How well does the colored titanium handle on the ZT 0301/0302 wear?

S

stanton2

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Jan 21, 2008
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I've been doing a lot of reading lately about the Zero Tolerance 0301/0302, which seems to be a very fine knife---tempting! I'm wondering if the gray/black coloring on the titanium handle is prone to easily wearing/scratching off like the anodized coloring found on aluminum handles. I've read a lot of posts that talk about how readily anodized aluminum handles show wear. Is colored titanium the same way or is it tougher? I know it will certainly scratch if it gets scraped by something hard, but I'm more concerned with gradual wear around the edges and high points. In particular, does anybody have comments on the ZT 0301/0302 handle?

(I originally posted this in General, since I was really asking about colored titanium in general; but somebody suggested I ask my question here, I guess because I specifically mentioned Zero Tolerance.)
 
not entierly sure what the answer is, but you may want to ask here http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=542294. Dan Koster is a custom maker who just customized his ZT 0302. he, if anyone, could answer that for ya.

btw, welcome to the forums, and the Kershaw forum! its our lil heaven :D (make sure to watch out for contests. some weeks there will be 4 or 5 contests at once. just some friendly advice :) )
 
stanton2 said:
I've been doing a lot of reading lately about the Zero Tolerance 0301/0302, which seems to be a very fine knife---tempting! I'm wondering if the gray/black coloring on the titanium handle is prone to easily wearing/scratching off like the anodized coloring found on aluminum handles. I've read a lot of posts that talk about how readily anodized aluminum handles show wear. Is colored titanium the same way or is it tougher? I know it will certainly scratch if it gets scraped by something hard, but I'm more concerned with gradual wear around the edges and high points. In particular, does anybody have comments on the ZT 0301/0302 handle?

(I originally posted this in General, since I was really asking about colored titanium in general; but somebody suggested I ask my question here, I guess because I specifically mentioned Zero Tolerance.)
Click to expand...

A couple of things...

The coating on the Ti side of the ZTs is Kershaw's Tungsten DLC (Diamond Like Coating), and wears very well...it will wear metal off of coins and keys in your pocket before it will wear itself.

With respect to Kershaw's anodized aluminum handles...the black Tactical Blur I've carried for a year as an EDC along with keys and coins shows absolutely no sign of wear. Plus I just picked up a used SnapOn-logoed Scallion that the previous owner carried in his tool box, and the black with red smoke anodized aluminum has only a couple of minute wear marks on one handle edge, nothing on the handle flats.

YMMV...;)

Ray :)
 
I'm glad to hear that about your Blur, reholli. I just bought a Blur and was wondering how its aluminum handles would hold up.

What is that knife in your avatar image? I can see that it's a ZT, but I don't recognize it.
 
stanton2 said:
I'm glad to hear that about your Blur, reholli. I just bought a Blur and was wondering how its aluminum handles would hold up.

What is that knife in your avatar image? I can see that it's a ZT, but I don't recognize it.
Click to expand...

It's a special-edition that T.A.D. (Triple Aught Design) commissioned with Carbon Fiber and a DLC-coated blade with a slightly different grind they call the Battle Swedge grind. They've got a couple of satin-bladed (no tiger stripes) models too with the same grind that are very nice.

Unfortunately they do charge a premium for these, but I liked the differences enough to spring for the extra cost...
 
I liked it too, reholli...just could never find one for sale!!! :(


The titanium slab on my ZT302 showed absolutely no signs of wear-n-tear on it before I pimped it. And I did carry it for a few months...along with keys etc...and I used it a lot in the shop too (everything gets banged around quite a bit). I can't say how many years it might last...but there weren't even any scratches on mine....so I was pretty confident in the durability of the finish.

:thumbup:
 
Daniel Koster said:
I liked it too, reholli...just could never find one for sale!!! :(


The titanium slab on my ZT302 showed absolutely no signs of wear-n-tear on it before I pimped it. And I did carry it for a few months...along with keys etc...and I used it a lot in the shop too (everything gets banged around quite a bit). I can't say how many years it might last...but there weren't even any scratches on mine....so I was pretty confident in the durability of the finish.

:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Dan (and whoever else is interested)...

I far as I can tell from their site, T.A.D. still has the 0300CFBLK (Carbon Fiber with DLC-finish blade), the 0300CE (green G10 with satin-finish blade), and the 0300DW (DigiCamo G10 with satin-finish blade) in stock right now...:D

The above 3 all come with the Tim Galyean-done Battle Swedge grind...

They have been sold out of the 0300TAD (black G10 and DLC-finish blade), the 0300USN (black G10 and satin-finish blade), and the regular 0301 and 0302 for awhile. These were all regular grind.

Ray :)
 
I've been carrying my 0301 daily for about six months and it is showing no signs of wear anywhere but the edges of the clip.
 
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