Boy meets Knife, Boy leaves Knife, Boy comes back to Knife once more ;-)

[Gary W. Graley]

It's an age old story, Boy meets knife, falls in love, lasts a while but then see's something new, usually on BladeForums that catches his eye, then boy leaves knife for a new and hopefully more exciting relationship. Many movies made about this scenario, didn't think it would happen to me, but it did

The Story;

A while back a friend out west, one of those rough range people in Cheyenne WY, Raj, sent me a very nice ZT0770cf, what a great knife and what a great gift too. It promptly kicked what ever was in my pocket out, be gone wretched what ever you were! And so we were attached at the hip for a long time, well, more like the front right pocket but close enough. Great design, carbon fiber made this so light you'd not know it was there. The blade shape worked very well in about any edc use it ran into and the edge held well with the Elmax steel too. I did remove the assist torsion bar, as it opened smoothly enough on it's own with the flipper.

THEN after a few months, I am thinking that is close to a record for me, I took notice of another knife and proceeded to make plans on getting that, and since I'm not a 'collector' of knives, I hate for knives to just sit in a drawer or safe and never be used. I sent her back to Raj.

THEN a short time after getting the NEW one, things didn't go as I had hoped. Now we didn't argue or fight, we just lost that new feeling, it wore off so fast it wasn't funny. So I sold that one and tried another knife. That lasted even less time than the other!! So I tried ONE more knife, and that was good but just wasn't it. So with tail between my legs, I wrote back to Raj and asked, 'if that 0770cf is still available, would you send her back?' Being the good fellow that he is, he sent her out straight away. I was concerned that she'd be in a huff, after all I tossed her aside as so much pot metal, but so far she's allowed me to carry her without incident and we're a happy couple again. Thanks again Raj!

I had a leather lanyard on there to begin with but as of late I'm more a paracord guy and put a new lanyard on there. Here's a shot of before, when she was new to me

And here's some recent shots showing the paracord lanyard. Now ZT didn't put a lanyard hole on their knife, but did design a lanyard pin at the end of the handle. But with Paracord I didn't want a big knot so close to the knife handle, so I took some strong black thread and used a whipping tie to keep the paracord nice and tight to the pin and then made my diamond knots, one to grip with my pinky to pull out of the pocket and one to end the lanyard loop. It works very well, you can also just drop the knife in your pocket with the lanyard end out for those times you don't want a clip showing. Or wrap the paracord around your belt and drop the knife through the loop and clip to your pocket. That would be for when you might need some extra protection, in a crowd or in the woods hiking or climbing.

So, very glad to have her back again, I had sent Raj this youtube video, hoping she didn't sing this to me when she came back

[video=youtube;Pg3iA1zzeE8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3iA1zzeE8[/video]

I'm sure that you guys and gals might have had similar experiences of love found, love lost and love rekindled? if so please feel free to share!
G2

 

[d0nut]

Great story, and an even better friend.

I'm lucky to get Christmas cards from my friends, let alone new ZT knives.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, if they ever make that into a movie, I hope they get John Cusack to play me And yes good friends are great to have like that.

Here's a Christmas shot of that knife along with my new watch, it's not an expensive watch but I like the layout and keeps great time and the lumen lasts a long time too.

G2

 

[blades&wrenches]

Something similar happened to me with my ZT 0550. It was infatuation at first sight, so naturally, I had to have it. I carried it everywhere, but being that it was the most I'd ever spent on a knife, I was hesitant to use it. I always carry 2 so the other always got the job. Fast forward 3 months, and I'm short on cash. I decide to sell my prized 0550 back to the vendor, who graciously gave my full purchase price back. It still looked new.
The knife sat on his shelf for almost a year. Every time I saw it I could hear it calling my name. No other knife I had could compare. I was convinced that it sat there just waiting for the moment I could buy it again. Finally, things settled down and I repurchased it. It's still remains a favorite and a top choice several years and many knives later.

 

[Sonnydaze]

Gary, you write a great story. Always fun to read. I have a nice 0770CF with M390, but no occasion to carry it yet. I suppose that means that I prefer one or two others, but haven't given the ZT a chance yet to prove itself. You do some nice work; good pics.

