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Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight
Cons: None
Maybe overkill, but...
I bought this on sale when it was around $130, mainly because I have a sick need to have pocket swords available to me. This is my second 6-inch-plus bladed cold steel, the first was the Kris-bladed 6 inch Ti-Lite in FDE. I'm active duty military and always enjoy the response I get from coworkers when I bust out my newest cardboard slayer in my decidedly office-centric job. Never fails to get a reaction. Now, on to this monster. The Espada XL has been cursed at, waxed poetic about, and even made some speechless. The question at the tip of everyone's tongue is "why would anyone buy this?" Well, for me, the answer is the extreme shock value, surprising carry-ability, value, engineering, and plain old quality. Shock value is obvious, opened up it's roughly half again as big as my forearm, and I'm 6'1" with a 76" wingspan. It has presence. For carry-ability, it's maybe a touch too much for gym short pockets, but inside waistband is fine, and in my OCP uniform it can do standard or cargo pocket, or just clipped to the web belt. In jeans it can fit in the pockets if you have deep ones, or again waistband or belt. It is heavy, but it's very slim for its size. When clipped only about an inch sticks up and the rest effectively disappears. It's actually easier to hide than the smaller Ti-Lite, due to not being a straight baton and being thin and flat. It was a genuine surprise to me. The pocket deployer works on stout materials, but it'll likely wear through them over time as it's not the easiest to open. For value, AUS10 and G10 with one of the strongest locks ever made, in these quantities, for under $200? Yeah, that's a good buy if you're into it. Engineering and quality are gonna go hands in hand here. The triad lock is simply the strongest lock for a folding knife ever, at least until last year's recoil and shark locks. Funny enough, all three are Demko designs. The HUGE chunk of AUS10 is clean and flat, ground within good tolerance so the grind lines match up on each side, and something like 8 inches of shaving sharp edge, I tested all along it and have a pretty large bald spot on my arm now. Small price to pay. The pocket deployer works. The backspring is a touch high-tension, but that keeps the strength up. The handle design is great and allows for a solid 2 hand swing if you really need that, but the upper half is a great fit for my hands and the G10 is comfy. No loose bits, no noises when shaking, just a solid lockup and a satisfyingly mechanical ka-chunk when it does. I love this beast.