List of ZTs that Don't Have Lock Failure Issues

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Horizon7 said:
Appreciate the video. Too bad it's dwarfed by the many other ZT lock failure videos on YouTube and Instagram.
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You just proved what I said about watching too many Youtube vids. You can't really complain about a failure with a knife, unless you've owned said knife and experienced the failure for yourself. Go water your grass with motor oil, it makes your grass grow greener...
 
RBid said:
sharp_edge sharp_edge sound is lost a bit without the benefit of being indoors. I was hitting the wood hard enough and far enough out on the swedges to mark the wood repeatedly. Wood is also harder than a roll of tape.
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Yes I trust the validity of your test :thumbsup: Most ZTs should be fine I believe. That guy mentioned most of his ZTs had lock rock out of box, which is strange. For the 12+ ZTs I tried, only one second hand 0562 had lock rock, which the seller revealed it to me. It shoulg be easy to see that a framelock with lock rock is more likely to slip.

I agree with him that everything else being the same, early lockup is more likely to slip than late lockup, and locks without gailing / stickiness are more likely to slip than those with gailing
 
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My data point:
Brand new 0630 lock failed doing a light chopping motion on a piece of cactus. On back swing blade closed on my index finger causing severe laceration.
Not impressed!
 
I spent the last hour searching darkest corners Youtube on the interweb to make a list of all the happy ZT owners who have reported that they had No problems or issues with their ZT's and I couldn't find any and you know why? because normal people don't waste their time doing that and why should they, It doesn't make for entertaining viewing. The Fact is that Youtube and instagram are full people making unwarranted claims of gross negligence and piss poor QC issues across the board because that is way more interesting and gets more Hits or Likes. Example (Honey badgers don't give a sh_t) That stupid vid went viral and has snippets of facts in it but it is far being based on science, It's just entertaining. Yes there are dozens and maybe hundreds of ZT doom vids on the tube but for every negative vid their Thousands of happy owners with No problems to report and even when they do make a happy shiney (Boring) vid it gets lost in a vast sea of Youtube or Instagram Doom,Gloom, and Fail vids because that gets a rise out of people and that's the key that makes them LIKE a vid so it stay on top of that vast sea wile the happy ones sink to the depths. It's human nature to bitch and we like listening to others complain but again We as a community have to stick to Facts and Science and need to refer less to Youtube and instagram. Do some Real research, post some test Vids like RBid did and show us YOUR results and NOT some gromit or disgruntled bumpkin who is pissed because he shelled out $250 bucks but doesn't want to spend another $20 to mail it in for warranty or a replacement and for god sake feel free to troll other blade forums for Data and please post links to that info otherwise it's just hearsay and it never happened. In order to get through this (Crisis) as a community we need to stick to hard facts and science like RBid did So Lets Post All YOUR ZT Fail vids here so we can scrutinize them as a community. I'm working next to a Cabelas tomorrow and I have $250 burning a hole in my pocket so I plan on doing some more research on this ZT subject, In the name of science of course.
 
Cycletroll said:
My data point:
Brand new 0630 lock failed doing a light chopping motion on a piece of cactus. On back swing blade closed on my index finger causing severe laceration.
Not impressed!
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^ Lets see a Vid or at least a pic of a scar or it NEVER happened. I'm not saying that your claim never happened but Claims that aren't backed up with Facts are called Hearsay and can not be used in a court of law and shouldn't be seriously entertained here on the BF.
 
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91bravo said:
You just proved what I said about watching too many Youtube vids. You can't really complain about a failure with a knife, unless you've owned said knife and experienced the failure for yourself. Go water your grass with motor oil, it makes your grass grow greener...
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Right on. I don't even own a ZT, but common sense informs me that this type of thread is based entirely on internet bullsh*t. A lock failure on any reputable knife is a freak event. People can no longer distinguish "fake news" from reality. Come on man.
 
This spot is reserved for Blade Forum members ZT Fail Videos With at least 20 posts. #1. anyone?
 
My 0393 is the only one of my ZTs that fail the spine wack test, I emailed ZT and haven't heard back from them.
 
I've weighed in on this several times with what I hope is a measured and metered admittedly anecdotal accounting of my issues with ZT.

5 of 8 won't pass a whack test that a randomly chosen Spyderco, Kershaw, cheap Chinese trade knife, and an old Buck 110 passed. I did not want to damage my knives. On a scale from 1 to bejeezus, I probably hit the spine at about a 3.5-4 which I figured would be about as hard as smacking the back of the blade on a hard service accidentally using a snap cut at a weird angle. The struck surface was the wooden edge of my sock drawer with a folded sock acting as a cushion.

They were also tested to see if static pressure on the tip of the spine would cause the lock to slip (much more likely for me come across in use). My 350, 909, and 630 all failed and slipped with moderate but not what I would call severe (like putting my 208lb bulk on it) pressure.

My 350 was sent in previously to fix this when I purchased a plain edge replacement. It still fails the test.

All 8 knives were purchased at a local business over a couple of years.

I didn't film this test because, frankly, while "pics or it didn't happen" does offer concrete proof, 1) I didnt have my phone with me as this was impromptu and 2) I dont think my tests or claims are over the top, nor are they to be concerned conclusive science.

My 462, 850, 456 all passed both tests with no issues.

So what does this mean? Not much. I'm not sending them in. I still carry them. I still use them heavily. I just dont consider them to be as "built like a tank" as they have claimed. I still have my eye on the new 640 next.

