The good guys over at Tactical Intent sent me the new Cold Steel Tanto 5.5″ Rawles Limited Edition Voyager XL Folding Knife to review. Like most of us, I love a good knife and eagerly opened up the box when it arrived. Drop-dead gorgeous in a rugged sort of way – if you like this sort of thing. The Olive Drab Griv-Ex handle perfectly compliments the black DLC (diamond like coating).
Texas law dictates a maximum blade length of 5.5 inches. This is one serious knife! Despite the size it weighs in at only 7.8 ounces and feels balanced.
This is a limited edition knife built to Jim Rawles’ specifications. You know Jim Rawles – survival expert, author, and publisher of Survival Blog. The blade features Jim Rawles’ signature.
Cold Steel Voyager Rawles
The knife features a Tanto 5.5 inch blade that is half-serrated. Steel is the is the new American CTS XHP Carpenter with a black DLC coating which is an upgrade over the standard Voyagers. This is a relatively new steel that is best described as a high-hardness 440C with a HRC (Rockwell) of 64.
One interesting design element is the chisel-grind or single-bevel blade. This is where the blade is ground on only one side and the other side is flat. The Cold Steel Voyager is extremely sharp. The chisel grind has some survival advantages that Mr. Rawles could explain better than I but basically it is strong, sharp, and easy to sharpen in the field.
This folding knife utilizes the tried-and-true Cold Steel Tri-Ad locking mechanism.
Cold Steel Voyager Rawles
The OD Griv-Ex handle is aggressively textured – yet still very comfortable in hand. I haven’t had the opportunity to use the knife in extreme conditions but I’m betting that it makes for a secure grip. In fact, I have really grown to like it.
Cold Steel and Jim Rawles are donating profits from this Limited Edition Voyager to charity.
With a street price of approximately $80 you can’t go wrong.
Mike Coker
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My Rawles Voyager came very sharp and is beautifully finished. Unfortunately, the one I got was a counterfeit. The seller sold it for $76, saying it was a return, but that he had gotten it directly from Cold Steel and he had a receipt. I believe him. When I contacted Cold Steel, I was told this is the greatest problem they’re now facing. People sell the real deal to buyers who then return a counterfeit knife, saying they didn’t like it for some reason. Sellers who are untrained in spotting counterfeits can’t tell the difference, but we as buyers should.
I settled the deal by asking for a partial refund. Since clones are going for about thirty bucks, that’s what I got it for, and he refunded me the rest. Now I’ve got a genuine counterfeit knife and it’s impressive. But for those of you who don’t know how to tell the difference, look at the pivot screw. The hex hole one or two sizes too small when compared to real Cold Steels. The spine spring also tends to be a bit recessed and the thumb stud on the left side of the knife is slotted, whereas the genuine knives have the slotted stud on the right side.
These are as of November 2017 stone cold dead on ways to tell whether you have a fake knife. The pivot screw is central to telling, though the cloners may fix these tell tale signs. But they look so genuine that most people can’t tell. It’s advertised as D2 steel, but who knows what one gets?
Check yours. If you have a FAKE knife, post a reply here. I’d like to hear from you!