Zero Tolerance 0300 durability

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buckknifebibletotin

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Mar 2, 2014
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I've been looking at the Zero Tolerance 0300 to replace my CS Voyager which is gettin wiggly. anyway after looking at the 300 closely the stop pin/thumbstud doesn't seem to have much contact surface area with the TI or the stainless liner on the G-10 side. and obviously it doesn't matter how overbuilt the whole thing is if theres a obvious weak point. my concern is due to this small amount of surface area can it stand up to ROUGH use? I'm not talking about like chopping down trees but the occasional two inch sapling or limb ect. I know theres gonna be people who say if you break any folding knife you should get a fixed blade but i like folders better so please don't go after me about how i need a fixed blade.
So i guess what I'm asking is have any of you ZT 300 owners really abused your blade? and has it held up?

Thanks
 
I'm a ZT 0300 owner, but I don't make a habit of abusing any of my blades. It's a stout knife and will serve you well if you choose to use it as a knife. There aren't many things that hold up to abuse. So don't.
 
All folders have an inherent weak point no matter how 'overbuilt.'
You've already drawn the logical conclusion, if you are concerned about using a folder (any folder).
That being said, Its not my impression that ZT knives are more poorly made than others.
In fact quite the opposite, ZT makes some pretty dang nice and well made knives.
Go ahead and buy the folder - just dont go overboard abusing it, because then you might as well skip folders and get a ......well, you know:D
 
The ZT 0300 series are tough hombres and can handle a lot of over the top and inane abuse.

[video=youtube_share;ZVMI0n_Xnas]http://youtu.be/ZVMI0n_Xnas[/video]
 
I think it is well known that the spring-assisted spring will wear i.e. break over time. Mine (the spring that is) broke within one year, while I was (and still am) EDC'ing a Spyderco Military 95% of the time. Sent it to ZT who fixed it and returned it for free (to Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Sold it because it weighs twice as much as my favorite GOAT production EDC the Spyderco Military. And because I didn't want to pay almost 50 USD (around 35 EUR) again every time the spring breaks.


@Wolf1524

Benchmade's AXIS Lock uses two omega style springs. Springs wear. Just saying.
 
Jeru said:
I think it is well known that the spring-assisted spring will wear i.e. break over time. Mine (the spring that is) broke within one year, while I was (and still am) EDC'ing a Spyderco Military 95% of the time. Sent it to ZT who fixed it and returned it for free (to Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Sold it because it weighs twice as much as my favorite GOAT production EDC the Spyderco Military. And because I didn't want to pay almost 50 USD (around 35 EUR) again every time the spring breaks.
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I live in the Philippines and when I bought my ZT's I emailed KAI of my intent to buy pre-need replacement for torsion bars. They sent me a whole mess of parts and they didn't even charge me for shipping. My suggestion is for you to learn how to swap out your torsion bars and get a few replacement from KAI. BTW, my ZT 301 is in my EDC rotation and it gets carried and used often(at least a few times a week), torsion bar on it hasn't broken after three years too.
 
It's fairly easy to replace the torsion bar. And it's not like the knife stops working because the A/O doesn't work.
 
@singularity35 and chester22

All true, but I didn't want to. ZT's customer service is excellent, I know. I just don't like the spring-assist nor the 8 ounces the 0300 weighs. It indeed keeps working without the spring, but you'll have to open it two handed cause it doesn't have a detent. 3 ounces lighter and manual flipper I'd probably love it. Further I think the 0550 and 0560 are better offerings nowadays, that you can use just as hard as an 0300. But since this thread is about the durability of the 0300 I answered my experience on how durable the spring can be.
 
Jeru said:
@singularity35 and chester22

All true, but I didn't want to. ZT's customer service is excellent, I know. I just don't like the spring-assist nor the 8 ounces the 0300 weighs. It indeed keeps working without the spring, but you'll have to open it two handed cause it doesn't have a detent. 3 ounces lighter and manual flipper I'd probably love it. Further I think the 0550 and 0560 are better offerings nowadays, that you can use just as hard as an 0300. But since this thread is about the durability of the 0300 I answered my experience on how durable the spring can be.
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Well, there you go, that's entirely your preference. Just don't make the spring assist breaking, or the $50 shipping for customer service an issue.
 
I've been using my 0300 for a few years with zero issues. The coating on the blade and the Ti side of the handle has worn a bit, but that's about it. It's my go to knife for road trips (I travel a lot) and I don't have any complaints.

The AO still works fine (and honestly, if it broke I'd just keep using the knife like that), lock up is tight, S30V performs well and the broad handle is quite comfortable for heavy cutting. On some occasions I've wished the blade had a slightly pointier tip.
 
