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Cold Steel Recon 1 Review

Looking for a rock-solid, big blade folder? Cold Steel's Recon 1 fits the bill. It has a 4" AUS 8A cryogenically quenched stainless-steel blade, a handle made of G-10 reinforced with stainless steel liners, and sports a unique "Ultra Lock" mechanism. KnifeShopOnline.com has provided the clip-point, plain-edge model for us to review. It also comes in spear point and tanto, plain and combo serrated blades.

First Impressions

  First picking up the Recon 1, I felt its considerable weight (5.6 oz) which is indicative of its overall quality construction. The thumb stud was easy to manipulate, the blade opened very smoothly, Cold Steel's Ultra Lock cleanly snapped into place, and the handle fit very comfortably in the hand. There was no blade play whatsoever either vertically or horizontally. The blade's black teflon finish was done very well with no missed spots or smears. The edge was extremely sharp out of the box, be careful!     The knife's specifications are here.

The Handle

  This knife's handle is made of two stainless steel plates between 'scales' made of G-10, a laminate made of fiberglass reinforced with epoxy. The G-10 alone would be sufficiently strong; the stainless steel liners are a great touch which make the knife stronger than it should ever need to be. The liners and scales are bolted together with five torx bolts that are accessible from the outside, should you feel the need to service the knife yourself (doing so may void the warranty, however). The handle has a nice shape which rests comfortably in the hand: the corners are rounded enough that they do not bite, the forefinger groove is deep and provides good protection, and the handle tapers  narrower toward the end.
  G-10 is one of my favorite knife scales since when you grip it, it grips back! Because it has a very high coefficient of friction it feels great to hold and is very secure. The use of G-10 combined with good grip geometry make the knife easily handled in slippery conditions. I covered it in soap (photo below) and proceeded to whittle some wood without any worry of the knife slipping.
  The clip is thick, tight, and small - it goes unnoticed by the hand while cutting. It is attached by three smaller torx bolts, and can be switched to the other side of the knife. The Recon 1 allows for tip-up carry only (tip of knife faces up when clipped into your pocket). There is some concern that in tip-up carry, a knife can open in your pocket, but because of the Ultra-Lock in the Recon 1 (discussed below), this is highly unlikely. The clip as it arrives from the factory is quite tight, keeping the knife very secure. The positioning of the clip means that about of an inch of the handle stays out of the pocket. Though this makes the knife easier to  take out, it also tells the world that you're carrying a large knife - this may not go over so well in politically correct or high security environments. The knife also has a lanyard hole large enough to accommodate paracord; this proved very useful in the field (see below).

The Lock, Opening/Closing

  The Recon 1 has a ridged disc on the back of the blade which serves as a thumb stud. I don't see any difference in opening/closing as compared to a  more traditional thumb stud - I happen to like it though since it provides a wider surface on the blade to place the thumb while making certain cuts.
   The Recon 1 uses what Cold Steel calls the Ultra Lock mechanism which is a completely ambidextrous lock alleged to be able to withstand 150 lbs of closing pressure. A pin (which protrudes on either side of the knife for access by thumb) slides backwards as the knife is opened, and under spring tension, locks back forward into a slot in the blade. I was skeptical of Cold Steel's claims, but quickly learned to like this device for a few reasons:    It locks up like a vault, without a hint of blade play either vertically or horizontally.    It is unlikely to accidently disengage (as can happen  with a liner lock or frame lock) because of its positioning.    It appears very strong; for it to fail, either the locking pin, or the pin that the blade rotates on would actually have to shear. Considering that they are solid steel, that would require a tremendous amount of force (especially as compared to the amount of force necessary for a liner lock to simply bend).   Finally, it's easy to use. Below is a short video which shows how the ultra lock can be manipulated for rapid opening, and how the knife can be opened and closed one-handed while wearing gloves. I used this knife while shrinkwrapping a boat, where gloves are needed to pat the semi-molten plastic - opening, closing, and using the Recon 1 with gloves was no problem. The last comment I have on this lock is that it provides resistance to the initial opening of the blade - this keeps the knife securely closed while riding in your pocket.


