Cold steel vs zero tolerance

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The term
"Professional"
has become not much more than marketing verbage, much like Professional Strength Draino as opposed to regular Draino . The average consumer wants what the Pros want and the term sales product. There are Profesional grade furnaces, running shoes, trucks, eyeglasses, you name it. There is a professional version of almost every consumer good.
Now if you really want a singular professional product then you have to show certification in your profession and buy said product from a professional trade supplier. For example, to buy a Trane Furnace gas control valve you will need to be a licensed Trane Furnace repairman. Now granted most anything can be Googled and Craig's listed but the point is you are not going to get the Professional Grade Uber Knife simply by going down to the big box hunting store and picking out of the case like every other NON professional consumer.
As far as ZT, compared to Kershaw, compared to SpyderCo, and on and on...
What makes a company professional is how they handle customer dissatisfaction. Now if I take a Spyderco knife and hammer it through a log, film it, post it, then fuss about its failure, will they freely replace it? Probably not. Indeed when you use any tool other than its intended design you will have a hard time getting the manufacturer to warranty it.
But a folding knife, any American made folding knife, beat it up with another tool on film. Send it back broken
Good luck with that.
Now if you have found such a knife maker and you can abuse their product and get it replaced at no charge, then be their customer for life and Enjoy.
Make sure you post that. Another companies failure does not in and of itself automatically make their competitor better.
Posted April 1, 2015... :D
 
stabman said:
Every Zero Tolerance knife I have had has been great quality.
Solid lock-up, good edge retention...just what you'd expect.
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stabman said:
Damned wimpy ZT's...

[video=youtube;AW0TVkcBFkw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW0TVkcBFkw[/video]

:)
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RBid said:
I have 3 ZTs: 0550, 0566, 0562. I've used all 3 extensively, for a variety of tasks ranging from typical package opening stuff on up to destroying a wide variety of items composed of vinyl, leather, canvas, wood, etc (getting paid to do this is gratifying).

In these applications, I use either a hammer or reverse grip, exerting pressure on the lock bar. All 3 knives have flipper tabs or protrusions that would meet fingers instead of sharpened edge. None have ever slipped or wiggled.

I won't say anything bad about Cold Steel, because I have nothing bad to say. What I will say is that my ZT knives are working as advertised.
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If a knife proves itself, then there is nothing wrong with that particular knife. If people are saying that all ZT framelocks are inherently flawed or dangerous, they are wrong.

However, it does seem to be the case that it's not exactly rare to have disengagement issues on brand new ZTs. Just as those failures don't discount the demonstrated success of your particular knife, the success of your particular knife doesn't discount those demonstrated failures.

It would also be wrong to discount the fact that a certain type of lock by a certain manufacturer has had, by contrast, zero demonstrations of that certain type of failure (in this case, easy disengagement of the lock through hand pressure on the spine, light spinewhacks or light to moderate use).
 
This is a perfect example of trolling.....

Glad I could get my post in before the door slams shut. :D
 
another troll thread, great. OP....whats the point here, timing how long it takes to get locked?? Have anything valuable to add to the forum, or just like razzing up the members?? Either way its a pointless thread with an even more pointless video. The triad lock is great..... but still, I cant remember the last time I needed to use my knife to lift weights...Try making a thread that will spark actual conversation and interest for once. A thread nearly identical to this one was locked yesterday....OP if you are gonna try and stir something up, at least be original. These stupid "ZT Sucks" threads are really annoyingly retarded, you must really lead dismal lives with your glass half empty points of view.


singularity35 said:
It's a lock, it should "lock" regardless. Whether you agree or not, when an item is marketed, it should work properly. If it doesn't work properly, then it shouldn't be sold as such.
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A lock works properly when its tested properly....the test in the video, as well as a spine whack test are not indicative of real world use....unless you do dumb shit like that a lot, then I hope you have fun!
 
I will say, I have always been a fan of CS. They make great beaters that hold up to abuse. My American Lawman is a fantastic knife.

But, CS bashing other brands is pretty low imho. Shows a bit of desperation.
 
asdf12345 said:
There are definitely ZT knives that have perfectly good locks. There are videos showing extreme abuse of ZT knives where the locks hold. It would be unfair to say that those particular knives, proven to have a lock without issues are somehow unsafe or weak.

Likewise, there are also many, many videos showing extreme abuse of Cold Steel knives where the Triad locks hold.

Consider this, however - there are zero videos showing a Triad lock disengaging under light pressure on the spine with the hands, gentle spinewhacks, or moderate use. None.

There are, however, several videos - nine on the first few pages of results alone - showing ZT framelocks (0300 & 0550/560 series) disengaging under light pressure on the spine with the hands, gentle spinewhacks, or moderate use.

It's not just ZT that's being singled out. Look for tests involving particular knives from any company - Benchmade, Spyderco, Cold Steel, you name it - that have a track record of failing locks. You'll see that these knives, too, have several videos demonstrating their failures.

For every person with the time & resources to make videos on Youtube, there are hundreds more knife users who do not. The fact that a large number of Youtubers alone have had disengagement problems with certain ZT knives tells me that the probability isn't low that the average consumer might encounter these issues on certain ZTs.

