The company's products include fixed blade knives, folding knives, swords, machetes, tomahawks, kukris, blowguns, walking sticks, and other martial arts items and training equipment. Their knives are used by military and law-enforcement personnel worldwide. Cold Steel is credited with popularizing the Americantantō in 1980. Cold Steel marketed knives made for them in the U.S. by Camillus using a carbon steel given the trademarked name "Carbon V". Their imported knives were nearly all made in Seki, Japan using AUS-8 which Cold Steel labelled "400 Series Stainless". They also had two models made in Taiwan, both of which switched to Japan in 2000. In 2007 Camillus New York went bankrupt and Cold Steel was forced to find a new manufacturer for their carbon steel fixed blades. Cold steel first went to Mainland China but allegedly due to quality issues they switched to Taiwan for production. At the same time Cold Steel moved all of their folding knife manufacturing from Seki Japan to Taiwan. The carbon steel was SK5 and stainless was AUS-8 both imported to Taiwan from Japan. However the Sanmai III models remained strictly Seki production. Today, the knives made in Japan use VG-1 stainless steel and VG1 core Sanmai III, the Taiwan models use German 4116 stainless steel, D2 steel, 1055 high carbon steel, O-1 high carbon, SK-5 high carbon steel, Japanese AUS 8A stainless steel, American CTS XHP and CPM S35VN powder steels and American CPM 3V tool steel. The largest Sanmai III fixed blades are made by Hattori. Cold Steel's folding knives are renowned for their lock strength, due primarily to the introduction of the TRI-AD locking mechanism, designed by custom knife maker Andrew Demko. Cold Steel's swords are primarily made from 1055 high carbon steel and Damascus steel. Many of Cold Steel's products are designed by company President Lynn C Thompson and based upon traditional knife designs from all over the world, but Cold Steel has also collaborated with custom knife makers such as Andrew Demko, Phil Boguszewski, Zach Whitson, Steven Likarich, Keith Dehart, Rich McDonald, Bob Koga, Fred Perrin and Lloyd Pendleton on certain designs.
Marketing
Cold Steel is known for their graphic marketing videos and DVDs which demonstrate their products' strength, sharpness, edge retention and durability. Featured tests include piercing car hoods, using folding knives as monkey bars, slicing through large free-hanging pieces of meat and animal carcass, stabbing/slashing ballistic gel mannequins, and cutting Tatami rolls and free-hanging polyester rope with a single stroke.
Cold Steel's products feature heavily in movies, TV shows, games and web series. Their knives have seen prominent use in numerous action movies since the early 1980s. Many of Cold Steel's employees are martial artists and weapons experts, who feature in their infamous marketing videos. Some of the members of their "crew" are also Hollywoodstunt men, fight choreographers and trainers, most notably Ron Balicki, Luke LaFontaine and Anthony De Longis. Thompson also writes regular articles regarding the use of knives for self-defense.
Special Projects division
Special Projects is a division of Cold Steel Inc. that produces a line of tools and weapons such as Spetsnaz-type shovels, sjamboks, and spears. Additionally a line of tomahawks, axes, and hammers is marketed under the name of The American Tomahawk Company.
