How Tough are the Tri-Ad™ Lock Knives Compared to the Usual Suspects?

FlaMtnBkr said:
Then why are knives made over seas with AUS-8A steel going for $80-$300? I have a knife that acts like a piece of mild steel I bought at home depot. It burrs something terrible and once the burr is removed the edge rolls cutting a piece of plastic. I asked if they could just take a look at it and I was told no, but I could send it in to be sharpened for $20 bucks. Beautiful customer service.
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I have been using their knives for over 25 years and never have I had that happen to me. ;)

AUS-8 isn't weak steel at all.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Then why are knives made over seas with AUS-8A steel going for $80-$300? I have a knife that acts like a piece of mild steel I bought at home depot. It burrs something terrible and once the burr is removed the edge rolls cutting a piece of plastic. I asked if they could just take a look at it and I was told no, but I could send it in to be sharpened for $20 bucks. Beautiful customer service.
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Customer service isn't good in my experience. I bought two of their discontinued Recon 1 folders and one of them had blade play. I called and they said a manager would have to get back to me. Nobody ever called back so I called again and the rep said they would take care of it and send me a box to return it. This was over a week ago and no one has yet to call me back and no box has arrived. I have also received no emails. I'm glad I paid only $30 for the knife.
 
OrangeJoe said:
How much tougher (or less tough) is a Tri-Ad™ Lock American Lawman (or Spartan, or Rajah or AK-47) than a Strider/Emerson folder (take your pick of models)?
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Hmm, well even after two warranty repairs done to the liner lock of my CQC14 it still easily slips with not much force on the spine. Emerson will never get my $ again. My first, and only att, CS knife, the American Lawman? Toughest folding knife I've used that has my utmost respect after what I've put it thru. Edge-holding aside, none of my top or mid-tier BM, Spyderco, Kershaw, Victorinox, or CRK&T knives have held up to the same usage.
 
Broos said:
If you want to define "the strongest folder", wouldn't you also want to consider the force to failure with side loads?
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I think this would be something valuable to measure, since that is how one would pry with a knife. I do wonder how many would fail at the pivot before the blade would break at the thinner cross section of the ground bevel.

I also think this is a good post to illustrate something, since I can't find the other thread with more discussion of this kind of testing for shadow patterns:grumpy:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7169832&postcount=6

That is a linerless slipjoint with just a pin (stainless, nickel silver?) for the pivot. Handles & pivot nowhere near failure while the blade is permanently bent (but probably unhardened).
 
Here is me testing the Black Rhino, that's AUS-8, Tri-Ad lock.

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mongomondo said:
Customer service isn't good in my experience. I bought two of their discontinued Recon 1 folders and one of them had blade play. I called and they said a manager would have to get back to me. Nobody ever called back so I called again and the rep said they would take care of it and send me a box to return it. This was over a week ago and no one has yet to call me back and no box has arrived. I have also received no emails. I'm glad I paid only $30 for the knife.
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No disrespect but [edit] Anyway if you want to send me the knife I will take care of it for you no charge.
 
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It was vertical play. It also had side to side play but I fixed that. The point isn't about the knife hardware at all. It doesn't matter if I didn't like the color of the knife and wanted to return it. It's that I have no confidence in their customer service whatsoever.
 
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I see. Now that is a problem ... do the closeouts have the same warranty? [never mind, I'm gonna google that] ... if so then I will be looking much more closely before buying anymore from CS.
 
TheCarbideRat said:
I see. Now that is a problem ... do the closeouts have the same warranty? [never mind, I'm gonna google that] ... if so then I will be looking much more closely before buying anymore from CS.
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I believe as long as they have more in stock they will fix it or replace it.

Once they are gone and the models is discontinued then that it, but they will make good as far as trying to make the customer happy.
 
The discontinued Recon didn't have a Tri-ad lock... and I've had nothing but good experiences with the customer service.
 
