the tri ad lock has the best, loudest opening sound, THWACK

Thanks for explaining the mechanics, build & similarities in these knives. Appreciate it Staas! ⚔️💥👍🏻

You say of the Tri-Ad lock "he didn't re-invent the wheel" but I believe that's exactly what Demko did when he invented that lock. The Tri-Ad lock is still arguably the most reliable folding blade lock ever made and I don't see that changing any time soon (I believe the Tri-Ad has the most room for adjustment for wear, and the spring is the same tried and true spring used in the old back lock, and with the design of the Tri-Ad when you oversize the stop pin you're automatically also beefing up the lock).

I agree 💯 % that Cold Steel was pretty cold not to give Demko the credit to that so called “Atlas lock” 👍🏼…

I'd put my money on the triad lock all day. I think the atlas is basically the same thing as the shark lock, there both def strong but instinctually I still feel the triad lock has them both beat. I wouldn't even consider trying out an ad15 after I witnessed the scorpion lock fail in a joex destruction video.

What an awesome tutorial on strong knife locks. Great stuff Nick. Thank you so much for giving us all of this fantastic knife knowledge.

Brilliant idea for a video. Side by side and opened up

One factor that might influence the purchase of a knife is price, and the Demko knives are quite expensive ($150) while the Cold Steel Atlas lock knives are starting around $70. All things being relatively equal, l think l will give the Cold Steel Atlas lock a shot, just to get my hands on one of these new locking mechanisms.

Thank You for all the effort in disassembling and educating!

Excellent lock discussion thank you Nick.

I would choose the Sharklock in most situations. One can also argue that the Sharklock is safer to use as it don't have to reposition the hands to unlock the knife. Specially in an environment like a construction site where you might have people working below you etc. It is also clear that CS got most of the design from Demko (probably when he was still with them), cause the likelihood of someone coming up with something that similar is highly unlikely.

Haha. You are so right . We will never ever need something that strong but it’s the cool engineering and designs for me .

Awesome showing of all these locks. I'm fascinated with different locks, so I try to get one of each type. Haven't got any of those superlock ones, but do have a couple Demkos. Thanks for the upload.

I guess which is the stronger lock between the Shark and Atlas lock would not be settled until a formal testing was done but from observation and just the anatomy of the components, I venture to bet that the Atlas lock is stronger. The power lock in Sandrin is modified to be amenable for use on a very thin ricasso as the tungsten carbide blade is ground in a rather thin grind.

The scorpion lock on the AD-15 is an easy to close knife if you learn the trick to it. You basically grip the lock bar between your thumb and middle finger. With your index finger you push on the spine of the blade. If you do it right the blade will swing fully closed while your fingers stay out of the way of the blade path.

Just watch this video I realized it's a year later but I love how humble you are you are obviously very knowledgeable

Thanks bro ! After all these years I've never seen how these locks work and compared , well done !

Great video Stassa and I appreciate you taking the time to show this stuff. I had to guess for the most part how the Demko locks worked so this was helpful. I hope to have one myself one day.

Great way for us to learn about these. Thanks so much Mr Stassa 👍

Nice; thanks for the dissection!

Isnt calling the knives AD 10 or AD 15 or Tri-AD after Andrew Demko enough credit. Andrew Demko was a consultant for Cold Steel until 2021. I own an AD15 and the scorpion lock feels absolutely solid. Tests show that it can take around 300lb force, much more than my wrist. Unlocking it to close the blade requires extra skills.

I feel like I'm in knife college! Thanks for this! I agree that Sold Steel should credit Demko, but they are under new ownership, so that won't happen.

Thanks!

Thanks for a great demonstration! Super appreciate you opening them each up. I was reminded of the scorpion lock when I reviewed a knife with the Glen Klecker NIRK lock (CRKT Nirk Tighe), the principle difference being instead of a back spring for tension on a back bar, it uses the body integrally.

After using knives for over 50 years I can say knife locks for me is not an issue. I have never had a knife close on me in all that time, I guess because I use them with respect.

Thanks for doing what you do we greatly appreciate it glad ya had a good time at blade show!