So, I have first hand experience with what I consider failures, but it hasn't stopped me from buying or using them.
 
Texan42 said:
My 0393 is the only one of my ZTs that fail the spine wack test, I emailed ZT and haven't heard back from them.
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Looking at the design, thickness among other properties I consider the 0393 a linerlock. Linerlocks are weaker than framelocks (scientific fact that ofc has variation on how well produced and many other factors, but as a general rule stands true). While a knife like my Skaha 2 CF can stand some light taps, it is not an overbuilt knife, it is an EDC knife with a lock that won't fail on me. In general I will stay away from hard use knives with a linerlock. I think it is a mistake to consider a linerlock(ish) a hard use knife.

Steely_Gunz said:
I've weighed in on this several times with what I hope is a measured and metered admittedly anecdotal accounting of my issues with ZT.

5 of 8 won't pass a whack test that a randomly chosen Spyderco, Kershaw, cheap Chinese trade knife, and an old Buck 110 passed. I did not want to damage my knives. On a scale from 1 to bejeezus, I probably hit the spine at about a 3.5-4 which I figured would be about as hard as smacking the back of the blade on a hard service accidentally using a snap cut at a weird angle. The struck surface was the wooden edge of my sock drawer with a folded sock acting as a cushion.

They were also tested to see if static pressure on the tip of the spine would cause the lock to slip (much more likely for me come across in use). My 350, 909, and 630 all failed and slipped with moderate but not what I would call severe (like putting my 208lb bulk on it) pressure.

My 350 was sent in previously to fix this when I purchased a plain edge replacement. It still fails the test.

All 8 knives were purchased at a local business over a couple of years.

I didn't film this test because, frankly, while "pics or it didn't happen" does offer concrete proof, 1) I didnt have my phone with me as this was impromptu and 2) I dont think my tests or claims are over the top, nor are they to be concerned conclusive science.

My 462, 850, 456 all passed both tests with no issues.

So what does this mean? Not much. I'm not sending them in. I still carry them. I still use them heavily. I just dont consider them to be as "built like a tank" as they have claimed. I still have my eye on the new 640 next.

So, I have first hand experience with what I consider failures, but it hasn't stopped me from buying or using them.
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You just listed two liner locks(0350, 0909)... friction and tension plays a large role in lock slippage and linerlocks are far inferior to framelocks in that regard. Linerlocks just aren't as strong as framelocks, especially when you're looking at negative pressure, so your results really aren't surprising. That is why I will always say the ZT 0909 is NOT a hard use knife, along with the 0393. Now, with all that being said, I do think linerlocks on many knives are fine and strong enough during normal use to prevent injury or lock failure that isn't user error induced.

To be fair, the only ZT models I ever had any issue with was the ZT/Emerson collab. I think they made the framelock tension too light in my experience, which allowed for lock-slippage.

A properly done framelock is extremely strong. If you want to see how a framelock can handle abuse:
how it compares to others according to this random guy on youtube:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q3Z9koNohHDIUogSVRaIGl-o3mebrbjwSDNcR0h5LlU/edit#gid=0
just another vid of spinewhacking among other things.
 
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Steely_Gunz said:
I've weighed in on this several times with what I hope is a measured and metered admittedly anecdotal accounting of my issues with ZT.

5 of 8 won't pass a whack test that a randomly chosen Spyderco, Kershaw, cheap Chinese trade knife, and an old Buck 110 passed. I did not want to damage my knives. On a scale from 1 to bejeezus, I probably hit the spine at about a 3.5-4 which I figured would be about as hard as smacking the back of the blade on a hard service accidentally using a snap cut at a weird angle. The struck surface was the wooden edge of my sock drawer with a folded sock acting as a cushion.

They were also tested to see if static pressure on the tip of the spine would cause the lock to slip (much more likely for me come across in use). My 350, 909, and 630 all failed and slipped with moderate but not what I would call severe (like putting my 208lb bulk on it) pressure.

My 350 was sent in previously to fix this when I purchased a plain edge replacement. It still fails the test.

All 8 knives were purchased at a local business over a couple of years.

I didn't film this test because, frankly, while "pics or it didn't happen" does offer concrete proof, 1) I didnt have my phone with me as this was impromptu and 2) I dont think my tests or claims are over the top, nor are they to be concerned conclusive science.

My 462, 850, 456 all passed both tests with no issues.

So what does this mean? Not much. I'm not sending them in. I still carry them. I still use them heavily. I just dont consider them to be as "built like a tank" as they have claimed. I still have my eye on the new 640 next.

So, I have first hand experience with what I consider failures, but it hasn't stopped me from buying or using them.
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A voice of reason. Thank you.
 
Texan42 said:
My 0393 is the only one of my ZTs that fail the spine wack test, I emailed ZT and haven't heard back from them.
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They won’t fix it properly even if you send it in. I’d be curious if anyone has an 0393 that can pass a spine whack test. Mine made three trips to ZT and was in the hands of all their warranty people, the production manager an even an engineer and they all said there was nothing wrong with the knife. I even sent a video of my knife failing and they always blamed it on me overlubing the knife (which I didn’t do, all the lube on the knife was from them I didn’t apply any). I even sent the video showing a clean lock face and the knife failing a single whack to my hand.

In the end they said the knife passed all their qc standards but they would replace my knife, which I really appreciated. In the end their customer service took care of me but I’ll never buy a ZT again because they showed me that their qc is garbage when the production manager looks at a knife that fails a single spine whack to my palm and says there’s nothing wrong with it.
 
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