Cold Steel American Lawman Review

The CPM S35VN is a superior version of the S30V steel produced by Crucible and Chris Reeve in 2009. It has finer grain structure than the S30V with small quantities of niobium. It makes the steel easy to machine precision molding, improving toughness and making it easy to sharpen. You can use Spyderco Sharpmaker to sharpen the blade of American Lawman easily. It has a much better edge retention, toughness and stain resistance, especially at this price.

The blade thickness of 0.13” makes it hefty and beefy. It should be able to carry out tougher EDC tasks. However, it is not thick enough to cause bindings in cuts or an out of proportion blade-to-weight ratio. The knife edge is therefore also toothy right out of production. It is quite usable with aggressive cutting edge compared to other knives of the same profile. The belly of the blade is also quite ample, allowing for precision cuts.

The handle material, G-10, is one of the best materials for knife handles used on many folders and pocketknives by knife manufacturers.  A 3.5” blade with a drop point flat/high hollow ground blade and a huge forward finger choil makes the American Lawman great. The blade comes with a DLC coating, making it look rough and less friendly.

It boasts its name at the bottom of the blade, along with the blade type S35VN and Taiwan verbiage at the back of the blade.

The pocket clip on American Lawman is pretty standard with a small, black coated stainless steel that holds tight in the pocket or wherever you want to hang it. The pocket clip is also reversible with two clips in a curved design. However, it only allows for tip-up carry position. Hence, it isn’t ambidextrous. But it is deep pocket discreet carry with a slim profile and lightweight.

The handle of the Cold Steel American Lawman is made of two thick ply pieces of the G10, making it thick and tough. The handle has no liners inside and the G10 screws into the black aluminum backspacer and the stainless steel lock bar. However, the handle is quite strong yet smooth with contoured edges. Hence, we can say that the handle is capable of enduring tougher cutting tasks. The finishing is also nice without any signs of scratches from factory manufacturing.

The handle is pretty large for a comfortable grip. The shallow jimping at the top of the handle along with the forward finger choil makes it comfortable to hold from the bottom of the blade. Hence, the ergonomics on this knife are also great. At the same time, it provides high traction. You can also hold the knife handle in a reverse position easily, and with either hand.

I have written reviews on Spyderco Lock back knives here like: Spyderco Delica 4, Spyderco Dragonfly 2, Spyderco Stretch 2 and many other Spyderco Knives reviews you can read.

Cold Steel American Lawman‘s reason for the good deployment is good quality phosphorus bronze washers in the pivot and the polished blade tang that rides along the thumb ramp. It also makes the Lawman justified for its price range.

The CS Lawman also has a stop pin sitting between the lock bar and the blade in the absence of liners. It makes the lock bar and the ramp rigid and reliable. This is also a reason for this lock’s competitiveness in the market amongst other locks.

The lock back or the back lock is one of the simplest and most common folder knife locks. They are also known as spine locks or mid locks and work as non-locking slip-joints. The lock bar resides in the scales of the blade. It lets the knife pivot in the middle with a bent spring that lands at the back of the handle. It provides an upward pressure behind the pivot and presses the lock bar front downward. The lock bar sits at the thumb ramp at the bottom of the tang in a closed position that provides the detent for opening it up.

The thumb stud deployment on CS American Lawman is incredibly smooth. It is not entirely ambidextrous but swappable. However, it does require some wrist action to flip the knife open. It is to ensure that the knife does not flick open when in resting mode, or if not opened on purpose. It is also because of the strong back spring of the triad lock. Therefore, you may need to get used to the thumb stud before getting comfortable with it.

Although there are cheaper knives in the market like Gritx with the same deployment, but not all work perfectly. You can also find Cold Steel American Lawman at just $105 with free shipping online, thereby making it a good deal for the bargain.

