Observations about Tri-Ad lock bar length.

M

Mr.Tuesday

Joined
Jan 27, 2012
Messages
52
One of the main complaints I've noticed people have with the tri-ad lock is ease of opening and closing. Some models seem to be more user friendly than others so I tried to find out why that was. Currently I own 4 cold steel tri-ad folders; rajah III, rajah II, 4" talwar, and an AK-47. In terms of ease of opening and closing the rajah III is the best followed by the rajah II then the AK-47 with the talwar requiring the most force to open. After looking for possible reasons for this I noticed that the length of the lock bar seems to scale with the force needed to open the knife. The rajah III has the shortest lock bar then the rajah II then the AK-47 and finally the talwar. The approximate length of each lock bar is as follows; rajah III 2.4", rajah II 2.7", AK-47 2.9", talwar 3". My theory is the longer lock bars have more leverage so it takes more force to overcome them when trying to flick the knife open. I going to test this theory with several new models I plan on buying this year too. Of course I'm not an engineer or scientist so maybe I'm dead wrong. Any thoughts or information would be greatly appreciated.
 
Good point about the lockbar length affecting the opening stiffness.

It also has to do with the opener type too. I find thumb studs easier for the most part. The thumb plate-opener is great, but hitting it at the wrong angle can be painful. Same thing for thumb discs.

How one holds the knife in relation to opening it up plays a big part in it, along with hand size.
 
I definitely agree about the thumb plate. The edges of the plate on my talwar were so sharp I had to remove the plate and lightly sand it. I really like the wave feature but sometimes I wish there was a thumb stud or thumb hole in addition to the plate.
 
I think it's more about where the fulcrum is in the lever though. The further the fulcrum is from the lockbar, the easier it is to unlock.
 
I really haven't noticed any of my triads being that much worse or better. Maybe cause i keep all the pivots pretty snug for no side to side blade play issues. I own a couple recons 1's....4 voyagers one being an xl......a 4" talwar....a 4"hold out. ....a 4" counter point. They all seem easy enough to open. Granted i don't flick open i just open with the thumb studs. Maybe that's what im not seeing?

On the other topic.....i like my emersons waves but i never really use them much. They tend to rip my pockets too much. Now my zt emerson 0630 and 0620cf work much smoother and easier on my pockets. I dislike the thumb plate on the talwar a bit due to it catches my pockets other than jeans in a weird place and really rips at the seams. I tend to angle it away from the edges of my pockets before removing and using.
 
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