PM2 Compresssion Lock vs the Cold Steel Holdout 2 Triad Lock

I think they are really on to something here.

In advanced knife training I distinctly remember learning how to beat the crap out of someone with the spine of a 3 inch folder! forget the fixed blade, its too old fashioned to use when you need to put 350 lbs on a little knife, I'm grabbing my Delica. Not only that.... You can use it as a hammer after the blade goes dull, let's just call it a Knammer.

In all honesty though, My sharp smooth PM2 ......doesn't need 30 lbs of force to cut anything!
 
is cold steel even a player in the folding knife world (besides their ridiculous over-sized knives)?
 
I'm pretty sure an early model Compression lock would have passed, but people spent the first few years after the introduction of that lock complaining that it was too sticky.

The popularity of the framelock on "heavy duty" knives proves that people actually don't care about lock strength, ease of use is top priority. It's amazing how loudly people complain any time a lock is sticky.
Note the escapades of another youtuber with CRK, and the incessant complaining that post 2012 (or whenever it was) Sebenzas are "sticky".
One of the most common reasons I saw for people returning their knives to Kershaw (back when they still had a forum, wonder why they stopped?) was the dreaded, heinous, abominable... sticky lock.
Anyone can make a heavy duty lock, but it's not marketable. People on these forums have made framelocks that can take this kind of abuse, but it also takes a lot of pressure to unlock them. You'll never see a lock that's easy to use and strong.
(Except maybe the Tri-Ad lock, it still has a lot of travel to unlock, and most of them are kind of stiff, but it is a unique design that does things differently from any other lock.)
 
I thought it was kind of neat the way the compression lock kept working after the very first fail. That's what impressed me enough to share it here.
 
Interesting video. I don't tend to trust third-party comparisons of similar products, without extensive proof that the reviewer isn't being paid off. If I have trouble trusting a third party, there's no what I'd ever trust any manufacturer that does a side-by-side comparison of their product vs their competitors.
 
I think these tests are valuable. This is how we humans advance and improve knife designs. The only issue with Cold Steel is that the company markets knives that look like ninja wannabes' knife choices. They make a great knife, though, and let's be clear on that. They use the same steels and same materials Spyderco has/does. Let's not knock them. Spyderco still has the best ergos and cutting blades and the owner still takes more interest in his customers.
 
This reminds me of the whole "blast processing" campaign from SEGA trying to compete with Nintendo in the early 90's. You find one little detail about your product that happens to be better than your competitor's and then try to make it seem like that little thing is much more important than everything else about it.
 
I believe I've heard Sal say that Spyderco has a room (and some cool machines) they use just for testing and destroying knives. I'm sure that the cold steel knives and many other brands have been tested rigorously and compared to Spyderco knives there. I'd also imagine that Spyderco's knives stomp all over other brands in a lot of that testing. I would love to see all those test results but I don't imagine I'll ever get the chance as I'm sure Spyderco would never publicly post a video of that.
 
Surfingringo said:
I believe I've heard Sal say that Spyderco has a room (and some cool machines) they use just for testing and destroying knives. I'm sure that the cold steel knives and many other brands have been tested rigorously and compared to Spyderco knives there. I'd also imagine that Spyderco's knives stomp all over other brands in a lot of that testing. I would love to see all those test results but I don't imagine I'll ever get the chance as I'm sure Spyderco would never publicly post a video of that.
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Agreed. Which makes me sad. I have tremendous respect for Mr. Glesser's ethics and methods of doing business, but refusal to release testing data forces consumers to buy based on hearsay and anecdotal evidence.
 
DocT said:
The only issue with Cold Steel is that the company markets knives that look like ninja wannabes' knife choices. They make a great knife, though, and let's be clear on that. They use the same steels and same materials Spyderco has/does. Let's not knock them. Spyderco still has the best ergos and cutting blades and the owner still takes more interest in his customers.
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Cold Steel markets itself as a premium knife company, but has historically made many of its knives with low or midgrade steel. I think CS has finally begun to use higher-end steels on many of its folders as it realized they were taking very little market share.
 
Spectre said:
Cold Steel markets itself as a premium knife company, but has historically made many of its knives with low or midgrade steel. I think CS has finally begun to use higher-end steels on many of its folders as it realized they were taking very little market share.
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I seriously doubt that. I think market share is rarely determined by who makes the better product and premium blade steel is something only a very few care about. I'm quite happy to see them adopt some higher-end steels, but I fully expect them to simply stick with those steels until XHP is subject to the same criticism currently leveled at AUS-8.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I seriously doubt that. I think market share is rarely determined by who makes the better product and premium blade steel is something only a very few care about. I'm quite happy to see them adopt some higher-end steels, but I fully expect them to simply stick with those steels until XHP is subject to the same criticism currently leveled at AUS-8.
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And, to be honest, I've never used one of my cold steel knives and thought "this steel is garbage!"

