Cold Steel Talwar

Banging. Everything I hoped for and more. Previous Voyager "Grivex" plastic scales upgraded to G-10, fabulous & tasteful spine jimping, awesome massive sharp blade ... What's not to like?

I had been looking forward very much to the long awaited and promised return of Cold Steel's classic Talwar XL folding Tri-ad lock knife, and I have not waited in vain! The Talwar XL is an excellent large folding lock knife, featuring the world famous Andrew Demko Tri-ad locking system recognised as the strongest locking mechanism in the modern knife manufacturing industry. When I received my Talwar XL I was tremendously impressed at the high quality throughout its entire construction. I have been familiar with the very appealing styling of the knife, its graceful 5 1/2 inch upswept blade, the perfect length of its black G10 handle with the terrific Tri-ad lock there in contained. The blade has a beautifully graceful curvature to it and the flat V grind of the blade gives it tremendously powerful slicing, cutting and slashing performance. The blade steel, being S35VN, is a very high performance powdered steel and is known as one of the best allround " Super Steel " for the use of knife blades, its being able to be sharpened to a hair shaving sharp edge, its ability to retain that edge for a considerable amount of time whilst in regular use, its a tough steel very unlikely to ever snap under heavy usage, though almost any knife can snap if misused and abused, and the Talwars blade profile and grind is primarily for enhanced slicing and cutting, but does have a good penetrative tip but this use should be approached with caution as the tip is fine and highly defined and it is not the type of tip designed for stabbing into hard materials and if this is ever performed by an owner never bend the knife from side to side as this type of tip along with many other knife tips, was not ment for this action of use, the Talwar is a specialised slicer and is terrifically effective at slicing and cutting ! The lockup on this knife is super solid ! The Tri-ad lock performs beyond any normal force and stress levels that you would rationally put a knifes lock under ! The Talwars handle had many different grips that can be attained on its handle, and I'm sure that anyone with a fully functional hand could achieve a very sure and secure grip on it, which is obviously important from an ergonomic point of view, being that it's comfortable to grip, but also it gives the user valuable safty when using the knife. The knife I personally find most comparable to the Talwar XL is Cold Steels current Espada 5.5 inch blade black G10 handle folding Tri-ad lock knife. The Espada is also available in XL size with black G10 handle and Tri-ad lock, but the G10 models blade steel is AUS10A which is a good steel but does not come close to the performance of S35VN and the price difference is evidentiary of that. I highly recommend that if you're thinking of buying the Cold Steel Talwar S35VN XL, BUY ONE, or even TWO! It's a fantastic knife, the satisfaction I felt after receiving, opening, admiring and then using reminded me of the first time I bought the Cold Steel Espada L, and also the Espada XL ! If you love big folding lock knives, the Cold Steel Talwar is a MUST buy IMHO !!! I would also like to take this opportunity to give to Richard my greatest thanks for his indispensable help and and advice that he gives, and has given to me many times . My sincerest thanks also go to Nick for his patience and polite attentiveness when answering all of my enquiries. And last, but most certainly not least, I would like to thank everyone at Heinnie Haynes for their 5