Sad day for me a ZT lover...

G

Gideons

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Dec 9, 2015
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Hey BladeForums,

So, I wanted to test out my BM Griptilian 553 (tanto) because of the reputation of the axis lock. I did some cutting, light prying, heavy prying, light batoning and heavy batoning. It passed with flying colours and I was kinda impressed. It was hard wood (I think oak). So I brought out my ZT 0620 because I loved it and thought if the BM Griptilian could handle it easily, I bet my ZT 0620 could. Then after some medium prying... the tip snapped off and I was like what the fuck... SO then I did some light batoning it did good, medium batoning it failed. I gave it some more tries and it failed. I didn't hold hard into the lock bar, but it kept just slipping over it looked like. As when I closed it, and engaged the lock again it felt rock solid (hardly any movement, if any at all) but yet, kept disengaging which is extremely disappointing not to mention how easy it was to break the tip on some medium prying and how a knife half as expensive (griptilian) took way more and is still in like perfect shape. I know these aren't everyday tasks, but some light prying and maybe some batoning may be used in a "hard use military knife" as ZT claims there knives are so I thought I would try it. Here are some pictures.
https://gyazo.com/9c22e5ce3d6f90c04b6d7095a2a08d31 https://gyazo.com/910691270c19eaf6a866dfe01d44ab2d

- Gideon

PS: I always have issues with uploading pictures directly to this site for some reason (never had it on any other site before).
 
You don't baton a folder with the lock engaged...

Also pretty sure that the tip on the Benchmade is significantly thicker than the relatively fine stabbier tip on the ZT....
 
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That tip is pretty thin to be used for prying. And stabbing into wood and pivoting would cause a lot of knives to break the tips. Knives are for cutting.
 
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Benchmade's heat treat on 154CM is a well known quality product. That's why the Benchmade did so well. Some people would consider batoning abuse, that a high hardness steel should not be subjected to, such as the Elmax in your ZT.
 
The 0620 has either Elmax/CTS-204P/M390, which are all relatively low toughness steels. Not only that, but why are you using your knife in a way it was not intended? If you want to "test out" your knives, carry them and use them for normal things, and not fantasy/made-up scenarios that aren't likely to happen.

This is like driving your car through lava to see how well the AC works...
 
Well that's a bummer! I probably would've dropped an "F" bomb too, had this happened to me...

But then again, I don't used my knives in this manner; especially on harder species of wood!

Scurvy, or Ram Zahr, will probably know better than I, but I'm guessing that you can get a new blade replacement, from ZT?
 

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RamZar said:
Send the ZT 0620 in and they probably won't charge you for the blade replacement fee. I've heard of other cases where the tip of the ZT 0620 got zapped off!

https://zt.kaiusaltd.com/contact
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^ How did I know, that as I was typing my response, you'd already be here with a response?! :thumbup:

And this is why you are such an asset RZ, to not only BF's, but also to ZT enthusiasts! :thumbup:

brownshoe said:
Some people would consider batoning abuse, that a high hardness steel should not be subjected to, such as the Elmax in your ZT.
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^ Agreed!
 
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So... When people say Elmax is a super steel what does that mean exactly? Like, I am no steel expert, but how is 154CM better at batoning? Would S30V be better than Elmax? What about D2? Also, the tip of the knife didn't break from batoning lol. Also, this isn't a fantasy situation, it would more be like a hellish situation.
 
I would say it's a fantasy situation, in that you are comparing apples to oranges.
 
That log is way too big to baton with the ZT correctly.

This thread is getting silly.
 
Elmax is prone to brittleness and frame locks prone to weakness.

What's so surprising?
 
Gideons said:
So... When people say Elmax is a super steel what does that mean exactly? Like, I am no steel expert, but how is 154CM better at batoning? Would S30V be better than Elmax? What about D2? Also, the tip of the knife didn't break from batoning lol. Also, this isn't a fantasy situation, it would more be like a hellish situation.
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Well ZT is discontinuing ELMAX so there must be a reason if that sums it up for you. Seems like it's being replaced with S35
 
The thread was silly from the beginning. I'm always baffled by people who straight up abuse their knives and are then shocked when it breaks. I mean, prying... why? Get a pry bar. They're readily available and some small enough to carry on your keys. Batoning... why? Unless you're in dire straits, there's really no reason to baton with a folder (at least use a fixed if you HAVE to baton). Use the right tool for the job. Get a hatchet or ax. Don't go beating on a folder, regardless of the manufacturer, and not think there won't be detriment done to the knife.
 
Gideons said:
Please explain how it is a fantasy situation?
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I think he's saying it's a fantasy situation because there is no need to ever baton a log that large with a folding knife, and batoning wood in general is not something that very often needs to be done anyway.
Not only that, but that log is way too large for the ZT to be able to properly baton, though I'm sure you could try and get through it with enough time.

And frankly, prying with a folding knife, especially one that in theory was designed for COMBAT or EDC, and not for outdoor use at all, is really not a good idea, and you should not be surprised that the tip broke at all. The 0620 is an Emerson design with the wave feature, made for fast deployment, and to be able to be used as a weapon if needed. It is not AT ALL designed to be used the way you have here. Not all knives will be built to handle the same things.

The tip on the Grip is much thicker, and 154CM is tougher in general the way BM heat treats it than the way that ZT does their Elmax. Elmax will hold it's edge much better, and is much more corrosion resistant, so that is generally the trade-off there.
Not only that, but BM generally makes their knives (it seems) with the idea that they have no idea what type of people will use them, so they make the geometry of their blades thicker in order to keep people from being able to break them easily. ZT designed the 0620 with more a performance concept I would think (though it's still not the best knife out there when it comes to just cutting performance).

And the reason the lock slipped so much is because of the steel lock insert. The interface allows for little to no wear throughout the life of the knife, and a very good lock provided it's USED AS INTENDED. Hammering on the blade is obviously not something that you should ever do with any framelock knife, and you should be glad that all that happened was that the lock slipped. It very easily could have permanently destroyed the lockbar as well, and if it had not had the steel insert, then you probably would have damaged the lock face too much for it to be able to even lock up again.

Simply put, you used your knife in a way that has no logical reason, and is not how it is ever intended to be used, and it broke. It sucks that it broke, but YOU broke it. It is not the knife's fault that you broke it.
 
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