For defense, a Vaquero serrated blade is best. It's also the best cutter, slicing through rubber and tough cardboard. I love my Talwars and my Espadas, but for blade shape and type, the Vaquero Grandé remains my favorite, both in size and weight. Yes, I love the Tri-Ad® lock and the strength of the recent and current Cold Steel folders, but I miss the Vaquero serrated blades. And the old knife should be a new knife as these recent knives are too heavy and cumbersome for EDC. Do a search for the Vaquero Grandé on TH-cam.
If you just want to see the cut tests skip to 7:30. Also, when I cut the cardboard tubes, my cut angle with the Talwar is better. So there is a slight fault on my part on this test. Let me know if this is still a valid test.
Those older Talwar's Folder was some phenomenal defense knives , especially the XL versions , I personally own the new version that I have purchased since GSM has brought them back and mine has lock bar issues,out of three the with rhe issues I kept but one had to be returned because it would not close unless it got pushed on a hard edge of a door jam ,or coener of a wooden chair or something of that type. And a folding knife that won't close is as ot should is not one you ever want the take out in rhe public and need for any thing. ⚔️💯⚔️
I still don’t know what to think about GSM ColdSteel. I do appreciate hearing about your experience with the new Talwar. The new Talwar is one of the knives that I’ve been tempted to buy.
How early did you buy the new talwar? I got mine about a year later when the price was halved on amazon and mine opens and closes perfectly even if I throw it open as hard as possible
I’m very impressed with the cutting on the talwar. One observation on the cut with the espada I don’t believe your edge angle was right. Even so that doesn’t change the fact the talwar cut very well. I didn’t realize the lock was so different. I wonder how the vaquero would cut against the talwar. The vaquero has the best of everything. It has the kukuri blade and it’s very thin.
I looked over both cuts and when I cut with the Espada I’m cutting a little bit more horizontally. The edge alignment still seemed fine to me but one cut being more at an angle does change it a bit. Thank you for bring that up. I do believe the vaquero blade shape is a great design. On the fixed blade I made I sharpened the upsweep too. I’ve never actually wore that knife to work because it looks a little intense but this conversation makes me want to get it out of storage.
Hello totes, lovin the vids lately.👍 i recently noticed you have a variant of espada in xhp aluminum i have been looking to get for years lol. Would you ever consider selling? will pay good price
Hello, thank you for your interest but I don’t really like selling my stuff. If I could give you a recommendation; do a saved search on eBay for the Espada XL in Cts XHP. They don’t come up for sale often like you said but one will with time.
@@totesmalotes thank you for the answer, if u can just answer 1 more q, i saw your old video saying the rajah had brittle teflon washer, do the new cold steel still use them on their folding blades?
@@leeonr Teflon washers do wear out but it’s after a lot of use. I don’t know if new Cold Steel (GSM) still uses bronze and Teflon washers but all the Cold Steel knives I have, including the newer ones, do. I don’t own any GSM Cold Steel knives.
