Which Cold Steel Espada XL?

[T-Unit]

Since it's a 7.5" folding blade this knife has been on my mind forever. Other, more practical knives came first and now I'm just mulling over what's left that interests me and this is the highest priced one on my list (no interest in $500 OTF Microtechs).

There are two versions, a flat black G10 with AUS-10 blade steel and a more traditional looking folder that uses S35VN for the blade. The price difference of the S35 is nearly double that of the AUS-10.

S35VN blade

AUS-10 blade

 

[CRSIII]

S35VN blade. The first knife pictured actually.
My .02.

 

[T-Unit]

S35VN blade. The first knife pictured actually.
My .02.

What's S35 do that Aus10 doesn't?

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the style of the S35 one more, but I could buy two of the Aus10's for that price.

 

[CRSIII]

It just appeals to me.
But to me, that knife is really just a fancy apple peeler.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I have something similar around here somewhere.

 

[T-Unit]

That's kind of what holds me back, it's such a large folder I likely won't carry it, but it's such a large folder that I want it and unlike most folders that size it's not a gimmick, it's built to be used.

 

[greencobra]

yeah baby, 7.5" espada! thats a f***ing knife! wow! the only way to go here is s35vn. a tough piece of steel for a tough knife. that'll hold an edge until that lost cow comes home. this begs to be used hard. sharpening will be a bitch but once you obtain scary sharp you'll have it for a while with just the odd light touch-up.

but, if it's just gonna ride the pocket and only come out to be shown off a few times a month, aus10 it is. save the dough on a pocket surfer. real easy to sharpen and get that scary edge, easier to loose it. the 10 is obviously the next up from the aus8. i've been singing the praises of that for a while here and how easy it is to sharpen. the 8 and 10 are very good japanese budget steels. that 35vn, i don't know where that's from but there's your price difference right there.

 

[T-Unit]

Yeah, one thing that this knife is not going to see is daily hard use. It's probably not going to see much use at all and I have long blades that cost less with an AUS8 blade and they've held their edge for me for a long time.

Sounds like the AUS10 is the way to go for this, but for other EDC blades I'll opt for S35 or equivalent.