- Joined
- Oct 7, 2009
- Messages
- 63
Hi! I do not have any pictures, but there are enough pictures of this knife I think. Also search "Cold Steel American Lawman G-10 review" and you will find close pictures of the particular version I'm reviewing here. Search "Cold Steel G-10 frame Lawman" YouTube for a video where Andrew Demko himself demonstrates the lock strength of this knife(the new version). You will also find videos of the new AK-47 knife also. These videos are quite impressive. These are not the ordinary CS marketingvideos. Now, on to the review.
I have seen some people complain about why CS went from steel liners and G-10 to a clean G-10 framedesign. This has been done on the American Lawman, the AK-47 and the Recon-knives as far as I know. I think this is a valid point to make a complaint on, but I will on this review discuss the benefits by doing this. I own both versions, though I don't have the first version(with steel liners) anymore. I'm not going to talk about CS's marketing and advertising, I find their videos fun to watch and I'm not a CS fanboy.
Firstly, I will list some of the points about the Lawman's design and materials. Remember that this is from my own opinion and experience.
*G-10 is incredibly strong and is probably the handle material which has the best and strongest resistance against elements, temperature change etc. I've also heard it is flameproof. Andrew Demko says in a video that this design is actually stronger than the older models. I believe him since it is not the frame that fails first usually, but the lock. It also makes the knife lighter.
*I dissembled the older model and found that the mechanism was "caged" pretty good by those steel liners. It was strong, but incredibly difficult to remove all the parts seperately because of this. The old model was like Alcatraz compared to the new model as a pair of plastic-handcuffs for kids You had to remove a lot more pins and screws. The general maintenance on the older model was a lot more difficult than on the newer one. That is not good on any folder in my opinion. A durable folding knife has to be easy to maintain, this was not the case with the old model in my opinion.
*With the new G-10 frame, maintenance is now easy as walking. On the back of the knife, it is a huge and thick corrosion resistant aluminum-slab which encases the spring pin. No way that is gonna fail on you. Overbuilt. The lock has only three moving parts: The blade, the lockbackbutton and the spring-pin. Very easy to maintain.
The knife is now a lot more "simple"(less screws and nuts), but in my opinion more durable. The cutout on the blade itself for the "stop pin"(will discuss that later on) has been rounded instead of flattened as it pretty much was on the older model. This gives a much more effective energytransfer.
*The beltclip has been slightly changed. The old one had a long cutout in the middle. The new one has no cutout and has "Cold Steel" engraved to it. Definately a plus in my book, since the clip is now stronger.
*The Tri-Ad lock by Demko and CS is basically a standard lockback with an added "stop-pin". The stop pin is located between the end of the bladespine and in front of the lockbackbutton. On a standard lockback the bladespine and lockbackbutton will connect. With a stop-pin, the blade and the lockbackbutton gets seperated. The stop-pin is completely overbuilt(like a Strider almost) and is connected to the G-10 handle. This will make all the energy from either the blade or the lock or both of them transfer to the handle instead of on each other. This reliefs stress on the lock dramatically. It also makes it possible to add length to the blade, so it will be less prone to bladewiggle and play.
Think of this mechanism as the HANS-device used in autoracing. All the forward neck energy gets transferred to the strong chestmuscles instead of the spinal area.
*All the parts are as mentioned before, completely overbuilt. The only weak spot on this knife would be the delicate tip. I've seen Demko stamp and put all his weight on this knife(he's around 100 kg and the knife was placed sideways). It did not fail. In fact, it was undamaged. I'm pretty sure a lot of customfolders would. I dare to say that CS's new line can par with a lot of strong customfolders when it comes to frame and lockstrength.
I own an original Masters of Defense folding knife(model 875 with a plungelock), and it is not as durable in my opinion. The new design would also be a lot more suitable against the elements since it is less parts made of steel, ease of maintenance, rust will not be such a problem. The backplate of aluminum is definately a huge plus, can not remember if the old model had that feature.
