Zing vs. Skyline

thejamppa

thejamppa

Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
2,907
Hi all!

I have bit hard time to decide my last knife I am going to buy from eBay this year. I've decided its Kershaw knife with flipper. I've now narrowed it down to two candidates which I can get reasonable price, below toll prices in Finland:

Kershaw Zing and Kershaw Skyline.

I love my Lahar and its Flipper mechanism has convinced me to get another flipper knife that is smaller than Lahar. Lahar is excellent bit bulky. Skyline seems to be more leaner version of Lahar with different blade steel. I like the looks of knife. Zing seems highly praised knife and I like its look and blade too. Both knives can be obtained less than $40

I want a good, smaller flipper knife with plain edge to carry for light and medium cutting work. Something to travels nicely in pocket and can be used to open food packages, cardboard boxes and cut things like saucages and vegetables if needed (my friends cabin has no electricity but its wood heated and we bbq often with guys in there ) so I am looking something for small utility knife that can become handy during bbq'ing.
 
I have the Zing and use it for everything you mentioned and more. Its a great knife and I highly recommend it.
I dont have a Skyline (yet :D) but I have heard nothing but good things about it. I dont think you can really go wrong either way.
 
I have the Kershaw Pack Rat and can attest to its excellent design and quality construction. The serrated edge at the back of the knife comes in handy and the steel has held up well. I recommend it highly.

I have not handled the Skyline but the zing is a good knife. I personally recommend the Pack Rat over the Zing.
 
Pacrat might be good choice but no seller in eBay offers it in such price it would come below toll price (I have to count shipping into price too ) Ones with more decent prices on packrat ship only to the states and those who seem to ship backrat internationally asks $23-25 Shipping :eek: with those sipping feed I could get almost Kershaw Skyline ($32 lowest I've seen)

Skyline is something I've postponed for few months now. Zing is new flame. Zings 3d grooves... Are they hard to clean and dry after cutting something like cucumber?
 
The grooves on the Zing might get filled with Gunk. Good point. Like if you cut a block of cheese for example.

T
 
Ive cut cheese and spread peanut butter with my Zing, and any gunk that may get in the grooves wipes right out no problem
 
I will get both eventually... But question is in which order? The shop I am looking sells both as 39,95 + Intl shipping 14,50 = 37ish €'s going well below tolling price ( 45-54 €'s ) Grooves might fill with gunk indeed but they also might make things less sticky in the blade, like sliced cucumbers and such due grooves.

So grooves have good and negative points.

Edit: Thanks Derrick, your point was extremely valuable!
 
I don't have a Zing but I do have its big brother, the Groove. The grooves in the blade really aren't very deep at all, I don't ever have problems with stuff getting stuck in them. It wipes clean just as easily as any other knife.

I also have a Skyline and absolutely love it. It is absolutely amazingly thin and light for a 3 1/8th inch blade.

There is really no practical winner here, they are both excellent, and I don't think anybody could objectively say that one is better than the other. You'll just have to choose whichever one you like the best. :thumbup:

You should also check out the OD-1. It should be about the same price, has an innovative flipper design, and like the Zing and Skyline, I've heard nothing but good things about it.
 
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Od-1 looks nice, slightly cheaper than Zing, G-10 scales and oh... framelock ^^
Edit: there's been some discussion in here of OD-1 getting rusty really quick due its blade + finish combination.

2nd edit: After looking 30 + reviews and so forth and digging up a lot material from Britishblades, knives forums and in here I think I go for Zing. Sorry Skyline, you'll be bought later... again... (2nd postpone for Skyline)
 
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I voted with my wallet when it became available at Wally World - ZING!. It is useful - and... it has the 'weird' factor going for it.

A flipper I've seen for~12% more recently (Bass Pro Shops), which I really like, is the Buck 347 Vantage Pro with an S30V blade. Admittedly, the blade, and G10 scales over SS liners, are a bit larger. The weight seems similar (4.0 oz.). The oval thumbhole is useful, if you don't 'flip', and the end mounted tip-up clip is reversible. That S30V blade is essentially the same as the one included in the 172 Mayo TNT models - which have an MSRP of $350 and up (The 347 has an MSRP of $75!). Mine is more of a keeper than my Zing!.

Stainz
 
I have both. I bought the Zing first and about 2 months later, I got the Skyline. I have 8 knives in my EDC rotation. The Skyline has received the most carry of all my knives. It has been my most carried knife since I got it. It was not until I got the Buck Vantage Pro that I carried the Skyline almost 90% of the time. Now the Buck Vantage Pro gets a bit more carry than the Skyiline (50% to say 40%). The Vantage's S30V steel is the main reason why it is now my top EDC knife. The Zing? well, I carry it every now and then. I still like it which is why I have not given it away or sold it. The Zing does flip out a bit faster, but the Skyline is smoother and I like the llade shape much better. Plus it is a bit lighter and has G-10 handles as opposed to polyimide on the Zing. Also, The thumb studs on the Zing are difficult and somewhat painful to use for me.

I vote for the Skyline. But either way you go, you won't lose. :thumbup: Both are solid EDC knives.
 
i have the zing, andi love it, but the striations in the blade make it difficult to remvoe the rust specks that will occour.
 
I have the Zing and am disappointed in it. First, the grooves do make it slightly harder to clean effectively. Since I wash my folders with water and soap, cleaning is not a big deal. The killer for me, is that the lock doesn't hold. I can hold the knife with the blade away from my palms, and using some pressure as though I was trying to close a slip joint folder, I can make the liner lock fail. The lock does engage fully, but it still will fail every time. May be just this one knife, but I know I won't buy another.
 
saw45 said:
I have the Zing and am disappointed in it. First, the grooves do make it slightly harder to clean effectively. Since I wash my folders with water and soap, cleaning is not a big deal. The killer for me, is that the lock doesn't hold. I can hold the knife with the blade away from my palms, and using some pressure as though I was trying to close a slip joint folder, I can make the liner lock fail. The lock does engage fully, but it still will fail every time. May be just this one knife, but I know I won't buy another.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it is just the one knife. Go here:

http://www.kershawknives.com/contactus.php?brand=kershaw

Select warranty from the drop down.

Fill in the comments area and let them fix it for you. They have good folks working there that will get it sorted out for you. :thumbup:
 
thejamppa said:
Hi all!

I have bit hard time to decide my last knife I am going to buy from eBay this year. I've decided its Kershaw knife with flipper. I've now narrowed it down to two candidates which I can get reasonable price, below toll prices in Finland:

Kershaw Zing and Kershaw Skyline.
Click to expand...

You can't go wrong with either. Don't forget about the OD-1 also.
It is similar to the ones you are looking at and in the same price range.

Good luck with your choice. I couldn't decide so I got both.:D
 
supasuprab0b said:
i have the zing, and i love it, but the striations in the blade make it difficult to remove the rust specks that will occour.
Click to expand...

Mine has never had a single rust speck on it, oil that blade up! :D

saw45 said:
I have the Zing and am disappointed in it. First, the grooves do make it slightly harder to clean effectively. Since I wash my folders with water and soap, cleaning is not a big deal. The killer for me, is that the lock doesn't hold. I can hold the knife with the blade away from my palms, and using some pressure as though I was trying to close a slip joint folder, I can make the liner lock fail. The lock does engage fully, but it still will fail every time. May be just this one knife, but I know I won't buy another.
Click to expand...

Give Kershaw a call or e-mail, they'll get you taken care of!
 
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