In need of a hard use knife.

S

shibdiby

Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
11
Hey all, I'm finding myself in a situation I think we are all to familiar with ; I'm torn between two knives. The two knives I'm torn between are the ZT300 and the ZT560.

Let me explain my situation. First of all, I'm a huge outdoorsman. Whether it be hunting,fishing,or camping with the kids. I also work a farm, and full time in a forestry business.
In short, I'm in need of a knife that can get through a day of stripping limbs, wiggling posts into steaks, and any other task a heavy use knife might encounter. The only thing holding me back from the 560 is it seems so thin when compared to the 300. Feel free to chime in with your own bullet proof recommendations, please keep it under 300!

Ps. I have a huge crush on the 560, so feel free to assure me its what I want!

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Between the two choices, the 0300 is probably better suited to your tasks, yes.

If it were me, I'd pick a Cold Steel 3" blade Voyager with either the clip or tanto blade depending on how thick a tip you need. Not nearly as sexy, but possibly better suited to the tasks.
 
[Echo] Yup the ZT 0300 series would be good. Very sturdy and stout. Built to work.
 
The 0560 should hold up to just about any tasks. If its what you want go for it. I would take it over a 0300 series but I'm not into carrying a brick around.
 
Smokinape said:
Why wouldn't you get a fixed blade?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the LEOs have it out for people carrying fixed blade
s, and I'm notorious for forgetting to take off a knife on my way into town for the hardware store, grocery ect. I also like the idea of a folder taking the place of of a fixed blade for edc
 
I'm gonna throw in my opinion and say go for 0560. The KVT ball bearing system is heavenly smooth and it a joy to use! Unless you like speedsafe a lot then go for the 0300.

But really cant go wrong either way....
 
I would go with an Izula and just keep it in your pocket. Will be far and away stronger than any folder you could possibly carry.
 
Smokinape said:
Why wouldn't you get a fixed blade?
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking also Smokinape. Sounds like the OP is mostly gonna be using the knife in a woods / camping eviroment so carrying a fixed blade shouldn't be a problem. Nothing beats a fixed blade when it comes to a "hard use knife."
 
vwb563 said:
That's what I was thinking also Smokinape. Sounds like the OP is mostly gonna be using the knife in a woods / camping eviroment so carrying a fixed blade shouldn't be a problem. Nothing beats a fixed blade when it comes to a "hard use knife."
Click to expand...

This. But I understand the OP's perspective.
 
Both are great. the two things between those, that I would bring up since others haven't yet, is size of your hand and preferance for tip geometry. The 30x seems to have a bigger handle to me anyway. I have medium to small medium hands. The 56x handle is longer than taller the 30x is wider and taller if you know what I mean. Thats why I prefer the 0560 and have a 0350 too. Tip wise it is easier for me to pierce with the 056x and do intricate work, than with the 30x You can still do that with the 30x just not as easily in my opinion and uses. That being said i actually like the 0200 as an outdoors heavy duty edc. I feel the 0200 and 056x are closer in comparison.

Sounds like you just want the 056x any way! Go visit kershawguy.com and get one from Dave. He will hook you up!
 
Thanks for all the help guys! I do own an Izula, I often find myself wanting a bit more length though. I feel both would fit the bill, the 560 just looks too pretty to be a worker Haha. I feel like I should search high and low to find a hard use test of the 560 just to confirm it. I also found the Grayman satu, which I may be willing to break my budget for ;)
 
I would go with the 560 as I would be scared of messing up the speed safe system of the 300 if you are going to hard use it with tasks such as de limbing branches and stuff like that but personally I use a kershaw junkyard dog 2 if I had to hard use a folder
 
I dont have either but I thought I would give my opinion after researching both of these knives myself. I was also considering both of these knives and both of them are great tools, but the 300 is just built for hard use. Everything Ive read on the forums about both knives say they are great knives, but the 300 is built like a tank and is alway praised when hard use folders are brought up.

I would also like to say that I am a bit biased towards the 300 because Ive always loved its looks, but everything Ive read on the forums has just made me want a 300 more. Im sure the 560 is a good knife and should be able to handle everything you can throw at it, all Im saying is that the 300 will probably handle more. That being said if I were you I would buy the 560, because its what you like. For one reason or the other you like it, so buy it. If its a ZT then its the right knife for the job. Not to mention the stonewashed blade wont show wear like the DLC of the 300. And like someone else said it has a great steel, Ive never used elmax and dont know much about it so I wont comment on the steel, except to say its good to have a steel you can rely on.
 
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