photoman12001
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2008
- Messages
- 2,673
I picked up a Cold Steel AK-47 on the Exchange that arrived yesterday and I'm a little torn on it. I had not previously owned or even handled a Cold Steel product but this knife looked pretty cool and I wanted to take a look at something with a Tri-Ad lock. My initial impression was pretty "meh". It seems built well enough for something without full metal liners and the lock seems to be very stout. It also "waves" very nicely, much better than my Emersons. Also, the blade finish is really nice looking. The big detracting features for me out the gate were the ergonomics are off for me and the lock is very difficult to disengage.
I know the tough disengagement is a by-product of the lock's strengthening attributes (stout spring and lots of travel to disengage the large blade/lock interface). I don't mind the lock thing too much. I learned to live with it on my Spyderco Gayle Bradley 1 and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite knives. As a habitual knife flipper, the Tri-Ad lock is a bit annoying because both opening and closing are stiff. The Gayle Bradlley is a bit of a pain to close but it sails open with silky smoothness. The AK-47's lock does seem to have gotten a bit smoother as I've messed with it though. The blade has some up/down movement which surprised me. What really bugs me though are the ergonomics. I think a lot of it has to do with the little nub towards the back. My pinky rests right on it when I grip the knife normally. If I move the pinky in front of the nub my fingers feel too cramped. If I move it behind the nub my fingers feel too spread out or I feel like my grip is too far to the rear. Other knives with a protrusion like this seem to fit me pretty well, like my Benchmades 950s. I planned to resell the AK a few minutes after handling it and even typed up an ad this morning but I've decided to hold on to it to see if it grows on me.
Anyway, I was wondering what others here thought of this model and I didn't find a lot of discussion on it.
How well does the blade finish hold up?
Has anyone removed that little nub towards the rear on the G10?
Here is the AK with a few other green G10 items.
I know the tough disengagement is a by-product of the lock's strengthening attributes (stout spring and lots of travel to disengage the large blade/lock interface). I don't mind the lock thing too much. I learned to live with it on my Spyderco Gayle Bradley 1 and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite knives. As a habitual knife flipper, the Tri-Ad lock is a bit annoying because both opening and closing are stiff. The Gayle Bradlley is a bit of a pain to close but it sails open with silky smoothness. The AK-47's lock does seem to have gotten a bit smoother as I've messed with it though. The blade has some up/down movement which surprised me. What really bugs me though are the ergonomics. I think a lot of it has to do with the little nub towards the back. My pinky rests right on it when I grip the knife normally. If I move the pinky in front of the nub my fingers feel too cramped. If I move it behind the nub my fingers feel too spread out or I feel like my grip is too far to the rear. Other knives with a protrusion like this seem to fit me pretty well, like my Benchmades 950s. I planned to resell the AK a few minutes after handling it and even typed up an ad this morning but I've decided to hold on to it to see if it grows on me.
Anyway, I was wondering what others here thought of this model and I didn't find a lot of discussion on it.
How well does the blade finish hold up?
Has anyone removed that little nub towards the rear on the G10?
Here is the AK with a few other green G10 items.
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