I wonder if Demko actually designed & sold the IP for the Atlas lock to cold steel when the new owners bought cold steel ..id be willing to bet Lynn Thomson & Demko had that knife with the Atlas lock in the pipeline before they sold Cold steel to GSM Outdoors & it was part of the deal that knife is very Demko the blade style everything about it .

btw - the ckrt seismic has a small screw that adjusts the detente spring tension which makes it very easy to customize the opening and closing without fiddling with the pivot bolt being touched - i got mine to Ferrari smoothness - the blade has a almost talwar ( my next target ) shape - the ckrt clever girl has a Persian looking blade - another beautiful and functional defensive blade

I thought (from watching videos) the scorpionlock would be more fidgety. It's so strong you feel like He-Man if u carry it, but it's kind of hard work to use.

I EDC both an AD-15 lite and CKRT Provoke. I like that I can deploy the AD-15 lite with gloves and the Provoke opens as like a “wave” knife from my pocket. Thanks for the review.

Great video man, I’m running the Demko 20.5. I sold a lot of my other knives. Going to try it out with some PB washers. Thanks again. Edit - Andrew Demko doesn’t get enough credit - the guy is unbelievably talented. He’s got patents for basically 4/5 of the strongest locks in history.

looks like atlas lock bar could be adapted to be either top release like the shark lock or stick pin through it , cut slots in the handle and it would be a super strong axis style lock. handy design.

Great video! 👍🏼👍🏼

Great comparison video! 👍

You would be surprised how hard lock need to work when you stab a knife on a hard surface even when you just slap it on wood. It's just for a fraction of a second but it's nice to know that a knife will not bend and cut your fingers when doing it. So the stronger the lock the better. As it's not about if you need it it's about having confidence to use your knife in emergency.

Appreciate this. Thanks a bunch!

Houdini would love this new crop of locks.

Great post!

This is the most infomrative knife video I've seen in quite a while. Well done!

Cold steel makes a pocket bushman that when deployed is basically a fixed blade. The mechanism is not practical, but is incredibly strong. I like the knife for a go bag or something like that, but it really isn't an edc. Some people may not be bothered by the design for edc. It is a large folder which I personally prefer, but so is the ad-10. So, whatever floats your boat.

Mike read pie lock is a belter too. Agreed innitive new lock designs keep things fresh. Stolen is a strong word. Remember Everything is Borrowed.

This is an excellent video. Many thanks. Built like a tank, but difficult to operate in the beginning, my Cold Steel 4Max with CPM-20V blade steel and made in Italy is a tremendous knife. Excellent blade edge retention. This is a workhorse. Funny, but the trouser clip was super cumbersome. When removing the knife it felt as if my trousers were coming off as well. Cold Steel needs to rework their clips. Currently, my tough EDC, tougher than nails and much easier to maneuver is Cold Steel's Recon 1. This knife is filled with value. Love it. Again, thanks.

Excellent video Stassa, thank you for the breakdown! I found that shark lock on the 20.5 to be in the way and uncomfortable until I replaced the stock scales with slightly beefier ones. Now it's much better. I guess having more thumb real estate made the difference.

Great information!

Great video

I for one am happy theres so many different lovk types .i get bored easily no matter how nice , different , orginal.the knife is .so variety is more important to me then strength, ingenuity , originality or rarity

That Sandrin Torino is really sweet I might check that out

The Tri Ad lock seems like it would be readily suited to reblades, in that it should be pretty tolerant of lock geometry variance.

The Shark lock should be industry standard.

if i remember correctly, the last locks are open patents where any one can use it

I appreciate this video

Awesome video, very informative, thanks! All in all love your content, keep up the great work.

The ad10 has the smoothest triad lock ever. Idk how they did it, but every cold steel with a triad would benefit from the same smoothness

I like what you did thanks because I was absolutely going crazy trying to figure out how this Demco lock worked! lol

They should make a knife with the Atlas lock called the Irons

Great video! Very helpful.

Idk I think the spyderco compression lock would hold its own. definitely against something like the axis locks. I have actualy broken my ad-15 lite's lock, the blade slot actually cracked and failed. I believe when they pressed in the stop it over stressed the blade steel and cracked it. I have short on my channel showing it. Would love an ad 20.5 in 3v and textured titanium......

