Cold Steel Espada XL Folding Knife 18

You will see my review below giving this knife one star rating and the reasons for it so I wont go through all that again or people will become bored. But basically once opened the knife was very difficult to close and one that I bought from another company wouldnt shut at all and I had to send it back open! Well with this one the box had long been recycled but I phoned Richard the Sales director who knows me as I have been buying knives and equipment from Hennies for more years than I care to remember. He could not have been more helpful, he picked one off of the shelf and sent a video of him opening and closing it to my phone and told me that I could have that one to replace it. I received it today and as soon as I tried opening and closing it, it was obvious that it was totally different to the original one, no problem at all in closing it. The knife itself if very impressive, they are certainly substantial and razor sharp, the knife feels huge in the hand I reckon that you could chop a tree down with it. I would recommend it to anyone, but just make sure it is tested before you get it for closing as there is clearly a fault in the locking design that surfaces on the odd one. THIS IS WHY IT IS WORTH STICKING WITH HENNIES AND GETTING ALL YOUR GEAR FROM THEM, THEIR SERVICE IS SECOND TO NONE, AND THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT RICHARD HIMSELF HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THAT, THEY CAN BE TRUSTED AND THAT IS WORTH A LOT, THANKS VERY MUCH TO RICHARD HE IS A GREAT ASSET TO THAT COMPANY.

There is a huge design flaw on this knife and that is the locking mechanism. The much lauded 'Trilock' system which cold steel boast will hold 600lb or an engine block suspended from it without the lock giving way is useless because once you have it open which is easy, you will need incredible strength to depress the trilock lever on the top of the knife to be able to close it. I am a large male, fit ex forces and I really struggle to close the blade. I originally bought the one with the expensive scales on it from another company as hennies didn't stock it, and that one once opened I couldn't shut at all, despite putting it in a vice and using an iron bar on the lock. In the end I had to send it back still open. I assumed that it must be a faulty one and noticed that hennies had the one with the cheaper scales on it so I bought that. Well I have managed to shut it but only by using protective gloves and maximum effort, I won't be opening it again it's just not worth the trouble, and it is very dangerous, the blade is razor sharp which is good, but to shut it you have to put your fingers/hand in harms way and it is a frightening prospect as it would produce a deep cut if you got them in the way. So I would say don't buy one, I certainly wouldn't have bought one if I had known the problem. But now that I have bought it I can't send it back. So BE WARNED!

Absolutely fantastic! I own quite a lot of knives and this is by far one of my favourites for a folding knife. It is massive when it's open, feels more like a fixed blade or a small sword haha! Overall build is absolutely solid, lock up very strong, cold steel have done a fantastic job on this knife. The pocket wave feature works amazingly, just make sure you keep your fingers out the way and the lock is very strong it takes quite a bit of force to unlock the knife so you know it locks well. I am 6ft3 and 22 stone and the knife makes me look small! As always fantastic customer service from Heinnie Haynes, delivering fantastic products, thank you very much.

Bloody hell, it's even bigger than I thought it was , ha ha ha, lovely thing though, razor sharp too and appears to be well made. Brilliant service from HH as usual