zero tolerance quality

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awd_xtc

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Jan 25, 2015
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I am thinking about buying a zt, I was wondering what the quality of these knives is comparable to?
 
I personally find the quality as good as most, better than some. It is not a cheap brand in my opinion and they make some super knives. Good luck!
 
ZT quality is top notch. They have a number of great designs, both in-house and collaborations with top designers. They execute on those designs using great materials with excellent fit & finish, and then back it with their great customer service and lifetime warranty. There's also a degree of refinement you will notice right away when holding the knife that isn't captured in paper specs.
 
I find them to be significantly better than Benchmade, DPX, and Japanese Spydercos. On par with Taiwan/USA Spydercos, Hinderers, Striders. Just below CRK.
 
ZT to me makes above average knives in terms of overall build and materials. To me benchmade, spyderco and Kai (zt and kershaw) are what I think of as the big three. All three seem to offer true production knives with exceptional fit and finish in MOST cases. There is no perfect company. ZT is no different. You can get a knife with issues. And that is why I think they get scrutinized and criticized rather harshly ( by myself included). The majority of their products are done well enough that when a lemon is pushed out people tend to be pretty vocal about it. This is more than likely because it is not indicitive of what people come to expect from the company. This is the case with any company with a reputation for stellar quality. Whether it be hinderer, Chris Reeve, or even microtech. They set the bar and when someone gets a product that doesnt meet that expectation the company tends to get thrown under the bus and then its a battle between the fanboys and that haters to battle it out over where to lay blame. In reality there is no blame to be laid on anyone which I forget at times. Handmade knives IMHO should come under more scrutiny as they pass through less hands and much more money is involved. With a production company of any size you WILL get defective products. Its just the way it is. But with ZT you get the benefit of high quality and what many consider the absolute best warranty in the business.
 
Scurvy092 said:
I find them to be significantly better than Benchmade, DPX, and Japanese Spydercos. On par with Taiwan/USA Spydercos, Hinderers, Striders. Just below CRK.
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Agree with the bolded part. DPX, Hinderer and Strider are knives with which I do not have experience, so I cannot comment.

Overall, I find ZT quality to be top notch.
 
Agreed, their knives are good quality and better than that, they have a good CS department. They will ship parts and turn over warranty work in a reasonable time.
 
Scurvy092 said:
I find them to be significantly better than Benchmade, DPX, and Japanese Spydercos. On par with Taiwan/USA Spydercos, Hinderers, Striders. Just below CRK.
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Agree for the most part. I'd have to say that hinderers are probably a little more precise but no more functional. They say the slysz bowie is up there with crk, too. Zero tolerance quality is very good, price is acceptable, and their warranty Dept is excellent. Great warranty departments are par for the course for most of the big name, quality knife makers so that's not unique. If you want what zero tolerance offers, you probably won't be disappointed. That's all that any company can really ever offer of they want continued business.
 
This is good to hear, does anyone have any experience with the 0562cf? I have it narrowed down between that and the bench made 761. I have no way of checking out a zt before I buy one.
 
With ZT, you're paying for a premium production knife company which includes their marketing and customer service.

I have their 301 and 350. I thought the 560 was the "be all" for me that I bought 3 despite my problem with the first knife. I thought it was just the exception. I am glad for their customer service since I got the first knife back perfect after sending it in. However, I had to send the second knife in today for premature lock bar face premature wear. I'm confident they'll fix it but I think the third one I have as a back up which I haven't used yet will be subject to the same issue. So, it's lost its luster for me.

In the meantime, I've picked up a Benchmade Rift and a Benchmade Contego and the Contego has been my EDC ever since I got it.


On the other hand, I'm waiting for the ZT 452 CF to come out.
 
other than the lock bar issue where there any other problems? How is the fit and finish. The 761 I checked out, the blade was pretty off center.
 
I definitely would not hesitate to buy another ZT. Fit and finish are good. Customer service is also good if needed.
I'd say my ZT fit and finish is better than my Benchmade and Spyderco knife.

I had lock bar play after months of use; some use probably unnecessary. However after sending in for repair it was lock solid. I only paid shipping.

Definitely buy the ZT your looking to get.
 
awd_xtc said:
other than the lock bar issue where there any other problems? How is the fit and finish. The 761 I checked out, the blade was pretty off center.
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What Rey HRH is describing is not typical for ZT. It is the exception, rather than the rule. I own a 0562cf, and it is, in my opinion, an excellent knife. Above average fit and finish, excellent materials and construction, solid lock up, and nice Ergonomics. One of my current favorite carry knives.