They all utilizes the very same principle: make the locking piece bear load by compression, instead of shear (axis lock), or bend (liner/frame lock). Steel is extremely strong in compression. Thus the lock can almost never break, if something fails it's usually not the lock, since you have to squish that tiny piece of steel flat to do it, the stopping pin or handle scale/liner, or even the pivot pin, will definitely fail first (at that point, you really, really should get a fixed blade). The only question is, is everything worth it? People can hardly use a normal linerlock knife to the point of failure, what's worth of all those extra strength?

I really like my 20.5…I waited til I could get the exact one I wanted (3v stonewash) and put micarta scales on it…precisely how I envisioned “my version” of that knife. I’m not sure where the shark lock gets this reputation for overwhelming strength, though. Certainly most locks are more than you ever need and some types will probably outlast the pivot in a true torture test. But as I was examining the mechanism during the scale swap, it occurred to me as more of a flicky, easy to use design moreso than one of brute force. Honestly, I’d be willing to bet that spyderco’s cbbl is probably even stronger under many circumstances…especially when you factor in that there’s no stop pin…it’s a stop SLAB. I love the 20.5, I think it’s a really novel design and i really like both of the standard blade shapes…but I question the narrative of overwhelming force when it comes to the shark lock.

My preference is for the Demko Sharklock. I own 2 knives one being a overseas model the other a titanium USA .

Amazing and super informative video!!!!

Great video! Thanks

It’s crazy how most of these are Demko designs or inspired by demko.

::spring flies out and screams:: I DON’T WANNA LIVE!!!

Great input! 👌

the vision is similar to extracters on some guns, you can depress the spring and just pull it out and clean it. my milled sig p220 is like that and it's nice for keeping it clean, glocks are use the same technology, you can take the entire guns down without hammering out any pins. I like designs like that, maybe one day instead of torx screws you'll just be depressing springs and taking everything down. Knife making has been pretty crud up until recently. Frame locks how the frame is milled out real thin for the frame lock spring, that's so hoky and just 10 years ago, strider, chris reeve, hinderer was all people talked about and those knives suck so bad, i carried a xm 24 tip down and it sliced up my pants pocket because of the open construction. Cris reeve put the ceramic ball on there frame lock and that was neat but still a crud frame lock. These modern locks are a step in the right direction and i feel they can be improved on.

The potential point of failure for each of these knives are the springs. If the springs fail for any reason then all of these knives are gonna hurt you...except for the scorpion lock. You can keep that blade open just by squeezing the handle. For me that puts it above the rest.

What would be the best lock if somebody would make a folding machete? Mostly chopper and not a slicer

Could u replace those locked up bearings with bronze washers . Would tht help .

really cool stuff.

I carry the Torino with my AD20 awesome pairing. I think Cold Steel stole the design and should pay up.

I feel like the Atlas could be an improved Shark lock but hard to say what happened behind the scenes. There is an interview where CS said they got inspiration from the Tri-ad for the stop pins so that sorta is giving props to Andrew.

I would like if you can do an update since the civivi vision FG just came out! I know it is supposed to be a budget version of the vision R but they've put some work to the locking mechanism.😊

Hey Trey with the Drop Bear, or did I wear it out

Very nice video. Thanks

Tri ads can have problems if not made right, shark and atlas the coil springs are too whimpy, they need a strong spring like a gun hammer, maybe not that extreme or a duel spring incase the spring breaks if thats possible, my favorite is the AD 15 because its so simple and not hoky like a frame lock is. A leaf spring in the AD 15 would be better, everyone knows a leaf spring is better then a coil. A good old Buck 110 or better yet a Case Hammerhead will out last all these coil spring, i have tri ad locks that go and go and go as well. I like the Shark like though just because i like it. I don't think the Atlas Lock is a copy as far as giving Andrew credit, They made it different enough same as the Tri Ad is just a lock back but Andrew made it different enough. I agree they are all interesting and i feel like a design where if the blade comes down it wont chop ypur fingers off is the most important. Case Hammerhead has a super strong spring and tolerances are very very tight so these designs are reinventing the wheel but i still think they can be improved on, maybe not the tri ad but ive had tri ads that were messed up, the lock bar falling too deep and thats right out of the box. All locks need good quality control #1

This is a great video to show how the superlock operates similar to the shark lock, but the internals are actually not that similar.

