Just got my ZT 0566, dissapointed. Just de-assisted my 0566, AMAZED!

Kitten Party

Kitten Party

Joined
Jun 9, 2014
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Hi All, new to the forums here :D

Got my 0566 last week and damn that thing is hard to open! It was tearing apart my index finger from flipping into the jimping. I de-assisted it and played with the handle and pivot screws to get the centering down for about 5 minutes and DANG, it's silky smooth now. I can also actually use the blade stops to flick it open with ease. I was seriously thinking about returning this knife ( I have never returned a knife before) and figured I would give this a shot and it changed the knife! Does anyone actually prefer the assisted opening? Maybe mine was just a fluke about how hard it was to open but the spring plus the detent made it impossible to open with the blade stops and painful to open with the flipper. Plus, it didn't even open that fast with the spring anyway.
 
I had a CRKT Hissatsu that was a pain to open with the assist mechanism, but was fast and smooth without it. I believe it was meant to be de-assisted by the end user. Some of the ZT/Kershaw knives rely on the assist mechanism to act as the detent too, so you have to be careful about which ones you remove.
 
If that knife wasn't assisted open I would have purchased it already. I have no use, personally, for assisted openers. I de assisted my thermite, bad idea, and now I have to tighten it til it's impossible to open or it just swings out. No detent on it. Anyway, that's my two cents.
 
The 0566 has a detent, so it is almost as if ZT wanted people to de-assist it. I tried to shake it out of the handle and was unable.
 
I've grown to strongly dislike AO's. It's ironic, because 10 years ago, I insisted on an AO. Glad it worked out in the end for you :D
 
I picked up a 566 locally and deassisted it the same night. With the spring in, I really had to work the flipper to open it and my goodness that jimping under the flipper was rough on my finger. After deassisting though, the knife flips much more easily and, like you, I can flick the blade open with my thumb on the bladestops. It is a great knife when deassisted. Looking forward to the 562 when that comes out =P
 
Funny, isn't it? How taking out one little torsion bar can completely change your view on a knife?

I have to say my 0566 was a pain in the butt to open, but de-assisting helped tremendously. It really became a great manual flipper, and a joy to use.

Too bad I sold it when times were tough :rolleyes:
 
De-assisted mine and I also like that I can use the blade stops to flick it open easily now. It is actually getting smoother and smoother the more I use it.
 
I like this whole debate over AO flippers VS. manual. I only have 2 flippers, both of which I purchased recently. The first one is a Spyderco Southard that I soon found myself addicted to "flipping." I liked it so much that I bought a ZT 0566 for edc. I did not understand the AO function of the ZT. I have been carrying and playing with it for a few weeks and love the thing! It is stiff, compared to the Southard, but now that I have become used to it, I find that it is harder to flip open the Spyderco. They are 2 totally different animals. The ZT just requires pressure, which I have gone from using the tip of my finger to the 2nd joint to deploy it mainly because it seems to work better and my finger doesn't get sore. The Southard requires very little pressure, but the action must be swift!

Right now I am enjoying the slimness and heft of the ZT more than the Southard. I know that some do not like heavy knives, but I kinda do, for this one at least. It just feels "substantial" and it is slimmer to boot. For the past 20 years I never carried anything but a Spyderco knife in my pocket. I lust after Sebenza's, but have to be practical and shop within my budget. I don't much care for thumb studs, either. I do love the ZT 0566 though! I have held some of their other offerings and they felt good, but I couldn't imagine carrying one. I will, however, buy every version of this knife that they come out with.

Right now, I have no plans to de-assist mine. I'll just enjoy tricking myself up every now and then by switching between it and the Southard. Best of both worlds!
 
That is exactly how I felt about this knife when I first got it. It was really hard to use the assay feature. I de-assisted it and put a carbon fiber scale from Gatorscales and now love it. Smoothest flipper I have ever used.
Don't have this lanyard on her anymore.
 
The detent on mine was too weak to deassist, but I've found the AO actually useful when im wearing my thick work gloves. The 0566 is one ZT that I will not part with. Solid,slim, and the elmax on mine is fantastic.
 
Loving my 566 as it came out of the box. AO vs manual is irrelevant to me. I do almost zero playing with my knives (I don't have a problem with anyone else doing it, I just happen to not), and my focus when I open it is on the job at hand as opposed to how smooth it opened.

I have played with some blades a bit in shops, and can appreciate the joys of glassy manual flippers for people who fire them for fun. Just commenting on my personal habits.
 
People posting about deassisting the 0566 opened my eyes to that possibility, and now I just have to wait for the 0566BW to become available. It also made me decide on buying a Benchmade Volli in the future and deassisting that as well. I'd be interested in the new Kershaw Camber as well, but I think sticktodrum tried that and it didn't work, so that actually removed it from the wishlist.
 
Mine was doing the same thing, tearing up my index finger when flipping. I called (or emailed, I forget) KAI and they said they put a stiffer spring in the 0566. After a bit it broke in and now it isn't hard to overcome the spring tension.
 
Not to change the subject too much, but I bought a Kershaw echelon. Hated it and sold it. Then reconsidered and bought another. This time I de-assisted it, and it has made all the difference. I have since bought yet another...
The AO really is love/hate, and often very model specific.
 
I had no stiffness issues with my 566 but my recently purchased Cryo G10 is noticeably stiffer than the 566 or original Cryo. It's seems to be loosening up now though.
 
I've also de-assisted my 0566 and it's great now. Easy and smoothly opening. Awesome knife :thumbup:
 
Mine is also de-assisted and the washers were replaced with hinderer washers. After some heavy use at work it's now broken in and CRAZY smooth! The blade now closes under the weight of the blade. The pivot screw needs a tiny bit of tightening occasionally to minimize blade play, but I use it pretty heavily on a daily basis. The detent is good. I've never had a problem with it opening in my pocket despite the fact that I carry it "tip up" style and I do quite a bit of running and jumping at work. Now I just need to figure out how to get this elmax steel razor sharp with my fine grit ceramic rods :(
 
Xdm9mili said:
That is exactly how I felt about this knife when I first got it. It was really hard to use the assay feature. I de-assisted it and put a carbon fiber scale from Gatorscales and now love it. Smoothest flipper I have ever used.
Don't have this lanyard on her anymore.
Click to expand...

i like the look of these CF scales .. he offers Carbon Fiber ZT0566 or CF Twill ZT0566, but i cant

see the difference on his website .. anyone know?
 
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