Very interesting video. I personally prefer the Talwar XL, be it the CTS-XHP old version, or the early releases of the GSM Cold Steel Talwar as many were produced prior to the historic " You spoke, we listened " BS Stick man came out with. Kris Stiletto has made a video of how poor quality the GSM Talwar XL's are with very poorly constructed Tri-ad lock mechanisms that have play even when supposedly fully engaged and they also stick aswel, and the fit and finish is generally poor. The serrated GSM Talwar XL I believe was the version where Kris first demonstrated these problems in a review, and he bought another, different batch, a good long gap between the purchases of the knives and both knives were lemons. I recall at the end of his video he stated he was getting in contact with GSM Cold Steel to see if they would do right by him and provide him with faultless knives? I sure hope he got them. There's an annoying design flaw with the Espada, it's particularly bad with the G10 models old or new and this flaw is exposed with the polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 occur XL model in CTS-XHP or S35VN and it's even more of a problem with the G10 scales versions, L, or the XL and the flaw/problem is because of where the Tri-ad lock disengagement depress is situated. Once you deploy the blade carefully check that it is fully deployed, or you can just trust the " Click ", it makes no difference, then hold the Espada handle in the forward position in the hammer grip and then grip the handle very tightly, you'll feel the skin and soft tissues/muscles of your fill the Tri-ad lock disengagement depression and you will feel, and may well hear a quiet " Click ", then loosen your grip and then with one hand very carefully and firnly pinch/hold the blade and with your other hand grip the handle and then apply a little pressure pulling back and forth on the blade and/or the handle and you will notice a small amount of vertical play has developed. You have to then fully disengage the Tri-ad lock and then redeploy the blade and it will deploy securely again, but you'll be able to partially disengage the Tri-ad lock again by holding the handle as mentioned before and squeezing it very tightly/strongly. I didn't mention the AUS8 versions as I can't stand AUS8 and its been years since I handled an AUS8 Espade XL or L. This partial lock disengagement doesn't occur with the Talwar XL old or new, although I've previously mentioned that the later releases of the GSM Cold Steel Talwar serrated model has been criticised for being very poorly made. My guess is that GSM have sacked many QC staff as they're expensive to employ, and also stopped having many of knives produced in the top knife making factories in Taichung Taiwan apart from possibly the Lynn Thompson special edition S35VN knife models and maybe the Espada's with polished aluminum bolsters and black G10? GSM Outdoors are destroying Cold Steel's reputation, they were never perfect when Lynn Thompson owned and managed the company but every brand GSM Outdoors touches turns to shite. Its a crying shame but the days of Lynn Thompson's Cold Steel are now long gone, and GSM Cold Steel is virtually unrecognizable as being Cold Steel, it's Cold Steel in name only. I'm not the first person to become aware of this flaw with the Espada, I did discover it before reading about how others have experienced it aswel, and I wasn't happy about it as I own six Espadas, three in CTS-XHP and three in S35VN, being a L CTS-XHP G10 handle scaled model and an XL CTS-XHP G10, and the XL in CTS-XHP with polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 handle scales, and another three are S35VN polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 scales. I prefer the Talwar XL because it's a great knife in it's own right and it doesn't have the Espada Tri-ad lock flaw. I'm a strong guy, but you don't require q herculean grip strength to involuntarily partially disengage the Espada Tri-ad lock, they just chose a really stupid place to put the damn lock disengagement. I hope that you and yours are all chipper buddy.
Thank you for pointing out the flaw of the Espada lock placement. I was not aware of it. I completely agree with your sentiment on GSM Coldsteel. I don’t like them in general. Lynn was a bit over the top sometimes but his love for his brand and for knives was genuine. He started a whole company around knives I don’t think his devotion can be questioned. A faceless company on the other hand, to me, would have money as a top priority with everything else being a far second. I see old Coldsteel as being the only beneficiary of all the tests and trials that have gone into proofing these knives and I view New Coldsteel as mostly untested.
Thanks for pointing that out. I always felt the resistance on the espada was higher than on my other knives to disengage. Its probably to cover this design flaw.
@@kellywilson137 You're welcome. The lock spring is stronger and larger as should be on a such an enormous folding knife. I think Andrew Demko and Lynn Thompson must've realized that this issue existed but presumably only after the initial release of Espada AUS8 XL model, and it was at that point that the lock disengagement placement should've been moved further back to about the point where it is on the Talwar XL, the Talwar XL blade is as long as the Espada L blade so moving the lock on disengagement on the Espada L would've definitely been possible, but this then would've raised questions from customers such as why is the lock disengagement in a different location to the XL or the now discontinued Espada Medium/small? I believe that the truth of why the lock disengagement wasn't moved is because the flaw is minor and that when I hold my beater Espada XL with polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 (I ended up just using one for chopping back brush) the grip positions used to hold the handle whilst doing this are the ones further back, well away from the lock disengagement, infact holding the Espada XL in the forward most grip makes the knife feel less easy to wield. On the Espada L with the polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 the accidental partial lock disengagement hardly ever occurs as the handle is thicker and this means that the grip pressure is more equally dispersed when the handle is held in the forward most position. This flaw is still totally unacceptable to me, it's the Achilles heel of the knife, and the G10 handle scales model is absolutely dreadful for the partial lock disengagement! The Espada L polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 is the best and most reliable model by far, with my owning so many and using both models this is my honest opinion. Take care and good health to you buddy, 👍🏼🤝🏼.