RamZar said:
The ZT 0300 series are tough hombres and can handle a lot of over the top and inane abuse.

[video=youtube_share;ZVMI0n_Xnas]http://youtu.be/ZVMI0n_Xnas[/video]
Click to expand...

I love tungsten framelocks.

But seriously, the 0300 is one of the most over built knives out there. I have the 0301 and it is a beast. Everything will eventually fail if constantly abused though.
 
Franciscomv said:
The AO still works fine (and honestly, if it broke I'd just keep using the knife like that)
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if the AO breaks the blade will have no retention because of a lack of a detent hole, right?
 
There used to be a video of a guy abusing an 0300 and a Griptilian on youtube. He tried, and neither lock failed. He even batoned through a concrete block with them, but both had minor chipping. The only real failure he could get out of either was standing on them as a step, and the handles of the Griptilian gave out and broke. That's not surprising as FRN is crap and shouldn't be used on a knife with a sub frame like the Grip, but who tue heck really needs a knife to do that and make it a valid complaint.

The 0300 is one of the toughest folders you can get.

I much prefer captive external stop pins (inside frame, outside blade), but I can vouch for how tough the thumbstud stop pin set up is with my 0350. I beat on my 0350 a hundred times harder than most people beat on their fixed blades with no issues.
 
craytab said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if the AO breaks the blade will have no retention because of a lack of a detent hole, right?
Click to expand...

Jeru said:
Correct.

(This is not the case with the 0350 for example.)
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Yes and no. It's been my experience that the larger torsion bars on most the ZT knives will have a 'soft' failure rather then an out and out break. The torsion bar will split right at the bend and will just feel like you knife is firing at half power. It's still provide some detent action and still kick the blade out, but you might need a little flip of the wrist to get it to fully open.
 
sh00ter01 said:
Yes and no. It's been my experience that the larger torsion bars on most the ZT knives will have a 'soft' failure rather then an out and out break. The torsion bar will split right at the bend and will just feel like you knife is firing at half power. It's still provide some detent action and still kick the blade out, but you might need a little flip of the wrist to get it to fully open.
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Okay, good to know. I am more concerned about it not having a detent hole. I really wish it did so I could de-assist it. If the spring ever goes, I will have a detent hole put in.
 
sh00ter01 said:
Yes and no. It's been my experience that the larger torsion bars on most the ZT knives will have a 'soft' failure rather then an out and out break. The torsion bar will split right at the bend and will just feel like you knife is firing at half power. It's still provide some detent action and still kick the blade out, but you might need a little flip of the wrist to get it to fully open.
Click to expand...

My experience with the 0300 with a broken torsion bar is different. I especially disagree with the part stating: "It's still provide some detent action and still kick the blade out, but you might need a little flip of the wrist to get it to fully open". That is simply not true in case of the 0300.


singularity35 said:
Well, there you go, that's entirely your preference. Just don't make the spring assist breaking, or the $50 shipping for customer service an issue.
Click to expand...
Funny you try to make this "entirely [my] preference". However it is true that I don't like things breaking on my knives, especially within a year and especially if that makes a flipper do not flip anymore. And I did not "make" the spring assist break. I think you statement is low or not fair to say the least.
 
I just received the 0301 in the mail a week ago. I cannot say without a doubt that this knife is the strongest knife out there (I have my reservations), but I can say that this thing feels very robust. Mine has absolutely no blade play whatsoever. I've tried to develop blade play by loosening the pivot bolt, but still nothing.

My only reservation about the durability of this knife is that there is no stop pin in the knife to prevent the blade from impacting the lock bar in the closed position. Check out jdavis' youtube video on the 0301. He goes over it a bit more.

Also, to those mentioning the lack of a detent: In the newer iterations of this knife, ZT removed the Rick Hinderer Lock Bar Stabilizer and added a detent to the lock bar. They also added a stainless steel plate on the lock face of the lock bar to reduce wear. I spoke to ZT customer service and this has been verified. No more lock bar stabilizer on 0300s going forward. They claim that it was causing the lock bar to stick and resulting in lock failure? Not sure about that, but something you may want to consider before buying.
 
singularity35 said:
Well, there you go, that's entirely your preference. Just don't make the spring assist breaking, or the $50 shipping for customer service an issue.
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I've been thinking about this and the spring assist is an issue with durability because the knife becomes markedly less functional without the assist holding the blade in due to a lack of detent on the blade. I think this might be the major weak point of this knife. Suppose the shtf tomorrow and we couldn't get anymore torsion bars from ZT, our other options would be to make a torstorsion bar, drill a detention hole in the blade, or be extremely careful about how we carry the knife with the blade closed. Not fun options on a knife of this reputation, price, and toughness.
 
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