I'm surprised Gibbs doesn't carry the 560
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I've owned both, both are great knives. I am looking forward to the 562 later this year, the 561's I owned were too big. I got to check out a 566 over the weekend, great size but I did not like the AO feature, it made the opening and closing awkward. The 300/301/302 series is just too fat. I had a 301, and, akin to my experience with the 561, was way too big for anything other than coat pocket carry. I had no interest in getting a 350.
If gigantic knives are your thing, go for it. I got rid of all of my one hand openers in favor of slipjoints, except for a few Chris Reeves and a sentimental Benchmade, but would snatch up a Zero Tolerance in a heart beat. The 560/561/566/562 is my favorite ZT design, followed by the 300/302/301/350 design. The 3xx design just screams Kershaw/Kai.
I didn't really do much with the Elmax steel, although it performed great for everyday tasks. S30V is great, I haven't had anything bad to say about it other than my sharpening skills which need to be improved upon.
As far as lock issues on the 560, all of the 560s I've seen were either stiff or loose, but every 561 I've seen was fine, if that makes any sense. Anyway, as far as big knives go, that's a lot of steel swinging out of the handle every time you flip it open. I didn't flick my Rukus open, but it was a lot of wear and tear on the Axis lock every time I opened it.
Just get both and be done with it
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