Tri-Ads the New Direction for CS?

[FortyTwoBlades]

I think that with the seemingly new direction that CS is going in there will be a lot less hatin' going on around here.

 

[Confederate]

I also like them smaller just in case i want to conveniently and discreetly carry one. The Rajah III is a 3.5in blade and would suit my needs be it for cutting cigars or boxes

Yes, I had a secretary in my office who saw me opening a box with my 4-inch Cold Steel Voyager and complained to the boss. The knife my boss saw, however, when she asked me about it, was my Voyager 3-inch.

Normally I would feel bad for such blatant dishonesty, though I never said it was the same knife. But seeing that the secretary had scissors with 7-inch blades, well, I just got over it.

Go thy way, my son, with my blessings. And don't forget to post the photos here. I can't wait to see if CS polishes the blades.

 

[A.P.F.]

Yes, I had a secretary in my office who saw me opening a box with my 4-inch Cold Steel Voyager and complained to the boss. The knife my boss saw, however, when she asked me about it, was my Voyager 3-inch.

Normally I would feel bad for such blatant dishonesty, though I never said it was the same knife. But seeing that the secretary had scissors with 7-inch blades, well, I just got over it.

Go thy way, my son, with my blessings. And don't forget to post the photos here. I can't wait to see if CS polishes the blades.

Heh, I had some fun yesterday. I had a parcel to send off, but I ran out of packing tape. When I went to the post office, I grabbed a roll of tape from the display and went over to the postal clerk, who was quite an attractive young woman. She weighed the parcel and I proceeded to tape it up. Now, this tape was the super-duper, tow a '62 Buick with it, sort of tape. I had to cut off the starting tab and the end of the tape, so just before I pulled out my 4" Voyager, I said to her, "Now, don't freak out, 'cause I am a man with a knife". As I cut the tape, she said, "No problem, this is Mission, we are used to it." The real laugh is that when I said, "...man with a knife." nobody even bothered to look. I like this place!

 

[Confederate]

In Maryland or D.C., you would have heard sirens and been surrounded by a SWAT unit.

The Cold Steel Tri-Ads can be a smash as long as prices don't soar astronomically. The Gunsite ad I saw shows San Mai steel and Grivory grips, which would be a major turn-off for me. Another question this raises is, what will knowledgeable buyers prefer? The solid lock of the Tri-Ad system or the steel used in the blade?

Based on the views expressed here, blade steel trumps nearly everything else. VG-1 isn't VG-10, and it's only a minor step up from AUS8. Now AUS8/VG-1 is fine for me, but I don't usually spend more than a C-note for my folding knives, and if I did, I think I'd buy a Benchmade, not a Cold Steel.

Grivory on a knife is like polymer on a gun. It works okay, but there's no craftsmanship. My current Gunsite is slim, light weight, feels good in the hand and is reasonably strong for what I need. I also paid $58 for the larger size. Only time will tell, but I question the direction CS is taking if it adds substantially to the price of the knife.

 

[A.P.F.]

Confederate, the scuttlebut that I have been hearing suggests that some of the knives will actually drop in price. Yes, I like my Gunsite just the way it is, as well. The grip is great and doesn't print in the pocket to any great degree and the VG-1 does everything that I ask of it. I believe that the new series will be good, but that doesn't stop me from buying up all the old series that I can.

As for Maryland and DC, I doubt that I would be comfortable there, now Kentucky and Colorado might be a different story. I am just an old redneck hick, surrounded by bikers, hunters and dope growers, what's not to like?

 

[philwar]

In Maryland or D.C., you would have heard sirens and been surrounded by a SWAT unit.

LMAO!

Based on the views expressed here, blade steel trumps nearly everything else. VG-1 isn't VG-10, and it's only a minor step up from AUS8.

I'm a long time Cold Steel fan, but I've been campaigning for better steel for quite some time now.
I have good experience with their Carbon V, AUS8 and SM3, but VG-1 has been less than kind to me, whereas I love Spyderco's VG-10, which is much less prone to chipping. Another obvious choice would be S30V.

Otherwise, I can't wait to get hold of a new Voyager. I think putting the Tri-Ad lock on all their folders is a great idea, it's widely regarded as one of the strongest locks in existence.

 

[Creepo]

There's no real need for the Tri-Ad in small knives, but Cold Steel is putting it in everything apparently.

Totally agree, the TRi-Ad adds a lot of weight and especially BULK to the design. IMHO they should have stuck with a regular lockback on anything with a 3" blade.
But I DO LOVE the new handle designs they came up with for the Voyagers and the like, really ergonomic and secure. Also I was very pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the Vaquero series returned with a plain edge option.
When it comes to big bad folders, Cold Steel is pretty hard to beat.
Though I would love to see them use more higher end steels in their folders at least VG10 or 154CM, large fixed blades with carbon steels are good but the folders need something more.

 

[Cotherion]

Yeah, if they started putting out S30v, D2 or VG-10 (or the like) for their stainless and use 1095 (instead of 1055) and 5160 for example, while skipping their Kraton handles then they are (in my eyes) in high end production folder status

Also prices must correspond to market prices for similar folders...

