American lawman vs TI framelock

MikeC

MikeC

Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
1,364
For years now only carried and used titanium frame locks with open construction. For the last year or so been carrying a STR custom made He-Man and have been beyond pleased. However a while back mostly after reading and watching reviews from Ankerson ( thanks Jim) I bought a Cold Steel American Lawman, well I've been carrying it for a few months and everything was fine until summer started. When the child got out of school and we came to Florida for the summer, holy smoke I'm never going to get the sand out of the lawman. We've only been here for 3 weeks and action is so gritty it is unreal. I clean the knife every night and I mean clean, water, air, q tips, the sand is there to stay. Now my TI framelocks under same conditions clean easy in soapy wAter rinse and drip dry,no q tips no air just a sink some water and a place to sit and dry.

While I have been impressed with the overall toughness of the American lawman, I have found it's nemusis and it is the beach and sand. Chalk up another notch on the belt of the ti framelock. Because from a durability and longevity standpoint it appears the ease of cleaning and mainteance gives the TI framelock a clear advantage over the lockback which in this case just happens to be a Lawman. One would think the knife that can be cleaned and maintained both easier and more thoroughly would last longer than the one that is both more difficult to clean and does not clean up as completely.
 
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I found that my axis locks weren't sand/dirt friendly. Though in the future if I'm going to find myself around sand and lots of loose debris, I'd pack a fixed blade.
 
Fixed blade not really an option at the beach, but the folder is alright. I've used it everyday since we've been here.
 
Did you actually drop it in the sand? I used a few different lockbacks in Arizona desert and Iraq with a ton of the most awful sand that got all over and inside most things, never had any problems with the lockback folders or saw others with problems.

The Lawman should be fine as long as you are not dropping it in the sand, sliding in the sand playing beach volleyball, or rolling around in it.
 
Agreed.
Sand is the only substance that I avoid when it comes to my folders.
Sand is fine, until it leaves the beach...then it becomes a pest
 
I keep it clipped to the inside of my swimsuit all day In my pocket. At the end if the day after swimming, looking fir shells, snorkeling, digging holes in the sand with thebiys, etc it might as well have been buried in the sand all
Along. So yes pretty much rolling around in it.
 
I agree that an open design is easier to clean over a sink, but It's also nice that the AL can be disassembled. Not too many lockbacks can be stripped...
 
Well long day at beach coming to a close and the lawman will not even engage anymore and the thing is really starting to rust. Oh well so much for that back to the mission TI frame locks
 
Yes, around sand the frame-locks and liner locks are better.
I found my AXIS locks still worked with sand in the action, but it got gritty, and there might be potential for failure if enough sand got in there.
Edit: Compression locks work well around sand as well.:)
 
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