Great vid stass

Oh yeah baby . I see a scorpion lock in there 👍👍.

Great vid, thanks. Congrats for it. The most significant lockers clearly explained.

Great job 😊😊😊

It's a lock for sure.

A super strong lock is awesome.... A fixed blade is nice, but why carry a big, uncomfortable fixed blade when you can have a compact, comfortable pocket knife that essentially is as strong as some fixed blades.

I understand what u r saying but all the companies out there are not giving all the credit to benchmade for there axis lock

Don't get me wrong I'd love for people to be open about where they get their ideas from so that everyone knows and those people get the respect they deserve. But in our society "giving credit" for a design variation opens people up to lawsuits as far as I understand it so I have no doubt that any business worth their salt will not do so under any circumstances unless they are actively collaborating under contractual terms with said person.

im really hard pressed to buy another cold steel again after the buy out. i was really hoping they would keep andrew demko on board so that we couldve gotten a cheaper ad20. we couldve gotten ad20.5 in s35vn for under $200. and it kinda sucked they moved the main store from ventura to texas. no more parking lot sales for me, oh well i got the old knives i want in cts-xhp.

I think disengaging the lock should be somewhat difficult, or you're kind of defeating the purpose of having a secure fixed blade.

Thanks for using the sandrin in the video for this haha

1:12 clearly a skill issue 💪

Hey stasis bro can we get a review or Amazon knife of the month on an eafengrow 902 , 225 or 335 and ganzo 720 amd call the video “ Inspired by the greats “ well no the 902 I don’t think . I thought the ganzo neformat was a good deal at $29 , the action , dude at least in my two examples the detent and action is spot on and it’s a comfortable knife to carry . The others are bigger but I carry them quite a bit . I actually spent on a lionsteel sr1 because of the ganzo 720 but I don’t use them the same way😊🙄. What about a knife sale ? You getting rid of anything ?

Missing the CRT Deadbolt lock

I'd love get chance to use button and shark 🦈 locks 🔒

Thank you for the vids! How is it, do you think, that all this 'lock' discussion seems to only focus on the vertical plane? Could it be because it lets us play with erection producing numbers? Big pounds? Why not take one and clamp it up on the horizontal plane? Hang some weights on the tip end (or handle end) and see what the 'weakest link' in the chain will be. Because of it, the knife might never get to play in the stratospheric regions the vertical tests indicate available. "No feature is an island!" - Gilligan

"all credit to demko" dunno, there are subtantial diffrences, enouth to diffrent, like a liner lock and a frame lock.

I think Andrew himself designed the Atlas lock too

Saw some torture tests where they broke ad15 or spine whack w nothing gripping and lock fails. Not really fair hammering into a log n pulling sideways, break blade . One w atlas lock was batoning w it and lock was loose side to side up n down a bit . Wonder if shark lock would fare same or wi version under extreme testing. But under normal use atlas lick prob plenty strong n would wear fine w normal use . Some say they will just stick w triad the strongest. But i bet all these u showed are strong enough for any real knife stuff

Kc going live hope see everyone there stassa wink wink 😉 😜 lol

Man, you hit on a major point. I totally agree. The Atlas-Lock only exist because they were able to copy the movement from the Shark-Lock. Sure it's not exactly the same. But, it's so easy to see where they got their idea for it. They're not fooling me... :-) Well done, Bro; I totally agree with what you're saying in your Video. :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)

Just get a fixed blade & be done with it. Folders are for fools that carry them for EDC. I'm a fixed blade krambit carrier for EDC. Likely have 3 knives on me. LOL. 2 is 1 & one is none. I like the idea of having a back up to a back up.

Scorpion lock is the shit 🎉 so fun to fuck with. Probably cut myself with that knife more than any other after I made that thing drop close and reduced spring tension