RECON I

I was blown away by feel of the knife in my hand: there's a nice tactile feel to the G10 material and the deep relief cuts in the handle invite fingers to wrap naturally and tightly in exactly the right place. I have only a tiny collection of knives, but I'm skeptical I will find a handle that feels more inviting and secure to hold. Its sculpted handle and angular blade and overall darkness make it look menacing. I found it easy to open, but not with one hand. The act of releasing the locking mechanism to refold the knife requires a significant and surprising amount of force. This makes the lock mechanism very safe against accidental re-folding - a significant positive quality that deserves to be considered in choosing this knife. I really like it; but I was a little surprised by it. There may be certain young or old individuals who are challenged by its stiffness and will need help re-folding it. The steel alloy of this knife is S35VN, a vanadium alloy powder metallurgy steel with high hardness and great edge retention. This alloy not quite as corrosion resistant as magnacut, a close relative popular in high-end knives. The black coating on the blade, though, obviates the corrosion issue. The alloy is also more brittle (less tough) than some other high end knife alloy steels such as magnacut. The quality of toughness is somewhat more important for a survival knife that will be struck hard with other objects in normal course of work. Toughness will likely not be very important until the knife is dropped and lands tip-first on a rock or until it is used to hack away at something else that is pretty hard. I've not tested it in these scenarios, just giving my understanding as an engineer and a viewer of many YouTube videos on the subject. I tried shaving hair off my arm with this knife right out of the box. In this very informal test I found it to be of comparable sharpness to other good knives; but not literally "razor sharp."

Always like Cold Steel. Prices have risen too high, especially on fixed blades. Some tiny recent knives are sketchy. This is tough, old fashioned lock back. Thick grip. Sub hilt for forefinger to prevent slipping and cutting yourself. Great G-10 texture, full size. One of my favorite daily carry knives—from opening boxes to cutting clothes from someone injured to self defense in non-2A communist states where they can’t read the constitution. Great price on Amazon. Beat all competitors when I got it. You can see price history and time a great purchase that’ll last years.

In my search I was looking for a knife with a light weight, low profile, and with a thinner blade for slicing, not a bush beast to baton and chisel with. I wanted a good steel, a 3 1/2" - 4" blade, and either G10 or micarta scales. The search lead me to purchase the Recon 1. My first impressions are as follows: 1) It's a well built, quality knife with great attention to detail. I was initially hesitant to purchase at $105 but at 4" long, 1 1/4" tall, and about 1/8" thick, that's a pretty good sized slab of high quality steel in that blade! 2) The G10 scales are comfortable and lightweight. At 5 1/4" the handle fits my large hand perfectly. The finger grooves are contoured nicely, and the texture of the G10 makes for a secure grip on the knife. 3) It's high quality steel (s35vn), razor sharp, balanced and centered grind. The blade closes dead center with good detent, and locks back with a very distinct "snap" as the triad lock engages. The triad lock mechanism is amazing! 4) I'm not a fan of coated blades on folding knives, but the finish on this one is uniform and appears to be good quality. It's not a powder coat, plastic or epoxy coating that adds texture or thickness to the blade so I'll live with it. The main reason I don't like these types of coatings is that as they inevitably scratch and wear, they take away from the visual appeal of the knife, moreso then an uncoated blade. This is a tactical style knife so I understand why they did it, and I purchased it knowing this, but I would love to see this knife also offered with the exact same handle scales and an uncoated s35vn blade. I considered the Code 4 because it appears to be about the same profile handle, but the handle is aluminum, and the blade is a little smaller. Overall the Recon 1 is a large folding knife but the light weight, combined with the slim profile, and black deep carry pocket clip, makes it comfortable and discreet to pocket carry despite its physical size. This knife is well suited for use as a work horse for daily use, for personal defense, or a pocket princess to show off when the occasion arises.

The COLD STEEL Recon 1 4” S35VN is a true working classic. Solid, reliable, comfortable, and built with exactly the kind of no-nonsense design that makes you trust it immediately. The S35VN steel performs excellently, the lock feels extremely secure, and the overall ergonomics are outstanding. It’s one of those knives that simply feels right in the hand and works for almost everything. In my opinion, every knife enthusiast should own one at least once. This is one of the benchmark folding knives for a reason. Absolutely recommended. 5/5.

