$100-200 knife with bearings?

[karbon]

801 ZT Redford collaboration
It's the best ZT knife I have used owned. I have been very impressed since the moment I picked it up.

 

[-NB-]

801 ZT Redford collaboration
It's the best ZT knife I have used owned. I have been very impressed since the moment I picked it up.

I think this will be my next purchase

 

[EZ Bake]

801 ZT Redford collaboration
It's the best ZT knife I have used owned. I have been very impressed since the moment I picked it up.

I hate to harp on this knife, but I have to agree with this statement.

There are very few knives that I have ever been around that I feel this way about. I remember seeing pics of it online and thinking "meh, doesn't look like something I'd own". The moment I flipped one open in my local Brick and Mortar, I was literally blown away by how much differently I felt about it having it in-hand.

It's a great knife - makes a great sound when thwaking open (pivot glides like greased glass-on-glass), has a great feel and one of the best blade-to-handle ratios of any knife I own. It's big, but not too big. Ti frame-lock with a steel insert makes for a very hard to beat lockup. I love the blade-shape and position relative to the handle - the flipper is just the right size/traction with the jimping. Beautiful pivot that takes a standard Torx bit. Deep-carry clip (I soaked mine in Acetone overnight and it came out a cool dark Grey antiqued color with the ZT logo still visible). Perfect detent-pressure, clips in the pocket with ease but holds itself there.

It starts out smooth, but the more you use it, the smoother it gets. I've been tempted to pick up a second one just because.

One thing I'd love to see with all this Ti electro-annodizing is for someone to color the bolster blue, and the rest of the scale red (and then sand off the top edges of the non-bolster part of the scale) to sort of achieve a US-Flag look.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

The 0801 seems like a solid bet. Another option would be to wait a month until the Buck 830 Marksman hits. Obviously, I can't vouch for it's quality, but on paper it seems like a real winner.

 

[bpeezer]

$200 is normal (online retail) price. $300 is actually above MSRP so you were right to run away from it. Also for $200 you could have gotten one of the sprint blue twill pattern CF ones as opposed to the regular "Bill Cosby sweater" pattern ones.

Now that I see that, I can never unsee it...

 

[SaintlyBrees]

Also take a look at Brous Blades Bionic Flipper. Close to the middle of that price range. 3" blade.

From the description, "The hollow ground D2 blade rides on the proprietary ball bearing pivot system making the deployment quick and easy."

Nice knife, good looking. Best of luck on your decision.

 

[Rennd]

SaintlyBrees said:
Also take a look at Brous Blades Bionic Flipper. Close to the middle of that price range. 3" blade.



From the description, "The hollow ground D2 blade rides on the proprietary ball bearing pivot system making the deployment quick and easy."



Nice knife, good looking. Best of luck on your decision.

Dang it, man! Thanks to you, now it's between the domino, ZT 0801, and the Bionic! Too many choices

 

[Cereal_killer]

Dang it, man! Thanks to you, now it's between the domino, ZT 0801, and the Bionic! Too many choices

Honestly man the bionic looks cool but if I were you my decision would be between the 0801 and the Domino. No particular problems with Brous and if you were asking "should you buy the bionic in addition to my 0801 or my Domino" I'd say sure got for it but I really urge you to get either the ZT or the Spyderco first.

 

[whitty]

I have to further support everyone who has suggested the ZT 801! One of my favorite ZT's ever!

 

[dkb45]

I would suggest against IKBS, even if the opinion isn't popular. The IKBS system uses loose bearings which are an incredible PITA to disassemble (because they are just itching to break free and make a run for the floor) and they really easily catch grit. I haven't had a single IKBS knife that didn't pick up some kind of grit and quickly loose smoothness.

Either go good washers, or captive bearings. Loose bearings are a lot of headache.

 

[nitsua9001]

There's a new Hinderer-designed ZT coming out, the 0562 .

 

[NRA]

tagged to read later

 

[Jeru]

Böker Plus Impetus 01BO720 Burchtree Bladeworks

Personally I prefer washers by the way.

 

[evilgreg]

Honestly man the bionic looks cool but if I were you my decision would be between the 0801 and the Domino. No particular problems with Brous and if you were asking "should you buy the bionic in addition to my 0801 or my Domino" I'd say sure got for it but I really urge you to get either the ZT or the Spyderco first.

I agree with the idea that the Bionic shouldn't even be in the conversation (and I say that as someone that owns and likes the Bionic) but I'd put the Domino (which I have as well) into that same category. IMO, the 0801 > Domino and the Southard > 0801 > Domino > Bionic, to stretch the flipper conversation out a little further.

The Domino is a giant handle with a tiny edge, and putting it side by side with a normally shaped knife, the Bionic here, makes that awfully clear (lined up roughly where the edge begins):

Actually, now that I think about it, the best production flipper for $100 - $200 is either the 0801, or even better, saving another $25 and getting a Southard . . .

 

[bpeezer]

Southard > 0801 > Domino > Bionic

This is interesting, I had some opposite sentiments. I found that the Domino flips much better than the Southard, has a more comfortable handle (easily remedied by an aftermarket scale for the Southard though), and I really like the steel lock interface. I feel that about 3" of cutting edge is ideal for my uses, but I can see how others would prefer the longer blade.

Side note, did you do a blade swap on your Bionic? It looks like you have the blackout hardware, but a regular satin blade.

 

[evilgreg]

This is interesting, I had some opposite sentiments. I found that the Domino flips much better than the Southard, has a more comfortable handle (easily remedied by an aftermarket scale for the Southard though), and I really like the steel lock interface. I feel that about 3" of cutting edge is ideal for my uses, but I can see how others would prefer the longer blade.

It's not so much that it isn't enough sharp stuff, it's that it isn't enough sharp stuff for a knife that takes up about 1.5x to 2x the pocket space (it feels like double, but I suppose 1.5x by volume is closer) that the Southard does. I mean, the Bionic is a quarter the size in the pocket, and has the same (actually, slightly more) sharp stuff, compared to the Domino. The Southard is a similar length handle, and much smaller in the pocket, and quite comfortable (albeit I do have custom scales) and has a whole lot more sharp stuff:

I will give you that it flips like a champ, though. And I may be the only one, but I sort of love the cosby-sweater scale (damn you, whoever started that, it really does stick). Still, I've tried to like it enough to carry it and I just can't. It's a Benchmade 710's worth of handle but only a Benchmade 707's worth of blade. I love Spyderco, but IMO the design was dropped on its head as a child.

Side note, did you do a blade swap on your Bionic? It looks like you have the blackout hardware, but a regular satin blade.

Nah, must be a trick of the light. Mine is the black/satin, with some of the black lost to what looks like wear in real life, but it's actually from me sanding the jimping round and breaking the sharp edge on the inside of the scales (damn spiky little mess when it showed up new, really uncomfortable to flip).

 

[RamZar]

ZT 0801 would be my first choice but if you can stretch your budget to $225 go with the Southard. Bionic is a pain and not worth it. Domino is ridiculously wide and only a 2.89" cutting edge. Boker Kwaiken flipper is great and inexpensive if you can fathom AUS-8.

 

[bpeezer]

The Southard is a similar length handle, and much smaller in the pocket, and quite comfortable (albeit I do have custom scales) and has a whole lot more sharp stuff:

I think if I had a custom scale I would appreciate my Southard as much as it deserves. I may have to look into that

 

[Rennd]

So, now it's between the Southard and the ZT 0801. Hmm.

 

[evilgreg]

I think if I had a custom scale I would appreciate my Southard as much as it deserves. I may have to look into that

I like the way you're thinking.