Flipper action on ZT 0801 vs. 0600 vs. 056X vs. 0777

2ac · Jul 15, 2013

Not to derail, but how about the Spyderco Southard? Anyone have one to compare? I find it to be a pretty smooth flipper, but only have a 350 and 560 to compare it to. I will eventually pick up 801 though.

RamZar · Jul 15, 2013

2ac said:
Not to derail, but how about the Spyderco Southard? Anyone have one to compare? I find it to be a pretty smooth flipper, but only have a 350 and 560 to compare it to. I will eventually pick up 801 though.

The Spyderco Southard is very smooth, assured and somewhat snappy flipper. Somewhere short of 0801 and above 0600. Definitely one of the better flippers.

I also have the Benchmade 300 and even though the detent is a little on the weak side it opens easily in any position.

NeverMore1701 · Jul 15, 2013

RamZar said:
The Spyderco Southard is very smooth, assured and somewhat snappy flipper. Somewhere short of 0801 and above 0600. Definitely one of the better flippers.

I also have the Benchmade 300 and even though the detent is a little on the weak side it opens easily in any position.

My 0600 is actually darn near identical to my Southard. Don't have an 0801 to compare though. The BM 300SN was easily the least impressive flipper I've owned.

djdawg · Jul 15, 2013

Question .........Is the 801 a limited edition or regular pro. ??

RamZar · Jul 15, 2013

djdawg said:
Question .........Is the 801 a limited edition or regular pro. ??

0801 is Regular Production with MAP-MSRP of $192-$240.

0801CF is Limited Edition and currently there's no information on availability or number of products that will be produced.

Barabus · Jul 15, 2013

My 0777 is significantly better in term of flipper action than my 0560cbcf. The 0777 is about perfect for me.

RamZar · Jul 15, 2013

NeverMore1701 said:
The BM 300SN was easily the least impressive flipper I've owned.

For me that would be the ZT 0780 with the limpest detent.

djdawg · Jul 15, 2013

Thank you RamZar.
I have or had the 0780 , very nice knife IMHO
Quickly discontinued , but still a nice one to me.
I often wonder why they disco,d such a fine knife ..............I liked it , had no problems with mine.

RamZar · Jul 17, 2013

djdawg said:
Thank you RamZar.
I have or had the 0780 , very nice knife IMHO
Quickly discontinued , but still a nice one to me.
I often wonder why they disco,d such a fine knife ..............I liked it , had no problems with mine.

How do you like the flipper action on your 0780?

freewheeling · Jul 17, 2013

Well the "big knife" flipper feel of the #600 is pretty gratifying. I like my #561 a little better, but it took me a long time to get there. And after having saved a bit of scrrrratch on some hideous pocket clips, maybe I'll be able to afford an #801 somewhere down the line?

clockman · Jul 17, 2013

TotalDbag said:
Have you handled a Kershaw Lahar? It's impossible I tell ya

I have a Lahar. I can flip it horizonally easily, but not vertically .

PURPLEDC · Jul 17, 2013

2ac said:
Not to derail, but how about the Spyderco Southard? Anyone have one to compare? I find it to be a pretty smooth flipper, but only have a 350 and 560 to compare it to. I will eventually pick up 801 though.

I have a southard. I have handled a few of them as well. The action on these I find to be a bit stiff. Every one I handled had tremendous lockbar tension. This made for a great pop for the detent but it causes excess friction when the ball rides on the blade tang. I have bearing flippers that have a light weight blade like the southard and still their own weight is enough for the blade to fall freely back into the handle. The lockbar strength on my southard is so strong that I can position my blade at any point in its travel and it takes some good amount of force to get it moving again. Apparently Spyderco knows of this issue and have said they are working on having a smoother opening system on their newer flippers. I like the southard. I think its a great knife. But for me what good is the bearing pivot if the locbar creates so much drag that you dont know it has one? Thats why I like KVT/ZTVT the blades just fall back into the handle.

NeverMore1701 said:
The BM 300SN was easily the least impressive flipper I've owned.

That doesnt surprise me. To the the axis lock is completely counterintuitive to the way a flipper is supposed to function. I find putting a flipper on an axis knife to be akin to putting a laser scope on a sawed off shotgun.

djdawg · Jul 17, 2013

RamZar said:
How do you like the flipper action on your 0780?

