I have seen a few comments on other threads about Cold Steel blades not holding an edge. I have been contemplating purchasing their ODA that has their Carbon V steel for a field use beater knife. What are your impressions of this steel? Is this the same steel that wont hold an edge? Being in the Army I tend to be pretty hard on my blades when in the field.

There is always a trade-off with steels...

have you heard if their knives were easy to sharpen?

For myself, a knife that I can sharpen with a few moments with a stone is very important...I once had a knife that was made from a file,,,it took and held an edge for a long time, but the trouble came when I sat down and tried to sharpen it myself,,,I just never got it as sharp as the thing was when I got it...then I dropped it and it broke.

the best knife would be a knife that stayed sharp a long time, and was very easy to sharpen...the worst would be a knife that gets dull by just looking at it, and is also hard to sharpen yourself.

Im interested in how you guy's blades have stacked up and the things you have noticed about them.

I have several knives from the various steels and have found that most suit my needs just fine as far as ease of sharpening and edge holding ability. I recently had a blade made from D2 and hardened to Rockwell 60. It holds an edge extremely well and still sharpens fairly easy. it does take a little more work than 440C or AUS-8 but not much more. Well worth it. I had a pretty pricey factory blade that would go dull cutting through a banana. It seemed like it anyway.

I have no clue where CS's Carbon V fits into the knife steel spectrum. I woould like to know what it compares to.

IMHO, the Cold Steel master hunter is an excellent knife for the money. I have 3 of them stashed in reserve. The steel is good if not great. It will take a fine edge and keep it reasonably well - not as well as D-2 but it's a lot cheaper. For Deer or smaller game I think the Pendelton hunter is a slightly better size but the Master Hunter is probably better for overall hunting. For All Around/survival use I think the SRK might be the way to go. I've skinned and dressed several deer with all 3 of these knives and had no major complaints. The only minor complaint I have is the thickness of the blade, for all around use it's better but I like a thinner blade for skinning, boning etc..
For a little more money I prefer the FallKniven F-1 with VG-10 steel, it has a thinner blade that's still strong enough. It's between the pendelton and Master Hunter is size but somewhat more "svelte" and feels better in my hand. I Field dressed an Elk with mine and it would still shave hair. VG-10 is stainless and I think will hold an edge a little longer.

What steel do your Master Hunters use? Their web site list their Carbon V and AUS-8A. I am familiar with AUS-8A's qualities but know nothing about Carbon V.

Both are excellent steels . I have the AUS8 MH.Heard rumours that the carbon V is the same as , and made by Camillus,the steel used on theBK7 which is excellent. CS seems to be going more toward 420, stay away from that.

im a boar hunting knife from argentina and my favorites knives are cold steel i have a magnum tanto a recon tanto a trail master and a master hunter all are very good knives strong ,and easy to sharpen and hold the sharp a lot of time.i congratulate you for being a soldier is one of the most honourables proffesions i have been a surgeon in my army and my air force.I INVITE YOU TO HUNT WITH ME FREE.GOD SAVE YOU