What idea is that?
Aesthetically and practically, we've taken designs from some of the best in the business (RJ, KO, Hinderer, Galyean, Strider) and applied them with top end materials, 3-D machining, USA production, updated technology, and offer a variety of locks. There are manuals, fixed blades, AO's, flippers. ZT has won multiple awards including last years Collaboration of the Year (0560) and Overall Knife of the Year (upcoming 0777). Additionally there have been some monster LE's.
I guess there will be folks that don't like the brand, but IMO I'm not sure why.
As one of those folks that may never carry a Kershaw/ZT, I will say that I also won't hesitate to recommend them to others. There's no denying the quality, or the value. It's never been any one thing about Kershaw designs that turns me off. It's just that I have yet to find even a single design that really calls to me. The ones that have come closest have all had one little thing that I just didn't like about it. For the RAM, it was the blade shape. For the Blackout, it was the intersection between blade and handle. I like sweeping continuous lines (something Spyderco does very well, for instance). For the ZT0350, it was the overall blockiness, and the angle of the flipper. For others, it's just that they're so tactical looking. I like a tactical folder, but I don't want it to scream mall-ninja, and to my eye, some designs definitely do. FWIW, I also don't like the looks of Strider or Hinderer. Sometimes I feel I'm missing out, but there's just something about the look that doesn't appeal to me. The ZT 560 comes very close, but I don't like the angle of the flipper. I prefer the flipper angle of the 550, but the 550 has too much of a blocky look to it. There's so many that just come so close, but don't quite make it, and from the 350, I realized that I really have to like everything about a knife to want to carry it, or else it has to blow me away with it's performance.
I'm very picky though. Having handled an Umnumzaan and a Sebenza, I'm sure I probably will never own or carry one of those either. There's just no way one would kick my HTM out of my pocket. And those are fantastic knives.
So for me, my dislike (if you want to call it that), isn't really. It's just personal pickiness. I know there's nothing wrong with the knives in general. They just don't suit me, and for often different reasons. They're great products, and I'm sure sooner or later there will be one that I will end up owning again. In fact, the reputation of the brand is so stellar that I bought the knives I mentioned just so I could give Kershaw a try. They were great knives, but really helped me understand that I have to love a knife and want it really badly for it to be worth the buy. No matter how good it is, if I don't like something about it, I won't ever carry it. And I don't do safe queens.
