The zt0350 is imo is pretty beffy in appearance. The s30v leek looks promising but I have yet to experience a G10 handle, reviews on amazon say it's hard on clothes. How true is that? And the knife in general?
The ZT 0350 has grippier G10 than the G10 leek. They are patterned differently. The leek's G10 is less aggressive. If you only wear one pair of pants and clip the knife in the same spot it might wear out your pocket a little, but if you wear different pants it's not going to abrade them all sufficiently to make a huge impact. I think people overstate how much G10 abrades their clothing, unless they are constantly pulling the knife out of their pocket and putting it back in.
This statement perplexes me. College students don't need knives because they are on campus? As if that's the only place they are for their whole college career...
And I suppose the hordes of office workers here on BFC really need their knives huh?
Most people have no need for a knife. Scissors or a cheap box cutter can accomplish most office-related tasks. You can try to argue with this but the fact is that there isn't much use for a knife aside from a limited number of tasks or specialized uses in an office or on a college campus. Yes, there are times when an EDC knife is useful, but you can't use a knife if there's nothing to cut. If your job is to sit at a desk there isn't much to cut on a daily basis. Students are going to class, taking notes, studying, using computers, eating, and then going home. Where are they going and what are they doing that requires an assisted opening knife? I certainly had no need for one when I was in class taking notes. I didn't need one when I was teaching a class either.
There's no point carrying around a ZT0350 if it's never going to get used for anything. Plus it's completely overkill for opening letters or cutting fruit. I carried a SAK in my backpack and later on a G10 leek in my pocket and very rarely was there ever a use for it. If you're at home you might find a need for a knife, but more often than not there's still not much use for a folding knife in an apartment. If I had to cut wires I'd get a utility knife and a bunch of blades. I wouldn't want to wear out a nice knife cutting abrasive wires. A SAK would probably do fine for this task but wire isn't exactly the best thing for a knife to cut.
Again, I spent 6 years living near a college campus and going to class. Looking back I can't think of a single instance when I actually needed a knife on campus. Now a bottle opener & corkscrew on the other hand.....those would've come in handy on so many occasions...off campus of course. I still argue that a Vic Tourist or Waiter or any SAK with corkscrew + bottle opener will be infinitely more useful to the average college student, like for instance opening bottles of tasty beer and saving the damsels in distress by opening their wine bottle because no one around has a corkscrew at the party.
To the OP, what is the knife going to be used to cut? Ask yourself that question before blowing money on pocket jewelry. Yes, collecting and carrying knives is a fun hobby, but unless you've got a lot of extra money to burn you should save it for food and other college-related expenses. College is very expensive. Extraneous items are simply that: unnecessary. I suggest you get a $20 Vic Tourist and carry it around. If you need something more, then get the ZT 0350 or whatever knife tickles your fancy.