How well does the Cold Steel thumb plate 'wave' open?

FlaMtnBkr

FlaMtnBkr

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Oct 20, 2004
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Curious what others think of the Cold Steel thumb plate for 'wave' style opening? Does it work well for you? Anyone have experience with it vs a real Emerson wave?

Any comments or comparisons would be great!

Edit: wow, this got long. The above are my main questions. More rambling info is below but not as important if you don't feel like reading.

My brother just gifted me a Cold Steel large Talwar out of the blue after seeing me looking at one. I've been wanting a good knife that can be waved open and had been looking at the knife since they have the upgraded steel and seem to have a better reputation than they did before I took a couple year break from obsessing over knives.

Anyways, I've found the knife doesn't wave open all that great so far. I don't know if there is a technique I haven't found yet? Or it doesn't work great with the clothes I've tried? I've tried in a pair of cargo shorts that have a slanted pocket and not one that is horizontal and straight across. They are also a bit loose in that area and may be holding on to the blade instead of being a more rigid spot to catch the plate? Also tried a pair of jeans that are also on the loose side. The pocket seems a bit different for jeans and seem to wrap a little further around the side than some others. Anyways, it hasn't been working that great so far and a Benchmade minigrip with round hole that I modified to have a wave seems to work much better.

Just curious what others think. I like the knife but the main reason I wanted it was to be able to wave it open and if it doesn't work well not sure it will get much use with all my other knives.
 
A 45 deg chamfer vastly improves its function. Remove the plate and chamfer the edge that contacts pocket fabric @ 45 degrees x 1/2 thickness of the plate.
 
Waves great for me. Sometimes it even waves accidentally when I'm trying to take it out of my pocket...
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I find it varies by model. The Espada was meh, the Rajah 2 is quite decent and the AK-47 and Talwar I both found more consistent that the Emerson Wave. I still think the Spyderco Waved models work best of all, but all of that may also vary with the individual knife used.
 
Rajah 2 works perfectly out of the box.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I find it varies by model. The Espada was meh, the Rajah 2 is quite decent and the AK-47 and Talwar I both found more consistent that the Emerson Wave. I still think the Spyderco Waved models work best of all, but all of that may also vary with the individual knife used.
Click to expand...

Curiously enough my experiences were almost the opposite.
My L Espada was the best, period. Never failed

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The Rajah II was marvelous too, consistently deploying without issues like the XL Talwar

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But my Ak47 and L Talwar failed 20% of the time, and snagged on some clothes (noticed that after a while of EDCing and switching clothes for a couple months)

CAM05089_zpsew5xf9dy.jpg


to the OP: Cargo pants pockets that are straight fail most of the times to deploy the blade, but I've never had any trouble with slanted or diagonal pockets. :confused: so many different results for everyone in this thread!
 
I had one of the original AK's and it worked very well. I think they've since changed the plate a little.
 
Very well on my Rajah 3 and Spartan. As long as you make the conscious effort to make it work, it will every time. At least for me. I wear TAD Cargo and Intercept pants.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I will have to try it some more with different clothes and see if I can figure it out. I was thinking I would sell it if it didn't work well and put it towards something else and didn't want to use it much but I will probably just keep it since it was a gift though I know he wouldn't care if I used it to get something that worked better.

I may try modding the plate like mentioned. Or see if I can fit a spacer to lift the plate up further from the blade or put a slight angle to it. It's a shame it doesn't work as well as my home made mod since the plate was designed to be waved.

Now I'm curious how well the Emerson version works or more specifically the ZT version. The Emerson models don't do much for me, at all. I'm not a big fan of frame locks and would prefer the tri-ad lock but think I would like the ZT models. I just hope they work well.

Thanks again and I would still appreciate any comments or any info about how the ZT version works on the 0620 and 0630.
 
I'm gonna agree that there is some variation among models. My black talon2 does not wave quite as well as my talwar, but still is not a problem for me, it waves, but requires a little more of a deliberate pull.

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The AK-47 waves fairly well. It's not the smoothest wave, but it works. I just trained with it and got pretty fast. That being said, I don't use it in public. Kinda loud and intimidating. I like the option and the fact that it works as a great thumb stud.
 
Some waves great, some doesnt.

Black Talon II with its' angled and large disk waves 100%

Other large disk models such as the Talwar waves great but not 100%.

The smaller disk models such as the AK47, Rajah 3, etc waves on luck, sometimes it does and other times it doesn't, I would say 50%.

I have owned ALOT of CS and all of the models mentioned above.
 
I found if you turn the blade slightly out when you pull the Talwar out of your pocket it waves every time and strongly. So does the ak47. I have had about the same luck with Emerson's, Zt, and Dpx. Just turn it a bit as you bring it up and it snags on the pocket.
 
Slightly out as in you rotate the knife so that the rear facing edge is rotated away from your body? Do you do this while basically pulling the knife straight up? Or are you rotating the knife front to back in some way? Just trying to clarify though it's not real easy for me to do with words.

The way I've been doing it is to pull up and then back so that you are scraping the blade against the back of the pocket. I think this might be causing the plate to catch on my loose pocket material a bit early so the blade opens early and hits the top of the pocket which prevents the blade from rotating all the way down and open. If not, I at least think the loose material has something to do with it not working right.

I imagine how far the hook is from the pivot, plays a role in how well a particular model works. Need to play with it more but I'm away for the weekend and forgot it at home.
 
Yeah i rotate it so the spine is to the outside and pull it back not straight up, that causes it to catch on the edge of the pocket both in jeans and cargo pants or bdu types too. The Talwar of them all for me at least waves open the hardest and most dependably.
 
Had a Spartan and AK47, neither failed a single time to me. Jeans, cargo shorts, or basketball shorts. My current one, the Mini AK, is just as good. I like it, aesthetically, more than the wave because there isn't just an ugly hook, it is the thumb plate, but for function I do prefer the design of the Emerson hook more because it has less chance of failing.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Slightly out as in you rotate the knife so that the rear facing edge is rotated away from your body? Do you do this while basically pulling the knife straight up? Or are you rotating the knife front to back in some way? Just trying to clarify though it's not real easy for me to do with words.

The way I've been doing it is to pull up and then back so that you are scraping the blade against the back of the pocket. I think this might be causing the plate to catch on my loose pocket material a bit early so the blade opens early and hits the top of the pocket which prevents the blade from rotating all the way down and open. If not, I at least think the loose material has something to do with it not working right.

I imagine how far the hook is from the pivot, plays a role in how well a particular model works. Need to play with it more but I'm away for the weekend and forgot it at home.
Click to expand...
I pulled mine more back than up. I pull it up til the pocket clip clears and the I'll pull it more back while I slightly turn the knife handle down.
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BenchCo Spydermade said:
I pulled mine more back than up. I pull it up til the pocket clip clears and the I'll pull it more back while I slightly turn the knife handle down.
3f16e80911e594b4060f281784eabcb5.jpg
Click to expand...

Yes - the technique is simple. You pull back firmly and quickly. In doing so, you shoulg feel you are pressing down your knife. That will make sure the thumb plate catches your clothes.
 
I'm partial to Emersons. If you carry your knife in the corner of your pocket, it will be forced to catch where the seams meet upon deployment. Waving reliability now becomes 100% for all intents and purposes.

Jason
 
I only have one thumb plate CS, a Talwar, and it waves perfectly every time.
It would be nice if they used the plate on more models.
 
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