I picked up the yxr7 steel version. I can't comment on zpd because of that. But this steel is hardened to almost 65rc, and is tough for its hardness.
I hate to admit this, but i was cutting up a bigbox outside of my place a few weeks ago, and underestimated the sharpness of the blade, zipped right through the box and hit the concrete in the driveway with a pretty good whack. The edge right before the tip of the blade made really solid contact with the concrete, and chipped a little bit. I have owned many knives that are reputed to be the "toughest " in the industry (think Hog) and the TEI sustained no more damage than a similar incident in had with that fixed blade....
I am very skilled at sharpening, but am choosing to send it off to Rockstead to have it repaired by them....
I will get pictures up of the edge after I get out of work tonight....
Again, I can't recommend this knife highly enough, it is truly something special. There are a lot of people on the fence because of handle material, but they negate the fact that unless you have a 0.5" thick blade, odds are the blade will snap before your titanium slabs do.... I love the feel of the inlaid rayskin, and the smooth texture of the handles on my TEI. I am seriously looking at getting a Shin as well, as i like larger blades and that one has the largest blade in a folder offered by Rockstead.
