Love your testing. I've done similar to my CS Voyagers and have always been very impressed. Nowhere as comprehensive and systematic as your testing though. Theres nothing like feeling confidence in your tools.
I have one on it's way. I used some reward points at DLT to knock a fair chunk of change off it. Looking forward to trying it out. I do love my Cold Steels.
Fantastic review! You certainly put it through the paces! I'm surprised these companies don't offer knives up for comment and recommendations. The changes you recommend are mostly cost neutral and would have made this knife at least an 8 or 9 out of 10. As it stands, I'd have to rate it a solid 7...based on the endurance, maybe an 8.
It was definitely a surprise to see how well the factory edge did. From time to time I get companies that will send me a prototype to do a stealth rebuild on to give them feedback on any issues I’m able to find but most of the large companies have R&D departments that I’m sure they pay good money to and then they think there good but I’m not sure why more companies don’t do that for more of there knives. It could possibly save them a bunch of money 👌
Great test of the lock by banging it into the tree and standing on it. The Ultimate Ultimate Knife Search channel does that too, but sideways. Love those tests. Thanks for showcasing this, definitely on the long list.
Have already pre-ordered the 3" version, glad to see it's as sturdy as expected. Was considering the Demko 20.5 but seems like they are a little overpriced considering the steel. Looking forward to getting my new favorite work knife!
Excellent Review! Totally agree. The Shark-Lock is still "King!" But this one "Rocks," too... :-) It's an exciting time for great Lock-Blade Folders; there's a lot to choose from... From the "Great" Pic-Locks & Ratchet-Locks to Copper & Liner & Frame-Locks to Back-Locks & Tri-Ad Locks to Button & Plunge-Locks to Axis & Able-Locks to Recoil-Locks & XR-Locks to Ballbearing-Locks to Power-Locks to Compression-Locks to Shark-Locks and now Atlas-Locks... I know I missed many... But it's Saturday and I am just kicking it and thinking about making a Video, today... :-) But, isn't it an Exciting Time for Folding Knife Lovers? :-) So, many choices; choices that are so great, too... I absolutely luv it! :-) Excellent Review! :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)
Excellent, excellent review. I am a big CS fan. My hesitation on purchasing this one was not the price but the detent or reported lack of and general construction T6 hardware, weak spring? I am not comfortable and or confident with the new ownership. At least you proved the heat treat is still good. And banished the myth that the scales are Polymer and not G10. At that price point anything less than G10 would have been a huge disappointment. Looking at you Cold Steel Razor Tek, 4116 steel and Polymer scales for $150??? Again thanks for the great review, I am still on the fence on this one.
You could probably stretch the spring a little or get a longer one. It’s not really a safety issue because the blade is facing the pocket seem so it can’t open in the pocket however the weaker detent causes you to not get a really snappy action and I think the only way they will be able to fix that if the other two methods I said would be to put the knife on bearings and that’s not a good idea for a hard use knife so not sure what the best fix is
Not a myth, the other models will have polymer. This is just the more "premium" variant. You can see GFN clearly labelled on the Cold Steel website for the all black, orange, green, and FDE versions.
I’ve been hesitant about supporting Cold Steel with my money since their GSM sellout, but I’m intrigued by the new lock, so I ordered one from BladeHQ, today.
Well done review 👍 Knife is excellent 👍 and the atlas is a great new lock: very rigid, easy to operate and wear resistant. I still prefer the triad lock for reliability but the scorpion and the atlas are great alternatives, instead the shark lock is not ergonomic for me. Only limit is the main grind that it is too obtuse, it needs a more acute main grind, about 50% more acute to cut better.
Thanks for the review! I got one in the mail yesterday as the KOTM from Barrel and Blade. Definitely like it, though I will never come close to using it as intended ☹️
Very detailed and comprehensive review as always, sir! I was just wondering how this new Atlas lock compares to that on the CS Drifter, a somewhat smaller knife. Thanks again!
In that it’s not DLC coated… would it be possible to simply file a bit on the 90 degree edges that they didn’t radius? I’m not really looking at this as anything other than a tool…..
GREAT REVIEW!! I wish i could afford to beat the s*^t out of knives like that. Lol. Well, I wish i had one single knife left from my collection🤦… Definitely subscribed!!
Now that I have done the review I plan on knocking of all the sharp edges with my Spyderco sharp maker ceramic stones they work great for 90 degree edges also 👍
Dude after all the testing I did 5 passes on 1 micron Gunny Juice on balsa wood and was able to bring it back to hair shaving and for being just a factory edge I’m impressed 👌I thought you might get a kick out of the tree part lol
Thanks for the thorough review. Really looking forward to getting this knife. I wonder why they renamed it from Drifter to Engage. I liked Drifter better.
Usually they rename a knife if there is already a popular knife with the same name or close like say the Quiet Carry Drift. Who knows though I’d like to know as well 👌
If only they didn't totally screw over Demko by stealing his personal proprietary shark lock to make the Atlas. I can't bring myself to support Cold Steel these days, especially with GSM calling the shots.
I have THEROY on Cold Steel pocket clips..I always thought Lynn Thompson probably didn't us a pocket clip..He would take off his knives clips and carry them in his pockets concealed.😂
This is obviously a fantastic,hard use knife.I would love it if Cold Steel created a large (4 inch plus) and an XL(5 inch plus ) version of it like the way that they used to on previous classic knife models.Would love to see Cold Steel go back to their roots in that way plus deep carry pocket clips that are easy to extract from the pocket without tearing up the fabric.
I have wore my Barrage 580 out. Great work knife that I abused for nine years. Benchmade isn't making that model anymore and this knife looks like it would be a candidate to replace it. Wonder if it will hold up for nine years?
