Blue Steam TI Lock my favorite little big EDC

This thread was part of what motivated me to get a Ti-Lock, and I'm so glad I did. It's an awesome knife. I didn't care much for the stock clip, so I stonewashed a Sebenza clip to go with it.

 
Still going strong here as my only folder for 16 months, thats a record for me. Been so busy with training lately and expecting my third little munchkin so I have not been on. Just a hello while I am on making a few posts. Extremely impressed with the durability and reliability with a relatively flawless design. Its not a heavy duty or a large knife but overall an ideal package for an ergonomic and useful edc. I am thinking of getting a standard clip just to give it a shot. And boy would I like to handle a large Inkosi sometime. Maybe Xmas 2017.
 
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Yes sir Mark.
Been a while since we last spoke. I think it was spring. Same to you and the boys. Happy thanksgiving too. I bet your still enjoying that small inkosi and insingo.

Gizler00 said:
Good to hear from you Matt! Hope all is well!!
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Right there with you JR88FAN, I still have my CRK in the pocket. Carry on, carry on.
 
I still love my Ti-lock. It's the best little big knife. I still marvel at the handle to blade ratio.
 
BellaBlades said:
Right there with you JR88FAN, I still have my CRK in the pocket. Carry on, carry on.
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In several of your photos and use descriptions you have lots of dirt- earth, sand, etc., and I was curious if you take-down the Blue Steam to clean it or does that grit not seem to get into the bearings at the pivot? I am really amazed at how well that knife has performed in your real-world use!
 
I have used the ti lock in the work shop with wood dust, building a sand box, gardening and even a few days wet/dry cutting concrete. I noticed that with the concrete dust and moisture it made the movement a bit gritty and one day some nasty fine grain mud did the same. However the grit I felt was actually the lock bar moving along the track of the blade and that is where it would seize up a bit. Due to the design of the bearings, the inner portion is basically sealed off from the elements and anything that you may feel can be blown or washed out from between the blade and bearing race. Large grain sand never did much to it. It actualy kept its smoothness far longer than most other knives I have owned.

The blade just had its first cleaning since May/june by taking it down. The inside of the bearing assembly was totally clean and had origional lube even after washing it with soap and water a few dozen times over the months. I found that running it basically dry or just lightly lubed/dry on the blade side kept great action. I will admit I admire this gift and I clean it every few days with a bit of alchohol or soap and water as it makes a great paring knife as well for fruit and small veggies. I bet I could have waited another six months with just an occasional water bath and the knife would still operate smoothly. It was actually smoother before I cleaned it up than it is now. The knife might have a few little quirks, but if you keep it clean and maintain it. The design just functions perfect all day every day. Anything I am worried about would be taken care of by my mora. The beneftis of the design far outweigh any small flaws it may have. I will have a spair blade with lock bar installed someday just to have an extra. I will be keeping this puppy to pass down to family.

One self inflicted wound was last week actually. I somehow managed to toss it about 10 feet onto the pavement and it dinged up the titanium track a hair and left a burr that the lock bar would snag and roll over when opening. I took a crock stick to it and smoothed it out.
 
Hey BellaBlades- Thanks for that summary! It's surprising how well the Ti-Lock holds up even when used for just about anything a "utility" blade should be subjected to. The fact the bearings remained clean after being exposed to some serious abrasives is evidence the design was well executed. This should give confidence to other owners that have reservations about the durability of the Ti-Lock (it does for me!).

Sorry to hear about the minor damage incident-- that's a good reminder that protecting the lock bar track is important but not unrecoverable should it be dinged.

I'm looking forward to adding the Elemental to the top of my EDC rotation when it arrives this week.
 
Got the Elemental last week- it's a great annual edition of the TiLock. Planning to make it my [office] EDC. Wonder what the 2017 annual edition will be?

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Love this thoughtful gift still. Never would have tried one otherwise. Its my special occasion, and down time knife. I did EDC it for well over a year. Now I use ot occasionally and look forward to giving it to one of my daughters or grand son someday. Well my oldest is five so it might be a while. And with three girls it might be hard pick who it would go to. Maybe in 50 years I can worry about that.

Off to photo bucket so I can post some pics of my EDC set up and hopefully figure out why these are all missing?
 
It's still here but reserved for special occasions and fondling. It will be passed on when I turn into dirt.

It sure is a shame that photo bucket killed all of my photos.

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Looks like it's moved on. This was a great thread. It would be kind of cool if the new owner posted some pics from time to time.
 
Thanks man. I hope so. I just saw these pics in the thread that were not from photo bucket. Brings back memories from a nice trip a few years back.


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