 

[Stenny]

I do not like the new Voyager handle shape, nor the increase in weight, nor the 5.5" blade. They should have made 4.5" option, if they wanted to up the ante... 3", 4" and 5.5" options create too large of a gap.
I did not handle a knife with Tri-Ad lock yet, but I may be interested in plain-edge Vaquero. 5", plain edged Vaquero, with old-styled Zytel or Grivory handles would be my dream knife.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

Minus for the new Recon 1 and voyager folders, imo:

Huge distance imposed by the square looking thing between your fingers and the blade
Pointless laminated steel
Thumbstud instead of thumb disk, which was my favorite opening device

Pluses:
Better blade shape?
Lock strength, obviously
More protection against slipping up on the blade

 

[AF]

There's no blade-play on my models with the Tri-Ad lock whereas lockbacks typically have some movement. So no matter the blade length, even if you don't need the added strength of the Tri-Ad, you don't have the annoyance of blade-play. I like the Tri-Ad.

 

[Splat]

I never considered Cold Steel because of all the bashing I've heard. I am very, very glad I took a chance and got an American Lawman. Out of all my BM, Spydercos, CRK&T, Boker, and others it's now my favorite knife. I've owned it for roughly 3 months now and use it almost every day. There is no bladeplay in any direction and the lockup is perfect. My only nitpick is I wish they offered a hardier steel than AUS8 for some of their better sellers.

Regarding the the weights of the new knives, IIRC CS was eliminating the liners in most of the knives. A cursory look at the Recon, the AK47, the and AL shows the 2010 lineup is lighter than 2009. By the looks of things they should have a lot of doubters converting over this year.

 

[tomcrx]

I am a little disappointed in the changes to the Voyager line.

The only improvement should have been the blade steel and clip.

They were great as is, especially the 4" clip point . Very light, slim, neutral handle shape and blade shape. Great work knife and great Japanese lock manufacturer.

The newer ones seem to be blah. They seem to have moved their manufacturing to a new contractor. Finger grooves, liners, grivory, 1 oz heavier etc. They changed everything I loved about the Voyager.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Totally agree, the TRi-Ad adds a lot of weight and especially BULK to the design. IMHO they should have stuck with a regular lockback on anything with a 3" blade.
But I DO LOVE the new handle designs they came up with for the Voyagers and the like, really ergonomic and secure. Also I was very pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the Vaquero series returned with a plain edge option.
When it comes to big bad folders, Cold Steel is pretty hard to beat.
Though I would love to see them use more higher end steels in their folders at least VG10 or 154CM, large fixed blades with carbon steels are good but the folders need something more.

Honestly what makes you think that the Triad Lock is heavy and bulky? Essentially the only extra piece of metal it has that a regular lockback doesn't is an extra steel pin. Not trying to argue or anything, but that statement just really confuses me.

 

[Confederate]

CS uses steels it can get at good prices. When it bought a huge batch of 440A a few years back, it came out with the Night Force, Pro-Lite (which I wish they'd continued) and Recon-1. Although I've had deplorable experience with 440A, CS's 440A behaved more like AUS8. It sharpened to ridiculously sharp levels and kept the edge. This was the same period when people began reporting that they were being nipped by their new CS knives. When they ran out, the company kept the Recon-1 and upgraded the steel to AUS8. Unfortunately, they also upgraded the frame from a nice smooth-edged Zytel to a sharp, grippy G-10. Still, I, too, liked the disk-styled blade openers -- and the blade opened like lightning! I bought a number of the older models when I saw the new model, and I'm glad I did. I honestly suspected that my Recon-1s were made with AUS8, they were so good. My carry knife is now kind of beat up, and the black is wearing off screws and blade, but when I show it to people, I still have to warn them, "Be careful, it's very sharp!"

People can say what they want about Lynn Thompson and CS, but I'm very impressed with its heat treatment. And while some criticize the steels CS uses, few criticize Buck's use of 420HC, which their heat treat has kept eminantly usable.

I haven't used VG-1 extensively, but if anyone has had any problems with it, I'd like to know. The teeth on the 440A serrated blades were more robust than the slightly thinner teeth on other CS knives. I've never lost teeth on any CS knife, but I think they could be a little tougher.

 

[Creepo]

Honestly what makes you think that the Triad Lock is heavy and bulky? Essentially the only extra piece of metal it has that a regular lockback doesn't is an extra steel pin. Not trying to argue or anything, but that statement just really confuses me.

The strong spring and the increased tention in the lock seem to demand a sturdier handle as a base. The Voyagers were linerless before, right? At least the smaller ones. But now they added liners, I would suspect it's to add a strong base for the Tri-Ad so that it functions to its fullest.
And the bulk, I don't know about the upcoming Voyagers but other models are pretty thick compared to other similar choices. The Mini Lawman is a very good example, for the size and the blade lenght its very thick compared to for example a Delica.

So it's not really the lock that's bulky, it's the base that the lock seems to need to function to it's fullest. And in my opinion I don't need such strenght in a small folder with the expense of the bulk and weight.
Just my 0.02.