So here you have it, I may have been wrong on a lot of points, so please forgive me on that. The knife is still made in Taiwan, but made in USA does not always mean better quality, and yes, I love American-made knives! I made this review since I haven't found any other ones which discuss this.
Have a nice day!
I have seen some people complain about why CS went from steel liners and G-10 to a clean G-10 framedesign. This has been done on the American Lawman, the AK-47 and the Recon-knives as far as I know. I think this is a valid point to make a complaint on, but I will on this review discuss the benefits by doing this. I own both versions, though I don't have the first version(with steel liners) anymore. I'm not going to talk about CS's marketing and advertising, I find their videos fun to watch and I'm not a CS fanboy.
Firstly, I will list some of the points about the Lawman's design and materials. Remember that this is from my own opinion and experience.
*G-10 is incredibly strong and is probably the handle material which has the best and strongest resistance against elements, temperature change etc. I've also heard it is flameproof. Andrew Demko says in a video that this design is actually stronger than the older models. I believe him since it is not the frame that fails first usually, but the lock. It also makes the knife lighter.
*I dissembled the older model and found that the mechanism was "caged" pretty good by those steel liners. It was strong, but incredibly difficult to remove all the parts seperately because of this. The old model was like Alcatraz compared to the new model as a pair of plastic-handcuffs for kids You had to remove a lot more pins and screws. The general maintenance on the older model was a lot more difficult than on the newer one. That is not good on any folder in my opinion. A durable folding knife has to be easy to maintain, this was not the case with the old model in my opinion.
*With the new G-10 frame, maintenance is now easy as walking. On the back of the knife, it is a huge and thick corrosion resistant aluminum-slab which encases the spring pin. No way that is gonna fail on you. Overbuilt. The lock has only three moving parts: The blade, the lockbackbutton and the spring-pin. Very easy to maintain.
The knife is now a lot more "simple"(less screws and nuts), but in my opinion more durable. The cutout on the blade itself for the "stop pin"(will discuss that later on) has been rounded instead of flattened as it pretty much was on the older model. This gives a much more effective energytransfer.
*The beltclip has been slightly changed. The old one had a long cutout in the middle. The new one has no cutout and has "Cold Steel" engraved to it. Definately a plus in my book, since the clip is now stronger.
*The Tri-Ad lock by Demko and CS is basically a standard lockback with an added "stop-pin". The stop pin is located between the end of the bladespine and in front of the lockbackbutton. On a standard lockback the bladespine and lockbackbutton will connect. With a stop-pin, the blade and the lockbackbutton gets seperated. The stop-pin is completely overbuilt(like a Strider almost) and is connected to the G-10 handle. This will make all the energy from either the blade or the lock or both of them transfer to the handle instead of on each other. This reliefs stress on the lock dramatically. It also makes it possible to add length to the blade, so it will be less prone to bladewiggle and play.
Think of this mechanism as the HANS-device used in autoracing. All the forward neck energy gets transferred to the strong chestmuscles instead of the spinal area.
*All the parts are as mentioned before, completely overbuilt. The only weak spot on this knife would be the delicate tip. I've seen Demko stamp and put all his weight on this knife(he's around 100 kg and the knife was placed sideways). It did not fail. In fact, it was undamaged. I'm pretty sure a lot of customfolders would. I dare to say that CS's new line can par with a lot of strong customfolders when it comes to frame and lockstrength.
I own an original Masters of Defense folding knife(model 875 with a plungelock), and it is not as durable in my opinion. The new design would also be a lot more suitable against the elements since it is less parts made of steel, ease of maintenance, rust will not be such a problem. The backplate of aluminum is definately a huge plus, can not remember if the old model had that feature.
So here you have it, I may have been wrong on a lot of points, so please forgive me on that. The knife is still made in Taiwan, but made in USA does not always mean better quality, and yes, I love American-made knives! I made this review since I haven't found any other ones which discuss this.
Have a nice day!
