New ZT factory special series revealed….

[RousingRabbles]

Read an unverified comment in another thread lamenting the "good old" ZT days from somebody who said that they were in the knife "biz" who also said that ZT is selling all of the knives it can make, including the 0022.

Not in a business sense. Like a lot of other manufacturers, they can barely keep up with demand.

I'm having a hard time believing these sentiments. They could very well be true, but it certainly isn't evident in the supply chain. Pretty rare to see a current model ZT sold out from a retailer of any size. If they were "barely" keeping up this just wouldn't be the case. More likely it just means they have no need for expansion and have already cut down their manufacturing team to a size that has max efficiency to meet their projections. I have no doubt that they are still doing pretty well as a company, but with overseas companies surpassing them in quality, and US companies like Hogue that are remaining/becoming more affordable and getting better with time, I wonder if they're going to find it hard to compete in this changing landscape. Like I said, I could certainly be wrong, I'm just not seeing ZT as a major player like they used to be in any of the dozen or so avenues (retailers, forums, etc) I browse knives on.

 

[stabman]

Is that your hair? It's so silky and luscious.

View attachment 1815227

The secret is not taking life seriously, and always use more conditioner than seems sane.

 

[King of the Cheese]

I don’t hate the little copper knife. It certainly isn’t going to SELL for $290. I like it better with the copper than I did the CF version… but the thing is too small for me. I do think “factory special” should mean more than “we CNC’d a piece of copper for the side”. How about anodizing the titanium statue of liberty green and putting a green engraved profile of the face and torch of the Statue of Liberty in the copper? Could really make this pop with just a little more effort.

 

[stabman]

The 308 mills away strength from the pivot to add that little window hole thing and the bearings. Seems like the illusion of strength to me and in reality just a big fidget toy.

If you had a 0308 in hand, you'd see that there is no conceivable situation--even trying to pry open a door--where the material removed for the "window" would compromise pivot integrity.

If you'd used ZT's bearing equipped knives for idiotic use in the past (as I have done from time to time), once again you would not be worried about that.

The only difference possible would be the stop pin being inside rather than the one that rests against the frame of the knife for resistance against lateral force, but you'd still end up breaking the blade by prying before anything would fail.

If you just don't like the way it looks, that would be a valid complaint.
I like the way it looks, but not everyone likes every knife design...as evidenced by this thread.

 

[unwisefool]

I don’t hate the little copper knife. It certainly isn’t going to SELL for $290. I like it better with the copper than I did the CF version… but the thing is too small for me. I do think “factory special” should mean more than “we CNC’d a piece of copper for the side”. How about anodizing the titanium statue of liberty green and putting a green engraved profile of the face and torch of the Statue of Liberty in the copper? Could really make this pop with just a little more effort.

Like Spartan does with the Harsey folder

 

[unwisefool]

The 308 because of its puke tan colored scales and the 0640 because it uses thumbstuds which I do not like.

I thought there was a run of the 308's that had different color scales. And the 640 has a thumbdisc, not studs, if that makes a difference to you. I like the disc personally.

 

[King of the Cheese]

Like Spartan does with the Harsey folder

Yes similar. I think engraved copper with liberty green ti would be . But this? Hell, I could just go get a copper Kershaw for $50.

 

[stabman]

I thought there was a run of the 308's that had different color scales. And the 640 has a thumbdisc, not studs, if that makes a difference to you. I like the disc personally.

 

[kreole]

If you had a 0308 in hand, you'd see that there is no conceivable situation--even trying to pry open a door--where the material removed for the "window" would compromise pivot integrity.

If you'd used ZT's bearing equipped knives for idiotic use in the past (as I have done from time to time), once again you would not be worried about that.

The only difference possible would be the stop pin being inside rather than the one that rests against the frame of the knife for resistance against lateral force, but you'd still end up breaking the blade by prying before anything would fail.

If you just don't like the way it looks, that would be a valid complaint.
I like the way it looks, but not everyone likes every knife design...as evidenced by this thread.

Good to know about the window. Now it just needs to drop the bearings/milling for them

 

[toker]

I'm having a hard time believing these sentiments. They could very well be true, but it certainly isn't evident in the supply chain. Pretty rare to see a current model ZT sold out from a retailer of any size. If they were "barely" keeping up this just wouldn't be the case. More likely it just means they have no need for expansion and have already cut down their manufacturing team to a size that has max efficiency to meet their projections. I have no doubt that they are still doing pretty well as a company, but with overseas companies surpassing them in quality, and US companies like Hogue that are remaining/becoming more affordable and getting better with time, I wonder if they're going to find it hard to compete in this changing landscape. Like I said, I could certainly be wrong, I'm just not seeing ZT as a major player like they used to be in any of the dozen or so avenues (retailers, forums, etc) I browse knives on.

The ZT representative stated that the last few years have been insane from a business perspective while the demand on Kershaw and ZT has continued to climb. Their factories are working non-stop. That doesn't mean that their knives are consistently sold out. You can take and interpret those statements as you choose.

 

[KVT]

0308’s on my short list. Waiting for CF scale. That’s the last ZT I want - have everything else out that isn’t SpeedSafe nonsense, or that one that shall not be named with holes in the blade, or the original of this dumb little thing.

Hey ZT! Make a non-assisted 0357 would ya?!