@@totesmalotes I like it. I did notice some rattling when I shook it around I thought it was the pivot screw but that was fine. I think it might be the stop pin might be moving around not sure yet. But when it's engaged don't hear any sound at all. I do have a question I know I read in a coment that you have not bought any cold steel knifes from the GSM. Do you buy maybe the old cold steel knifes from somewhere else? Thanks again Kyle
@@Kyle-bb9zp well I did buy the knife with the Atlas lock and returned it. Other than that I haven’t bought any GSM Cold Steel knives. I keep finding info that they’re good and also that they have some problems like you mentioned on your knife (thank you for mentioning it, it adds to my overall evaluation of the company). The last Cold Steel knife I bought was the Talwar. I bought it from eBay. To me eBay is the best place I found to buy the older Cold Steel knives. I do a save search for a knife I want and then just leave it. It usually takes a few months to find a knife I’m searching for at a good price. You also have to know your stuff a bit because there is fakes and damaged knives to worry about. Hope this helps.
I’ve never been in a self defense situation where I’ve used a knife, so this is just a thought exercise. So a smaller knife, which theses still are, would have to be primarily used for penetration. Both are close, with the Espada being slightly better. But for slashing the American Tanto is clearly superior. You can use the tip of the knife when slashing with the Espada but it won’t have the same power when using the tantos secondary tip. I would choose the Tanto for those reasons though I like the Espada better because it’s more useful for edc.
Gotta say in my years of taking Filipino martial arts and other knife fighting classes. Of all the knives I’ve seen and trained with the large G10 espada is as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen. The other knife I also love is the vaquero xl serrated. I really love how the talwar looks but I prefer the espada grips an also the xl voyager grip as well. I can’t say I don’t like the talwar I just like those more. I’ve never did any cutting with one myself so that could change my opinion. I’ve only held one that was made into a trainer. Take in mind I wrote this before watching your video so I’m very interested in your opinion. Always enjoy your videos
Hello ScalpingYour TP, thank you. I have a Vaquero Grande I carried for a while but the new ones have superior handles and I haven’t tried those. I might try one out in the future since you hold it in high regard.
@@totesmalotes not just me Lynn Thomson still carries his vaqueros he said it was designed from the ground up for fighting. An no matter what anyone thinks of Lynn he trained under and with the greatest martial artist of our time. He trained with Dan Inosanto even Demko was a big time martial artist. When I get a chance I’ll link a video that Lynn describes the vaquero. TTYL
@@richardhenry1969 nice. I would appreciate that. Lynn can be a bit eccentric but he knows his stuff. The knife designs he came up with along with Demko prove that for me. I’ll try to get a newer version of the Vaquero in the future so I can compare it to my Grande.
There's a 4" Talwar, I just ordered it. I love my 5.5" Talwar more than my Espada XL. I just ordered the 4" Talwar so it'll fit better when i wear tighter pockets. It's just a super stabby and slashy knife, and can also do work too
I prefer the weight of the Espada XL and the Voyager Tanto XL in the snap cut. The weight forward designs of those does transfer more energy into a target like you said. The Talwar being a full flat grind does make it a better slicer. In a defensive situation against a two legged predator no one is going to split hairs on the merits of knife design. Either one of these knives could deter an altercation or end one. Training is more important than design (in most cases). Carry what you train with and train with what you carry. It’s good to see the comparison and the talwar is impressive. I’m going to stick with my Tanto XL. It’s most easily concealable and I train with it most often and it fits my defensive combat style.
For defense, a Vaquero serrated blade is best. It's also the best cutter, slicing through rubber and tough cardboard. I love my Talwars and my Espadas, but for blade shape and type, the Vaquero Grandé remains my favorite, both in size and weight. Yes, I love the Tri-Ad® lock and the strength of the recent and current Cold Steel folders, but I miss the Vaquero serrated blades. And the old knife should be a new knife as these recent knives are too heavy and cumbersome for EDC. Do a search for the Vaquero Grandé on TH-cam.
