List of ZTs that Don't Have Lock Failure Issues

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I have 4 Zts currently and have never had a problem. I had never done any "spine whacking" nor will i ever. But i got curious yesterday and decided to do the "spine tap" with all four on my palm. All were solid as a rock. No failure. Zt 0770CF, 801,0550 and 0566. All knife companies are prone to have a few "bad" ones pass QC, zt will fix them if you send them in. Also, by a few...if a company makes and sells 50 knives, one might be "bad", another company makes 10,000 knives...the "bad" ones would be a lot higher than 1. Sometimes i feel like the "bad" ones get a lot if attention and then everyone is nervous to buy that model. Before i badmouth a model that has an issue, i will send it back first. If the issue is fixed or replaced, i leave the "bad review" in my head and enjoy my knife. ZT's in my opinion are great knives and their customer service has been great. Seems like people love to hear about "bad", just ponder the news on tv...rarely anything good. Just sayin.
 
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My ZT 0909 fails with light taps (I tapped it lightly on the back of a padded office chair). The minuscule amount of contact area between the liner lock and tang is the cause in my opinion.

I'm not going to send it into ZT; others have tried that and ZT has sent the knife back without fixing it.

This is still one of my favorite knives; it fits my hand like it was personally designed for me, and the blade grind is perfection (thin cutting edge, but overall strong blade).
 
I am not going to buy any more ZT's as I feel the six I own is more than enough. None of them have ever failed me though. I'll give them a light whack on the side of my desk just to be sure though. And the 301,0452,0450, 0562cf, 095 ,0550. didn't even budge after the spine whacks.
 
I have three ZTs- a 0562, 0801 & a 0620. I've never had a problem with any of the locks, but I just took all three of them out & spine whacked them with my hand, as hard as I could stand, numerous times. I couldn't get any of the locks to fail. Then I took out all six of my Hinderer frame locks & my two Chris Reeve knives & performed the same test on them & I couldn't produce any failures on them either. Good enough for me!

Disclaimer: I've never been recognized as an expert on abusing expensive knives, so as they say, your mileage may vary.
 
Yeah I personally think this has been discussed enough. I think the truth is somewhere in between all ZTs are defective and no ZTs are defective. :) I'm not sure exactly where in between...
I do think the tester who recently put this in the spotlight is credible. However I also think he has probably damaged his lock interfaces and exacerbated any issues.
I'm sure ZT is aware of the increased attention and hopefully they'll fully explore the claims.
I've never been enamored with ZT. Occasionally one interests me but I inevitably sell it off. I still want to check out the 0470.
For me, Reate is the king in this category and worth the extra money. WE is good too.
 
Mo2 said:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpv5x4_BUq4/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1kmgclsesnfrp

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpv9S5BhK6x/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=t6ogmqry3u9r

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpu9GV4hzs1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=odxm16ubpd6q

He posted more last night. Swipe right to see the other videos on the first link.
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Instagram links :rolleyes:

If I want to go to instascam, I will (which I don't). I'll take my information from here thank you very much.

It's clear what your biases are by posting these links.


The vast vast majority of posters here have not had lock issues with their zts, irrespective of model. This thread is a farce.
 
Honestly, I don't think you're going to be able to form a list like this. Everyone here is going to have different experiences with their ZTs.

Personally, I had lock issues with an 0200 and an 0562. The locks on my 0303, 0920, and 0620 won't budge under static load (trying to close against the lock as hard as I can) or light taps. I'm sure there are people who have those knives and had issues.
 
Mo2 said:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpu9GV4hzs1/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=660jsxld5c5p

He'll have it on yt at a later date. He also wants to address some of the Comments about the zt lock failures.
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I don't take anything I see on YouTube too seriously(Or any media sharing site). There is no way to verify people testing failures are even testing real zt's, let alone that they havnt been misused or modifies innaproprietly. Too many variebles. I know for a fact I have had several high end zt clones thrown in on trade to sweeten the deal. All of the clones have lock geometry issues. I am not saying anyone is lying but there certainly too many variables to put stock into a strangers opinion when my results show something entirely different.
 
There don't seem to be any particular models that fail more often than others. However, it seems that I hear more about the 909 and 630 shutting the easiest.

Here's the thing: This thread is going to go down in flames because people treat ZT knives like politics. Someone will post a link to some knives failing and be ready to burn the witch. Someone will say he has never had a ZT lock failure and follow it with something snarky like "Well that's what fixed blades are for..."

