Even The Tri Ad Lock Isnt Foolproof

In one of the Demko YouTube vs videos he commented that blade play on a triad knife could just be the tolerances around the pivot pin and not a defect in the lock.
 
If I have a knife that develops a bit of blade play vertical after a bunch of hard slamming opens, my first suspicion is a slight flattening of the stop pin. Especially if it's assisted, smooth hard flipper, and/or a non-radiused contact point. It's only happened a couple of times to me, but if I remember correctly, they were corrected by simply rotating the stop pin for a new contact point of impact. Ymmv.



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Sent from my mind....using Tap-a-Thought. (tm)
 
Certainly a great locking system, probably the best around. However, don't trust your fingers to any locking system. Don't even trust them to a fixed blade if you're really going crazy. I mean don't go crazy with any blade. Sharp steel will bite you anytime if you act stupid...
 
Rotating the stop pin is an easy thing that might fix the play. Triads are designed to adjust for some wear, but violent openings may flatten the stop enough to use up that wear allowance.
 
I know this is a resurrection, but my Mini AK-47 has a slight vertical "tick" that's developed over a couple years. The lockbar is also deeper than it was, sitting just below the level of the G-10. I haven't disassembled it, but I think it might be bottoming-out. It's not a problem now, I just hope it doesn't get worse. But it's made me wonder about Triad durability for the long term.
 
Þráinn Njálsson said:
I know this is a resurrection, but my Mini AK-47 has a slight vertical "tick" that's developed over a couple years. The lockbar is also deeper than it was, sitting just below the level of the G-10. I haven't disassembled it, but I think it might be bottoming-out. It's not a problem now, I just hope it doesn't get worse. But it's made me wonder about Triad durability for the long term.
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My mini AK does the same thing. Never bothered me when cutting up boxes with it but if I pinch the tip of the blade it definitely has a vertical tick to it so its moving ever so slightly. No side to side play though.
 
This may sound odd but it was designed to self adjust. If you pinch on it hard and kind of push up and down it will fiz itself. After the play is gone it will not come back. Give it a try!
 
It happened to my CS mini AK47, developed vertical blade play and nothing would make it go away. The lock won't fail. This can be an issue in any back-lock
 
I have never had my ZT 0180 even come close to closing on me under hard use. It seems rock solid. The Tri-Ad lock is a strong, but I think the 0180 has the superior design when it comes to blade play.
 
I have a bunch of tri ad. only 1 had a lot of play. the sr1. there was a whole thread on cs forum about these sr1 knives having this issue. seemed to have been a production tolerance issue. one forum member was able to play with the screws and such and made it go away. I never could on mine.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I have never had my ZT 0180 even come close to closing on me under hard use. It seems rock solid. The Tri-Ad lock is a strong, but I think the 0180 has the superior design when it comes to blade play.
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Do you have Triads with blade play as well? I have had quite a few CS knives and have never had blade play. Are you saying you think the 0180 has a stronger locking mechanism? I have quote a few Spydercos, ZTs, Spartan Blades and others that I respect and like but if my fingers were on the line and I had to do something crazy with a knife I'd use a triad hands down, period.
 
anthonycastorena2014 said:
Do you have Triads with blade play as well? I have had quite a few CS knives and have never had blade play. Are you saying you think the 0180 has a stronger locking mechanism? I have quote a few Spydercos, ZTs, Spartan Blades and others that I respect and like but if my fingers were on the line and I had to do something crazy with a knife I'd use a triad hands down, period.
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20200312-121030.jpg

My ZT 0180 is second from the left. I'm not sure how ZT did it or what they call this kind of lock up, but I'd be willing to pay money that the Cold Steel Tri-Ad lock is less durable and will fail sooner.

The only downside is that the lock up is to such tight tolerances, I haven't figured out how you fold it yet. It's a little embarrassing. I've had it since February. Still, feels pretty dang solid.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
20200312-121030.jpg

My ZT 0180 is second from the left. I'm not sure how ZT did it or what they call this kind of lock up, but I'd be willing to pay money that the Cold Steel Tri-Ad lock is less durable and will fail sooner.

The only downside is that the lock up is to such tight tolerances, I haven't figured out how you fold it yet. It's a little embarrassing. I've had it since February. Still, feels pretty dang solid.
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I see........ LOL got me. Well played my friend, well played. Something tells me you would have won that bet. Damn thats funny at my expense, but I can't help but laugh. :confused::confused:
 
Steely_Gunz said:
20200312-121030.jpg

My ZT 0180 is second from the left. I'm not sure how ZT did it or what they call this kind of lock up, but I'd be willing to pay money that the Cold Steel Tri-Ad lock is less durable and will fail sooner.

The only downside is that the lock up is to such tight tolerances, I haven't figured out how you fold it yet. It's a little embarrassing. I've had it since February. Still, feels pretty dang solid.
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Yeah, but. The lock-up problem with the ZT 0180 is that stupid, too-big-by-far sheath that lets the knife rattle around loosely.
 
Sosa said:
The lock wears in and gets even tighter. Try opening it more robustly. I bet you'll have no play.
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I ve seen this reported other places. I would try opening it a couple of dozen times very hard and see if the play resolves. I ve never had a Cold Steel with a Triad develop play. And I ve used some of my knives pretty extensively.
I think I ll go check the ones that I have close by.
 
all of my cold steel triad locks so far have been perfect but i havent used them hard. also i remember sal from spyderco saying that a tiny amount of play can be normal for their backlocks, though most spydercos ive had perfect lockup.
 
I have experienced a slight vertical play on lockbacks mostly including some of my Spydercos. I do have probably 8-10 CS folders as well and all seem to lock up pretty solid but now im curious to go check again. While i dont like any play i generally pay it no mind if its only slight.
 
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