Knife Review: Cold Steel Ti-Lite 4 Inch Zytel

MrAtom · July 1st, 2016, 05:10 AM

First and foremost, looking at this pocket knife, it takes a lot of design influences from a "stilletto" style switchblade:

Only instead of being all fancy looking, it has zytel handle scales, steel liners, a beefy lock, a pocket clip etc. It's designed for more practical purposes. I personally think it looks beautiful.

Before we get into the real review though, I've gotta say: This knife was designed for one and one thing only: stabbing people and defending yourself. I find it's handy for other tasks as well. A knife is probably not the right choice for defending yourself. Please, buy something else for $40 if that's your intended use for this knife. And, even if you do use a knife to defend yourself, a scary-looking one like this isn't going to look good in court. Further reading here:

http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/knifelies.html

Also check with your local laws to ensure that you are legally able to own/carry/use this knife in whatever manner you intend to if you want to by this knife.

Usage

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I bought this knife because a friend of mine had one several years ago. I got it to remember him. And like him, I intended to use it and carry it. He carried it as a weapon. I carry it as a tool. I used to carry a CRKT Incendor (excellent value for the money) and I alternate between the knives depending on where I am (the CRKT is less liable to freak people out if they see me use it).

In reading other reviews for this knife, some people said it wasn't ideal for use as a utility knife because the blade is thin and has no belly. While I would prefer something else for something like whittling, this gets the job done pretty much as effectively as any other blade. I don't miss my CRKT when carrying this knife.

Quick deployment

This knife also carries a feature that'll snag the tang of the blade on your pants, opening the knife, if you do it right. It works for that, I guess. But since I'm not planning on stabbing anyone with this, I find it annoying when taking it out of my pants when sitting down. It always partially deploys on accident and I've cut my fingers a few times by mistake. If you keep your knives scary-sharp like me, the clean little slices on your fingers will heal quickly and it's more of an annoyance than an actual danger. I'll likely file it down to be smooth, disabling the feature.

Blade steel

Something I haven't seen mentioned is that the blade chips. There are some reports of Spyderco's AUS-8A doing this, but not Cold Steel, to my knowledge. They're extremely tiny, but you will notice them if you're like me and you don't sharpen your knives; you strop them to a polished edge and just continue to do that before the knife dulls up enough to warrant sharpening. They're very small and I can barely see them. To remedy this, I've reprofiled the edge to be less-steep. So far, no chips. A minor annoyance. My best guess is that this batch was heat-treated differently. After all, this knife has been in production long enough to see the industry change. It holds its edge noticeably better than the 8cr13mov on my CRKT. Not the best steel, but it's good if you strop it and maintain it.

Lock

The lock is just a liner lock. Cold Steel calls it something else, but it's just a damn liner lock. The lockup is good. No blade-play in either direction. There are demos of guys stabbing the knife into a piece of wood then standing on the handle, but that doesn't impress me; why would you put that much pressure on the blade in that direction? It's also extremely difficult to close when you first get it, but once it's broken in, it's smooth and can be closed with one hand easily if you've got a nice callus on your thumb.

Price

As I'm writing this, the Cold Steel Ti-Lite 4 inch model in Zytel costs $40. There's a 6-inch model, different handle materials, all kinds of options. But I have the $40 one. $40 is fair given the few drawbacks, materials fit and finish, etc, but given the sentimental value that this knife has to me, as well as how I find that it's a very attractive looking knife, it's much more worth it to me. Depends on your taste/philosophy of use/maintenance methods. If $40 seems steep for one knife to you, I suggest you read up on the topic and learn to sharpen an maintain a knife. Or keep buying $10 pocket knives and discarding them when they go dull. Your call.

tl;dr

If you want an aesthetically pleasing knife that can handle most tasks you throw at it (given proper maintenance) for $40, this is a good buy. If it's not your style, the CRKT Incendor is very nice as well.

EternalNewb · July 2nd, 2016, 11:37 PM

Thanks for the very useful review. I was wondering, how loose/easy the action is to open the knife. I had an old Smith & Wesson HRT a long while back that would always slide open on me, even if I didn't touch the quick-deploy nub.

MrAtom · July 3rd, 2016, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EternalNewb

Thanks for the very useful review. I was wondering, how loose/easy the action is to open the knife. I had an old Smith & Wesson HRT a long while back that would always slide open on me, even if I didn't touch the quick-deploy nub.

You mean from the closed position to open? It never accidentally opens on me unless the "wave" feature snaggles on my pants, which is why I'm filing it smooth. And that also only ever happens when I'm sitting down. Also, if you take it and do a fast, forceful down-up with the knife horizontal, closed, in a position where the blade would open downwards, it will open. But it takes a LOT of force to do that, so I would have no concerns. The build quality is much greater on this knife than any S&W knife I've ever owned. The S&W company has its merits, but their knives are typically pretty awful.

EternalNewb · July 3rd, 2016, 09:00 AM

Haha, I'm not going to argue for the quality of most S&W knives. Good to know about the Cold Steel knife. The HRT was ridiculously loose. I had it in my pocket while skateboarding once, and it slipped open just from the motion of me pushing off the pavement, sliced a hole in my pants, and fell out. Thank god the damn thing didn't snag on my hand or stab me.

