Tri-ad lock opinions?

T

TheTeddy

Joined
Jun 19, 2011
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I've never had a knife from Cold Steel but I have really really considered getting one, as I've seen the stress tests they put their knives through. They've patented their own lock design called the Tri-ad, but I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on it? Is it really as strong as the tests say it is? The Large Espada held two or three hundred pounds for about 90 hours and functioned just fine afterward. Any yays or nays for the tri-ad?
 
I'm a huge fan. I own a production and custom. Best lock yet.
 
Carry a Lawman every day...hasnt failed yet. Damned good knife and reasonable priced too. Id love a custom, maybe I'll spoil myself.
 
I have an AK 47 and a Recon1 ( actually I have 2, but one with Tri-Ad Lock :) )... Very good, solid, knives and for that money, can't find a better folder ...
 
IMO the Tri-Ad lock is the strongest, toughest, most reliable mass produced lock. I own three folders (used to be four, traded a large Espada) two of which have seen considerable hard use. These knives (their locks, more specifically) can take more than you can reasonably dish out.
 
May be the strongest most reliable lock on the market. I have a Recon 1 and it's very smooth which is contrary to what some people report. I can also open it quite fast with a little wrist action. When they open and lock up it gets your attention. Yes, it really is as strong as they say it is.
 
I'm not a fan. Yes its strong; I wont argue that, but every other lock is stronger than i'll ever need. I have never had any lock fail on me or even a slip joint close on me in use. My problem with the lock comes with the difficulty of closing with one hand. I dont even like normal back lock much because you either have to use two hands or a leg or let the blade fall on your hand. With the triad locks that i have handled, you must press in the lock harder and farther to get it to disengage. When i let the blade drop, I accidentally hit my hand and cut it. Not to mention if you release the pressure on the lock bar the knife will close like a bear trap, and you need to make sure that your fingers are out of the way long before you would with any other locking system.

So in short, I do not believe the unneccessary increase in strength is worth the decrease in ease of use. Your mileage may varry though. If strength is all you care about in a folding knife lock, this is the lock for you. If smoothness and ease of use are more important try a frame or axis lock and it will still be stronger than you will most likely ever need.
 
dtownknifekid said:
I'm not a fan. Yes its strong; I wont argue that, but every other lock is stronger than i'll ever need. I have never had any lock fail on me or even a slip joint close on me in use. My problem with the lock comes with the difficulty of closing with one hand. I dont even like normal back lock much because you either have to use two hands or a leg or let the blade fall on your hand. With the triad locks that i have handled, you must press in the lock harder and farther to get it to disengage. When i let the blade drop, I accidentally hit my hand and cut it. Not to mention if you release the pressure on the lock bar the knife will close like a bear trap, and you need to make sure that your fingers are out of the way long before you would with any other locking system.

So in short, I do not believe the unneccessary increase in strength is worth the decrease in ease of use. Your mileage may varry though. If strength is all you care about in a folding knife lock, this is the lock for you. If smoothness and ease of use are more important try a frame or axis lock and it will still be stronger than you will most likely ever need.
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I bought a new mini-Lawman for my 8-year-old grandchild. My son and I were quite surprised when my grandson unwrapped his gift and could NOT depress the lock at all. My son, 6'2" and about 200#, could BARELY depress it. I had similar problems. My son said "Well, the boy will grow up sometime, so we'll just put this in a drawer and keep it for him until he's stronger."
I wouldn't even buy one for myself...based on that experience.
 
Have a Recon 1 clip point, love it. The lock is a beast, no doubt, and the knife is quite good overall. With a little practice and care, I've learned to close it one-handed. Go for it, use it, enjoy.
 
I can fire a Microtech D/A OTF effortlessly but all of my friends have problems. Maybe I have strong thumbs...
 
Spidero said:
+1. Way too stiff. Try before you buy.
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This is completely true. I only own one knife that has the triad (large AK47), and it was very stiff at first. It was actually the stiffest lock I'd ever seen on a knife. Nonetheless, I loved everything else about that model, so I bought it and took it home hoping it would break in after being used for a while. After around a week of carrying it, I noticed something interesting when I was oiling & cleaning it. There were certain areas of the locking bar that were showing noticeable wear, since the lock bar was coated with some sort of black stuff, revealing the metal underneath wherever it came into contact with other parts of the knife during opening and closing. I think it was coated with the same teflon that the blade is coated in. I disassembled my knife, and stripped the black coating off the lock bar with some sandpaper. Once I had it re-assembled, the lock was moving very smoothly & I haven't had any problems since. What was happening, was the spring under the lock bar was cutting into the coating and creating resistance, and the G10 handle slabs were doing the same thing to the sides of the bar to a lesser degree. I'm not sure if blackening the lock bar was a purely aesthetic choice, or if CS thought using teflon on it might make the action smoother, but either way, that's what was causing the lock to be such a pain to use. I'm sure that if I just put up with it for long enough, the lock would have eventually "broken in" on its own, once the coating abraded away from these trouble spots. But I'm impatient & don't care about voiding my warranty.

The locks are certainly strong, probably much stronger than they need to be. They're also very stiff locks, though this has nothing to do with the lock design but rather the coating Cold Steel uses on them. So, let it break in, polish it up, or pass on them all together. Aside from that one minor flaw, this is about as strong a lock design as it gets. There are plenty of videos on youtube showing people wail on these knives, trying to make them fail by batoning through wood, I haven't seen anyone succeed yet.
 
On all I've tried the locks are easy to unlock.


As for the closing on your hand, if that happens, you are holding it wrong. If you put your finger right up in the guard, and depress the lock and let the blade fall down, the unsharpened area of the blade hits your finger.

It is a handy, convenient strong, reliable lock.


I only wish they offered the recon one with the wave/thumb plate like some of the other models.


It is a fantastic design.
 
Bigfattyt said:
On all I've tried the locks are easy to unlock.


As for the closing on your hand, if that happens, you are holding it wrong. If you put your finger right up in the guard, and depress the lock and let the blade fall down, the unsharpened area of the blade hits your finger.

It is a handy, convenient strong, reliable lock.


I only wish they offered the recon one with the wave/thumb plate like some of the other models.


It is a fantastic design.
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Never had any problems either... the Spartan was sort of hard at first, but a few tries to get used to it and it was fine. I've never depressed the lock and just let the blade fall though... too afraid of cutting myself I guess.
 
I have a Lawman that I like very much. I've never tested how strong the lock is, so I can't comment on that (there's plenty of evidence to make that point anyway).

I do want to point out that the Triad design seems to cause poor handle-to-blade length ratios. (The finger choil on the Lawman does not help matters.)

With that said, I like them.
 
IMHO the LOCK is the stongest LOCK by far. no competition. Does that mean its the strongest longest lasting folding knife? nope. The LOCK is the strongest as in pressure onto the spine. However they (codlsteel) are not made of super high quality hard steel so over time with rough use up on the blade (normal cutting aswell as chopping and such) it will develop play sooner than say, a benchmade 275. due to the 275's very hard d2 blade and higher quality, harder liners, it will take more time and use to develop play from up force (cutting). But the AXIS is not as strong as the triad in terms of down pressure.

Yes, it is a great lock.
 
Seems like the key is to press the lock down, THEN close it. Many people treat it like a normal backlock, which you can started to close as soon as you depress the lock. Taking all the Teflon paint off mine really made it slick though.
 
I love the triad lock. I like backlocks in general and I appreciate the bank vault treatment the stop pin on the triad gives it. My Code4 and Lg. Voyager are some of my favorite users. The triad lock being one of the reasons why. May not be necessary 99% of the time but it inspires confidence.
 
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