Zaan as a hard use edc?

Joined
Jun 10, 2017
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hi everybody, this is my first post of what I hope will be many.....

I currently have a zaan that has been sitting doing nothing due to my fear of busting the knife while doing light to medium hard use. I also have a benchmade Adamas that clearly (at least to me) would handle much much more wear and tear.

My question is how do you rank the zaan in terms of hard use as compared to other knives in its class?

I hope my question makes sense and I'm lease to easy on the super noob who is just dipping his toe in this rather pricy hobby.
 
Thank you so much. So you feel it would hold up to abuse like say, a sere2000? I apologize if this has been asked before. I did try to use the search but nothing really came up. The other reason I ask is I can't find a single video showing anyone doing "hard use" tests to prove its capability.
 
Absolutely. It's a fantastic blade. In fact, I need to order another one!
 
Tough as nails.. it's the BOSS!

I don't think I've ever heard of one failing. lots of them out there being edc'd for many years now.

Drive it like you stole it.
 
I agree: The Zaan is THE classic hard use CRK knife.

While they look good new, nothing beats a well-worn Zaan. The more you use it, the better it will be!
 
I love my Wilson Combat Star-Tac (Zaan with harpooned shape blade for the new comers). Bought it brand new and never held back from using it cutting cardboard and some kitchen duties from the day I got it in my hands. I have sharpened it and carry it on hikes. The blade is not as pristine anymore but I'm very happy with this one. It flicks like a dream if you happen to be an OCD "flicker":

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At the end of the day, it is meant to be used and enjoyed in more tangible ways than just to flirt with and to ogle at, IMHO. I don't abuse the knife but if I should accidentally damage it, it will most likely be the blade which will suffer the worst of the brunt which will not be the worst thing in the World! Nothing that $135 plus two ways shipping costs plus 3 months of your life to sit and reflect about your misdeeds with it, will not solve ;)
 
Great to hear. Thanks guys. I think because I'm still so green to all this I may keep the crk and move my adamas. Part of the issue for me is I wanna try all the different kinds of knives I've seen on here...hinder, strider, sere2000 ect.

Now it looks like I may need to figure out what to trade the Adams for and go from there.
 
Wow. I'm honestly a bit shocked by how dafinitive everybody is that it's that tough.

I suppose in my mind I think the sere has so much more mass and think steel liners that it just had to be tougher.

So, I gotta ask then....what hard use edc' would you say are compareable?

Like I mentioned, I have a benchmade adamas which I'm sure is thougher....I think.....but what say you folks?
 
I've carried mine for nearly two years straight. I've used it for everything from cutting lunch to cutting hoses off my engine. Don't pry, baton, or do anything a knife shouldn't and it'll Take care of you 100%
 
It depends on your definition of hard use. The Zaan will handle any cutting tasks you can throw at it. However if you want to pry, baton, or star in the latest Cold Steel YouTube video a thickish fixed blade will out perform any folder.
 
I think prying would be a big one for me. I think it's the main concern of using the knife. I can't carry a fixed blade so I'm left with trying to find a sold preforming knife that can handle abuse better then most.
 
No prying, no batoning and no cutting into tin and aluminum cans with any folders, unless absolutely necessary.
 
OP: if prying is atop your list then look into Tanto blades because you will most likely break the tip on the drop point blades if you use extreme lateral forces.
 
I had a "minor" water-break emergency and had to pry the iron cap off of a cast-iron pipe. My Zaan did the job, although I had two or three very minor chips in the tip area of the blade. I polished (sharpened) them out, except for one tiny nick that I can feel with my thumb-nail.
Great knife, the Zaan.
 
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