- Joined
- Aug 25, 2008
- Messages
- 993
First, I would like to thank Pat for the passaround. Also I will tell you in advance that my spelling effing blows.
The ZT0100 is a sweet looking Knife that when I opened it reminded me of a fixed blade "Spec Bump" The overall quality of the knife and sheath is top notch save for the blade grind, which I will explain later.
Blade-
The blade is an awesome recurve/bumpy grind made of CPM3V. I have never used this steel before so I was eager to test her. The blade Has a DLC coating, which Kershaw's is nice and should hold up well over time. There is also a blood grove on both sides which gives it a killer look. The blade shape itself is pretty cool and usefull. It has a good sharp tip, but still seems strong as there is no swedge that runs to the tip, thank god. The grind of the blade is a very slack. Both sides are ground, but the two do not meet to make an edge untill about the very left edge of the ZT logo. I hope the pics show it. Which takes away about an inch or a little more from the cutting edge. This was very disappointing in a $200 plus knife from KAI and this knife should have never left the factory like this.
Handle-
The handle is the winner here and feels great. If you have ever held a spec bump you will know what I mean. This is thicker then that and with the palm swell feels better. The jimping is better then most, but the groves could be a little bigger so it grabs more meat of your thumb. The blade tang sticks out just a little from the handle so you can drive in into something without breaking the G10 scales. The G10 scales are textured and very nice and give good grip. After some use I did find some hotspots, but it wasn't too bad. Another nice thing about the handle is that you can take the scales off for a good cleaning. I really like that feature.
Sheath-
The sheath is sweet. Awesome retention with the Kydex insert. When I carried the knife I buttoned the top strap around the back of the sheath (using the secondary button they provide) which was nice. The Kydex holds it firm enough to where I didn't need the secondary strap. Towards the bottom of the sheath there is a screw. I assume this is so you can take the Kydex insert out and flip it around for left hand carry. I should have tested this, but I didn't. Sorry. that screw will let you take it out and flip it for left side carry On the front of the sheath there is a fairly large size pocket that you can use to put stuff in, like a field sharpener, compass or other supplies. That pouch also has two buttons so that it can expand. I even put my ZT0301 in there and it snapped closed perfectly. Like I said awesome sheath.
Testing-
I did get to use this one. I cut some 1/2 inch rope which it did well. Then I took it to a 2x4. First I did some whittling and that went well. Then decided that I would try to chop through it. I have always seen people do it and figured I would give it a shot. After a couple min. of chopping I wasn't getting far. This blade just isn't large enough. I put a lanyard on it and held the very end of the handle so only my index and middle finger were holding the blade. That gave me some extra reach and I was able to build up momentum when swinging it to do some damage to the 2x4. Once I did that it chopped very well and didn't take long to go through it. After I chopped about 5" off the board I used the longer piece to baton through the smaller piece. Too easy for the knife. The DLC coating still looks good too. CPM 3V is a great steel for a fixed blade and can take a ton of abuse. It held a very good edge for the cutting tests that I ran it through. I would like to see more knives in this steel
Overall this knife is very nice and the CPM3V blade had zero problem with any cutting task I gave it. I will probably think of more to add to the review and will put it in different color text if I do.
The ZT0100 is a sweet looking Knife that when I opened it reminded me of a fixed blade "Spec Bump" The overall quality of the knife and sheath is top notch save for the blade grind, which I will explain later.
Blade-
The blade is an awesome recurve/bumpy grind made of CPM3V. I have never used this steel before so I was eager to test her. The blade Has a DLC coating, which Kershaw's is nice and should hold up well over time. There is also a blood grove on both sides which gives it a killer look. The blade shape itself is pretty cool and usefull. It has a good sharp tip, but still seems strong as there is no swedge that runs to the tip, thank god. The grind of the blade is a very slack. Both sides are ground, but the two do not meet to make an edge untill about the very left edge of the ZT logo. I hope the pics show it. Which takes away about an inch or a little more from the cutting edge. This was very disappointing in a $200 plus knife from KAI and this knife should have never left the factory like this.
Handle-
The handle is the winner here and feels great. If you have ever held a spec bump you will know what I mean. This is thicker then that and with the palm swell feels better. The jimping is better then most, but the groves could be a little bigger so it grabs more meat of your thumb. The blade tang sticks out just a little from the handle so you can drive in into something without breaking the G10 scales. The G10 scales are textured and very nice and give good grip. After some use I did find some hotspots, but it wasn't too bad. Another nice thing about the handle is that you can take the scales off for a good cleaning. I really like that feature.
Sheath-
The sheath is sweet. Awesome retention with the Kydex insert. When I carried the knife I buttoned the top strap around the back of the sheath (using the secondary button they provide) which was nice. The Kydex holds it firm enough to where I didn't need the secondary strap. Towards the bottom of the sheath there is a screw. I assume this is so you can take the Kydex insert out and flip it around for left hand carry. I should have tested this, but I didn't. Sorry. that screw will let you take it out and flip it for left side carry On the front of the sheath there is a fairly large size pocket that you can use to put stuff in, like a field sharpener, compass or other supplies. That pouch also has two buttons so that it can expand. I even put my ZT0301 in there and it snapped closed perfectly. Like I said awesome sheath.
Testing-
I did get to use this one. I cut some 1/2 inch rope which it did well. Then I took it to a 2x4. First I did some whittling and that went well. Then decided that I would try to chop through it. I have always seen people do it and figured I would give it a shot. After a couple min. of chopping I wasn't getting far. This blade just isn't large enough. I put a lanyard on it and held the very end of the handle so only my index and middle finger were holding the blade. That gave me some extra reach and I was able to build up momentum when swinging it to do some damage to the 2x4. Once I did that it chopped very well and didn't take long to go through it. After I chopped about 5" off the board I used the longer piece to baton through the smaller piece. Too easy for the knife. The DLC coating still looks good too. CPM 3V is a great steel for a fixed blade and can take a ton of abuse. It held a very good edge for the cutting tests that I ran it through. I would like to see more knives in this steel
Overall this knife is very nice and the CPM3V blade had zero problem with any cutting task I gave it. I will probably think of more to add to the review and will put it in different color text if I do.
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