- Joined
- Mar 24, 2008
- Messages
- 608
I finally got a chance to use my new MUDD for the purpose I bought it for, caving. The omnipresent dust and mud in caves poses a challenge for most folders. I was curious to see how the seals in the ZT 0500 would handle this.
The cave I went to is Horsethief cave on the Montana/Wyoming border. It is an extensive cave (over 8 miles) and is very dusty, but not too muddy. Unfortunately there is no vertical rope-work in this cave, so I couldn't use the knife for it's main purpose, to cut rope, webbing and padding for the ropes.
The cutting performance of this knife is very good. I have put a polished, 30-degree edge on it and have yet to experience edge damage (even when hacking bark of of some very hard wood). It also slices well while staying strong enough for some light prying.
But back to the seals. I had the knife in my pocket for the entire cave. A great deal of this cave is spent on your belly crawling through tight tunnels. The limestone dust gets on and in everything, (just touching my caving gear sets off a cloud of dust). The knife spent 8 hours in these conditions and continued to operate smoothly, (we used it to cut up sandwiches and make minor equipment repairs). When I got home I put it in the sink and washed it off. It looks new. There are only a few scratches on the clip. I was actually hoping it would look a little more worn, considering how bruised and scraped I was.
Overall, the ZT 0500 performed very well. It's bulk is still taking some getting used to (I think I'd like one a bit smaller), but it handled its tasks with an ease that makes up for it. I look forward to more testing with it (and look for a review on the 0650st soon, too).
Phillip
The cave I went to is Horsethief cave on the Montana/Wyoming border. It is an extensive cave (over 8 miles) and is very dusty, but not too muddy. Unfortunately there is no vertical rope-work in this cave, so I couldn't use the knife for it's main purpose, to cut rope, webbing and padding for the ropes.
The cutting performance of this knife is very good. I have put a polished, 30-degree edge on it and have yet to experience edge damage (even when hacking bark of of some very hard wood). It also slices well while staying strong enough for some light prying.
But back to the seals. I had the knife in my pocket for the entire cave. A great deal of this cave is spent on your belly crawling through tight tunnels. The limestone dust gets on and in everything, (just touching my caving gear sets off a cloud of dust). The knife spent 8 hours in these conditions and continued to operate smoothly, (we used it to cut up sandwiches and make minor equipment repairs). When I got home I put it in the sink and washed it off. It looks new. There are only a few scratches on the clip. I was actually hoping it would look a little more worn, considering how bruised and scraped I was.
Overall, the ZT 0500 performed very well. It's bulk is still taking some getting used to (I think I'd like one a bit smaller), but it handled its tasks with an ease that makes up for it. I look forward to more testing with it (and look for a review on the 0650st soon, too).
Phillip
i will be looking forward on your review of the 650st. 
, should be in by Monday.
,,got a emergency phone call from one of my sisters about a family medical emergency,,,got dressed and ran out too the truck too realize that my truck was stuck on the ice,,,after many failed attempts to get out i finally realized that i had my trusty mudd on me 
