so with finer tasks it might actually struggle. and the new sk5's seem to have some issues when it comes to keeping that very sharp tip...

[@robaldridge6505]

i cant hear anything

[@SpartanJohns]

have you tried....actually listening....?cause sometimes we can't hear things because we don't listen....

[@tigerpisces5506]

SRK IS AT THE PRICE OF A CHEAP POCKET KNIFE BY CHINA NO NAME BRANDS, WTH DO YOU ECPECT? YOU CAN BUY 4 OF THESE FOR THE PRICE OF AN ESEE OR TOPS. NEED I SAY MORE? IF YOU WANT A LITTLE BETTER BUY A CS SRK SAN MAI FOR UNDER A $100.

[@SpartanJohns]

No need to scream at me sir! 1. You're probably thinking at the new version of the SRK and the SRK-C. Which are, going by most accounts much cheaper. This wasn't cheap. At the time I got it, it was about half an ESEE 6. 2. I am guessing you didn't watch the video. You just skipped thru it. I get it...I can be boring. We all have our flaws! But once you get to know me....i'm a pretty decent guy. 3. If I could get the SRK San Mai for under 100$ shipped I probably would. As it stands it is about 120 EUR + shipping where I live. 4. A few months ago I "rehauled" the SRK: Squared off the spine, sharpened the swedge and put a new edge on it. The main problem remains: the handle, but I can live with that. 5. With the ESEE 6 I am all set for the moment when it comes to this size of fixed blade.

[@alexbergmann2817]

@@SpartanJohns dont bother with those kind of people Denis, Cold Steel San Mai knives are not good or any their San Mai knife because the blades are thin hollow grinded and you have just few milimeters of harder steel, the other larger part of San Mai blade is soft steel 420 stainless. I have Cold steel Master Tanto San Mai,Magnum Tanto 2 San Mai and Magnum Tanto IX San Mai. All of them made in Japan in AUS8A but honestly they are only for vitrine knives. Beautiful but useless. The only SRK worth of considering would be SRK 3V steel only made in Italy in Lionsteel factory in Maniago city . I would like too have it too. I have also a SRK in Carbon V version,it is 5.6 mm thick,a 1mm thicker than other versions and heavier a bit too. I have a VG-1 SRK version in original box,still not used. I have Cold steell Master Hunter in AUS-8A Made in Japan, a very beautiful and outstanding quality knife. And I have a Cold steel Recon Tanto in AUS-8 version from Japan but flat grinded not like todays Tantos in SK-5 cheap still and thin hollow grinded blade . I am ex military veteran. In the future I would like to have from Lionsteel T5 knife made from good Niolox steel and Lituanian TRC Apocalypse made in great ELMAX steel,6.5mm blade thickness. that one is a premium grade bushcraft knife ! there is one interesting knife from knife designer Andrew Demko, who previously worked for Cold steel. His Demko Freereign knife made in magnacut steel is similar to SRK but shorter . from Cold steel there is one gem a Cold steel Recon Scout in 3V steel, a shorter version of their Trailmaster big knife, they are both made with 8 mm thick blades .