Zero Tolerance

Ajack60 said:
Even though the 640 is sweet, it's a little small for me.
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You must be referring to girth because the 0640 comes w/a 3.75" blade. LOL! ;)

My "sweet spot" for blade length is between 3.5-4" and I don't consider a knife "small" unless it has a blade shorter than 3.5."

If you like your knives BIG and you don't have one already, then you really need to buy an 0300 or 0301. I've got two 0300's but they are kinda big for me; the 0200 suits me better.
 
One of my favs is this one
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RousingRabbles said:
I have never seen a single ZT knife that appealed to me. Their aesthetics seem to consistently fall into three categories for me: 1. Too outdated futuristic looking 2. Too tacticool 3. Being too late on modern designs.
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+1
 
I have yet to come across a ZT that wasn’t well executed, even if a particular model doesn’t appeal to me.

I haven’t been into recent models, largely because bearings and TFFs appeal less to me these days. They also make occasional design choices that baffle me and/or polarize the knife community, like the ugly green CF weave on the 0640 (which is an otherwise stupendous knife).

Serendipitously, I carried my 0900 today. That portly little guy always puts a smile on my face. The 0460 is one of my favorite knives for formal & dress-up occasions. The 0450 is one of several timeless ZT classics, and the knife that got me into collecting nice knives.
 
Also on a side note ZT is one of the most consistent on Quality control of any knife on the market imo. I’ve owned many over the years and one thing I know it’s one knife that when I buy I never have to wonder and hope if it’s a good one.
Keep up the great work ZT 👍🏻
 
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sgt1372 said:
You must be referring to girth because the 0640 comes w/a 3.75" blade. LOL! ;)

My "sweet spot" for blade length is between 3.5-4" and I don't consider a knife "small" unless it has a blade shorter than 3.5."

If you like your knives BIG and you don't have one already, then you really need to buy an 0300 or 0301. I've got two 0300's but they are kinda big for me; the 0200 suits me better.
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No, I was thinking about the 470 and got confused :oops:. The 0300 never has appealed to me, but I should have bought one anyway. Oh well, such is life.
 
The main obstruction for me is the omnipresence of ball bearings, which IMHO goes against the 'hard use' and 'robust' attributes these knives are marketed as. I believe that leaves me with the 640 with PB washers only.
They should introduce a Tri-way like Hinderer.
 
I’ve owned 2 452Ti’s, a 620CF, 620, a 462CF, and a 301. The 301 felt like a work knife but they are collectible now, so I never really used it. The rest were nice, too nice to be beat up, at least in my opinion, and too overbuilt to be great everyday users. Notice how I said owned, not own.

Most of their newer models look like they are aimed at a knife as fashion crowd and not some much “built like a tank”. The 301 was built like a tank, it was heavy, chunky, and inspires confidence. The edge was thin-ish without being fragile, and the handle gave nothing but grip. The blade was broad without a long point. Not a knife for delicate work, but a great knife. The other ZT’s I owned were beautiful, but too thick behind the edge to be good at everyday tasks and I didn’t feel like shelling out for a regrinds.
 
kobold said:
That will put a dent in the collection! :)
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Not really.

4 of the knives that I'm planning to sell are actually "dups" that are being eliminated (but still included in the count) after I purchased "better" or different versions of them.

Last year, I culled the collection of about 100 mainly cheap Kershaws & CRKTs that were some of the 1st knives that I purchased when I started collecting. I am thinking about culling the collection again this year but there are far fewer knives to choose from this time around.

At this point for me, it's mainly about back filling the collection w/variations of knives that I'm "missing" and "improving" the quality of the knives in the collection by buying better versions of knives that I already have and not so much buying anything "new."

So, the total size of the collection should remain fairly static from here on.
 
One ZT I always forget about is the 0562. It’s about as close to a perfect folder as it gets in my book. I’ve owned numerous and always sold them as I felt my XM 18 made it somewhat redundant. But, a great knife regardless.
 
sgt1372 said:
I still own 40 of them, almost all early or discontinued models. Haven't bought a newly released ZT in the past 3-4 yrs.

The early ZTs are all well designed and built and generally live up to ZT's early motto (now dropped) of being "Proudly Overbuilt."

Never saw a reason to mod any of them
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What are your personal favorite ZTs? If you could narrow it down to like 3-5 of them.
 
Most of the current models do not appeal to me. I do have a fondness for some of the early models, though. The ZT0200 was my first step into higher end knives back in 2013 when I made a dramatic improvement in my employment situation and income. I bought the 0200 as a celebration! My tastes have returned to the "slicier is better" realm, though, so it's not much a of a user anymore.
 
jstn said:
One ZT I always forget about is the 0562. It’s about as close to a perfect folder as it gets in my book. I’ve owned numerous and always sold them as I felt my XM 18 made it somewhat redundant. But, a great knife regardless.
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A G10 0562 was the 1st ZT that I ever purchased. The 0560/0562/0566 is a great way to own a Hinderer w/o spending 2-3x's more. Unfortunately, the 0562 is the only one that ZT still makes.

I've owned and sold a XM-24 and 3" XM-18 because I didn't feel they offered me much for the price beyond the 0560 and 0566 that I already owned. Thought about buying a 3.5" XM-18 to compare w/the 0562 but decided there was really no need to do that.
 
rhino said:
Most of the current models do not appeal to me. I do have a fondness for some of the early models, though. The ZT0200 was my first step into higher end knives back in 2013 when I made a dramatic improvement in my employment situation and income. I bought the 0200 as a celebration! My tastes have returned to the "slicier is better" realm, though, so it's not much a of a user anymore.
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The 0200 is really cool. It’s kinda big to edc it, but it’s on washers, as are all the speedsafe knives. I carried my 0357 more than anything last year. If they got rid of the torsion bar and added a detent ball to it, that knife would be way more popular than it is, especially with enthusiasts.
Whenever I can’t decide what knife to carry I’ll just grab the 357 and know I’m good without having to think about it. I doubt it will happen, but I’d really like to see a version of that without the speedsafe.
 
sixplymaple said:
What are your personal favorite ZTs? If you could narrow it down to like 3-5 of them.
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My favorite ZT is the 0452. I own 4 variations of it and am looking for 1 more that I passed on before.

Other favorites in my top 5 (listed numerically) include:

ZT 0200 (I own 3 variation)
ZT 0400 (I own 2 variations)
ZT 0620 (1 own 2 variations)
ZT 0770 (1 own 2 variations)

Honorable mention:

ZT 0610ST Auto (Only 1 version made)
ZT 0804CF (Only 1 version made)

The only knife among these still made by ZT is the 0452. The rest you'll have to look for on the 2ndary market.

PS: While I like the 0560/0562/0566 series, I only own 1 of each aft selling off some variations and they are not among my favorites. I also own 3 variations of the 0350, which also like but is not among my faves. The only reason I have 3 of them is that I impulsively bought M390 and CB variations of it that I should sell.
 
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