help me choose between one of these lockbacks...

[faxanadu]

could someone compare these lockbacks in terms of overall strength and lock-up:

gerber: 'magnum lst' versus 'gator'
cold steel: 'trail guide' versus 'voyager'
rigid: 'g-10 handle ats-34'
buck: 'goliath'

i'm going to buy one of the aforementioned knives, but i'm not sure which one i should get. i like the ergonomics of the gerbers and the rigid a little better than the others, but i want the one which can stand up to the hardest use and not fail me. i could really use some informed opinions. Thanks!

 

[ZENGHOST]

Out of the ones you listed, I like the Gator the best (I'd buy the drop point instead of the clip point). That knife has got one of the most comfortable knife handles that I've ever felt. Unfortunately that is just my opinion from handling the knife--you'll probably want to listen to someone who owns/uses one as I can't attest to the lock strength since I've never actually used it...but the only reason that I've never bought it is because it doesn't have a clip. If you're talking hard use, Cold Steel generally touts their knives as being "hard use" knives and have all sorts of tests that they run. Check out their site for more on that. Hope that helps...

From the "Proof" section of the Cold Steel website:

We have found no locking knife that approaches the strength of our Vaquero and Voyager series, despite the fact that many of these knives sell for twice the price. Our Voyager and Vaquero knives were tested by hammering the back of their blades against the edge of a table to see if the shock would cause them to fail. Then, we hung weights on them to see if prying and abuse would cause them to fail. Of course, any lock can be broken with enough abuse, but the average person cannot exert 70 pounds of downward force with one hand. Therefore, a knife such as Cold Steel's® 34LT Voyager, weighing 3.3 ounces and capable of holding 60 pounds on its lock, has a huge margin of safety over other knives with weaker locks. Equally impressive, our 5" Voyager and 6" Vaquero are capable of supporting 100 and 125 pounds respectively on their locks.