Cold Steel declares Strider a Fraud!

[Hock]

For your entertaining reading and information. This was buzzing around the knife industry.

From Lynn Thompson, Cold Steel Knives-

      "For years now I have watched Strider Knives become very successful at selling knives that cost hundreds of dollars a piece, which in my mind were little more than sharpened bars of steel wrapped with 40 cents worth of Para cord...but I made no comment.  After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder.  So who was I to criticize a real operator like Mick Strider, a man who has faced the perils of real combat and who has put his life on the line during numerous Special Operations and Black Ops.  So I kept my peace.

       For the best part of a decade I have read article after article touting Mick Strider and his company Strider Knives as the real experts when it came to combat or tactical knives, all based on Mick's vast combat and Special Operations experience.  I know, from incurring years of advertising expenses, the enormous financial benefit of all the free press and editorial he was receiving.  And I marveled at his good fortune to get for free, what I couldn't begin to afford.  But after all, didn't Mick deserve it?  Wasn't he a bona fide special operator with vast experience in combat, Special Operations and Black Ops?  I had never served in the military, so who was I to question his good fortune?  So I held my peace.

     For almost two years, I have been aware of some very disturbing facts concerning Mick Strider's military service and personal life that would have a huge impact on his business if it were to become public knowledge.  But, after all, it wasn't my job to set the record straight, and surely all the magazines which had done so much to build the Strider reputation would do the right thing.  So, I held my peace and waited and waited and waited...but the magazines have been dead silent!

    But now I'm no longer willing to remain silent and hold my peace after reading Dexter Ewing's article entitled "Rock Star Knife Makers" in the February 2007 issue of Blade Magazine.  You see, what finally "tripped my switch" was when Dexter equated Mick Strider to a rock star (a rock star is generally acknowledged to be a celebrity) with nary a mention of the fact that Mick Strider has lied outrageously for years.  He has lied about his experiences in combat (none), Special Operations (none) and Black Ops (none), not to mention the fact that he served 5 years in prison on felony convictions for ARMED CARJACKING, USE AND CARRYING OF A FIREARM DURING THE COMMISION OF A VIOLENT CRIME, AND INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF A STOLEN VEHICLE.  SHAME ON YOU, DEXTER.  For years and years MICK STRIDER has worn the "BEEN THERE, DONE THAT" T-SHIRT while reaping all the financial and publicity benefits that go with it.  And now, it turns out, HE STOLE THE SHIRT, AND HAS A VIOLENT CRIMINAL PAST TO BOOT!"

[Milldog1776]

Yep...looks like something Lynn would do. To what benefit, though?

[cgonzales]

for the benefit of all who have or are serving proudly in the U.S. military. that smuck should have to face a platoon of rangers and explain himself. then serve a tour or two on point. that being said i own two of there folders, good knives. wont buy another one.

[Kentbob]

for the benefit of all who have or are serving proudly in the U.S. military. that smuck should have to face a platoon of rangers and explain himself. then serve a tour or two on point. that being said i own two of there folders, good knives. wont buy another one.

Carl...were you a ranger?  If you were...well...I guess we could still be friends...


Kent

[cgonzales]

no not a ranger just a lowley grunt then a stint with the m.p.'s 10 years total service time.
but i do count a few rangers as my closest friends. mr. strider (if thats his real name) has claimed to be a member of the rangers and to have seen action with several different branches of the spec ops community.

[Kentbob]

no not a ranger just a lowley grunt then a stint with the m.p.'s 10 years total service time.
but i do count a few rangers as my closest friends. mr. strider (if thats his real name) has claimed to be a member of the rangers and to have seen action with several different branches of the spec ops community.

Whew!     I guess we can definitely be friends, then. 

I think he should have to wear a sign saying that he's a fraud, like that one dude who claimed to be a marine.  I think that would be great.

Kent

[kamagong]

I read the article a couple of days ago.  I don't know enough about Mr. Strider to be able to make a judgement.  Lynn strikes me as a very aggressive businessman.  So, I can't make a comment one way or another in regards to that.  However, the only reason I can think of for Thompson to do this is to discredit Mr. Strider because he is afraid for his business.  I have been on the recieving end of this type of attack (groundless, he has done this to several schools and instructors in town) in the past from a local instructor not only in the community, but on public forums.  So, I take this type of accusation with a grain of salt, unless Lynn can back this up with hard facts.

[Benjamin Liu]

This has been a big debate on forums like Bladeforums.com and probably every knife-related forum.  From what I've read the facts are probably correct, not that that has anything to do with the quality of Strider knives.  Lynn Thompson also comes off as a jerk on several occasions, but that also doesn't have anything to do with the quality of Cold Steel knives.  About 10 years ago I was in a knife store and I asked if they had any Cold Steel knives and the owner went on a long rant about how bad their knives were.  After a line of questioning, she admitted that she did not like them because she met Thompson and thought he was a jerk and her opinion on the knives was not based on using them.  Similarly, most of the anti-Cold Steel posts I've read have nothing to do with their actual knives.  One can choose to boycott or buy from either company for personal reasons, or buy or not buy their products for quality reasons.

I don't think Strider is really in competition with Cold Steel, and certainly not a threat.  Companies like Busse are better examples of the market Strider is in.  Their knives are hand-made and expensive, and they attract a different type of customer than those Cold Steel attracts.  Cold Steel mass-produces knives and can probably make more knives than all the popular semi-custom companies combined.  With Cold Steel you can get a high-quality expensive knife, or you can get a cheap but functional Bushman for a fraction of the cost.  Cold Steel's competition is more companies like Buck, Ontario, Spyderco, possibly Benchmade since they now have lines in multiple price ranges, Kershaw, Ka-Bar, etc.

It is possible that there is an ego competition rather than a market one, a "competition" over who makes the best knives.

[grlaun]

Hey Kent.  Superhero or not, Marine always has a capital 'M'!

[Kentbob]

Hey Kent.  Superhero or not, Marine always has a capital 'M'!

And Paratrooper always has a capital P.   


Kent

[grlaun]

Got it Paratrooper!

[camryne]

Hey Kent.  Superhero or not, Marine always has a capital 'M'!

And Paratrooper always has a capital P.   


Kent

  Just...wow. I'll just sit here shaking my head at you guys...

[grlaun]

If ya ain't been there it don't mean much. 

[camryne]

I just like to tease. I actually have much respect for those who serve and those who have served.

[mleone]

I dont know, I feel its bad business to post something like that. True or not..
I would be better business to put up something to the effect of "We are not affiliated with him what so ever".

Its like the Kenpo site I once found that trashed talked Kenpo....
Bad business...

I feel putting out negative things only reaps more negative stuff back to you.