I like the voyager series. The Tanto XL and Vaquero XL are my favorites of those.
If you just want to see the cut tests skip to 7:30. Also, when I cut the cardboard tubes, my cut angle with the Talwar is better. So there is a slight fault on my part on this test. Let me know if this is still a valid test.
Those older Talwar's Folder was some phenomenal defense knives , especially the XL versions , I personally own the new version that I have purchased since GSM has brought them back and mine has lock bar issues,out of three the with rhe issues I kept but one had to be returned because it would not close unless it got pushed on a hard edge of a door jam ,or coener of a wooden chair or something of that type.
And a folding knife that won't close is as ot should is not one you ever want the take out in rhe public and need for any thing. ⚔️💯⚔️
I still don’t know what to think about GSM ColdSteel. I do appreciate hearing about your experience with the new Talwar. The new Talwar is one of the knives that I’ve been tempted to buy.
How early did you buy the new talwar? I got mine about a year later when the price was halved on amazon and mine opens and closes perfectly even if I throw it open as hard as possible
I love the Talwar! Had an Espada...traded it.
I’m very impressed with the cutting on the talwar. One observation on the cut with the espada I don’t believe your edge angle was right. Even so that doesn’t change the fact the talwar cut very well.
I didn’t realize the lock was so different.
I wonder how the vaquero would cut against the talwar. The vaquero has the best of everything. It has the kukuri blade and it’s very thin.
I looked over both cuts and when I cut with the Espada I’m cutting a little bit more horizontally. The edge alignment still seemed fine to me but one cut being more at an angle does change it a bit. Thank you for bring that up.
I do believe the vaquero blade shape is a great design. On the fixed blade I made I sharpened the upsweep too. I’ve never actually wore that knife to work because it looks a little intense but this conversation makes me want to get it out of storage.
Hello totes, lovin the vids lately.👍 i recently noticed you have a variant of espada in xhp aluminum i have been looking to get for years lol. Would you ever consider selling? will pay good price
Hello, thank you for your interest but I don’t really like selling my stuff. If I could give you a recommendation; do a saved search on eBay for the Espada XL in Cts XHP. They don’t come up for sale often like you said but one will with time.
Completely understandable, i really appreciate the response regardless!
Thanks for the recommendation for sure gonna try this
@@gregoryponomarev3899 no problem. I wish you the best of luck.
is there any wobble when you have it folded?
So when it’s closed there’s no rattle or wobble, even if I shake it. I think this answers your question?
@@totesmalotes thank you for the answer, if u can just answer 1 more q, i saw your old video saying the rajah had brittle teflon washer, do the new cold steel still use them on their folding blades?
@@leeonr Teflon washers do wear out but it’s after a lot of use. I don’t know if new Cold Steel (GSM) still uses bronze and Teflon washers but all the Cold Steel knives I have, including the newer ones, do. I don’t own any GSM Cold Steel knives.
Very interesting video.
I personally prefer the Talwar XL, be it the CTS-XHP old version, or the early releases of the GSM Cold Steel Talwar as many were produced prior to the historic " You spoke, we listened " BS Stick man came out with.
Kris Stiletto has made a video of how poor quality the GSM Talwar XL's are with very poorly constructed Tri-ad lock mechanisms that have play even when supposedly fully engaged and they also stick aswel, and the fit and finish is generally poor.
The serrated GSM Talwar XL I believe was the version where Kris first demonstrated these problems in a review, and he bought another, different batch, a good long gap between the purchases of the knives and both knives were lemons.
I recall at the end of his video he stated he was getting in contact with GSM Cold Steel to see if they would do right by him and provide him with faultless knives? I sure hope he got them.
There's an annoying design flaw with the Espada, it's particularly bad with the G10 models old or new and this flaw is exposed with the polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 occur XL model in CTS-XHP or S35VN and it's even more of a problem with the G10 scales versions, L, or the XL and the flaw/problem is because of where the Tri-ad lock disengagement depress is situated.