I bought three of them at first ........sold two of them.
The one I used had to be broke in a bit , but worked very easily in the flipping after a little use.
Ive heard of different problems with them , but mine didnt seem to have any quarks , guess Iam lucky.

djdawg · Jul 17, 2013

I have a southard. I have handled a few of them as well. The action on these I find to be a bit stiff

Mine is really smooth , Ive had two of them and sold one to a friend.
Both were good as gold ..........Iam not just saying this either , they are easy flippers.

Steel130 · Jul 18, 2013

djdawg said:
Mine is really smooth , Ive had two of them and sold one to a friend.
Both were good as gold ..........Iam not just saying this either , they are easy flippers.

Same here. I found it as smooth as the KVT.

freewheeling · Jul 19, 2013

2ac said:
Not to derail, but how about the Spyderco Southard? Anyone have one to compare? I find it to be a pretty smooth flipper, but only have a 350 and 560 to compare it to. I will eventually pick up 801 though.

I have a Southard as well as a 361 and a 600. It took me a long time to warm up to the 361 but it's now about the most fun knife I have. I think that's because I mounted pocket clips on both sides which, in addition to other benefits, allows a better "purchase" on the knife when flipping it. The Southard I liked immediately and still like, and I think the 600 is about the same. They were both pretty much perfect right out of the box.

Civil PE · Jul 21, 2013

Either my 560's are turds or I have no ability to flip them. My 600 is SUPER easy and locks open almost 100% for me. My 801 is also SUPER easy and locks open almost 100% for me. Went back to the 560's and no dice......almost 0% unless I add some wrist action......in fact it stops at about 50% open, so not even close

So is there some super secret trick with the 560's? Am I the only one who can flip the 600 and 801 almost 100% w/o any wrist, but can't flip the 560's? Ugh!

RamZar · Jul 21, 2013

Civil PE said:
My 600 is SUPER easy and locks open almost 100% for me. My 801 is also SUPER easy and locks open almost 100% for me. Went back to the 560's and no dice......almost 0% unless I add some wrist action......in fact it stops at about 50% open, so not even close

So is there some super secret trick with the 560's? Am I the only one who can flip the 600 and 801 almost 100% w/o any wrist, but can't flip the 560's? Ugh!

The 0801 and 0600 flip open for me practically 100% of the time no matter if I'm pointing the blade up, horizontal or down.

With the 0560/0561/0560CBCF they only open 100% of the time if I point the blade down towards the ground. Horizontal works sometimes and when the blade is pointing up towards the sky it does NOT fully open. These are all without wrist-assist. Apparently, the detent is kind of weak on them compared to the 0801 and 0600.

PURPLEDC · Jul 21, 2013

Civil PE said:
Either my 560's are turds or I have no ability to flip them. My 600 is SUPER easy and locks open almost 100% for me. My 801 is also SUPER easy and locks open almost 100% for me. Went back to the 560's and no dice......almost 0% unless I add some wrist action......in fact it stops at about 50% open, so not even close

So is there some super secret trick with the 560's? Am I the only one who can flip the 600 and 801 almost 100% w/o any wrist, but can't flip the 560's? Ugh!

Without handling your knife there is no way to tell. When the blade is closed just grab the blade with one and and the handle with the other and try pulling the blade out. Is there any resistance? Does the blade just come out with little to no effort? If so then your knife probably has a very weak detent. One thing to try is to put some pressure on the lockbar when your trying to fire it. In most cases you DONT want to do this as it makes many 0560 knives too hard to fire. But if you knife has a weak detent it just might be the thing for you to get it to pop. You can in theory increase the strength of the detent to a degree by bending the lockbar in a small amount so there is more resistance when the detent ball is escaping the hole in the blade when firing. You dont want to do this too much though as it can cause other problems such as an off center blade and sticky lock. Unless your detent ball fell right out of your knife its not really a warranty issue to many. If I were you if your knives are in good condition you could buy a membership and trade or sell them. There are plenty of wuss fingered folks out there who prefer the lighter detent and would gladly trade a more stout example.

BLUEGINGER · Jul 21, 2013

I have to agree with most on the 560/61...the 0600 is so much easier for me to flip and sooo smooth in comparison...not to take anything away from the 0560/61, just the 0600 is on a different level performance wise.