Lynn "Tanto" Thompson is a hypemaster. The products are decent quality, but not worth the money in some cases. The tantos, for example, seem to end up spending a lot of time in a drawer judging from what I've seen among my friends who purchased them. They don't seem to be the all-around tool Lynn Thompson would like us to believe. That business about Carbon V steel is also hogwash. Cold Steel produces no knives, all are made for them under contract by other companies. No shame in that, contract work is a long standing tradition in the cutlery industry. Cold Steel simply does not have enough economic clout to have a steel company making up tiny custom runs of an exotic formulation of steel just for them. It is, apparently, just some kind of plain old carbon tool steel. Nothing wrong with that, either. Carbon steel is good stuff. Overall, there product line is OK but you are paying more for the hype. Camillus makes a lot of their knives for them, buy a Camillus and you'll get the same quality for less money. If you like the "tactical" type folders, I'd say the Pacific Cutlery ones are better designs and in the same price range.