Yes, it's likely that when you purchase a ZT of the aforementioned series you won't get one with a lock that has a disengagement issue. But there is also a chance that you will. And on account of the reports out there it seems that there is a much greater chance of a ZT lock (of the aforementioned series) having disengagement issues than knives with the Triad lock.

This issue is magnified, of course, by the fact that the design & features of these particular knives mean that they are more likely to be used for heavier tasks than other, smaller knives. Therefore, if there is a problem with lock disengagement, it is more likely to threaten user safety as the blades & locks of these knives are more likely to encounter sharp forces from various directions.
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Didn't we just go through this? Silly YouTube videos aren't evidence.
 
bodog said:
One of the ones listed by ZT.
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O didn't know mall security was one of them....

Seriously though. Cold steel is a mall ninja company. The only people who like to buy them are people who are concerned with how well their knives can be spine whacked.they don't care about inferior materials cheap blade steel and Knives that are too heavy and can't cut all they care about is that their knives can be spine whacked.
 
The Mini Tuff Lite (which I just got to be honest) is my favorite Cold Steel knife because it's clear that they wanted to make a tool instead of a weapon for a change.

I wish they'd take that approach more often
 
craytab said:
Didn't we just go through this? Silly YouTube videos aren't evidence.
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Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with you. Unless you have some silly belief that people are co-conspiring to discredit a particular manufacturer or series of knives, or that knife tests are categorically untrue (in which case, tests showing the success of ZT knives versus abuse are untrue as well) there's no logical reason to believe that all video demonstrations are intentionally misleading or contain doctored results.

In fact they are the closest we can get to actual evidence. If someone makes a forum post about his lock failing, with just a text post, how can you be sure he or she is telling the truth without a video to back it up? How do you know they're not doing something to cause or to prevent failure? Why consider evidence selectively?

You also consistently ignore the fact that tests involving particular knives from any company - Benchmade, Spyderco, Cold Steel, you name it - that have a track record of failing locks have plenty of videos dedicated to demonstrating their failures. You ignore the fact that many of these Youtubers showing failures in ZT knives have other videos that praise ZT knives. You ignore the fact that there are far more video examples of the 350 / 550 / 560 locks failing under minimal pressure or light spinewhacks than that of any other ZT model, or any Triad lock, or any Axis lock.
 
Some guys REALLY love their Cold Steel knives. I doubt you'll ever see a ZT fan do this. I guess ZT fan boys just aren't as awesome as CS fanboys (although I'm sure tater has been tempted!)
nightshadewacko_zpsvbt7wbkd.jpg

(from billstclair.com)
 
Scurvy092 said:
Cold steel is a mall ninja company. The only people who like to buy them are people who are concerned with how well their knives can be spine whacked.they don't care about inferior materials cheap blade steel and Knives that are too heavy and can't cut all they care about is that their knives can be spine whacked.
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ZT 0301:

$272.00
S30-V
3.75 inch blade, .17 thick
8.25 oz.

CS Recon 1:

$104.00
CTS-XHP
4 inch blade, .138 thick
5.3 oz.

Clearly, the Cold Steel is too heavy, has cheap blade steel, and can't cut.

oregonknifenerd said:
Some guys REALLY love their Cold Steel knives. I doubt you'll ever see a ZT fan do this. I guess ZT fan boys just aren't as awesome as CS fanboys (although I'm sure tater has been tempted!)
nightshadewacko_zpsvbt7wbkd.jpg

(from billstclair.com)
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marcinek said:
"This is why the KAI forum closed." Two shots.
"55 gallon drum." One shot.
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Scurvy092 said:
April Fools everyone!!

Bodog is a bigger ZT fanboy than I am!!
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Screwdriver said:
This is a perfect example of trolling.....

Glad I could get my post in before the door slams shut. :D
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And you're the guys accusing people of being trolls?
 
im a zt fan, i have 6 of them, and are in honeymoon mode right now with my new 630 that just came in 4 days ago. so watching this video my natural instinct is to call that cs guy a cheat, but i dont think i can make myself believe that, zt locks could be better. yes cs test look stupid because they all look like overweight mall ninjas but at lest they are doing it, i wish zt or any other companies have the balls to put out destruction tests like this to show us the limit of their knifes.

fact is fact, triad lock is just stranger and zt's quality control does kinda suck. that said im not gon start carrying my american lawman over my 630, because its not as easy to open and close and triad lock is loud as hell, everyone in the room turn and look at me whenever i open it, and last but not lest american lawman just not as pretty.

i see no reason for us to bent backwards trying to defend zt when there is evidence shows otherwise. being fan boys maybe we cant help to vote zt with our wallets but at lest we can call out their not so great quality control on lock and steel to make them improve.
 
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I like cold steel and I buy them, I think people who use the term mall ninja probably grew up listening to limp biscuit and collecting pogs.
 
Looks like it takes 2 hands to open the Tri-Ad lock. Frame locks and liner locks only take one hand. So by arbitrary metric, ZT framelocks are twice as good. I think that is a more pertinent metric to measure a knife by than a spine whack test though.

Also, this...
[youtube]-_-37FLuWVk[/youtube]
 
Ever notice how no one ever compliments Cold Steel on anything except lock strength.
 
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