JohnnyBravo · July 9th, 2016, 10:37 PM

That is a sweet knife

I carry a gerber combat folder if I think I may need to stab someone (thankfully never had too)

July 1st, 2016, 05:10 AM	#1
MrAtom . Name: . Location: . Join Date: Aug 2014 Motorcycle(s): . Posts: A lot. MOTM - July '15	Knife Review: Cold Steel Ti-Lite 4 Inch Zytel First and foremost, looking at this pocket knife, it takes a lot of design influences from a "stilletto" style switchblade: Only instead of being all fancy looking, it has zytel handle scales, steel liners, a beefy lock, a pocket clip etc. It's designed for more practical purposes. I personally think it looks beautiful. Before we get into the real review though, I've gotta say: This knife was designed for one and one thing only: stabbing people and defending yourself. I find it's handy for other tasks as well. A knife is probably not the right choice for defending yourself. Please, buy something else for $40 if that's your intended use for this knife. And, even if you do use a knife to defend yourself, a scary-looking one like this isn't going to look good in court. Further reading here: http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/knifelies.html Also check with your local laws to ensure that you are legally able to own/carry/use this knife in whatever manner you intend to if you want to by this knife. Usage Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I bought this knife because a friend of mine had one several years ago. I got it to remember him. And like him, I intended to use it and carry it. He carried it as a weapon. I carry it as a tool. I used to carry a CRKT Incendor (excellent value for the money) and I alternate between the knives depending on where I am (the CRKT is less liable to freak people out if they see me use it). In reading other reviews for this knife, some people said it wasn't ideal for use as a utility knife because the blade is thin and has no belly. While I would prefer something else for something like whittling, this gets the job done pretty much as effectively as any other blade. I don't miss my CRKT when carrying this knife. Quick deployment This knife also carries a feature that'll snag the tang of the blade on your pants, opening the knife, if you do it right. It works for that, I guess. But since I'm not planning on stabbing anyone with this, I find it annoying when taking it out of my pants when sitting down. It always partially deploys on accident and I've cut my fingers a few times by mistake. If you keep your knives scary-sharp like me, the clean little slices on your fingers will heal quickly and it's more of an annoyance than an actual danger. I'll likely file it down to be smooth, disabling the feature. Blade steel Something I haven't seen mentioned is that the blade chips. There are some reports of Spyderco's AUS-8A doing this, but not Cold Steel, to my knowledge. They're extremely tiny, but you will notice them if you're like me and you don't sharpen your knives; you strop them to a polished edge and just continue to do that before the knife dulls up enough to warrant sharpening. They're very small and I can barely see them. To remedy this, I've reprofiled the edge to be less-steep. So far, no chips. A minor annoyance. My best guess is that this batch was heat-treated differently. After all, this knife has been in production long enough to see the industry change. It holds its edge noticeably better than the 8cr13mov on my CRKT. Not the best steel, but it's good if you strop it and maintain it. Lock The lock is just a liner lock. Cold Steel calls it something else, but it's just a damn liner lock. The lockup is good. No blade-play in either direction. There are demos of guys stabbing the knife into a piece of wood then standing on the handle, but that doesn't impress me; why would you put that much pressure on the blade in that direction? It's also extremely difficult to close when you first get it, but once it's broken in, it's smooth and can be closed with one hand easily if you've got a nice callus on your thumb. Price As I'm writing this, the Cold Steel Ti-Lite 4 inch model in Zytel costs $40. There's a 6-inch model, different handle materials, all kinds of options. But I have the $40 one. $40 is fair given the few drawbacks, materials fit and finish, etc, but given the sentimental value that this knife has to me, as well as how I find that it's a very attractive looking knife, it's much more worth it to me. Depends on your taste/philosophy of use/maintenance methods. If $40 seems steep for one knife to you, I suggest you read up on the topic and learn to sharpen an maintain a knife. Or keep buying $10 pocket knives and discarding them when they go dull. Your call. tl;dr If you want an aesthetically pleasing knife that can handle most tasks you throw at it (given proper maintenance) for $40, this is a good buy. If it's not your style, the CRKT Incendor is very nice as well.
	1 out of 1 members found this post helpful.

July 9th, 2016, 10:37 PM	#5
JohnnyBravo Certifiable nontundrum Name: Harper Location: NC Milkshake stand Join Date: Mar 2013 Motorcycle(s): 2013 SE NINJA 300 Posts: Too much. MOTM - Sep '13, Sep '16	That is a sweet knife I carry a gerber combat folder if I think I may need to stab someone (thankfully never had too) __________________________________________________

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July 2nd, 2016, 11:37 PM	#2
EternalNewb ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: S Location: CA/MA, usually Join Date: Nov 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2012 Ninja 250R, 2007 Ninja 650R, 2001 F650 Dakar Posts: A lot.	Thanks for the very useful review. I was wondering, how loose/easy the action is to open the knife. I had an old Smith & Wesson HRT a long while back that would always slide open on me, even if I didn't touch the quick-deploy nub.

July 3rd, 2016, 09:00 AM	#4
EternalNewb ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: S Location: CA/MA, usually Join Date: Nov 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2012 Ninja 250R, 2007 Ninja 650R, 2001 F650 Dakar Posts: A lot.	Haha, I'm not going to argue for the quality of most S&W knives. Good to know about the Cold Steel knife. The HRT was ridiculously loose. I had it in my pocket while skateboarding once, and it slipped open just from the motion of me pushing off the pavement, sliced a hole in my pants, and fell out. Thank god the damn thing didn't snag on my hand or stab me.