 

[choombak]

Similar story between me and the Sebenza Insingo -- when I put $350 down for it, I was scared to user her. Carried her a few times, but finally sold her. Since that day I always longed for the crisp opening of the Insingo, and finally had to get her back. Now I know for sure that was the best $300 I spent on the forums!

Great story Gary, and very artistic lanyards (actually I lookup your posts for the lanyards!) enjoy her in good health.

 

[harronek]

Nice knife Gary :thumbup:

Your knife love life is your own business , so I won't pass judgement
I've noticed that your lanyards are getting longer as time goes by , if that trend continues then in a couple of years you will be able to discard your belt entirely and just use the lanyard to keep your trousers up .
On a serious note though do you find the longer lanyard can get in the way at times ?
I can certainly see the benefit of being able to quickly loop it around your belt when the need for additional security against accidental lose is required .
Will you make a sheath for this beauty to wear , or is its pocket clip and ease of carry that the clip provides some of the attraction to it ?

Ken

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks guys for sharing and appreciate that you also like the lanyards.
And Ken, the lanyards are a little bit longer than what the leather ones were, but only because it's easier to do so and so far they don't inhibit cutting ability or get in the way. But then I don't hunt so it doesn't get that kind of mess on there but with paracord you can wash it I would think. I'm not planning on any longer ones, these seem about right, a little larger than my fist to fit through or there abouts.

With the flipper it makes it more difficult to make a sheath for it, so I'll most likely just carry by clip.
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I've had a few PM's asking 'what were the knives that didn't make it?' and to that I will just say I won't say as they were actually all very nice knives, it was just a preference thing and not a quality issue with any of them. So I don't want to cast aspersions on good knives because of my predilection on my most recent choice

I remember a comedian, not sure if it was Steven Wright but it sounds like him, saying

My grandfather once told me that "It's good that not everybody likes the same thing, or they would all be after your grandmother"



And so we have SO many choices, and that is a good thing!
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Well, the ZT has some competition, rivalry as it were, for that front right pocket of mine, long story short I traded around the barn and finally ended up with a very nice Spydero Domino, this has the controversial carbon fiber over g10 scale, some don't care for it, but to my eye, it's very cool, Eric Glesser, nice work with the whole package!

Here's a few shots of the two of them chatting last night;

that weave is really funky, here you can see the texture

The Domino is a tad thicker and for my tastes the scale is a little more grippier, so it's really tuff leaving one for the other, I've been carrying the Domino, which arrived with a thinner edge grind than the ZT has, for a couple days now. While the blade shape on the ZT is one I really like a little better, the Domino I think is pulling ahead in the overall like category. Both are nice knives, the one thing I'd like would be the CTS-204p blade in the Domino but they come with different scale as well as a much higher price point and as I don't have the doe ray me right now to get anything, chimney fire repair is helping to direct my resources it'll be a while, which gives me time to see how this steel holds up.

G2

 

[harronek]

Nice score :thumbup:

I personally like the lines and look of the Spyderco over the ZT .
But looks aren't everything and performance trumps beauty in my world , so I'm interested in this showdown .
What pocket clip type and position does the Spyderco have ?


Ken

 

[Gary W. Graley]

The Domino's tip is quite delicate, so you need to use it with more care than the ZT's but then, you should always be careful

The Domino's clip is more substantial, retains a lot stronger than the ZT does, here's a shot of the Domino's lock side, couple things to note about this knife;

Integral lock, nice

Lock bar has a steel insert so there isn't any galling of titanium against the tang of the knife

Lock bar insert also includes a tab that extends towards the spine of the handle, acting as an over travel stop, also a nice touch.

AND the Domino has a lanyard tube but you can as you see that I've done, add a lanyard to the ZT, on both I did a whipping of the paracord so that it can't swing around into the blade area, also a friend sent me a nice bead that is on the ZT, might start adding that to my lanyards as it is a cleanly made bead!

here's a shot of the lock side taken a few minutes ago;

G2