Full review: ZT 0770 CF and Video

[Ankerson]

I received the ZT 0770CF for review and testing, this will be my full testing format, Rope, cardboard and wood. I reprofiled and sharpened it 400 grit SIC on an Edge Pro as in my normal testing.


1st up is the 5/8” Manila rope, made 340 slicing cuts checking for down force every 20 cuts until 20 LBS was reached. As you can see there are no issues with the edge and KAI did a good job with the HT on ELMAX. The knife would slice printer paper clean after the rope.

2nd was the Cardboard, I stropped the edge on a SIC loaded strop to bring it back and cut the cardboard seen here. This cardboard is somewhat thicker and had a lot of garbage in it so it wore on the edge pretty good. The knife would still slice printer paper clean after.

3rd was the wood cutting, went straight to the wood after the cardboard without touching the edge, it did very well as you can see taking thick and thin slices out to check for edge stability.

Conclusion:

The ZT 0770CF in ELMAX did very well in the testing, very light weight at 3.1 oz by my measurement. Fit and finish is excellent and up there with knives that are much more expensive and the carbon fiber is good quality. KAI did very well HT and tempering ELMAX as the edge held up with nothing more than normal wear and tear that I normally see in testing. In the end the knife was still centered and had zero blade play in any direction and the stone washed finish held up great. I think it will make for a great EDC knife that should last for a very long time.


Video Overview:


[video=youtube;2NiCLsi9uYc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NiCLsi9uYc[/video]

 

[bld522]

Thanks, Jim. I just got my 0770CF back from the spa. The carbon fiber on the presentation side of the blade was, to use another person's description, "wonky". It's back now after being away for just over a week and it's perfect. I'm really glad ZT finally decided to make a knife I can carry comfortably. The fact that it's a great performer doesn't hurt anything either.

 

[Ankerson]

Thanks, Jim. I just got my 0770CF back from the spa. The carbon fiber on the presentation side of the blade was, to use another person's description, "wonky". It's back now after being away for just over a week and it's perfect. I'm really glad ZT finally decided to make a knife I can carry comfortably. The fact that it's a great performer doesn't hurt anything either.

I think it's one of the nicer knives I have seen in a long time.

 

[bld522]

No doubt. As I said in another thread, if ZT keeps building knives like this one, I'll keep buying them.

 

[Ankerson]

No doubt. As I said in another thread, if ZT keeps building knives like this one, I'll keep buying them.

Yes, they have really stepped up to the plate.

 

[bld522]

There's a dealer that's advertising an M390 version. It hasn't been released yet, so I have no idea how much more it's going to cost than the standard model. But with the Elmax version as good as it is, I wonder if there will be a whole lot to gain with the M390.

 

[Ankerson]

There's a dealer that's advertising an M390 version. It hasn't been released yet, so I have no idea how much more it's going to cost than the standard model. But with the Elmax version as good as it is, I wonder if there will be a whole lot to gain with the M390.

We will see if the M390 vers ever happens...

 

[yoko]

Awesome thank you for testing, and I'm even more excited to get one

 

[Ankerson]

Awesome thank you for testing, and I'm even more excited to get one

Thanks.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks Jim, a good friend on the forums, Raj, thanks again Raj , gifted one to me and it landed yesterday, love it a lot and seeing your test helps reinforce that feeling I took some photos of my knife, hope you don't mind me adding to your thread, instead of starting a new one. Keep things together about the same knife.

Reason for the photos is to show that you can add a lanyard fob to the knife, even though it doesn't have a lanyard hole. There is an exposed pin at the end of the handle, in order to attach a lanyard to it you need to braid it VERY tightly around that pin. I folded the leather over and made slits into it close to the end of the fold so that it would be very tight when I went to braid it and it worked out well.

The skull bead is held in place by way of a wedge of rubberized cork, nestled between the two pieces of leather and then the skull is pulled down tight over that, it prevents the skull from sliding off. A much cleaner way of keeping it in place instead of tying a knot there.

