folder vs. fixed blade

harkamus said:
If it's only 50 bucks, why don't you just buy the thing and prove it to yourself? Just 'cause it's 50 bucks doesn't mean people that spend hundreds on knives want to spend that just to run a test for you.

50 bucks is 50 bucks. It's not exactly an amount people want to toss around for amusement.
Click to expand...

I have already done the tests myself why do I have to do it again? I'm not saying that they should do it for me or for anyone else. They should do it for themselves because they are doubting something and arguing something they haven't tried. They don't need to prove it with a video or anything and maybe I shouldn't have put it that way. I'm just saying try it for yourself and don't easily dismiss something without actual experience with it. Other posters have alluded to the same thing I'm saying..so we are all just liars? What would we have to gain? I don't work for cold steel and I don't think they do either.
 
Look you guys can believe whatever you want I can't change your mind and some of you REALLY like to argue. All I'm saying is that unless you have actually had experience with what I'm talking about and have had a spartan,espada,etc lock fail in a task you would use a fixed blade for..then you don't really have a lot to say about it. If you don't speak from experience or have a video of the lock failing or something of that nature then why are you speaking on it? We have a right to an opinion So i guess you can believe what you want but without personal experience or having seeing it than your speaking blindly.
 
ANY folding knife is weaker than a fixed blade of equal size. One piece of steel will always be stronger then an already broken blade that is attached to a handle. I wouldn't trust any folding knife in a situation I needed a knife.

I do believe the Tri-ad is a great lock, but that does not make it as strong as a fixed blade. It isn't, and never will be.
 
TheGame said:
ANY folding knife is weaker than a fixed blade of equal size. One piece of steel will always be stronger then an already broken blade that is attached to a handle. I wouldn't trust any folding knife in a situation I needed a knife.

I do believe the Tri-ad is a great lock, but that does not make it as strong as a fixed blade. It isn't, and never will be.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Fair enough, it's all good man. I wouldn't have a problem counting on a spartan or espada.
 
i honestly belive the spartan is streonger than some fixed blades of the same blade size and weight, not all but some


i have a spartan that i beat thru small trees with a hammer, i can honeslty say that some below $100 fixed blades cannot handle that.


i think the triad is very strong but the sheer size of the mechanics are of course helping, a smaller knife like the recons, ak / mini ak, and amer. lawman/ mini lawman i dont think is up to par as good made small fixed blade, something like xl espada or rajah 2 chop amazingly for a folding knife, but the steel isnt as good as a quality fixed blade chopper, blade and handle materials come into play of course

the one problem witht he spartan, is the handle, yes its secure, but it also rubs the skin right off your pinky after long chopping


heres a pic of long after the edge was dull, rolled, chipped from other trees and hammering thru fence posts and small tree. my pinky's new blister started bleeding so i never finished this limb.
FILE0104.jpg




ETA: the lockup is still solid, but the blade is far far far beyond my sharpening skills lol
 
TheGame said:
ANY folding knife is weaker than a fixed blade of equal size. One piece of steel will always be stronger then an already broken blade that is attached to a handle. I wouldn't trust any folding knife in a situation I needed a knife.

I do believe the Tri-ad is a great lock, but that does not make it as strong as a fixed blade. It isn't, and never will be.
Click to expand...




IMO not if the steel is cheap, poorly heat treated, BudK comes to mind...
 
Last edited:
singularity35 said:
But here's the thing, a lock may be the strongest lock in the planet but one whole piece of metal will always be stronger than two pieces fastened together by a screw.
Click to expand...
The two pieces fastened together by a screw sounds like some of the fixed blades I've seen. But of course you're right that a full tang fixed blade knife is going to be potentially stronger than the Tri-Ad.

In my economic courses in school, we learned about the law of diminishing marginal returns. I've had little chance to apply that to economics, but it can be applied to many things in life. As far as knife locks go, we need to determine how much strength is needed in a locking knife. I have many liner locks and I instinctively don't much care for them. I may not need a strong knife lock, but if I did, I wouldn't feel comfortable with liner locks. But I'd never had one fail.

Frame locks are next and I'm a little more comfortable with them and, again, I've never had one fail. But then I've never pushed one.

Lockbacks come after frame locks and I put my lockbacks under quite a bit of work and again, they've never failed me. But I wouldn't push them like I would a fixed blade knife. I would have no reason to. But I like them.

Well, then come the Tri-Ads. These are designed for hard use: chopping, hacking, cutting, prying. They're fixed blades you can stick in your pockets, and there's never been a lock designed to do this before. Let's face it, Tri-Ads aren't meant to be used as anything other than fixed blade use. They're excellent for self defense and outdoor use, but my Spartan is just something I don't need to carry unless I suspect I may have to use it for heavy use. Frankly, my Voyager 5-incher is lighter, easier to carry and, for all practical uses, is the better knife for most applications.

I have a Rajah II that I would feel very comfortable using in fixed blade applications. Like I said, it chops, cuts, slices and dices. If forced to spend a week in the woods and that was my only knife, I would be perfectly happy with it. In other words, what application would I ever need the extra strength of a fixed blade for?

