Well dang, this thread cost me money. I've been carrying a Kershaw Clash for about 10 years since I lost my ZT0350. I decided I'm not responsible enough to carry an expensive knife. I've been reasonably happy with the Clash, but it's showing its age, and to be honest while I love the speedsafe mechanism I miss the grippiness of G10 scales and the solid lockup of my ZT.

The video of the Triad Lock got me interested, and that started me down the rabbit hole. The AD-10 is a bit bigger than what I want for EDC, and a bit more than I want to spend sight-unseen, but that AirLite looks like just the ticket. I found one for $56 on Amazon, so it's on the way. We'll see how I like it...if I do I may just end up with the AD-10 eventually too.

The Airlite came today. This is a very nice knife.

Likes:
1. It's got a bigger, more substantial blade than my Kershaw.
2. It's lighter than the kershaw, and thinner
3. I really like how the clip setup allows the knife to sit lower in my pocket. The Kershaw would hit my duty holster if I didn't have everything set up just right. I haven't tried it yet but I don't think this will do that.
4. The Triad Lockup lives up to the hype...it's smooth and very solid with aboslutely zero play.

Dislikes:

1. I didn't realize there was no metal liner and the blade is just sandwiched directly between the G10 scales. There's definitely some flex there...not slop in the lock, but flex side to side. I don't see this thing holding up too well to any serious prying, but I guess that's the price you pay to get it so light and thin.

Jury is still out:
1. I already kind of miss the flipper assisted opening, and easy one-handed closing via the liner-lock with the Kershaw. But that's the price you pay to get the solid lockup of the triad.

I'm going to carry it for a while and see if I can get used to the "manual of arms". The flipper is so ingrained in my muscle memory at this point that it's going to take a few weeks to get used to the thumb stud I think. I also want to dull and re-sharpen it a few times to see what I think of the AUS-10 steel. If those two things work out, I may look into picking up another Triad Lock knife with a metal liner for harder-use situations. Probably either an SR-1 or the AD-10.

So I've been carrying and using this knife for a couple of weeks now, and I am super impressed with it. Any concerns I have about durability have been assuaged. It's solid.

The AUS-10 blade held its edge for quite a while. I finally got it to the point of needing some touch up, so I hit it with the lansky and a strop tonight. Man, I thought this thing was sharp from the factory...it's almost scary now, and I have a large bald spot on my arm.

The only thing I really miss about the Kershaw is the easy one-handed opening and closing. The slow closing I can live with, but I just can't get the hang of the thumb-stud and wish it had a flipper.

I usually EDC a Cold Steel. Tough, and robust with the 'triad lock'. The Recon 1 sees alot of pocket-time.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
So I've been carrying and using this knife for a couple of weeks now, and I am super impressed with it. Any concerns I have about durability have been assuaged. It's solid.

The AUS-10 blade held its edge for quite a while. I finally got it to the point of needing some touch up, so I hit it with the lansky and a strop tonight. Man, I thought this thing was sharp from the factory...it's almost scary now, and I have a large bald spot on my arm.

The only thing I really miss about the Kershaw is the easy one-handed opening and closing. The slow closing I can live with, but I just can't get the hang of the thumb-stud and wish it had a flipper.

How has the CS Air Lite been holding up? I have been on the hunt for a good EDC knife I can carry at all times. I have a Kershaw Blur, but found myself leaving it at home most of the time due to wearing shorts, sweatpants, etc.

I recently went down the budget knife rabbit hole and bought a Civivi Brazen, which has been great so far. I stumbled on the CS Air Lite and have been impressed with the reviews. I used to own a few Cold Steel knives back in the late 90's, early 2000's. Fixed blades and folders. All the ones I've owned have been great. Fit, finish, quality and sharpness was superb.

I've heard mixed reviews about some of the newer stuff from Cold Steel, now that Lynn Thompson sold the company to GSM.