CS has done a good job with their heat treats on every steel I've used from them.

As some one who has had locks fail on me, and been cut, I do care about lock strength, and negative pressure. I've had an inadvertent tap on the spine of a liner lock fold it up instantly more than once. I used to work on a large cubic hydrolic press, making PDC drill bits for the oil industry. (Diamond drill bits). Very tight quarters working in very cramped spaces. Taking the machine apart to cut water lines was not an option.

I have a few CS folders I enjoy using.

I have one Spyderco. A FFG VG1. Light, nice slicer. But the lock wiggles disconcertingly when I was making two little fuzz sticks to start a fire. I was grilling trout over a wood fire. I stopped using the Delica, and switched to a Kershaw Needs Work to finish up.

After, I noticed chipping on the Delica (which has been an on going problem). I figure I just need to sharpen a few more times to get past the initial edge.

I think the lock on the Delica could be more solid. I feel that way about a lot of lock backs.

In 10 years of using a Triad lock, I've never once felt that way. The lock is brilliant.
 
Honestly i think a Buck 110 would surprise alot of people, even a spydie lock back would do better then most of the liner locks and probably the compression lock apparently..
 
This was posted in the Spyderco forum, then we started discussing every knife under the sun and then a few more. Out of respect for Spyderco, let's keep the every brand vs threads in General, where they have all been moved to or started. A manufacturers forum is for discussing that specific brand/company, not comparisons or anything else. If Sal or Krist want this moved back, please let me know. Otherwise, GKD it is.
 
I'm surprised they didnt use it to cut up a frozen turkey wearing denim pants.


Everyone knows the Triad is a good lock. The rest of the knife......meh
 
Sunyata said:
I'm surprised they didnt use it to cut up a frozen turkey wearing denim pants.


Everyone knows the Triad is a good lock. The rest of the knife......meh
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Depends on what you're doing with it. Cold Steel actually trends strongly towards lean grinds and thin edges. They have some nearly criminally underrated slicers in their catalog. In my experience the only manufacturer of modern/tactical folders that can match them in terms of cutting efficiency is, well, Spyderco.
 
I like cold steel, but these videos are too... clinical.

Honestly, give some test knives to vininull on youtube for a hard use test. Real performance tasks, real life abuse - Much more accurate example of how a knife will handle use.
 
We get it.
Cold steel found a strong lock that holds up well in their tests designed to test the one thing that they are good at.

cold-steel-o.gif

yipee look at little lynn stab that water can
 
Personally, I don't get why makes such a fuss about these tests.

Its probably because I don't use folders hard (or carelessly), but I haven't once worried about the strength of a lock, as long as it was able to keep the knife from falling closed from the force of gravity/any normal hand movements I might make. Maybe its because I don't have the expectation that any folding knife becomes a "virtual fixed blade" once the lock is engaged? No idea honestly

Now, I understand why its probably a good thing to keep having more research/development/testing of locks in general. I'm all for better locks being invented. So from a purely scientific standpoint, I get why these tests are done (and the tests themselves don't bother me at all). But, like I said, I find them to have little to no value to me, and I sometimes wonder who actually cares about it from a standpoint other than the "Go Cold Steel" or "Bash otherBrand" types of conversations that happen on the internet.

I do understand that there are probably a few select use cases for folders that are as strong as possible (where for some reason a fixed blade isn't legal/allowed, or some sort of portability constraint I guess). Its just that many times when I hear people talk about the reason they prefer a crazy strong lock, it has something to do with what I would consider inappropriate use of a knife, which I feel has led me to believe that many people could worry less about lock strength if they simply had more careful habits in their knife usage. This is probably inaccurate, but its the vibe I get from a fair portion of "that group".

If I'm being honest with myself, part of it might be my perception of Cold Steel at the moment. They seem to be spending quite a bit of time and money making sure that they are thought of as the "only game in town" to this now very important feature of lock strength. I'm just not convinced that the "feature" is very important, or that the actually "championing" transparency for the average joes out there. So I'm slightly distrustful of anything they're saying and doing at the moment.

That said, do I think it would be nice if some sort of third party did stuff like this? Sure, why not. It seems like the functional equivalent to cut testing that is done, and as people have said, more information is never bad when it comes to helping you make decisions. I just think that at least for me, I doubt I'd ever look up the information (even if it was freely available to everyone, for all models), just because I don't think its important to how I use a knife.

*shrug*
 
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