It seems to be an all-around very solidly made quality knife, I don't think you would be disappointed with that choice at all.

I also own a few Benchmade's ( 551 Griptilian, 550 Griptillian,Adamas, and the HK Axis Folder), and while I like the BM's, and enjoy having them, I can say that the ZT's that I own (0550, 0801, 0620cf, and 0562cf) seem to be of higher fit, finish and quality than my Benchmade's. This is just my Opinion, so take it for what it's worth. I however, would choose the ZT over the Benchmade.
 
awd_xtc said:
other than the lock bar issue where there any other problems? How is the fit and finish. The 761 I checked out, the blade was pretty off center.
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The issues with the first 560 were issues I found other people were having: could not flip it open, the lock bar stuck, the blade developed side play. But it came back completely fixed and impressed me with the function. I'm just waiting to sharpen it and I'll use it in my edc rotation again.

I suspect the issues are with this specific Hinderer design. The reason I say this is I've never had any problems with the 301 and the 350 that I had before the 560s. The 301 was just too heavy for me to carry clipped to my pants pocket.

Fit and finish was fine for me. On par with their price points. I'm not much into knife centering as long as its approximately in the center and doesn't rub. I'm comfortable with tolerances. I used to do production assembly that required +/- 0.0010" but that was building an artificial heart. So I'd like to think I am able to put tolerances in their proper context. I'm thinking that non-centered blades can be addressed by disassembly / re-assembly.

I guess I should ask you where you're coming from to give you a better perspective. In your consideration of getting a ZT, are you coming down from your usual price range / quality expectations or are you moving up or just lateral?
 
From my experience, their fit and finish seems to be great at first sight but after long usage proven their overall execution is poor.

My first 0561 has trouble on clip retention, pretty much like this pic (this is not my pic)

images


also uneven thumpstud (my own pic)

IMG_7673.jpg


Blade close position stop pin came loose brand new and make some annoying rattling sound.


but that wasn't bother me as much as the poor performing of Elmax... I sold the knife for only $120...

Several month later, I gave ZT a chance and bought ZT0560, again, clip issued and ZT's Elmax never stop to disappoint me. 2nd time that I had to get ride of it.


Last year December I gave ZT another chance and decided to pull trigger on ZT0560DLC. Elmax seems to be little better but not any spectacular.


I also found new issue after 2 week of carried. Here is my video.

[video=youtube;MjmllBa8g8E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjmllBa8g8E[/video]

And the clip issue has never been resolve.

PS. I cut lots of cardboard and stuff dairy. I would say ZT Elmax factory edge hold an edge even worse than any Chinese steel I have ever tried. But after some serious sharpening, when enough steel removed, the edge seems to perform much better and comparable to S30V.
 
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awd_xtc said:
This is good to hear, does anyone have any experience with the 0562cf? I have it narrowed down between that and the bench made 761. I have no way of checking out a zt before I buy one.
Click to expand...

I own a "standard" 0562 and it's awesome. The best production knife I own. Super smooth, centered, rock solid lockup, came very sharp, no play anywhere, and what i would consider perfect detent strength. Thinking about picking up another one...just because.
 
ZT is far and away my most-purchased folding knife brand. I would highly recommend them if that's where your budget sits right now. I've had knives from all 3 of the big companies (KAI, Benchmade, Spyderco) and from my fairly limited experience with the other two, I absolutely prefer ZTs. Some of that is a personal preference for the style and some of it is my experience with their maintenance / warranty.

As for the 0562CF, I can't comment on it specifically but I have a 0562 (in elmax and G10) and it has been my EDC since I got it. I absolutely love everything about it. Very smooth action and great ergonomics for me. For reference, I recently got my first actual Hinderer (not a ZT collaboration) and I preferred the 0562 in almost every aspect. I know that may sound crazy to a lot of people, and surely at 1/4 street price the Hinderer is a "nicer" knife, but it was my experience. Therefore I would highly recommend the 0562CF (I've been eyeing one for a long time just to upgrade) if the style appeals to you.
 
blades&wrenches said:
I own a "standard" 0562 and it's awesome. The best production knife I own. Super smooth, centered, rock solid lockup, came very sharp, no play anywhere, and what i would consider perfect detent strength. Thinking about picking up another one...just because.
Click to expand...

does yours have the m390?
 
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