Cold Steel has really done it with that lock. We can quibble about strength only to a point, then we reach that point of diminishing returns. At that point any extra strength of a fixed blade would be fairly meaningless. Even fending off a black bear, the Rajah would be about the best anyone could expect. Any extra strength would be marginal degrees that, so far, no one has defined.


CSRajahI_3.jpg



CSRajahI_5.jpg


A fixed blade in a box. What more could you want?


CSVoyager_Spartan_2.jpg


A Spartan has a lot going for it. It reeks strength. The grip
is virtually unbreakable and I've yet to hear of any lock failing
under either test occasions or real life applications. But so
far I've never seen the need in carrying it for the extra
strength it affords. That may change, but for now my CS
Voyager is ample strong, light weight and sharp enough
for most household applications. Outdoor applications may
very well demand more. Only time will tell.

.
 
Nternal said:
I'm still waiting for the tri-ad lock doubters to prove me wrong that the spartan is as strong as a fixed-blade of comparable weight.
Click to expand...

Confederate said:
I have a Rajah II that I would feel very comfortable using in fixed blade applications. Like I said, it chops, cuts, slices and dices. If forced to spend a week in the woods and that was my only knife, I would be perfectly happy with it. In other words, what application would I ever need the extra strength of a fixed blade for?

Cold Steel has really done it with that lock. We can quibble about strength only to a point, then we reach that point of diminishing returns. At that point any extra strength of a fixed blade would be fairly meaningless. Even fending off a black bear, the Rajah would be about the best anyone could expect. Any extra strength would be marginal degrees that, so far, no one has defined.
Click to expand...

i agree that its strong enough lock-wise, but compared to a fixed blade it could fail... i think the aus-8(a?) isnt the best option for a real hard use knife, i think it is a great steel for a normal sized pocket knife, but not close to a solid quality fixed blade, and for its thickness and strength... it bends kinda easy. i hadda sand the bead blasting(or whatever the dull blade finish was) because it started to cause rust spots... IMO the knife is very solid locking up but the materials are not suited for an outdoor really hard use knife


as always tho YMMV i know your not supposed to pry with a knife... but if you had to pry something like a fence plank off a fence.. the spartan will flex and the steel(if the plank is on there good) will bend and may not come back completely true, depending on the steel and dimensions, a fixed blade of similar weight will pry the plank off with no problem.
 
I have tried the tri-ad lock and many others, sure its strong and probably the strongest but....

Its a mechanical object and like anything mechanical it has a operational life expectancy that usually revolvs around cycles or time in use. When you start applying extreme forces testing the limits and strength of this mechanical object failure starts from when you start beating on it. Actually failure starts from the very beginning so technically your folder is one step closer to breaking every time you open it.

A fixed blade will always be safer and stronger unless you selectivly pick one you know would be out matched by a tri-ad lock knife.
 
I count on my fixed blades for everything, utility task and self defense. I use my folder for more of a convenient task. Hope you understand, not much of a topic on what's better. Everything has a purpose.
 
I can break folders with brute force using only the power of my hands. I seriously doubt that's possible with a solid 1/4" piece of "fixed" steel.

If you like a spartan that's good. But, please don't try telling us is stronger than a fixed blade.
 
40Degrees said:
I can break folders with brute force using only the power of my hands. I seriously doubt that's possible with a solid 1/4" piece of "fixed" steel.

If you like a spartan that's good. But, please don't try telling us is stronger than a fixed blade.
Click to expand...

It's cool you can believe whatever you want.I highly doubt you will break the spartan with your just your hands but I suppose you can try.If you can then I'm sure you would also break a fixed blade of similar dimensions and weight( nowhere near 1/4").
 
I think it should be pretty obvious that a good fixed blade will be much stronger than a CS folder of the same size and weight. Just because people don't want to waste money on a glorified lockback they don't want doesn't refute the simple fact that the fixed blade design is stronger than any folder lock. And I find it ridiculous that some people say that a fixed blade offers only marginal advantages over the tri-ad, whereas the tri-ad reigns supreme over all other locks. Have you ever even broken a quality lock doing a task that the tri-ad would have been able to handle? There's a much bigger difference between the strength of a fixed blade and a tri-ad than there is between a tri-ad and another lock. I'm not even convinced that the tri-ad is the strongest lock out there. You've chopped through trees with one? People have done that with the Endura, and that's not a even a heavy duty knife.

I'm not saying that the tri-ad isn't strong. But it's not much better if it even is better than similar heavy duty locks. And to think that it's stronger than a fixed blade is just stupid. Besides, it's kind of a moot point if you can tell the difference between the sharp side of the blade and the dull side. I don't even weigh 300 pounds, how am I going to need a knife that can withstand that much force on the BACK of the blade?
 
My mistake, putting this in General Knife instead of Whine & Cheese.

However strong the lock may be, why wasn't a steel chosen that would match the lock, and how much grit, grease, blood and animal parts will get into a fixed blade as a camp knife, skinner, butcher knife or fillet knife?

It ain't all the lock. In this case, the lock is an advertising ploy, not an integral part of a seriously durable system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top