I've had mine for a couple of days so far. Here are my intial impressions:
This has got to be the best Spyderco I have seen to date. Fit and finish are excellent. This knife is very well executed.
The cobra hood makes opening the knife very easy. The addition of the cobra hood also makes the knife easu to open while wearing gloves. When the knife is open, the cobra hood gives a nice, wide perch for your thumb. This aids in comfort and control.
When I first got the knife, I opened and closed it a few times. I heard a noise that let me to believe that the blade was rubbing against the liner. Closer inspection revealed that the compression lock is used to hold the knife in a closed position. No detent as is standard on liner locks. There is a section milled out of the tang that the compression lock fits into when the knife is closed. this holds the knife closed. The "noise" I heard was merely the compression lock fitting into the section that holds the knife closed.
In the open position the knife locks up like a bank vault. I mean NO blade play in any direction. I tried very hard to dtect any blade play and couldn't. It felt as though I were trying to induce blade play on a fixed blade.
I like the satin finish on the titanium handles much more than beadblast.
There is a little "screw" looking thing on the iside of the handle on the cut out section of the lock. I have no idea what this is for, unless it was used as part of the manufacturing process.
If you want to see some excellent pics of the ATR look here:
ATR pics
