Knife Gripes! (Slight Rant Alert)

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buffalo01

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Oct 13, 2016
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I recently decided to do a little cleaning and sharpening on my zt 0220 and quickly became frustrated as I was reminded of a couple things that drive me crazy that companys do.
1. Why is it so hard to make a proper sharpening choil? Or at least give an attempt at it so that all I have to do is take a triangle file and enlarge it a little. It is incredibly frustrating to me not being able to get the base of a knife sharp because it is so thick toward the rear. At least Spyderco does a great job with doing a straight plunge grind so that this is not as much as an issue until you really sharpen away a lot of metal.
2. After taking apart this zt, I expected this $230 knife to go back together quite easily, and and not require an absurd amount of tweaking to get everything to work right. This was not the case. I took it apart it several times with no luck in getting a reasonable action and good blade centering.
3. This is a personal taste thing, but something very simple. Lack of a lanyard sufficient lanyard hole! Why add one if it can only get sewing thread through there???
4. Handles that leave your hand very far from the cutting edge. I find this gives me less control of what Im cutting, and a big reason I dont carry my griptilian very much as it just feels awkward to me.

Thank you for reading, and let me know if you have anything that really bugs you that company's do!
Also, sorry if this came across a little ranty, I was kind of frustrated today after messing with that ZT :)
 
Seems like coatings have generally gotten better, but I can't stand coated blades where the coating rubs off super easy.
 
You might not like this answer, but I feel like CRK has properly addressed all the issues you griped about.

They cost a little more, but you get what you pay for. Blade is balanced, good ratios, dimensions, and specs all around. Easy to break down, clean, and reassemble. Proper sharpening choil and if they're not centered, smooth, and consistent, CRK considers the blade out of spec and will fix the issue.
 
Honestly it sounds like the 220 is not the knife for you. It happens. I handled the 808 in store and fell in love immediately, then after like 2 months I hated the knife. Sometimes tastes change, and things you think you like you grow to hate.

As for your actual issues, I feel you on them. The sharpening choil kills me on so many knives where it's either a tiny indent (I've had some so small that I sharpened them out), or the edge isn't ground all the way to the choil, or there isn't one and the edge isn't fully ground, like the knife was sharpened at 5pm on a Friday. Spyderco is honestly really guilty of this, but I've not had many issues finishing the grind on my knives. Most of my ZT knives have had choils and/or fully sharpened edges, so I must just have gotten lucky there.

The lanyard hole really confuses me. I never use it so I can go without one, but I don't get lanyard holes that you can't even fit the end of a shoelace through (with the plastic piece intact). I've seen them everywhere from big enough to nearly run garden hose through, to too small to fit any cordage through (unless you use 95lb Paracord, the stuff thinner than shoestring). I don't use it, but if you are going to add it at least make it usable, or make a clear post on the butt you can run cord over without the edge hitting it.

For the knives being hard to get back together, sometimes it can be a perfect storm of just off tolerances. I've had knives where I had to loosen the screws holding the spacers in to fit the scale on because everything is just far enough off that when tightened you pretty much have to hammer fist the scale in place. Usually that's all it takes, but if that doesn't fix it you can always call ZT to see about getting new spacers.

As for the handle position, that's what makes me think the 220 is just not the knife for you. Some knives have some pretty wonky grips, especially if you compare like the Benchmade Proxy to the Spyderco Dragonfly, you can see some knives were clearly designed for high efficiency control and others are... the Proxy. I'm a huge fan of a defined forward choil because it keeps your hand close and gives incredible control. Spyderco does phenomenal forward choils.
 
I agree with the tiny lanyard holes. 550 paracord is the standard, why not make the hole big enough to fit the damned 550 strand thru?
 
Just cannibalize the paracord and/or pull through with one of the cannibalized strands or other thin cord.
 
-Obligatory lanyard holes. Why sacrafice a good design and blade:handle ratio solely to throw on a lanyard hole as an afterthought???

-Bad pocket clips. One of my tops too! I don’t give a crap that your milled (or non-milled) clip looks great if it makes the knife unusable due to hotspots, poor pocket clearance, stiffness, etc.

-Lack of sharpening choils. Have to agree on this one.

-Plunge grinds that extend behind the front margin of the scales. (Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone I like the ZT 0460 anyway.) ;)

@buffalo45 I may have to agree with dkb45 dkb45 that maybe the 0220 is no longer the apple of your eye. Also, FWIW, I’ll add to the suggestion above. Some of my ZT’s have been a bit challenging to get all the parts in place due to tolerances; but once mated I’ve never had trouble with centering or action (don’t have an 0220 though). —Good luck with it!
 
Along the same lines as the sharpening choil:

Diagonal plunge grinds that leave the heel obstructed by the handle when sharpening.

Some are worse than others of course, but you've got to get really creative with your angles sometimes to keep from marring the handle.
 
As others have said... STOP MAKING HANDLES THAT OBSCURE THE EDGE WHILE SHARPENING!
 
No sharpening choils are a big issue for me.

Some may say you're still loosing the same amount of edge, but you're stone digs in and creates a bit if recurve.
The other thing I can't stand is a sheep's foot blade with an edge that's not perfectly straight.

The other things I don't like are just design features.
 
I know I might be in the minority, but I hate deep carry clips. I like a good portion of my knife to stick out of my pocket. I know some people prefer them for various reasons, but when the reason for deep carry is to not offend those who might consider carrying a knife uncivilized, I hate them even worse.

I also hate it when Benchmade puts spring assist on AXIS lock models. IMO it takes away from the functionality of what I consider to be an ingenious design. The blade doesn't flick out much faster than you can with the AXIS lock alone, and easy one-handed closing is disabled.
 
I can take or leave the deep carry clips.

Its up to buyers themselves.

How ever, I always thought - though I dont personally plan on getting in a knife fight - it odd for some people to buy a knife for SD and then immediately slap a DC clip on there.

But again, their choice.
 
buffalo01 said:
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4. Handles that leave your hand very far from the cutting edge. I find this gives me less control of what Im cutting, and a big reason I dont carry my griptilian very much as it just feels awkward to me.
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This bothers me to no end. Sharpening choils nearly big enough to be finger choils are the worst. The loss of usable blade length just adds insult to injury.
 
Durham68 said:
This bothers me to no end. Sharpening choils nearly big enough to be finger choils are the worst. The loss of usable blade length just adds insult to injury.
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I'm glad I'm not alone. I really like forward finger choil for this reason. The griptilian has enough space to stick your finger there, but it's all the wrong shape ..
 
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