The Official ZT0562 Thread!! (FIRST LOOK)

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Funny, I was looking at getting a 561 to start the new year. Then when I went "shopping", I seen preorders for the 562cf and I nearly shat my pants! It's gonna be a long wait, but they say "good things come to those who wait" for a reason.

I guess I'll just close my eyes and pretend my mini grip is a zt for now :D
 
this is the only thing I dont like about this part of the year for SHOT show...zt takes forever for stuff to come out...just like they did with the 566 last year...nevertheless...WANT!
 
Any idea whether or not the final production version will feature the grooves in the handle that are in the version from SHOT? I, for one, really hope that the grooves make it into the final version, I think smooth CF is a bit too slippy.
 
Moses_3 said:
Any idea whether or not the final production version will feature the grooves in the handle that are in the version from SHOT? I, for one, really hope that the grooves make it into the final version, I think smooth CF is a bit too slippy.
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The grooves were in the 620. Would be cool in the 562 though.
 
Yep on bladehq preorder list for the 562. Will be a pleasant surprise when it shows up months from now.
 
Know it's been answered numerous times, I'm just hoping the answers somehow will magically change I'll if I ask again ;-)
ETA!!?!!??!!??!!
 
Yeah if the 566 is any measuring stick than they're still a ways off, but as the wise say "good things come to those who wait." :)
 
ZT is absolutely on fire right now imho. Great offerings recently and really seem to be paying attention to what their users like/want in a blade. The 0566 is a nice edc and the 0560 BW is hands down one of the smoothest/best fit&finish/best looking blades I have owned. Sorry if this was addressed somewhere else, but I was curious as to whether anyone knows if the production version of the 0562 will have all black hardware (as in the op), black hardware with the silver pivot (Hinderer vid), or black hardware with a silver pivot and what looks like a matte gray clip (as it is showing up on some sites). Also...


ToddM said:
Handled both versions at Shot today, I think they are both going to be huge sellers, but if the price difference is only going to be $40 to get M390 that's not even a choice! The size/thickness me is a much better general EDC size than the 0560 or 0550 is. Kershaw/ZT really crushed all the other knife vendors new offerings there, you could see the excitement difference in their booth compared to the other manufacturers.

(Disclaimer: these are probably prototype samples so who knows what can/will change). I'd say the only things I didn't like is that the samples they had there that I played with was the CF scale was very smooth it would certainly be very slippery with wet/sweaty hands, I'd say it felt more slippery than the 0560CBCF. I also thought it had some pretty sharp edges on the insides of the liners I could really notice them when gripping the knife. The only other thing that bothered me was that I played with two samples of each version over the show and all four had different levels of blade retention and ease of deployment, ranging from almost falling open, to so much detent engagement I could not get it to open with the thumb stud at all, two others I could open with both the flipper and the "thumb stud" without issue, all had smooth pivots so it was not pivot tension. Hopefully that inconsistency gets worked out in production but if the 0560 samples I've owned/handled are any indication it probably won't be.

People were really pumped about the Emerson collaborations too, they were nicer than I thought they'd be though most are on the small size for me personally but at the price point they are really going to be popular. I particularly liked the CQC4 and 5 but both seem smaller in the hand/person than their specs would seem to indicate at least to me, but considering both are certainly going to be under $50 on the street, that's amazing.
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Thanks for putting up a first hand look at these blades, ToddM. I understand the blade stops are now designed solely for this purpose, but they are able to be manipulated as an opening device as well in your experience? I was curious as to why they couldn't still be used to open the blade after looking at the pics in the op, but having not handled the knife i can't say. Either way, the preorder has been placed. Great job from the looks of it, ZT and Rick Hinderer. looks like a home run.
 
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Random Dan said:
Hmm, this seems more in the size range of the 0801 or 0550. A little too big to EDC for me, the 0566/0350 is about as big as I'd like to go. I might buy one anyway just 'cause it's so sweet looking. Or I could just wait until it's released and everyone is selling off their 0566s for cheap :D
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Same here.... The 566 is my largest EDC, and just don't have the need for anything larger, as flat-out gorgeous as I find the 562 overall design. Slicer grind is pretty cool, but it's the machining and the wide chamfers that really make it stand out (smart and comfortable too). This design, in 566 dimensions, or slightly under, would have taken my money for sure. But I tend to like supremely ergonomic smallish knives of the current best in materials. The ONLY place this one barely missed for me is the size. I do wonder however, how the KVT bearing system will hold up, compared to good old solid bronze washers?...........
 
Yeah the 562 is about as big as I like to go also. I was so intrigued with the 560, and wanted a Hinderer so bad that I got the 560. I've flipped it a few times but never carried it and now am trying to sell it locally as I'll likely never carry it. the 566 has been perfect and I'm sure the 1/4 inch difference on the 562 will work for me.
 
jumpman said:
Thanks for putting up a first hand look at these blades, ToddM. I understand the blade stops are now designed solely for this purpose, but they are able to be manipulated as an opening device as well in your experience? I was curious as to why they couldn't still be used to open the blade after looking at the pics in the op, but having not handled the knife i can't say. Either way, the preorder has been placed. Great job from the looks of it, ZT and Rick Hinderer. looks like a home run.
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Hard to say, the prototypes I handled had drastically different levels of detent tension, but they were prototypes.

There's no design reason "blade stops" could not be used as an opening option, plenty of other knives do it (. However as ZT has learned it makes things very difficult. The flipper and thumb studs have drastically different amounts of leverage so what is an easy release for one is too stiff for the other, there is a sweet spot but I doubt any production company could keep the level of quality control required to ensure the bulk of their lock bar tension/detent engagement etc. fell into that narrow range. It's also design dependent I'd image there are designs that could be created where the blade stops and flipper would be close in leverage ratio and more forgiving of different detent tension.

People also desire different levels of blade retention. Some guys want a stiff detent to really load up on the blade so it flies out, others can't get that option to work, no one wants a blade that opens in their pocket, but if they can't flip it open easily they complain the blade retention is too high. Right now knife companies are catering to the blade flippers trying to imitate auto knives. My guess is this is the real reason ZT has decided they are blade stops not an opening device because it gives them an easy way out to deflect any complaints that the thumb studs/blade stops are not working easily for a customer, and they get a much larger range of lock bar tension/detent engagement if they only have to worry about how well the knife works using the flipper. That's all just conjecture on my part and probably completely wrong.

Personally if they are not going to be used for opening/closing, get rid of them and use a blade stop pin. It makes for a much cleaner looking design, you eliminate all the complaints/questions about if they are blade stops or thumb studs, and I doubt there's any significant strength advantage, people are just not breaking quality folding knives these days.
 
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