Steel profile
M390
M390 is a premium powder metallurgy stainless steel for buyers who want strong edge retention and corrosion resistance, with harder sharpening and lower toughness as the tradeoff.
Learn about M390 Maker Spotlight
Lynn Thompson is back. Bigger, better, and bolder.
After selling Cold Steel to GSM, Thompson never really left the edge-weapons world. Now his next chapter is aimed squarely at tactical knives and hard-use gear. Will he shake the industry again? We think so.
Read our Lynn Thompson bio and news
Featured Steels
Start with steels people actually cross-shop.
The point is not to crown a winner. The point is to understand what you gain, what you give up, and what kind of user each steel rewards.
Steel profile
VG10
VG-10 steel profile with practical guidance on sharpness, edge retention, corrosion resistance, sharpening, and common knife uses.
Learn about VG10
Steel profile
Nitro-V
A practical stainless knife steel with good toughness, easy sharpening, and useful corrosion resistance for everyday knives.
Learn about Nitro-VFeatured Makers
Maker history without the brochure voice.
The good parts, the strange parts, the design choices, and the reasons certain names still show up in pockets decades later.
Maker profile
Andrew Demko
Andrew Demko is a lock-focused knife designer known for the Tri-Ad lock, Shark-Lock, and hard-use production folders.
Read Andrew Demko's profile
Maker profile
Bob Loveless
Bob Loveless helped define the modern custom fixed blade through clean hunting designs, tapered tangs, Micarta handles, and stainless steel advocacy.
Read Bob Loveless's profile
Maker profile
Lynn Thompson
Cold Steel founder Lynn Thompson turned hard-use tactical knives, public torture tests, and the American Tanto into a mainstream knife-industry force.
Read Lynn Thompson's profileExplore the site
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