Here are the photos, with the lanyard on, I can hook my pinky around the leather and catch the bead and draw the knife from the pocket, plus the skull is kinda cool, not into skulls really but they work well for this purpose.

Tight around that pin

the skull had a more copper look to it but that's since started flaking off but still has some neat details within

edited to add a shot of in pocket;

For those of you that would like to learn How to braid a leather fob, click here

Again, thanks Jim for your work in bringing these tests to us!
G2

 

[rpn]

Thanks for the review. This is my favorite ZT to date.

 

[Ankerson]

Thanks Jim, a good friend on the forums, Raj, thanks again Raj , gifted one to me and it landed yesterday, love it a lot and seeing your test helps reinforce that feeling I took some photos of my knife, hope you don't mind me adding to your thread, instead of starting a new one. Keep things together about the same knife.

Reason for the photos is to show that you can add a lanyard fob to the knife, even though it doesn't have a lanyard hole. There is an exposed pin at the end of the handle, in order to attach a lanyard to it you need to braid it VERY tightly around that pin. I folded the leather over and made slits into it close to the end of the fold so that it would be very tight when I went to braid it and it worked out well.

The skull bead is held in place by way of a wedge of rubberized cork, nestled between the two pieces of leather and then the skull is pulled down tight over that, it prevents the skull from sliding off. A much cleaner way of keeping it in place instead of tying a knot there.

Here are the photos, with the lanyard on, I can hook my pinky around the leather and catch the bead and draw the knife from the pocket, plus the skull is kinda cool, not into skulls really but they work well for this purpose.

Tight around that pin

the skull had a more copper look to it but that's since started flaking off but still has some neat details within

For those of you that would like to learn How to braid a leather fob, click here

Again, thanks Jim for your work in bringing these tests to us!
G2

Nice.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks Jim, the more I look and think about that pin, I have a feeling that was it's intended purpose, as it isn't part of the structural integrity of the knife, meaning it doesn't appear to be a point that is fastening/bolting the two scales together, it looks to be inset into holes of the scales. I just checked ZT's site but they make no mention of it...

G2

 

[bld522]

Thanks for the review. This is my favorite ZT to date.

Mine too. It's also the only ZT knife I own and the only one I intend to buy unless and until ZT decides to make another lightweight knife. If there's one thing the 0770CF proves, it's that ZT knows how to make lightweight knives. We just have to keep convincing them that "overbuilt" doesn't necessarily have to mean "overweight".

And thanks for showing us how to attach a lanyard to it, Gary. Much appreciated.

 

[Ankerson]

Thanks Jim, the more I look and think about that pin, I have a feeling that was it's intended purpose, as it isn't part of the structural integrity of the knife, meaning it doesn't appear to be a point that is fastening/bolting the two scales together, it looks to be inset into holes of the scales. I just checked ZT's site but they make no mention of it...

G2

I think you are right.

 

[jac_solar]

Will the lanyard hit the tip of the knife if rotated in that direction?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Not right now at least it's tight plus the leather is a little wider so it keeps it on the back side of the handle, so as you can see in that photo you copied into your post, the leather braid has 'shoulders' that prevent the braided area from going down between the scales, and that will help keep it out of the path of the blade.

So you'll need to plan how wide you slice the leather before hand, so it's not too narrow and not too wide, Goldie Lock's style, just right
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Jim, from what I can see in your photos, your clip looks to be made the same as mine, the indents/hourglass area seems to be off, it's not lined up where the actual screw heads are, like it wasn't bent at the correct spot?

If it was bent further up, the pocket clip would end up almost to the end of the knife, it's close enough but it seems strange to have areas for clearance but then to have them positioned where they are not needed, the placement of the screws it looks like you wouldn't need any at all, it all could be straight and a little stronger that way.

Here's a shot of mine, maybe others are different?

G2

 

[Ankerson]

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[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, I saw the proto type had a completely different clip looked a lot wider
G2