Who makes the best crossbar-style lock, in your opinion?

[Alberta Ed]

Great design, I have several: Mini-Rukus, 710, a couple of Grippies. Waiting for the Range Pro in CM-154 to show up in Calgary.

 

[Johnnyblades7]

Yikes! I stepped away for a bit and come back to find I used confusing language. I guess by "crossbar-style" I meant a lock that's actuated on a slider, pinched between finger and thumb. As I said in the OP, I'm new to this area of pocket knives. Much obliged for all the input so far!

Ok then it would definitely be Spyderco PM2 or PM3 etc. Spyderco my choice

 

[randucci]

Probably Busse.
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@norcalAF why so sad?
I’m not being sarcastic - they’re actually making a folder, and considering they’ve been designing it for decades it’s probably going to be good.

We may never know. Whatever the lead time is, Jerry should have stated it in the announcement/sales ad. I think if you go to a website and are able to purchase something, you expect it to be in stock and to ship within days. Normally if the item is “Out of stock”, it won’t let you pay for one. The website should have stated: “You are purchasing a knife to be delivered sometime in the future, delivery date yet to be determined. The website ad only said: “The sooner you order, the sooner that you will receive the folder.” I think if he put a year or year and a half lead time, a lot of people wouldn’t have purchased one.

 

[JimDaysen]

Right now I'm looking at Benchmade's Axis, Spyderco's CBBL, and Microtech's Ram-Lok. A truly ambidextrous knife sounds like a good idea. I usually play in the liner/frame lock end of the pool so I thought I'd come to BF and seek out a few opinions. I'm looking for reliability and strength over the need to be fidget-friendly, although ease-of-use seems to be inherent to the lock design.

Go with the Benchmade Axis lock. It's the classic for a reason - rock solid and fully ambidextrous.