Once you deploy the blade carefully check that it is fully deployed, or you can just trust the " Click ", it makes no difference, then hold the Espada handle in the forward position in the hammer grip and then grip the handle very tightly, you'll feel the skin and soft tissues/muscles of your fill the Tri-ad lock disengagement depression and you will feel, and may well hear a quiet " Click ", then loosen your grip and then with one hand very carefully and firnly pinch/hold the blade and with your other hand grip the handle and then apply a little pressure pulling back and forth on the blade and/or the handle and you will notice a small amount of vertical play has developed. You have to then fully disengage the Tri-ad lock and then redeploy the blade and it will deploy securely again, but you'll be able to partially disengage the Tri-ad lock again by holding the handle as mentioned before and squeezing it very tightly/strongly.
I didn't mention the AUS8 versions as I can't stand AUS8 and its been years since I handled an AUS8 Espade XL or L.
This partial lock disengagement doesn't occur with the Talwar XL old or new, although I've previously mentioned that the later releases of the GSM Cold Steel Talwar serrated model has been criticised for being very poorly made.
My guess is that GSM have sacked many QC staff as they're expensive to employ, and also stopped having many of knives produced in the top knife making factories in Taichung Taiwan apart from possibly the Lynn Thompson special edition S35VN knife models and maybe the Espada's with polished aluminum bolsters and black G10?
GSM Outdoors are destroying Cold Steel's reputation, they were never perfect when Lynn Thompson owned and managed the company but every brand GSM Outdoors touches turns to shite. Its a crying shame but the days of Lynn Thompson's Cold Steel are now long gone, and GSM Cold Steel is virtually unrecognizable as being Cold Steel, it's Cold Steel in name only.
I'm not the first person to become aware of this flaw with the Espada, I did discover it before reading about how others have experienced it aswel, and I wasn't happy about it as I own six Espadas, three in CTS-XHP and three in S35VN, being a L CTS-XHP G10 handle scaled model and an XL CTS-XHP G10, and the XL in CTS-XHP with polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 handle scales, and another three are S35VN polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 scales.
I prefer the Talwar XL because it's a great knife in it's own right and it doesn't have the Espada Tri-ad lock flaw.
I'm a strong guy, but you don't require q herculean grip strength to involuntarily partially disengage the Espada Tri-ad lock, they just chose a really stupid place to put the damn lock disengagement.
I hope that you and yours are all chipper buddy.
Thank you for pointing out the flaw of the Espada lock placement. I was not aware of it.
I completely agree with your sentiment on GSM Coldsteel. I don’t like them in general. Lynn was a bit over the top sometimes but his love for his brand and for knives was genuine. He started a whole company around knives I don’t think his devotion can be questioned. A faceless company on the other hand, to me, would have money as a top priority with everything else being a far second.
I see old Coldsteel as being the only beneficiary of all the tests and trials that have gone into proofing these knives and I view New Coldsteel as mostly untested.
Thanks for pointing that out.
I always felt the resistance on the espada was higher than on my other knives to disengage.
Its probably to cover this design flaw.
@@kellywilson137 You're welcome.
The lock spring is stronger and larger as should be on a such an enormous folding knife.
I think Andrew Demko and Lynn Thompson must've realized that this issue existed but presumably only after the initial release of Espada AUS8 XL model, and it was at that point that the lock disengagement placement should've been moved further back to about the point where it is on the Talwar XL, the Talwar XL blade is as long as the Espada L blade so moving the lock on disengagement on the Espada L would've definitely been possible, but this then would've raised questions from customers such as why is the lock disengagement in a different location to the XL or the now discontinued Espada Medium/small?
I believe that the truth of why the lock disengagement wasn't moved is because the flaw is minor and that when I hold my beater Espada XL with polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 (I ended up just using one for chopping back brush) the grip positions used to hold the handle whilst doing this are the ones further back, well away from the lock disengagement, infact holding the Espada XL in the forward most grip makes the knife feel less easy to wield. On the Espada L with the polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 the accidental partial lock disengagement hardly ever occurs as the handle is thicker and this means that the grip pressure is more equally dispersed when the handle is held in the forward most position.
This flaw is still totally unacceptable to me, it's the Achilles heel of the knife, and the G10 handle scales model is absolutely dreadful for the partial lock disengagement!
