Tough Arse Folders

Why is it that everyone today thinks a folder must be able to be beaten upon like a fixed blade??? OMG! If you want to do this, then go out right now and just buy a fixed blade; better still buy an axe and a crow bar! No matter how good a mechanism is on a folder, they are not designed to be beaten upon and sooner or later something will fail. AND the Triad lock will be no exception!

Let's get real here.

 What are we talking about with the HF series of folders from Extrema Ratio?

The safety pin (ie that small steel pin supplied with the HF series knives, and the RAO series of knives, is there to act as a fail-safe, redundancy mechanism, in the worst case scenario. 

All the "hoo haa" from "would be if I could be" social media nuts about how tough a folder has to be. 

Ask any enlisted soldier or ex soldier (even if they even carried a folder for that matter and in many cases, it would have been/is a very simple small folder) what they did with it......YES simply use it to cut up stuff like everyone else, not spend time whacking the spine or bashing away at timbers etc. that's rubbish portrayed by the movies!

LOL, I just crack up at this rubbish when it comes my way. Fact is, many on YT land have no idea how to perform practical real life tests, instead these are tests from the movies and maybe that's ok if u want to live in "movie land".

Know your product and know it's limitations because nothing is indestructible except Superman and we have just read where he comes from.

The trick is to understand your product and know how to get the most out of it WITHOUT TRYING TO DESTROY IT!

I have seen Nepalese Sherpa men, using  Khukuri knives to build houses and nothing else (almost). Such a knife is hardcore but you will be just a big woos if you can not use it to the max. They can build houses with it because they understand what they can do with it. Just like many indigenous people of the tropics can use a large machete or parang-like knife to intricately carve a spoon but the rest of us can only do it with a small knife LOL; to them, this IS THEIR BUSHCRAFT KNIFE.

Use the knife for cutting. Yeah sounds pretty simple doesn't it?

The Extrema Ratio HF1T has a very thick blade however the frame construction is also thick (T6082 Structural aluminium alloy), so with a little care and thought (as apposed to thoughtlessness) one can indeed pry objects which otherwise may damage a lighter constructed folder and or snap the tip of the blade. Yes, knives should never be used to pry objects,  however there are exceptions to this rule, for example: diving knife usage (used to pry and bash things constantly in some activities UW.

Low light, the desert camouflage is still hard to see.

Two tough folders, what's the difference?

Both have a different locking mechanism: Liner lock Vs Lock back.

Both lock securely.

Both have easy maintenance blades, although the Nieto's blade is easier to sharpen as it came with a straight beveled edges vs a belt ground and hence slightly convexed edge.

One has a large pivot bolt bushing (the ER), one doesn't.

Both have a pommel and lanyard hole.

Both have stainless steel blades, one N690 (ER) and the other N695 (440C).

One is a partially open back, the other is a closed back design.

One is all metal construction, the other is metal and G10 composite construction.

Both are laterally strong. G10 is very rigid, T6082 is the strongest aluminium alloy in the 6000 series of heat treatable alloys.

One has a pocket clip (the ER) the other doesn't

Both are one handed opening

Both require two hands (essentially) to close them; but can be closed with one hand.

Both blades are approximately the same length

Both are comfortable without gloves, one is more comfortable with gloves. One is unusable in very cold conditions with out gloves (the ER-due to full metal construction).

Both have excellent grip without gloves

One is more resistant to accidental opening (the Nieto due to the lock back design).

One has something to adjust (ER pivot tension), the other has zero parts to adjust.

Finally, as far as construction goes:

One has 12 user accessible bolts  which can come undone (ER). The other (Nieto) has  9 bolts which can come undone.

As a folder owner for more than 48 years I can say that constant pulling apart of folding knives is totally unnecessary for proper maintenance even with modern designs such as liner locks, and frame locking knives. In fact the more one pulls these things apart the higher the probability of failure.

If you are going to be working up to your waist in mud and water then the folding knife may not be your best option due to the fact that it does have a "mechanism"

Snow and especially ice can clog the mechanism and prevent the knife from being able to be locked open.

The question is: Is one better than the other?

I say: Better for what????

I say: Compared to what??

I say: Depends on what you are going with your knife"

I don't say: "You don't know what is going to happen, so you must carry the "El Indestructible knife"!

RUBBISH!!

Because if you don't know what is going to happen, it means in reality you have no idea what you are doing, you will become a liability and maybe end up dead!

The function of the safety pin in the above model is to prevent the blade closure, it also will prevent the liner from being forced by excessive vibration into the space between the frame and the knife tang. If the liner was to slip into this position repeatedly then it could become damaged. Inserting the safety pin will prevent this in 2 ways: Firstly, the blade can only move a fraction of a mm with the pin inserted even if the liner is against the LAWKS type stop. The liner can not move into the space between the frame and the tang.

 The lock back is a time honoured and proven and tested design and when made correctly is a very strong locking system. 

More on this later!