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How's the detent on your 0560?

D

darkdomino

Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
199
I've got a ZT 0560 that is brand spanking new. Everything seems normal on it, except that the detent is really weak. I find that if I shake my 0560 hard enough, I can shake the blade out.

Is this normal for the 0560?
 
I've had several that had a tough detent. Never a weak one on a ZT.
But I did have a 3.5" XM-18 with a terribly weak detent, although my 3" Hinderer was okay.
 
I always wished the 0560 had a stronger detent. But that's just me.


Edit: also, remember this is a production knife so results may vary slightly
 
They are not the strongest if I shake it just right I can get it to deploy. That said, the weaker detent makes it sooo smooth opening that is what I love most about the knife. If you want a hard detent get an 0800, mine was absurdly hard until it probably had 1000 flips of break in.
 
Mine is very strong but it's one of the earlier ones. I heard they made it weaker after customers complained.
 
neverdie36 said:
I always wished the 0560 had a stronger detent. But that's just me.


Edit: also, remember this is a production knife so results may vary slightly
Click to expand...


IIRC, the early ones were stiffer. There were people that couldn't figure out that it was designed to be a flipper, and those people complained about how hard it was to use the thumbstuds. So many people bitched that they may have lightened the detent up a bit.
 
My 0561 has a pretty week detent and to be honest I wish it was a bit stronger. Mine is serial 7757 so I assume one of the later ones that was made with less detent. It does make the knife incredibly smooth though.
 
My 0561 is VERY strong. I am not a weakling but I cannot open the blade with my thumb on the thumbstud. I can pull hard on the flipper and it will finally let go and open the blade. I suppose you don't want a weak detent with a flipper. My detent is so strong that when the flipper finally overcomes the detent, the blade flies open fast and completely.
 
0561 #3381 perfect strong , cannot shake open. Adjusting pivot to max freefall tension helps.
 
I've seen them go both ways, my 0561 was very weak, the blade would easily shake open, sent it back and it was fixed, my 0560CBCF is about the perfect balance. I've seen a lot of variation on the ZT samples I've played with more in the 056X than 055X series.

With a flipper it makes it more difficult, a strong detent really lets the blade fly open, but you have to give the flipper some good quick pressure when you open it. However, if the detent is too strong it can be dangerous to open with the thumb stud if you ride your thumb on the stud and try to open it very controlled a very strong detent tends to build up pressure and then fly open, and your thumb ends up loosing contact with the blade and then landing on the edge, especially with a very loose/smooth/low tension blade pivot. It's actually a very delicate balance between having good blade retention, and enough detent that works well with both the flipper and the thumb stud since they both usually have very different leverages. I don't flip my knives open, so I actually prefer a stiff detent with a stiff but very smooth pivot, it allows good security but also allows you to open it very slow and controlled if you need to, the blade never gets away from you, and if needed it can still be easily flipped open. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more flipper only knives down the road since it's become so popular for mall ninjas to try and simulate an auto knife.

It's also compounded by the frame lock, it's very hard and takes practice to open the knife with the thumb stud without putting any additional grip pressure on the lock bar increasing it's tension. It's another reason liner locks tend to have more repeatable detent tension, no way to influence the lock bar just by holding the knife when opening it.

Lots of new guys love an almost non-existent detent because they can easily flip the knife open, but then they tend to open in your pocket when you don't want them to, or when dropped. Lots of guys are bending lock bars to reduce the detent tension. My 0561 was that way originally, it opened in my pocket once and that was once too many. I won't carry anything that doesn't have good blade security when closed.
 
I just sat here and tried both my 0561 and 0560BW and I cannot swing them by the handle hard enough to make the blade overcome the detent on either one.
 
By "shake" I simply mean holding the knife horizontal moving it downward a few inches and stopping the motion, and not violently, if the blade opens I've learned it will do the same thing in my pocket sooner or later.
 
My 560BW has gorilla strength for a detent. that knife is not shaking open for love or money and using the thumb stud...."fuhgeddaboudit".
So ya, my detent is strong.
 
Another 0561 owner checking in, mine's serial 1945. It really is impossible to open it with thumb studs on mine. Use the flipper though… and it's blink-and-you'll-miss-it fast. It's definitely designed to be used like that.
 
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