For today’s comparison review subscriber and Instagrammer Alex_Knifebox, thought it
might be a good idea to trust me with his $675 Demko Knives AD-15- because he knows
I always treat expensive knives with the utmost respect.
I haven’t even dropped it once!
Alexs Instagram features much fancier knives than mine- so go follow him now.
If you don’t you’re killing your father Larry.
Thanks to him, today’s wise use of your time is a comparison of the OG AD-15 to the
CS AD-15.
If you watch the new AD10 and AD15 promo video from Cold Steel you notice first not a single
pig is slashed and second that this is a nearly exact proportional reproduction of the baller
Demko mid tech, because Lynn disassembled it, traced every single part, and hand milled
all the components- even the screws.
Demko Knives Andrew Demko is most famous from Cold Steel’s our lock banged your lock’s
girlfriend tests on youtube… sorry I mean he designs knifes and the inventor of the
Tri-AD lock.
That’s impressive, I’ve never invented anything.
Not even a decent diarrhea joke.
But before we go any further let’s look at these two side by side and compare the
dimensions like the overall length and weight.
In case you’re having trouble identifying the Cold Steel version, it is easily identifiable
by one of it’s first noticeable improvements- the words Cold Steel written on the blade.
Blade Size and Cutting Edge.
There had also been complaints that some owners had been forgetting what blade steel their
Demko used, so they improved that too.
Handle Sizes and Grip Areas.
They added more aggressive ribbing to the scales.
Spine thickness and handle thickness.
You don’t want to forget you have a knife in your hand because good knives are supposed
to hurt.
Tallness.
So the original knife is the Demko Knives AD-15.
There are full custom versions that cost over $1000 with hand ground blades, or you can
opt for the peasants MG AD-15 which start at $675.
MG stands for machine ground, but don’t worry they still have a hand finished edge.
As Andrew says in the video- he has machines in his garage that cost more than his first
house, I’ve never owned a house, so I’ll have to take his word for it.
They sound real nice.
So let’s examine the blade first.
Both blades are ground from still premium last time I checked S35VN steel.
The Demko has a stonewashed finish and the cold steel has a two way brushed finish…
both blades are nearly identical with the exception of a few minor things.
First chamfering- the jimping on the blade spine and the section of the tang thats exposed
in the finger pivot area will be known as your first hot spots.
The Cold Steel does not have those comfortable edges the Demko does.
So expect more discomfort on the Cold Steel when fidgeting… or in theory using the knife.
Also the Demko is lamer because it’s free from branding and the thumb stud uses a star
key to remove instead of the flathead on the Cold Steel.
Both blades though have nice useful edges and your Demko should cut reasonably well.
In theory.
Deployment and lockup.
Both of the knives feature the scorpion lock, which is fun to fidget with, but challenging.
Oh yeah, you’ll get cut.
Basically you use the thumb stud to deploy, then lift the lock to disengage.
It is safest and least cool if you use both hands to close, lift the lock and push the
blade back.
However most self described expert knife assholes won’t be satisfied until they do it one
handed.
You know, the ones who post below youtube videos that you’re doing it wrong.
I had to watch the Cold Steel video and practice it slowly for several boring minutes to get
it sort of down… however you need to watch finger placement when closing so you don’t
shear off finger meat.
The lock pivots on a screw near the rear of the handle… the lock on the Demko is made
from two pinned pieces of slightly heavier titanium, and the Cold Steel uses a single
piece of lighter aluminum.
Considering that titanium is slightly heavier than aluminum…
I have a guess how these knives weigh exactly the same.
The liners on the Demko are titanium versus the cold steels stainless steel, so the cold
steel trades weight from one area to another, much like myself in the past 6 or 7 years.
The Demko is slightly smoother, and you don’t have to hit the thumb studs quite as hard
to deploy.
One might attribute it to having been broken in, but Alex made social media knife bros
proud and said he only carried it five times maybe.
How you gonna resell it if you use it?
You can’t really get the blade to deploy easily by just flinging it downward, blade
bounces out slightly but pops back in.
So I guess blade retention when closed is alright.
The handle is a good size, and the grip area fits my hand well.
