Lovin’ Zero Tolerance!

ZT Rocks. It is no secret that I am a ZT and Kershaw fan. Did I mention Shun?

Going back to playing with my Launch 8.

best

mqqn
 
While the 0450 is more what I like to carry, I absolutely love the 0456. It's too heavy, kinda ugly, and almost perfect. It has my idea that lighter knives are better almost completely overridden. I where jeans most of the time and don't notice the weight at all.
 
Is the 0470 as good as most are saying? I've got this one locked onto my radar & is close to going right into my shopping cart.
 
I had two in a row that had a gritty opening. I returned them. The first one was initially magic when opening. Then got gritty. The second one didn’t open smoothly out of the box. I really loved the look and feel in my hand. Almost perfect gentleman’s carry. I may try third. I own 10 other ZT knives and never had a problem with them.
 
yamsi12 said:
Been disappointed with ZT lately. Gimmicky glow in the dark scales, price increase, etc. My last 5 or so knives have been fixed blades. If ZT had anything new I like I’d have bought them, but they seem to be going the route of pocket jewelry instead of hard use knives.
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Very well said. Couldn't agree more. I guess I am getting too old and cranky to really appreciate things like peekaboo pivots, screws and pins that require special bits, and handle designs with the appearance that used to be relegated to gas station knives. Granted, to get that classic gas station handle style they are using top-notch materials, but never in my life would I have thought ZT would have glow-in-the-dark scales or some of the bright, fun colors that are showing up and their scale patterns.

Seems as if they have left us working men behind, as well as their roots. My LG 0909 is a brilliant knife, it's only shortcoming is the handle is just a bit small. I like it so much I bought a second just to back it up when I found out they quit making them. It is a hard worker on site and a great slicer, too.

That being said I certainly don't hold ZT responsible for changing their market and product. They are in the business to make money, not make small market knives like the 0909 which is essentially a great utility tool for the working man. Hard to proudly show it off to your pals because it has almost zero "wow" factor. If I was marketing director at ZT, I would be thrilled to death with the new direction the enthusiastic reception the Sinkovich designs.

I love the ZTs I have now and hope that someday they will go back to having a few great work tools in their lineup. If they don't, there are others on the market that are working to fill the gap.

Robert
 
Jazz123 said:
I had two in a row that had a gritty opening. I returned them. The first one was initially magic when opening. Then got gritty. The second one didn’t open smoothly out of the box. I really loved the look and feel in my hand. Almost perfect gentleman’s carry. I may try third. I own 10 other ZT knives and never had a problem with them.
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Funny, the first 0470 I bought had a gritty opening too. The kind of gritty where a bearing has been tightened too far down on. It was pretty bad. I loosened the pivot and got the grit much better, but then the blade was too loose and uncentered. Could never find a happy compromise, so it went back.
The second one I bought, and still have, was perfect out of the box.
Talked to the dealer and he said he’s “seen it a lot with that model.”
If you get a good one, they’re perfect.
 
I've seen a lot of my knives have indentations of the ball bearings on either the blade side, race washer side or both. Meaning they bore down on the pivot too much. Some of them you can barely feel the divots so I never did anything. I think if it were ever bad enough, I'd simply flip the race washers. I'm not saying this would be a off center or just plain bad knife fix. Just maybe that gritty fix.
 
Dogdrawz said:
I've seen a lot of my knives have indentations of the ball bearings on either the blade side, race washer side or both. Meaning they bore down on the pivot too much. Some of them you can barely feel the divots so I never did anything. I think if it were ever bad enough, I'd simply flip the race washers. I'm not saying this would be a off center or just plain bad knife fix. Just maybe that gritty fix.
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Many knives just do not have the race washer, so the ti lock side will show a bearing groove/trace over time. I see it as a flaw in the design but I read that many people just don't care about it for whatever reason.
 
sharp_edge said:
Many knives just do not have the race washer, so the ti lock side will show a bearing groove/trace over time. I see it as a flaw in the design but I read that many people just don't care about it for whatever reason.
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A flaw indeed.
 
Gideons said:
I think a ZT/Emerson collab that is a flipper/wave combo with a framelock would be very popular.
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So long as you don't deliberately try to break them...