The Lawman seemed like a rugged EDC knife, so experimenting with it also seemed necessary. The blade’s thickness turned out to be quite charming. It was able to slice through fruits like apples and pears without cutting it into pieces. The edge geometry is thinner though, making it an excellent tool to cut through cardboard boxes and papers. The oversized forward finger choil also helped make precise cuts as expected. It was beyond comfortable to hold and grip to make exactly the cut you want.

It did show signs of roughage after using it for quite a bit, but that did not hinder its performance. The big G10 handle was easy to hold in the entire hand without letting your hands getting in the way while using the knife. At the same time, you can push your hand back without having to use the finger choil and it will still work perfectly.

You can also use the Lawman to slice through wood and make wood chips. It is equally great for cutting ropes and slicing through duct tape. The blade shape also played very nicely in all the EDC tasks we carried out. We also found that he G10 finishing is much less aggressive than on other knives with G10 like Emerson’s.

The pocket knife also works well and slides in and out of the pocket smoothly without hassle. But the size of the pocket clip is too small and it gets hung up sometimes.

The overall performance of the Lawman is great. It slices well, has a good grip, opens and closes smoothly, and locks open like High end premium knives.

Spyderco Manix 2 cuts close corners with the American Lawman in terms of profile, size, blade shape and handle. Both the blades have a drop point that extend up to 3”.

The blade materials are also close, with Manix 2 having S30V steel blade. The S35VN is just the next level of blade material.

Although in price, the Lawman beats the Manix 2. It is cheaper than the Manix 2. The American Lawman is also slightly heavier than Spyderco Manix 2.

However, the pocket clip and finishing of Manix 2 is much better than the Lawman. Manix 2 allows for deep pocket carry and has a much shinier blade and smooth handle than the Lawman. You can also clearly see the difference in their appearance. The Lawman is more rugged and rough looking, while Manix 2 is quite smooth sleek, and has a thinner profile. Its blade is also thinner than Lawman, which means it slices easier than Lawman.

The deployment of the two knives is different, but equally equitable. Manix 2’s thumb-hole deployment is smoother than the thumb stud spring deployment on the Lawman, making it less smoother during opening and closing.

When it comes down to it, the two knives pretty much fall in the same category. The choice between the two depends on usability and affordability. In our eyes, both are good EDC knives.

As you can see, the Benchmade Bugout looks very similar in size and shape to the American Lawman. It is quite a new release of the Benchamde, so it is safe to say that it is updated and made for modern use. With that, Benchmade also added a premium to their knife, priced at $180, and justified it with after sales service and warranty. You can get it maintained for free directly from Benchmade. Now that is an attractive offer any knife nut would not ignore. On top of that, you can replace its blade at a heavy discount.

Moreover, the Bugout is locally produced within the US, while Lawman is made in Taiwan. It weighs only 1.85 oz. which is only as heavy as the pocket clip.

The Bugout has a 3.25” drop point flat ground blade of S30V. It comes with an Axis Lock, which is not much different from the back lock or the Triad lock and the Spyderco’s Ball Bearing Lock.

The one thing where Lawman may be superior to the Bugout is that it can carry much heavier EDC tasks than the Bugout. The Bugout’s lightweight and thin profile may not make it ideal for, say cutting wood. Although, Bugout is much durable and long-lasting, which also makes after sales service with discounted replaceability much more tempting.

I hope you find Cold Steel American Lawman review very informative. The CPM S35VN steel blade is superior to the S30V on Bugout and Manix 2. The two layered G10 scales are smooth yet tough with contoured edges. The handle length is also favorable along with the edge retention and blade thickness. It makes the knife capable of performing tougher EDC tasks. Our field test of the knife also did not disappoint. It was able to perform well.

Although the knife did show signs of visible wear and tear, but that did not hinder its performance. The appearance of the knife is also rugged and rough right out of the box, so that is not a deal breaker for us.

However, if you want a nicer looking knife, then Manix 2 and Bugout are close alternatives to the Lawman. Both are equally good and can be used with good utility.