jimmyjones
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2005
- Messages
- 4,080
When my held mail showed up after the holidays, there was a box from Spark, what's he sending me? 
I'd forgotten about the BF Skyline pre-order.
When I open it up, WOW, what an incredible knife ! I've always been partial to "Gentleman's folders" but this one's out of the park. The fit and finish are impeccable, and I've always preferred a flat grind to hollow ground for my EDCs. It rocks !
I've never owned a flipper, so playing with it was a hoot. I'd been aware of Kershaw/ZT but never looked closely. I'd been carrying an Emerson since I retired my 2 screw Milly.
Colorado has a 3.5" blade limit, so I stopped buying folders I can't legally carry here and primarily collect fixed blade knives.
I spent the next 2 day reading all the Kershaw/ZT posts about the Skyline and the ZT series in the <= 3.5" range. After reading all the posts and watching YouTube videos, decided to get a ZT 0350, got a blem from Kershawguy (great price, fast shipping Thanks Dave !), also picked up a couple standard Skylines.
Never owned an AO either, so that was fun, a bit scarey the first time you deploy it. Took out the torsion bar and played with it as a flipper for a bit, put the bar back in. Carried it for a few days while deciding to try a ZT 0550. When it showed up, that was it. I usually carry a fixed blade along with a folder, but there's a J-Frame currently riding in that spot, so I figured a heavier folder might be the ticket. The 0550 fits the bill.
Kershaw really has the manufacturing/QA down, love to see a quality American made product !
I love the Skyline, the extras I ordered are gone, my GF got one and my daughter snagged the other, I've got 2 more inbound, they make great gifts and its a great GP folder, disappears in the pocket and doesn't frighten the civilians. I really enjoy it.
The 0350 to me is a great medium duty (remember I'm from Busse land) folder, the AO is a bit intimidating to those around, so if I EDC it, I'd take out the bar, although I can open it without the solid reassuring thwump if needed.
The 0550 is solid, built like a tank, I could skin a car with it ! I like the fact it's not an AO, or a flipper, just a conventional thumb stud folder (on Steroids). I'd played with the XMs but never really warmed up to them, and wasn't willing to plunk down the $, never won any of the Hinderer Blade Show lotteries
The 0550 comes in at a decent price point. Big bang for the $. The factory scales are a bit aggressive for my taste and we all know about the availability of after market scales. I grabbed a factory 0550 scale off the exchange. Figured I'd smooth it up and try my hand at modifying it to something that works for me before ordering a custom scale. Been playing with lanyards, just haven't come up with a working solution to that one yet.
I want to thank the KAI members for all the knowledge and insight I was able to glean from the forums, you all are first rate !
Pics or i........
LOL, and in good OCD form, I've ordered spares, so I'll never be without.
I'd forgotten about the BF Skyline pre-order.
When I open it up, WOW, what an incredible knife ! I've always been partial to "Gentleman's folders" but this one's out of the park. The fit and finish are impeccable, and I've always preferred a flat grind to hollow ground for my EDCs. It rocks !
I've never owned a flipper, so playing with it was a hoot. I'd been aware of Kershaw/ZT but never looked closely. I'd been carrying an Emerson since I retired my 2 screw Milly.
Colorado has a 3.5" blade limit, so I stopped buying folders I can't legally carry here and primarily collect fixed blade knives.
I spent the next 2 day reading all the Kershaw/ZT posts about the Skyline and the ZT series in the <= 3.5" range. After reading all the posts and watching YouTube videos, decided to get a ZT 0350, got a blem from Kershawguy (great price, fast shipping Thanks Dave !), also picked up a couple standard Skylines.
Never owned an AO either, so that was fun, a bit scarey the first time you deploy it. Took out the torsion bar and played with it as a flipper for a bit, put the bar back in. Carried it for a few days while deciding to try a ZT 0550. When it showed up, that was it. I usually carry a fixed blade along with a folder, but there's a J-Frame currently riding in that spot, so I figured a heavier folder might be the ticket. The 0550 fits the bill.
Kershaw really has the manufacturing/QA down, love to see a quality American made product !
I love the Skyline, the extras I ordered are gone, my GF got one and my daughter snagged the other, I've got 2 more inbound, they make great gifts and its a great GP folder, disappears in the pocket and doesn't frighten the civilians. I really enjoy it.
The 0350 to me is a great medium duty (remember I'm from Busse land) folder, the AO is a bit intimidating to those around, so if I EDC it, I'd take out the bar, although I can open it without the solid reassuring thwump if needed.
The 0550 is solid, built like a tank, I could skin a car with it ! I like the fact it's not an AO, or a flipper, just a conventional thumb stud folder (on Steroids). I'd played with the XMs but never really warmed up to them, and wasn't willing to plunk down the $, never won any of the Hinderer Blade Show lotteries
The 0550 comes in at a decent price point. Big bang for the $. The factory scales are a bit aggressive for my taste and we all know about the availability of after market scales. I grabbed a factory 0550 scale off the exchange. Figured I'd smooth it up and try my hand at modifying it to something that works for me before ordering a custom scale. Been playing with lanyards, just haven't come up with a working solution to that one yet.I want to thank the KAI members for all the knowledge and insight I was able to glean from the forums, you all are first rate !
Pics or i........
LOL, and in good OCD form, I've ordered spares, so I'll never be without.