I wouldn’t call it overly large, but I don’t have to crowd my fangers, speaking as a 6ft
tall guy with average size hands.
The G10 scales on the Demko provide texture, they’re not smooth, but not anywhere as
WHAT THE HELL YOU LOOKIN AT BOY as the cold steel’s G10.
Demko knives offers all sorts of textures and materials for the scales, and Cold Steel
says you can have any variety you choose as long as it’s OD green just like in the picture,
and you want to be punched by Lynn.
Expect it to chew up the interior of the pocket and to wear on your fragile palm and fingers
as you use it.
I’d say what are you a little girl.
But as a father of a small girl, she whoops my ass every single day.
The Cold Steel of kids.
Pocket clip.
It’s strong and holds the pocket well, and again with the combination of the pocket clip
and the G10, it’s not going anywhere.
It’s a touch stronger than I like, but no one asked me what I like.
Both clips on both knives seem to be interchangeable and equally rigid.
It’s still not quite as unforgiving though as the clip on my Spartan which tells me to
fuck off every time I try to put it in my pocket or remove it.
It’s flippable to the right or left side of the knife in a tip up configuration only.
Comparisons.
This section is a little light because I have most of my collection packed away.
First up the two main knives, then we’ll stick to the Cold Steel.
To the average person these knives are nearly identical in form and function.
One will set you back like it did me about $150 and one nearly $700, like it did Alex.
You get more refinement out of the Demko knife, but it’s a hard argument at 4.5x the price.
One might round some edges on the Cold Steel and call it a day, because you’re not a
real man anyway.
I like the Demko a bit more, but in no way would I ever buy it now that I have the Cold
Steel.
Or Vice Versa Now the Spartan.
The Spartan is a tougher knife to like for the less tactical minds like myself.
By the way I looked it up “A Tactical Mind” has yet to be taken on Youtube.
It’s bigger and heavier, but I don’t know if you get more performance out of it.
Other than skull fucking the fear of your opponent performance.
The Tri-Ad lock is stronger- Andrew Demko says as much in his videos… who designed
both.
However I wouldn’t say it’s harder or easier to close, than the Scorpion Lock found
on the Ad-15s.
Ok one more smaller knife.
The Benchmade Mini Onslaught.
Ok too soon.
I mean the Cold Steel Finn Wolf.
I don’t know much about this knife.
I mean it is a knife… and someone just gave it to me… so now I have another Cold Steel
knife.
I might review this at some point, but I don’t want everyone to think I have this weird thing
for Cold Steel.
It’s not like I have one of those creepy Jesus style paintings, that your grandparents
have, but in the likeness of Lynn instead.
So just leave me alone.
Let’s wrap it up.
I think from an every day carry perspective, my favorite Cold Steel has been the Code 4.
Yeah it has.
That doesn’t mean it’s the best Cold Steel ever, or your favorite, it just means it’s
nearly impossible to review every Cold Steel knife.
It’s eventually a life goal though.
It wasn’t too heavy, fit in the pocket nicely and looked real good.
I really like the AD-15 though, even if it’s not a blade for everyone.
It’s handsome, has a unique design and I would surmise it’s capable of taking a lot
of abuse.
I wish I could baton with it… you know it pains me… but maybe it’s best if I didn’t.
It’s a little too heavy for a daily pocket carry for me, a great weekend knife like the
Benchmade Crooked River, or even similar to the Lion Steel SR-11 I have.
Both of course packed away.
If you don’t mind heavier knives then who gives a shit right.
Buy it.
It has a great hand feel even if some of the spine jimping is kind of owie.
Anyway again big thanks to Alex… you can thank him by subscribing to his much better
than my knife based Instagram- a link is below.
If you want to support this channel, pre-order or buy the knife through my Blade HQ link
below, or maybe think about donating to my Patreon.
Also I bought a new mic setup with this video being the first one I’ve used it.
I hope I sound sexier.
Buying through my links and watching my videos, helps me afford better gear, and $150 knives
to review, and maybe one day I’ll be a real man.
With a Youtube channel.
Ok that sounds gross.
Subscribe to my channel, leave a comment, give the video a thumbs up.
Thanks for watching.