Cold Steel Acquired By GSM Outdoors

Cold Steel, maker of knives, swords, and other stabby, pointy, sharp things, was acquired by GSM Outdoors of Irving, Texas. Cold Steel joins a list of GSM Outdoors brands that includes companies like Hunters Specialties, Birchwood Casey, and Walker’s Game Ear.

The sale was announced on Friday, December 4th.

From the press release:

Eddie Castro, CEO of GSM Outdoors said, “Cold Steel is an iconic, best in class brand that Lynn Thompson has built over the last 40 years by pushing the needle on innovation and new testing standards. His users are some of the most loyal followers I’ve ever seen, and a testament to what he has built. The team and I are highly enthusiastic about bringing this legendary brand into the GSM Family and broadening our current line of cutlery offerings.”

Cold Steel was founded by Lynn Thompson in 1980. If you have been to the NRA Annual Meeting or to the SHOT Show, you have seen Thompson demonstrating his knives and swords. I have a few of their products including a 1917 Cutlass.

In a video message posted on the Cold Steel Facebook page, Thompson noted that he isn’t going away. More importantly, he said it brings in money and greater materials expertise that will grow Cold Steel far beyond what he himself could do.

That message was also posted to YouTube and I have embedded it below.

CRKT And Cold Steel Settle Their Differences

I got the following press release late this morning from Columbia River Knife & Tool:

Tualatin, Oregon, U.S.A.— July 27, 2015


CRKT today announced a settlement of a lawsuit filed in June 2015 in Los Angeles by Cold Steel relating to advertising by Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT). CRKT is satisfied with the terms of the settlement, which are confidential. The lawsuit will be dismissed. Neither party will make any further comment about the lawsuit or its resolution.

I had written about the lawsuit that Cold Steel brought against CRKT about a month and a half ago. I called it a misuse of the courts and I stand by that statement. While I had a request in to CRKT for a response to the lawsuit, they said they couldn’t talk about it.

As the press release makes clear the lawsuit will be dismissed and the terms of the settlement will be confidential. It should be interesting to see if there is a change in advertising or other behavior from either party in the near to mid-term future. That would be as clear an indication as any as to the terms of the settlement.

The Misuse Of The Courts – Cold Steel V. CRKT

Thanks to a post by Linoge on Facebook, I became aware of a lawsuit filed at the end of last week by knife company Cold Steel against fellow knife company Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). It seems that Cold Steel is upset over an advertising claim by CRKT that some of the CRKT lock systems make their folding knives “virtual fixed blade” knives. Rather than fighting it out in the marketplace and the court of public opinion, Cold Steel has filed suit in US District Court for the Central District of California.

Cold Steel and CRKT both serve what I would call the mass middle market of the knife industry. You have the Frosts and Uniteds who make their knives in Pakistan and China on the low end with the Benchmades, Emersons, and Chris Reeve Knives on the higher end. I have a number of knives from both companies including some with the disputed lock systems by CRKT.

Lynn Thompson, president of Cold Steel, explained his lawsuit as being about safety and “protecting customers fingers”. He says he had sent a letter to CRKT demanding they amend their advertising copy which CRKT ignored. His post makes it sound like he is engaging in lawfare out of altruism. He does say that any profits from the lawsuit will be donated to Knife Rights. Frankly, it sounds like he is getting a lot of heat about it.

The lawsuit below contends that the “virtual fixed blade” advertising claim for CRKT’s knives that have LAWKS, AutoLAWKS, and L.B.S. is “a completely false claim” and that these knives “will fail catastrophically when significant pressure is applied.” Cold Steel alleges that the locking mechanism can be caused to fail by applying slight pressure on the spine or side of the knife. They contend this become a safety issue “if the knife is used to stab a hard surface or pry a resilient material.” To me it would seem that stabbing a hard surface or using a knife as a pry bar is an intentional misuse of a knife regardless of whether it is a folder or fixed blade.

Cold Steel contends the advertising claims of CRKT have caused an “immediate and irreparable injury” for which they are entitled to a permanent injunction of those claims. Moreover, they are asking for actual damages, the profits that CRKT has made from the sale of these knives, exemplary damages, court and attorney’s fees, AND three times the profits that CRKT made or losses that Cold Steel alleges to have incurred, whichever is greater.

As anyone who has attended a NRA Annual Meeting or seen one of Cold Steel’s videos will know, Lynn Thompson is a showman. This lawsuit, to me, comes under the heading of lawfare – using the courts against your competitors – and is frivolous. I don’t think it really has much to do with false advertising or a concern for the customer but rather a different way to draw attention to yourself and your company. The timing of it is also suspect. It was filed two days before the opening of the June 5-7 Blade Show. This is the knife industry’s version of SHOT.

My contact at CRKT says an official response from them will be forthcoming. When it is, I will publish it.

My personal response to this lawsuit will be to vote with my wallet. I won’t be buying any new Cold Steel knives in the future. I don’t approve of lawfare and I won’t subsidize it with my consumer spending. In fact, I may just have to buy that CRKT Liong Mah GSD knife I fondled handled at the SHOT Show.