I don't have a real dog in this fight. I like ZT. I buy ZT. I have never had one fail under actual use. HOWEVER: 5 of 8 of mine will fail a light tap test. I didn't beat the bejesus out of them. I didn't try to get it to fail at weird angles. My 920, 630, and 452 will fold if tapped against a roll of duct tape if I grab the handle in such a way that the lock is not given positive pressure. My 350 and 920 will fold if I put medium/firm pressure on the tip. I can't jam the lock on these as they are liner locks. My 462, 456, and 850 pass all tests.

Currently I am done with ZT. Not because of the failures but because they moving farther and father away from the tank-like knives of days gone by. Short of a new fixed blade, I don't see anything that blows my skirt up.

ZTs do have some issues. They can and do fail pretty light whacks/taps. I like to think of myself as a pretty even keeled guy and one who if you read my posts isn't prone to hyperbole. I have had issues 5 out of 8 times. Not something I think is the end of world, but I cannot be as dismissive as some. I've tried correcting my 630, 920, and 909 with limited results. I don't care enough to send them back to the mother ship as ZT hasn't been addressing the issues (my 350 still fails even after going back). They probably won't fold on me under normal use, and I have plenty of other designs that will hold up to the worst of abuse.
 
Steely_Gunz Steely_Gunz I think the turning point for ZT, for me, was the 0562. It incorporated a fancy looking pivot but built like tank. From there zt started trickling down to fancier models.

To answer the OP. My 0562 and 0566 so far have never had lock failure. I use them both often. The 0562 was carried for a year as a work knife, I do landscaping.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
There don't seem to be any particular models that fail more often than others. However, it seems that I hear more about the 909 and 630 shutting the easiest.

Here's the thing: This thread is going to go down in flames because people treat ZT knives like politics. Someone will post a link to some knives failing and be ready to burn the witch. Someone will say he has never had a ZT lock failure and follow it with something snarky like "Well that's what fixed blades are for..."

I don't have a real dog in this fight. I like ZT. I buy ZT. I have never had one fail under actual use. HOWEVER: 5 of 8 of mine will fail a light tap test. I didn't beat the bejesus out of them. I didn't try to get it to fail at weird angles. My 920, 630, and 452 will fold if tapped against a roll of duct tape if I grab the handle in such a way that the lock is not given positive pressure. My 350 and 920 will fold if I put medium/firm pressure on the tip. I can't jam the lock on these as they are liner locks. My 462, 456, and 850 pass all tests.

Currently I am done with ZT. Not because of the failures but because they moving farther and father away from the tank-like knives of days gone by. Short of a new fixed blade, I don't see anything that blows my skirt up.

ZTs do have some issues. They can and do fail pretty light whacks/taps. I like to think of myself as a pretty even keeled guy and one who if you read my posts isn't prone to hyperbole. I have had issues 5 out of 8 times. Not something I think is the end of world, but I cannot be as dismissive as some. I've tried correcting my 630, 920, and 909 with limited results. I don't care enough to send them back to the mother ship as ZT hasn't been addressing the issues (my 350 still fails even after going back). They probably won't fold on me under normal use, and I have plenty of other designs that will hold up to the worst of abuse.
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Well stated.
 
NONE of mine had any failures...but then again, I may be magickal. ;)

So, I propose that you have ME buy all your ZT knives for you...for a nominal fee, naturally. :)
 
I have had a few ZTs that had this problem out of the 20 or so I've owned. I wouldn't say it is a regular occurrence, but it is a problem nonetheless.
 
craytab said:
Instagram links :rolleyes:

If I want to go to instascam, I will (which I don't). I'll take my information from here thank you very much.

It's clear what your biases are by posting these links.


The vast vast majority of posters here have not had lock issues with their zts, irrespective of model. This thread is a farce.
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Yep. Seem's pretty clear that the OP is only interested in opinions that support his bias.
 
Meh, definitely a dead horse. Mine lock and stay fine, that's all I'm concerned with. I remember back, quite a few years ago, when someone on an LE forum was decrying the Safariland Level III, because he'd seen someone defeat it in a grab drill. As with many things, if you work it the right way, at the right time, and if the user is twiddling their thumbs, the thing under pressure will fail.

I don't know that ZT has achieved SERPA status and infamy.

As I'm not playing John McClain in Die Hard #48, holding my knife RGEO and using it as a piton to keep me from sliding off the top of the World Trade Center, I think I'll be ok...:cool:
 
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