Show me your zilla porn!

230grains

230grains

Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Messages
3,094
Alright guys, I caved and I'm currently trading for a test team zilla. I don't want to wait for a cg release, I want it now.

Lets see any of your zilla pics, in the wild, on your table. Any pics of the black/tan handled ones would be cool as well as that's the one I'm hopefully getting.

On one hand i'm sad i'm giving up my NMFBM, on the other hand.. I'm just going to buy a new one next month.

Also, including any opinions on the zilla, I'm not going to be doing any major work to the knife besides cleaning up the finish a little and resharpening it so I'm curious to see what you think of the knife as is, with just a slight reprofile.
 
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As you probably know already, I sold my TT edition - I found the convex blade profile to be too fat to make it really effective for its weight, and I wasn't willing to do the sort of serious grinding it would take to thin it out enough to perform the way I wanted to.


That said, a slight thinning of the convex edge made a MASSIVE difference. Mine was woefully un-sharp (yeah, I said un-sharp, wanna fight about it? :D) when I got it, and it was outchopped by much lighter and thinner knives. After putting a better edge on it, it was MUCH, MUCH better, but you could squeeze much more performance out of it with a complete reprofile.
 
I ALMOST traded my SHSJ (1/6 desert) for one when they came out. Guy was a flake though. I STILL want one! Live khuks! I've been using a 14" boomerang for a while from HI. Spent some time hand shaping the edge to a mirror polished zero and it's a damn razor now. Holds an edge exceptionally well and comes back easily with some stropping. I'd love to see how an infi khuk would do!
 
Gator, how would you compare it to the FFBM in terms of chopping etc?

Thanks for the pics guys, keep em coming.
 
230grains said:
Gator, how would you compare it to the FFBM in terms of chopping etc?

Thanks for the pics guys, keep em coming.
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The FBM is a fantastic chopper and great for battening. The KZ is better at chopping, IMO. The heavier weight towards the tip of the blade makes for less effort. However, with the pronounced recurve of the blade, the KZ has a 'sweet spot' half way down the belly of the fat of the blade (going from the handle towards the apex of the belly of the blade). I found that when I hit the blade a the apex of the recurve and toward the tip of the blade that the blade tends to turn and looses bite. As far as battening, the KZ performs very well.
 
gatorzingo said:
The FBM is a fantastic chopper and great for battening. The KZ is better at chopping, IMO. The heavier weight towards the tip of the blade makes for less effort. However, with the pronounced recurve of the blade, the KZ has a 'sweet spot' half way down the belly of the fat of the blade (going from the handle towards the apex of the belly of the blade). I found that when I hit the blade a the apex of the recurve and toward the tip of the blade that the blade tends to turn and looses bite. As far as battening, the KZ performs very well.
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Two small notes.

It's a khukri ... so you need technique to reach its optimum performance. Lots of guys over at HI and the associated forums (Cantina) can help you get that technique fast.

The edge profile is a real issue, but Mr. Busse understands that -- he's had lots of comments from the Test Team on that point. When it finally hits the streets, it will be a much better performer. Could be the ultimate Busse chopper ... we'll see.

Even with its limitations, I do enjoy my KZ and I am very unlikely to ever let it go.
 
The main thing I would like Jerry to alter is the weight of the knife .... it seems a little unfair to reject the KZ on grind because we all knew it was a fully convex blade and that some "sharpening" would probably involve a belt sander or a lot of time and a mouse mat and plenty of wet and dry paper .... if you have the former .... tweaking the edge to a thinner profile is no different really to breaking out the Edge Pro for a V grind blade ...

But it is on the weight aspect that the knife needs some careful thought .... thinning it down would take possibly 1 to 3 ounces off ...at best that has the blade still at 35 ounces ....

To maximise the knife's ability to be the "carryable" and still perform as it can do when at an optimum profile .... I suspect something needs to be done with the tang ... because you would still need some weight in the blade to have the "umph" when chopping ... a skeletonised tang akin to the Basic's would be really an easy answer ... then either fit it with a Res C handle or an oversize set of grips which are made from G10 or Micarta as the case may be and rivet as per normal... but the precision of the grips might be an issue here for G10/micarta ... so my vote would be for a Res C grip done to the same overall shape as the present handle which is a big thumbs up for comfort:thumbup:

These steps though are probably too radical .... but a KZ coming in at 30 ounces would be SO much more easily carried .... and So much more easily used that I think it would be worth it .... anyway .... we will see what can happen on a straight forward re-grind as I think that is what has been done from comments so far.... maybe a tapered or thinned down tang would give the same effect ... :thumbup:
 
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Peter, your chop offs are what sold me on the KZ.

What did you do to the knife used in the chop off? Regrind the entire knife or just the cutting edge? The knife i'm getting is used and has quite a few scratches/sap stains etc.. so I'll be doing a little work with a high grit belt just to clean it up. I hadn't planned on removing any actual material that would change performance, just a slight edge reprofile if need be.
 
Let ne guess. You're chopping a white tree in a blizzard with an actic white blade. Right?
 
I had a question since this is a test team edition, each with a unique test team number... are they all identical in geometry? I've read MMs original review before he sharpened it up, and it was a terrible performer. I've since read others who said it came very sharp, and more saying it came with horrible edge geometry for anything besides breaking bricks. Now I got to thinking, since they all have a unique number, was Busse combat testing out different profiles etc to see which provided the best results/cutting performance/durability? It seems logical.
 
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