Cold Steel Thumb Plate effectiveness for “waving” open a knife

Does anyone have any experience using the Cold Steel Thumb Plate to hook onto the lip of a pocket in the manner of a wave? If so, how is the effectiveness and reliability as compared to an Emerson wave or a Spyderco wave? How much wear and tear does this design place on clothing?

My experience with the Emerson wave is that reliability is not what I would like, and as little as 10 practice draws will out a hole in a pair of jeans. Conversely, the Spyderco wave is quite reliable and much more gentle on clothing due to the larger wave and broader tip.


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It works well as designed.

That said cold steel locks tend to be stiffer and the knives tend to be heavier so it will tear up pockets pretty quickly.

To that end the knives I’ve owned that had this feature didn’t open well with the wrist flick method either. So you’re pretty much locked into a slow and deliberate thumb open or ripping open via the pocket hook.

I use Emerson and ZT waved folders and my pants are fine. The ZT are especially good.

I took some progressive grit (320-2000+) sandpaper to the hook in my Kershaw/Emerson, rounding and smoothing the unnecessarily sharp edges just a bit. From the factory it had a bit of a sharper 90 degree edge than I desired.

Simple solution and I haven’t had any problem with damaging my pockets afterwards.

Reliability seems a matter of initial grip + technique.

Thanks for the replies so far. Any more comments specifically on the Cold Steel design?


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Originally Posted by BillSWPA

Thanks for the replies so far. Any more comments specifically on the Cold Steel design?


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The spring in the lock has a very real auto close point. If you get it partially open but not past that point it will close itself edge first your fingers. Ask me how I know.

Honestly years back I was deep into all the pocket sword stuff they make. Too big and heavy for my taste at this point.

My EDC is a Cold Steel Rajah III. I'm not even a mediocre knife fighter but the thumb plate works pretty well, I think.

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Originally Posted by Clusterfrack

I use Emerson and ZT waved folders and my pants are fine. The ZT are especially good.

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Never owned an Emerson but I love my ZT0620.

I used to be a huge Benchmade guy. I’d loosen up the blade so I could snap ‘em open fast. The Barrage is a great choice if you want a fast opener without the wave hook. But if you want a wave, get a wave. Don’t count on something that you can sort-of-use-like-a-wave.

Like @UnoZero, l like the ZT0620 quite a bit.

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Originally Posted by Clusterfrack

Quick review of my ZT 0620 Emerson. This knife is excellent. The action is super smooth, and the Emerson Wave is the best implementation of this feature I've used. The reason it works so well is that because of the blade shape and pivot location, the moment arm at the wave is longer than other designs. Lockup is tight, and deployment is reliable and easy. There were some reviews out there complaining that the knife was virtually unopenable using the thumb stud. If you press on the locking lever while you try to open the knife, that is probably true. But, if you grab the clip instead, the knife flips open relatively easily.

There are still a few of these out there for around $160... get 'em while you can.

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The issue I had with Zero Tolerance was the frame lock. I found myself pushing inward on the lock bar as I drew the knife, effectively holding the blade shut while trying to wave it open.

I appreciate all the replies, and understand that everyone is trying to steer me in the right direction based on their experience. I am specifically curious about experiences with the Cold Steel design.

Thanks!

I have now been carrying a pair of Cold Steel Storm Cloud knives for about a day.

The lock is not stiff, but is quite secure with very noticeable bias towards closed and very solid lockup. The lock in my opinion contributes to ease of opening rather than hindering it.

The thumb plate on my right side was catching my pocket rather consistently, but the left side required some practice. Now both are opening reliably. Ease of opening by hooking a pants pocket is higher than Emerson or Zero Tolerance but not as high as Spyderco. It is much closer to the high reliability of Spyderco than it is to Emerson.

The handle shape is good at helping to prevent the hand from sliding onto the blade, something I do not see enough of in folding or fixed blade knives.

Overall, I am quite happy with these knives and will likely EDC one or both going forward.



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