The initial release of the 2.5” and 3.0” Engage will come with various color options and blade designs. The 3.5” Engage has S35VN steel with G10 handles, and in the future we plan to have additional models with other premium handles, colors, and blade steels available. This is a classic size for Cold Steel folders, and we wanted to make this model the premier knife of the series. We started with the 3.5” blade design first. The ENGAGE Series (formerly the Drifter) will be launched in 2022 in 3.5”, 3.0” and 2.5” sizes. Our initial plan in 2022 for the Atlas Lock was to create a complete series of knives that used this lock. How many 2022 models will be equipped with the Atlas Lock? Today the production parts have the same perfect feeling as our original prototypes. To speed up the process we used our in-house machine shop to create prototypes with refinements until we got the design in the sweet spot. It took some time to get the spring forces, angles, and interlocking parts just right. The most difficult part of creating the Atlas Lock was refining it from a concept to a user-friendly production product. What were some of the difficulties in designing this lock? There are multiple opening options such as: thumb stud, thumb plate, or slide bar, making this a versatile lock. The Atlas Lock does not take a lot of finger force to open and close, yet it is securely held when in the fully open and closed position. Unlike a traditional back lock, the Atlas Lock can be opened and closed with one hand. Besides strength, the Atlas Lock is simple to operate, it is naturally ambidextrous, and has a high fidget factor. The strength of the Atlas Lock is the core advantage. What are the major advantages of the Atlas Lock compared to the other locks on the market? Simply sated, the lock force is distributed over two pins which divides the force and theoretically doubles the load the lock can hold. We also added a 2 nd pin which is what gives the Atlas Lock its increased strength. We took the stop pin concept and simplified it with a sliding lock bar. Most people know the Tri-Ad Lock for having the stop pin, but technically the lock is an intricate interlocking mechanism that holds together with strength and precision. The Atlas Lock takes elements from the Tri-Ad Lock and improves upon them to make a lock that performs better at the same spine whack, overstrike, and weight hanging tests that Cold Steel has showcased for decades. The challenge was given to my team of designers and one of my lead designers, Dillion, produced the core design that met the criteria. Our intent of designing a new lock was to continue this Cold Steel tradition and have it last far into the future. Cold Steel is known for the Tri-Ad lock and it is arguably the safest, strongest, and most durable lock on the market. To answer this question, let’s take a look at the intent of designing a new lock. The Engage (formerly called the Drifter) will be the debut platform for the Atlas Lockįirst of all, the big question: how does the Atlas Lock compare to the Tri-Ad Lock? Similarities, differences, etc.? How does this lock differ from its famous predecessor in the Cold Steel lineup, the Andrew Demko-designed Tri-Ad Lock? What does it mean for the rest of 2022 and beyond? And what else can we expect from Cold Steel this year? We recently spoke to GSM’s VP of Engineering, Tom Rucci, about these topics and more. However, in January Cold Steel released a teaser video detailing their new Atlas Lock mechanism, and the knife it would debuted on – originally called the Drifter, since renamed to the Engage. 2022 started off quietly for company, which may have caused a few eyebrows to raise. It’s probably still too early to say for SOG, but Cold Steel has been in GSM’s portfolio a year longer. How would the acquisitions, which brought with the major personnel and logistical changes, affect these advances? In both cases, the news was met by the community with no small degree of skepticism: in many ways Cold Steel and SOG were both hitting a stride, with some of their most highly regarded designs ever hitting the market in recent years. The outdoors company acquired two major knife companies, Cold Steel and SOG, in 20 respectively. GSM Outdoors is a company that has quickly risen to the top of knife community discourse.
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