The Espada L polished aluminum bolsters and black G10 is the best and most reliable model by far, with my owning so many and using both models this is my honest opinion.
Take care and good health to you buddy, 👍🏼🤝🏼.
Just got mine xl serated g10 s35vn talwar going to take it easy on it. Got good deal on knife center.
Dang, serrated, nice. That knife, with its blade shape and length is a helluv a ripper.
@@totesmalotes I like it. I did notice some rattling when I shook it around I thought it was the pivot screw but that was fine. I think it might be the stop pin might be moving around not sure yet. But when it's engaged don't hear any sound at all. I do have a question I know I read in a coment that you have not bought any cold steel knifes from the GSM. Do you buy maybe the old cold steel knifes from somewhere else? Thanks again Kyle
@@Kyle-bb9zp well I did buy the knife with the Atlas lock and returned it. Other than that I haven’t bought any GSM Cold Steel knives. I keep finding info that they’re good and also that they have some problems like you mentioned on your knife (thank you for mentioning it, it adds to my overall evaluation of the company).
The last Cold Steel knife I bought was the Talwar. I bought it from eBay. To me eBay is the best place I found to buy the older Cold Steel knives. I do a save search for a knife I want and then just leave it. It usually takes a few months to find a knife I’m searching for at a good price. You also have to know your stuff a bit because there is fakes and damaged knives to worry about. Hope this helps.
@@totesmalotes ok thank you
tanto vs espada ? in terms of self defence ?
I’ve never been in a self defense situation where I’ve used a knife, so this is just a thought exercise. So a smaller knife, which theses still are, would have to be primarily used for penetration. Both are close, with the Espada being slightly better. But for slashing the American Tanto is clearly superior. You can use the tip of the knife when slashing with the Espada but it won’t have the same power when using the tantos secondary tip. I would choose the Tanto for those reasons though I like the Espada better because it’s more useful for edc.
Gotta say in my years of taking Filipino martial arts and other knife fighting classes. Of all the knives I’ve seen and trained with the large G10 espada is as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen. The other knife I also love is the vaquero xl serrated. I really love how the talwar looks but I prefer the espada grips an also the xl voyager grip as well.
I can’t say I don’t like the talwar I just like those more.
I’ve never did any cutting with one myself so that could change my opinion. I’ve only held one that was made into a trainer.
Take in mind I wrote this before watching your video so I’m very interested in your opinion.
Always enjoy your videos
Hello ScalpingYour TP, thank you. I have a Vaquero Grande I carried for a while but the new ones have superior handles and I haven’t tried those. I might try one out in the future since you hold it in high regard.
@@totesmalotes not just me Lynn Thomson still carries his vaqueros he said it was designed from the ground up for fighting. An no matter what anyone thinks of Lynn he trained under and with the greatest martial artist of our time. He trained with Dan Inosanto even Demko was a big time martial artist. When I get a chance I’ll link a video that Lynn describes the vaquero. TTYL
Need an XL Talwar!
@@richardhenry1969 nice. I would appreciate that. Lynn can be a bit eccentric but he knows his stuff. The knife designs he came up with along with Demko prove that for me. I’ll try to get a newer version of the Vaquero in the future so I can compare it to my Grande.
@@__tacocat__ they are nice.
Too big for me, if only the blade was 4in
There's a 4" Talwar, I just ordered it. I love my 5.5" Talwar more than my Espada XL. I just ordered the 4" Talwar so it'll fit better when i wear tighter pockets. It's just a super stabby and slashy knife, and can also do work too
I prefer the weight of the Espada XL and the Voyager Tanto XL in the snap cut. The weight forward designs of those does transfer more energy into a target like you said.
The Talwar being a full flat grind does make it a better slicer.
In a defensive situation against a two legged predator no one is going to split hairs on the merits of knife design.
Either one of these knives could deter an altercation or end one.
Training is more important than design (in most cases). Carry what you train with and train with what you carry.
It’s good to see the comparison and the talwar is impressive.
I’m going to stick with my Tanto XL. It’s most easily concealable and I train with it most often and it fits my defensive combat style.
Nice, a lot of good points, thank you for mentioning them. I think the best thing is to choose one and train and get used to it like you said.