I agree with others about the 0452cf. It has settled in to being the best zt I've had. Just a fantastic package.
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Dogdrawz said:
Is the 0470 as good as most are saying? I've got this one locked onto my radar & is close to going right into my shopping cart.
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I think it is. Some have complained about the it's "pocket jewelry" "pretty boy" looks. Honestly, I glanced over it at first as well. But had aquired a 462 and was very impressed (after being completely impressed w/ the brand after my first purchase of a 640) with the designer and appearant consistency w/ build quality from ZT.

0470 might look fancy, like it doesn't want to get its hands dirty..but, don't sleep on it..as tough as any Ti frame lock in its size/wieght class, that punches ubove it's class. Packs a large blade in a tight package and is built w/ outstanding quality w/ premium materials. Looks more like an Italian exotic..but preforms w/ out the idiosyncrasies/quirks that apply when design/style/performance are blended to a certain "thing" that is meant to be used, and not just looked at..cars,boats,aircraft,motorcycles.. ect.

Sinkevich designs are pretty established..and executed very well in the 470, in my opinion.

Wasn't a flipper fan and always preferred washers over bearings. No issues as yet and pre considered replacement of these bearings w/ washers in the future. No need as yet.

Also note, the pocket clip is not easily replaceable due to some unique to this model construction..found that out the hard way..hasn't been enough to put me off. The 470 has found its place in my rotation, for sure..

GermanyChris said:
I'd like to see a ZT version of the Shiro 111.
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Take my money now, please..I'd sign that list.
 
The Atmos is by far pocket jewelry & it's one heck of a piece at it's price point. IMO, the 0470 is an upgrade in material & size. I wouldn't be scared to put it through it's paces. Of course all my pieces are users.
 
I test drove the 0470 at a shop last week. It’s the size of knife I prefer for most tasks. It was way better than I anticipated.
I’m a bit worried that if I picked one up, I’d have to dump a bunch of my present collection because they’d be relegated insignificant.

I’m debating putting off my grail <<yet again>> to divert the funds. I was really, really impressed by it.
 
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I arrived to the ZT party rather late, but when I got there, I knew I was hooked. My first ZT was the 0301 shortly followed by the 0550 then it kind of snowballed.
0301
0550
0350SW
0560
0700
0620CF
0620
0393
0450
I have sold a few here and there but I keep coming back even though some of their latest models don't interest me. They make great knives and have outstanding customer service. I still consider myself a member of the Order of KAI
 
KVT said:
Funny, the first 0470 I bought had a gritty opening too. The kind of gritty where a bearing has been tightened too far down on. It was pretty bad. I loosened the pivot and got the grit much better, but then the blade was too loose and uncentered. Could never find a happy compromise, so it went back.
The second one I bought, and still have, was perfect out of the box.
Talked to the dealer and he said he’s “seen it a lot with that model.”
If you get a good one, they’re perfect.
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I actually saw something like grit or a bead/ball bearing? Near the pivot and scale on the first knife. As I said initially at first knife was great in deployment. Then it went bad fast at about 30 flips

I’m not comfortable with taking apart ball bearing knifes. So I’ll never know. The second knife I have no idea why the flipping was so gritty right out of the box. It really has put me off ZT and I own 10 of them and never had a problem before.

I suppose it is too much to ask dealers to check out knives before they sell them? The looks of the knife are beautiful, but I wary of going around again.
 
Megawatt308 said:
I have a ZT 0200ST. Made in July 2007. Serial #0509. Still in great shape and a favorite of my big heavy folders.
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I started collecting ZTs because of the Ken Onion designed or inspired knives, starting w/a 0350ST. Within this "family" of ZTs, I've now got a 0200, 0300BW, 0350ST, 0350SW, 0360SKD and an 0400. Love them all, including the other 21 ZTs (at last count) that I own. :)

Some are new and some are used. Some are "vintage" and others are more recent models. The age and serial numbers don't much matter to me. Don't care much about the steel used either, since I don't use any of the knives in my collection to actually cut anything. It's the shape, style and appearance of the knives matter most to me and ZT provides a wide variety of very appealing knives to me.
 
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