New ZT's for 2017 what do you love?

kniferbro said:
Well the claim was that ZT is pushing the industry forward like no other brand. I'll have to disagree. Spyderco pushes the knife industry forward more so than ZT IMO. ZT as of late caters to the trends. Sorry but CNC machining is superfluous to knife making. Believe it or not knives were made before CNC! ZT can do cool carbon fiber inserts and sweet milling and bearings etc. I don't really see that as "pushing the industry forward". Spyderco experiments with blade steels, edge geometry and lock types. I think THAT is pushing the knife industry forward. But that's just my opinion. And I'll say it again, I really like ZT!!!!
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This is exactly right, in my opinion. Well put.
 
Man, first year ZT has no offerings that interest me. Looks like they're pushing even further the way they've been going. Art (or at least collector focused) knives that don't appeal to me aesthetically.
 
ZT is a manufacture of knives for designers. it allows custom makers to have a production knife to market and actually make some real money and allow more customers to get one of their designs in more hands.
 
Mo2 said:
ZT is a manufacture of knives for designers. it allows custom makers to have a production knife to market and actually make some real money and allow more customers to get one of their designs in more hands.
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While the majority of ZT's (old and new) are not my particular cup of tea, I do like this aspect about them very much. People that wouldn't otherwise have a chance of owning a "real" one can get something close in looks and feel.
 
I have to agree with the "artsy" or "designer" description. Just not my cup of tea.

I'm not downplaying the quality of ZT knives at all. Most of their designs are just not to my liking. To each his own.
 
Personally, I only liked the Ken Onion inspired versions. They had more of a beefy feel and look to them. And, what happened to their fixed blades? I don't see them anymore on their site.
 
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Mo2 said:
ZT is a manufacture of knives for designers. it allows custom makers to have a production knife to market and actually make some real money and allow more customers to get one of their designs in more hands.
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Basically true now. Also, mostly titanium frame locks with bearings flippers with blade steels of S35VN and M390/204P/20CV.

However, all of that and the design collaborations are what the great majority leader of ZT customers want.

ZT 0850 is a very unique one-of-a-kind design of two custom makers (Sinkevich & Rexford) with ZT's patented sub-frame lock.

0055 is a high-quality affordable GTC design.

0920 is a high-quality affordable Les George Harpy.

0460 is a high-quality affordable Sinkevich Polychotky Jr.

Only 0801TI is derivative of Summer's 0801BRZ all affordable Redford designs.

Most of ZT's production offerings now range in street price from $160 to $320.

A lot of Spyderco's Taichung knives are also high-quality collaborations topping at $444.
 
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Based on the images of the 0055 on catalog, it looks like ZT is starting to do internal milling to lighten the knife again, that's why the 2017 models is lighter than the older models for the same size(at least from the official specs).

Internal milling is not something new for ZT though. When the 0560 first came out, they were doing internal milling which makes the knife very light, but they stopped doing it that's why the later 0560/0560BW models were much heavier than the initial version.
Also, when ZT0350 first came out, the very thick steel liners were skeletonized, however the later versions all use solid SS liners which makes them ~1oz heavier than the older model at 6.2oz(older version were ~5oz).

Anyone know why they stopped doing internal/liner milling? Are there any official response about this? Is this just cost/cheaping out?
 
I think that both companies push the envelope of the state of the art.

In many ways ZT is pushing what you can get in an affordable production knife. They are trying to bring forward features previously only found in custom knives to a wider audience. Many people have a Hinderer designed knife up to the quality of the original thanks to ZT. I think they have lots of very practical knives. They also have lots of knives that don't apeal to me at all.
 
Buck3117 said:
Personally, I only liked the Ken Onion inspired versions. They had more of a beefy feel and look to them. And, what happened to their fixed blades? I don't see them anymore on their site.
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Discontinued it looks like. The ZT180 did not look like it sold well to me. It was thick, heavy, and expensive. Nice knife but at the MAP price there are better options that do a better job at cutting.
 
Gotta say I am unimpressed... I see nothing worth spending my money on... To each his own... Some will like them, but I don't see mass appeal.

Peace ook
 
The handle on the 55 is sorta goofy looking but I love the blade shape, might be my first ZT in a while if the price is right
 
ZT/Kershaw/KAI has a habit of ignoring what customers want, instead they go off on wild tangents at times to make new designs and products and gimmicks that they THINK people want (the atrocious speedsafe anyone?), granted some people like what they do, but there are a lot that don't. It got to the point that there were so many customer complaints about issues with their knives and their designs that they removed themselves from these forums, go look at the archives if you don't believe me. I sold off all of my ZT and working on offloading all of my other KAI knives, they are not built as practical, strong, and functional edc knives, no matter what their motto tries to say. Sorry if I'm stepping on toes.
 
`br4dz- said:
ZT/Kershaw/KAI has a habit of ignoring what customers want, instead they go off on wild tangents at times to make new designs and products and gimmicks that they THINK people want (the atrocious speedsafe anyone?), granted some people like what they do, but there are a lot that don't. It got to the point that there were so many customer complaints about issues with their knives and their designs that they removed themselves from these forums, go look at the archives if you don't believe me. I sold off all of my ZT and working on offloading all of my other KAI knives, they are not built as practical, strong, and functional edc knives, no matter what their motto tries to say. Sorry if I'm stepping on toes.
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Non collector types absolutely love speedsafe. I know several people who think a knife is hard to use or cheap if it isn't assisted.

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