Haven't seen much about this knife, so thought I would post up my impressions of it in case anyone else is considering it. I've always associated Cold Steel with cheap, mass-produced garbage. And they certainly make plenty of that, but I don't think this knife falls into that category.
As I started looking for a new knife during the season this year, I listed out my criteria. These are all just my personal preference; I'm not claiming any special knowledge or situation, not saying knives that don't meet these criteria are somehow inferior. They're not. These are just the main things I was looking for in a knife:
I was pretty skeptical of the Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter when I came across it, but it met most of my requirements. These list on Cold Steel's website for $190, but I picked up a new one off eBay for just under $100.
It's obviously a folding blade, and it locks up really positively and solidly. There's virtually no flex to the blade itself and it doesn't move in the handle at all. The blade shape is good, but it is a little fat overall. I really only found this to be problematic when cutting around the anus of a deer; otherwise, I really appreciated the shape and even the beefiness of the blade.
The steel is S35VN, which hasn't been my favorite steel to sharpen. I'll have to figure out an different tool or method than I've used in the past for this relationship to work out long term.
The grip is great. There's enough texture to maintain positive grip, but not so much that it becomes uncomfortable to use. Like the blade, the grip is fat and it fills the hand well. But it isn't so fat that it's difficult to change grips for more precise work. It's also orange, thank God.
The knife advertises at 4.9 ounces, but I haven't weighed it. I did take off the big pocket clip. While the knife isn't terribly heavy, it's large enough that I wouldn't consider it suitable for carrying around in my front pocket. I may be biased on that as I've carried some version of the Benchmade Bugout for the last several years, which is easy to forget about being there. You won't forget the Ultimate Hunter is in your pocket; it's a tank.
I used this knife on a few whitetail toward the end of the year, everything from field dressing, to skinning, to quartering one. I wasn't completely blown away by it - it doesn't excel in any area in particular, but it also doesn't do anything poorly. It came acceptably sharp from the factory, which was mildly surprising. Between the edge, the weight of the blade, and the shape of the blade, it cut pretty much like a light saber. One issue I've always had with replaceable blade knives is that it isn't always intuitive to me where the end of the blade actually is and I end up with little nicks all over my hands and fingers. This knife doesn't have that problem at all; even when it's dark or my hands are up in the chest cavity out of my sight, the blade is where I expect it to be. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what's going on there, but suffice it to say I'm not hacking away at my own fingers in any situation I've been in with it so far.
Overall, I'm happy enough with it that I plan on sticking with it for 2024 (or until I get tired of it, or it fails to function in some capacity). I certainly wouldn't claim it's the "best" knife in any way, but it is a good all around knife at a reasonable price point (if you shop around). I wouldn't have paid full price for it, and still wouldn't after using it some. It's perfectly adequate and not at all earth shattering. Which is maybe what a lot more knives should be.
As I started looking for a new knife during the season this year, I listed out my criteria. These are all just my personal preference; I'm not claiming any special knowledge or situation, not saying knives that don't meet these criteria are somehow inferior. They're not. These are just the main things I was looking for in a knife:
- Not a replaceable blade. I've used Tyto, Kestrel, Outdoor Edge, and Havalon replaceable blades. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with most of them, it was just my preference to get away from them.
- Folding blade. I find it to be a huge PITA to clean blood and tissue out of a folding knife, but prefer this over a sheath knife. I'm not going to clean my knife in the field before sheathing it, and having bits of hair and fat stuck in a knife sheath is disgusting.
- Easy to sharpen in the field. I don't historically get along with modern steels, so I wanted something I could re-sharpen pretty easily, even if that meant I needed to touch it up more often.
- Orange. This was a mandatory requirement for me. I lose track of knives pretty easily in the field. The orange color wouldn't help much in the dark, and I didn't think finding one with reflective tracers in the scales was realistic (somebody please take this idea and run with it!), but at least I'd be able to spot the damn thing in daylight.
- No blade coating. What I mean is, no black or "tactical" low-vis blades. See above.
- Grip. Not too little, not too much. While I really like the Argali Serac, the aggressiveness of the grip is pretty annoying at times. I need some texture, but not a tremendous amount. I also wanted the grip to fill my hand up.
- Weight. Ultralight knives are cool (Kestrel makes some great ones), but I ultimately decided that if I could find something that checked most of my boxes at under about 6 ounces, I'd be plenty happy with that.
- Price. The least important factor, but not entirely irrelevant. I've lost a $200 knife in the field; I'd prefer to be around $100 so it wouldn't piss me off as much if I lose this one.
I was pretty skeptical of the Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter when I came across it, but it met most of my requirements. These list on Cold Steel's website for $190, but I picked up a new one off eBay for just under $100.
It's obviously a folding blade, and it locks up really positively and solidly. There's virtually no flex to the blade itself and it doesn't move in the handle at all. The blade shape is good, but it is a little fat overall. I really only found this to be problematic when cutting around the anus of a deer; otherwise, I really appreciated the shape and even the beefiness of the blade.
The steel is S35VN, which hasn't been my favorite steel to sharpen. I'll have to figure out an different tool or method than I've used in the past for this relationship to work out long term.
The grip is great. There's enough texture to maintain positive grip, but not so much that it becomes uncomfortable to use. Like the blade, the grip is fat and it fills the hand well. But it isn't so fat that it's difficult to change grips for more precise work. It's also orange, thank God.
The knife advertises at 4.9 ounces, but I haven't weighed it. I did take off the big pocket clip. While the knife isn't terribly heavy, it's large enough that I wouldn't consider it suitable for carrying around in my front pocket. I may be biased on that as I've carried some version of the Benchmade Bugout for the last several years, which is easy to forget about being there. You won't forget the Ultimate Hunter is in your pocket; it's a tank.
I used this knife on a few whitetail toward the end of the year, everything from field dressing, to skinning, to quartering one. I wasn't completely blown away by it - it doesn't excel in any area in particular, but it also doesn't do anything poorly. It came acceptably sharp from the factory, which was mildly surprising. Between the edge, the weight of the blade, and the shape of the blade, it cut pretty much like a light saber. One issue I've always had with replaceable blade knives is that it isn't always intuitive to me where the end of the blade actually is and I end up with little nicks all over my hands and fingers. This knife doesn't have that problem at all; even when it's dark or my hands are up in the chest cavity out of my sight, the blade is where I expect it to be. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what's going on there, but suffice it to say I'm not hacking away at my own fingers in any situation I've been in with it so far.
Overall, I'm happy enough with it that I plan on sticking with it for 2024 (or until I get tired of it, or it fails to function in some capacity). I certainly wouldn't claim it's the "best" knife in any way, but it is a good all around knife at a reasonable price point (if you shop around). I wouldn't have paid full price for it, and still wouldn't after using it some. It's perfectly adequate and not at all earth shattering. Which is maybe what a lot more knives should be.