Quick Specs Blade Length: 4" (3.5mm thick) Blade Steel: CPM-S35VN Blade Finish: Black DLC Handle: G10 Handle Length: 5 3/8" Weight 5.3 oz Lock Style: Tri-ad Lock Excellent knife for the money. I've only had this particular one for a few weeks but it's replaced my older Recon 1 that I had, loved and used reliably for many years... until sadly I lost it. I own 5 or so dozen knives of all varieties, from super premium to budget and everything in between and this knife is well made and a great value. The blade came razor sharp, is 4" and made of premium CPM S35VN, which is very nice. The handle's are standard but tough and not overly grippy G10, w/ a bronze washer pivot joint and opens rather nicely. Not as smooth as ball bearings, but w/ a washer you won't have to worry as much about the pivot filling up w/ gunk. It's a large, proscriptive handle with 2 aggressive finger grooves for your index and middle fingers. It fits my large hands very well, but those w/ small hands *might* find it just a bit large... (that's what SHE said! 😝) Some notes: the "Tri-ad Lock" lock-up feature can be a tad stiff to disengage at first. But don't be discouraged, it gets much easier w/ just a little use. If anything it might be a bit overbuilt for your average Joe. However, if you're like me and your life could very well depend on a knife working(?) I'm really glad it's so reliable & strong! All in all it's a large, yet still relatively lightweight at 5.3oz, well built, reliable, tank of a knife! No more - but most importantly to many - no less. Perfect for hard use. With my large frame (6ft/230lbs) it's perfect for EDC. 10 out of 10, I highly recommend!

Good knife for the money but it isn’t a bench made , I’ve put it through some abuse , held the edge for the first few weeks then needed a touch up, it’s comfortable in the hand and has a decent weight to it, the opening action on the knife is smooth but harder than you would think or want it to be , takes a bit of effort , overall for the price it’s a solid knife

What an amazing knife made with great materials at an amazing price! The basics, good pocket clip but should be larger, smooth action, incredible lock up, great G10 handles, I like the lanyard hole (some may not), lightweight, perfect thumb studs, great DLC coating, no blade play in any direction and lastly, amazingly sharp. Even with high dollar premium knives I almost always have to put my own razor edge on them, but not this knife! This is an old stand by for CS and has been around for a long time. I am surprised that just G10 is strong enough to warrant the reputation this knife has for durability as it has no steel liners, but this knife is known to be extremely durable!

It really doesn't matter that so many folks think this hunk of junk is worth the wasted money. Down the line my opinion may change, but doubtful. Looks great, nice and heavy. The opening action is horrible... the struggle with the welded down tight to damn near immovable back lock is FRKN ridiculous. A serious waste of money. Day 7 ...such a POS knife. If you like the design and want an identical knife that is WELL WORTH THE MONEY, get a Cold Steel "Voyager"! Otherwise, you WILL BE kicking yourself in the ass for falling for they commercial hype, just like me. POS

Kommt sehr scharf, macht einen wirklich sehr robusten Eindruck, ist überraschenderweise sehr gut in den Hosentasche zu tragen mit dem Gürtelclip und kaum störend oder bemerkbar, dadurch dass auch nur ein kleiner Teil vom Griff raus steht fällt es kaum auf. Hält seinen Schnitt dank des S35VN Stahls echt gut. Es kommt auch mit einer sehr feinen und sehr spitzen Spitze, die ich durch Hebeln mit der Messerspitze abgebrochen hab (kleiner als ein mm) das Messer ist immer noch spitz!

Restituito perché chiusura difettosa.

Da gibt es kein schlecht. Die Messer sind einfach schön und scharf so wie ich es mag. 👍👍👍👍

Das Recon 1 ist ein brachiales Teil. Ich hoffe, es erfüllt meine Erwartungen hinsichtlich der korrekten Wärmebehandlung der Klinge und der Haltbarkeit der Klingenverriegelung. Nach dem Waffengesetz ist das Führen, ob mit oder ohne Daumenpin, des Recon im öffentlichen Raum zumindest hochproblematisch. Ich denke, um ein abschließbares Behältnis zum Transport kommt man dann nicht herum. Warum die Klinge schwarz beschichtet ist erschließt sich mir nicht. Der Klingenstahl ist an sich hoch korrosionsresistent. Was mich ein bißchen ärgert ist, dass nach diversen YouTube-Videos das Messer in den USA unter 100$ kostet, obwohl hergestellt in Taiwan. Hier wird es meist mit 160 bis über 200 EUR angeboten. Wie kommt sowas? Insgesamt aber ein tolles Messer von einer technischen Finesse, die Freude macht. Vielseitig anzuwenden, unkaputtbar, mit einem super Klingenstahl und einer innovativen, bombensicheren Verriegelung. Es wird einem nochmal schmerzlich vor Augen geführt, wie sehr der §42a die hiesige Messerszene technisch kastriert.

Einhandmesser, welches sich auch sehr gut und schnell mit einer Hand öffnen läßt! Auch im geschlossenen Zustand aufgrund seiner Robustheit gut als "Kubotan" nutzbar! Und hier kommt das Gesetz ins Spiel, man darf es nicht mitführen! Das muss jedem klar sein, der es erwirbt! Ansonsten ein perfektes Messer, scharf, robust...es liegt top in der Hand. Es kam bei mir schon sehr scharf an, trotzdem konnte mein Schleifer des Vertrauens noch etwas rausholen! Die ganze Serie ist toll....nur, wenn man es mitführt verstößt man gegen das Gesetz, zumindest in Deutschland, da hilft auch der kleine Waffenschein nichts!!!