Bill86 said:
Ok I think everyone is overlooking the most common thing here ......a good lock doesn't fail... We never needing a stronger locking system. If you bust an axis lock it's your own stupidity
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joewest69 said:
maybe they don't see a need to hang 500 lbs from a folder. What type of real world situation does it simulate ?. Its certainly an impressive amount of weight but it doesn't mean much of anything. :confused:
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I just want my knives to be that best that they can be. Even if I baby my knives, I just get a warm feeling that they can a lot of abuse and will last longer if not abused. Even If I don't go around stabbing car hoods and refrigerators, I like my folders to be able to take that. Hanging weights? I may not put my knives to that much stress but again, it's nice to think it can take it. As an example, I may not fire +P+ loads through my gun but I want my gun to be capable of it in case SHTF.
 
singularity35 said:
I just want my knives to be that best that they can be. Even if I baby my knives, I just get a warm feeling that they can a lot of abuse and will last longer if not abused. Even If I don't go around stabbing car hoods and refrigerators, I like my folders to be able to take that. Hanging weights? I may not put my knives to that much stress but again, it's nice to think it can take it. As an example, I may not fire +P+ loads through my gun but I want my gun to be capable of it in case SHTF.
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understandable but I would rather just reach for a rifle instead of pushing the limit with a pistol.
 
I got two of the Black Rhino's on closeout. Had to sent mine back after a few days. The locking spring came loose and moved up in knife. The knife would not even close all the way, because the spring was actually hitting the blade and preventing it from closing into the handle.


I am really hoping it comes back fixed. The sucker was brand new. I am also hoping, the one I gave to my dad for his retirement, and had engraved does not develop the same issue. I would be super pissed about that.

I do really like the lock, but it was not locking up tight after a couple days. By that, I mean that you could actually wiggle the blade back and forth (edge to spine movement) because the lock was not getting enough pressure from the locking spring.

It has been back at the manufacturer for two months or so, and I had not heard back, so I contacted them. They told me hey, we are busy with our sale.

My first time having a Quality Control issue.
 
singularity35 said:
It's like the discussion is about folder lock strength and you say get a fixed blade. No relevance to the discussion.
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it has about as much relevance as putting a knife in a vise and hanging stuff off of it. It may be tough but are you really gaining any advantage over the other locks out there ? You can mount the best high performance tires in the world on a ford escort, but it will still just be a ford escort.
 
joewest69 said:
it has about as much relevance as putting a knife in a vise and hanging stuff off of it. It may be tough but are you really gaining any advantage over the other locks out there ? You can mount the best high performance tires in the world on a ford escort, but it will still just be a ford escort.
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Yeah, but it won't be the Ford Escort sitting on the side of the road waiting on a flat to be changed, and it won't be on the side of the road in pieces from having lost traction and wrecked out.;)
 
joewest69 said:
it has about as much relevance as putting a knife in a vise and hanging stuff off of it. It may be tough but are you really gaining any advantage over the other locks out there ? You can mount the best high performance tires in the world on a ford escort, but it will still just be a ford escort.
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Oh, I get it you're talking about CS. That's not what I mean. I just want the strongest possible lock on my folder and I'm talking in general. It just seems that the tri-ad is arguably the strongest at present state of the art. If the lock is so strong that the blade or the handle breaks before the lock then that folder is as good as an FB.

And yes, the high performance tires will make your escort perform measurably better than other escorts. :D
 
TheCarbideRat said:
I've seen good ratchets fail, abused maybe so but where is the abuse gauge to measure that? A ratchet is to a breaker bar as a folder is to a fixed blade [kinda sorta] in terms of strength ... and pivot / lock strength are the drawbacks of folders in comparison to FBs so why not develop these areas as far as possible? You are obviously not a real knife knut.
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You already used the word ABUSED your logic and argument fails right after you said that. STOP ABUSING YOUR TOOLS, they do make fixed blades for that reason. If you are putting so much pressure on your locking system....isn't the strongest and most practical idea to switch to a fixed blade?

So basically In my opinion here goes cold steel grabbing up another ridiculous idea for a video. Is it a good lock, sure...but was that what we really needed...no. The lock still sits on Aus-8 blades, put it on a d2 tool steel blade or a S30v and we'll talk.
 
So what I'm hearing (reading) is either that, yes, the toughest folding KNIFE (not lock) is either a CS American Lawman or a CS AK-47 or 'they are overbuilt beyond need' which sounds like a round about way of saying the same thing.

Is anyone in this thread ready to recommend those two models (the only Tri-Ad / G10 ones I think) over Strider the next time someone asks the bi-weekly recurring 'What's THE Toughest Hard Use Folder Under $500'?
 
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