I bought this as a hunting knife for field dressing. I haven't done much with it so far but the edge retention seems passable.
The blade length is pretty ideal so far and the knife feels beefy.
Folded up its small enough but still a bit bigger than I like. At the same time the big handle for my hands feels great.
The texture is okay. I wish it was a little more aggressive for those messier jobs.
I'm left handed and really appreciated that the features are completely ambidextrous.
Lock up has been tight and strong so far. But time will tell. This is my first cold steel folder and I've heard they're one of the strongest locks you can get. Definitely better out of the box than my buck 112.
I love the color. It does the job you want from orange without being to bright and obnoxious.
Thick blade kinda blows for deboning an animal but it can do the job. Definitely sturdy enough so far for busting rib cages and a deer pelvis.
Although makes me nervous still being a folder but I've broken fixed buck knives on pelvis's when I've forgotten my saw. So in a pinch I'd be feel just as confident with this as any $60-100 fixed blade.
The centering is really good and hasn't moved on me like cheap folders do.
This knife is pretty heavy. I'd look into something lighter for western hunting. I think this knives strong suit is a jack of all trades whitetail hunters knife or camping knife.
I wouldn't daily carry it but I'd definitely take it camping and batan small logs without being to stressed about it.
For the price I think you couldn't do much better for a beefy whitetail hunting folder.