Into the Field

Alright, let's see how this knife holds up to real use. I wanted to build a fire, but everything was very damp after the rainstorm. Therefore, I decided to shave some  spruce for kindling. The Recon 1's razor edge sliced off the spruce effortlessly, creating a bundle of kindling very quickly. The center of gravity of this knife is just behind the forefinger groove, making it great for general slicing. A couple of times, the edge of the blade lightly hit the rock, but without either chipping or deforming.


Time to get some firewood. Now, this knife is certainly not designed to be a chopper, nor is it intelligent to waste energy chopping through a 1.5" branch just to burn it, but I'm testing the knife here. If you saw a nice stave for a bow or staff, and were without a larger blade or hatchet, you may end up needing to do something similar! Here is a recently downed Birch 1.5" thick at the cut; the Recon 1 already removed the adjacent twigs one swipe each.
I took advantage of the lanyard hole and tied one that fit tightly around my wrist. Without having to worry about the knife flying out of my hand, I was free to grip it with just two fingers (like using a machete) on the last couple inches of the handle. This gives more leverage for a more powerful blow. Making chops from different angles, this knife quickly carved out a v-notch and cleanly obtruncated the branch.

I repeated this on the other side to get a nice log, then repeated several more times to obtain more firewood. After this chopping the blade still had no play. Then I tried to close the knife. The ultra lock's pin had jammed forward in the locked position, turning the knife into a fixed-blade. It took a bit of force to unlock, and then it worked just like before as though nothing had happened.     Using the same chopping procedure, I then made a 'baton' from two inch thick birch, which I later used to drive the knife into the logs and split them into two. 

With a few blows, the Recon 1 was easily driven through the 1.5" diameter logs. Here, the blade geometry really helped out; the blade is hollow ground (side of blade is concave), so like a good hatchet, it easily parted the grain. I then turned the knife on the 2" baton, and picked up a heavier log to act as the new baton. At two inches, there isn't a lot of blade protruding to strike, but the Recon 1 split it easily. Two inches is about the largest diameter that can be split with this knife.

After splitting several branches, there was still no blade play. Interestingly, the lock did not 'stick' after this and worked perfectly; I believe this is because force was being directed to the back of the blade, instead of the front. Blade was still very sharp after this, shaving off some of my fingernail. It took one cut each to sever these pieces of synthetic rope.
Lastly, I needed to make a new spindle for the bow drill (method of starting a fire by 'rubbing sticks together'). The Recon 1 had no problem cutting off a length of spruce, then shaping it. It sliced as easily as when it first shaved the kindling.
During this use, the blade's teflon coating became minorly scratched in two places. I'm not sure how durable it is long-term, but for esthetics one may want to remove the finish entirely and just give the steel a mirror finish. I'm interested in how this performs as a knife, not as wall art, so am not turned off by questions of esthetic durability.
For a week, I've been using the knife daily for opening mail and cutting up boxes and twine. I would recommend passing any knife through a sharpener once or twice each time that it's used, but for testing purposes I've entirely neglected the Recon 1. Because the blade is still sharp, I easily believe Cold Steel's claim that with cryogenic quenching and vacuum heat treat that the steel is hardened to RC 57-58; seems closer to 58 to me.

All in all, this is a great knife, and I'll definitely be packing it for hiking and camping trips. I don't have any doubt as to the Recon 1's workmanship or quality aside from the blade finish; it can definitely take a beating. This robustness comes at the cost of weight, which makes it more of a blade for camp use than for every day carry.  It's very easy to use, smooth to operate, secure and comfortable, and both takes and holds a very sharp edge. To put it simply, I'd recommend this knife to a friend.

Specifications:

Weight: 5.6 oz.
Blade Thickness: 9/64" (3.5mm)
Blade Length: 4" (actual cutting edge is 3.75")
Handle: 5 1/3" long. (Stainless Steel lined G-10)
Steel: AUS 8A Stainless (hardened to RC 57-58)
Overall Length: 9 1/3" Black Teflon¨ Finish
Ultra Lock™ with Ambidextrous Stainless Pocket Clip


This review was possible because of KnifeShopOnline.com; you can call them at 1-800-819-4245.