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Private company

Cold Steel

Logo: Gladiator805, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

American knife and tool company

Cold Steel, Inc., is an American retailer of knives/bladed tools, training weapons, swords and other martial arts edged and blunt weapons. Founded in Ventura, California, the company is currently based in Irving, Texas, after an acquisition by GSM Outdoors in 2020. Cold Steel products are manufactured worldwide, including in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, India, Italy, China, and South Africa.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1980Founded1
  • Industryindustrial manufacturing1
  • HeadquartersVentura1
  • Founded inCalifornia1
  • Websitewww.coldsteel.com
  • Legal formjoint-stock company1

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Photo: Michael E. Cumpston, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Cold Steel, Inc., is an American retailer of knives/bladed tools, training weapons, swords and other martial arts edged and blunt weapons. Founded in Ventura, California, the company is currently based in Irving, Texas, after an acquisition by GSM Outdoors in 2020. Cold Steel products are manufactured worldwide, including in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, India, Italy, China, and South Africa.2

Products and brands

  • knife

Listed on Wikidata.1

Products

The company's products include fixed-blade knives, folding knives, swords, machetes, tomahawks, kukris, blowguns, walking sticks, tantōs and other martial arts items and training equipment. The knives are used by military and law-enforcement personnel worldwide.

Cold Steel is credited with popularizing the American tantō in 1980. Cold Steel marketed knives made in the U.S. by Camillus using a carbon steel given the trademarked name "Carbon V" (read "carbon five"). 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 China (People's Republic of China), but allegedly due to quality issues switched to Taiwan for production. At the same time Cold Steel moved all folding-knife manufacturing from Seki Japan to Taiwan. The carbon steel was SK5 and stainless was AUS-8A & 10A both imported to Taiwan from Japan. However the Sanmai III models remained strictly Seki production. The largest Sanmai III fixed blades are made by Hattori.

Seki City production knives are made using VG1 stainless steel and VG1 core Sanmai III. Current and past models have used: German 4116 stainless steel, D2, 1055 high carbon steel, O-1 high carbon, SK-5 carbon steel, AUS 8A & 10A, CTS XHP, CPM S35VN, and CPM 3V tool steel.

Cold Steel's folding knives are renowned for their lock strength, due to the TRI-AD Lock, designed by custom knifemaker Andrew Demko.

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Cold Steel's swords are primarily made from 1055 high-carbon steel and pattern welded steels that mimic ancient 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 knifemakers 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 (entitled "PROOF") 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.

Special Projects division

Special Projects was a division of Cold Steel Inc. that sold a line of tools and weapons such as Spetsnaz-type shovels, sjamboks, and spears. The Special Projects division was closed and many of its products discontinued after Cold Steel's acquisition by GSM Outdoors; those remaining were absorbed into the main Cold Steel brand.

Additionally, a line of tomahawks, axes, and hammers was marketed under the name of The American Tomahawk Company.

From Wikipedia’s article on Cold Steel (company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1980Founded Founded in California1

Funding

Where the company's money came from, by calendar year: private offerings filed with the SEC, federal grants, loans, contracts and other assistance from USAspending.gov, and PPP loans from the SBA. Each bar links to the records below.

Money received by year$448.0K 2020–2020
Money received by yearMoney received by year, 2020–2020: $448.0K in all. PPP loans $448.0K.$0$200K$400K$600K2020 · PPP loans: $448.0K2020
Figures by year
YearPPP loansTotal
2020$448.0K$448.0K

PPP loans

Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 and up, approved April 2020 to July 2021, from the SBA6. Matched to this company by name and state.

  1. Apr 13, 2020$448.0K PPP loan (first draw) from Community West Bank6To COLD STEEL, INC., Ventura CA; $450.7K forgiven Dec 2, 2020

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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