ZT 0560/0561 or ZT0630. Which one to buy and why?

panzeron said:
I don't own the 560 or the 630 . But I do own the 562cf .. that is one tough knife . I think you should consider . The cts-204p steel sharpens easily and holds it better than any other knife I own . I haven't put it to hard use , but it feels solid enough to take it , if called upon . It flips extremely well and closes just as sweet . After you past the detent , just jiggle it a little and it falls closed smooth and slowly . As if it is hydrolic. Maintenance is super easy . Just like a chris reeve sebenza. When you put it back together you don't have your fiddle with tuning it . Just tighten it up all the way . Perfectly centered and super smooth ..
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Thanks! Ill look into it. ;)
FerFAL
 
Quiet said:
Oh, I read what you posted just fine. Read my comment again. Prying, chopping, and stabbing? From a folder? Any of those tasks would much more easily be accomplished by a fixed blade.
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But I don’t carry a fixed blade every day. I carry a folder and a multitool.
Right now I carry a Cold Steel Tanto Voyager (Large, combo edge) in my left front pocket and a Leatherman Charge Tti in my right front pocket. Been doing so for years. Whatever replaces the Voyager should be capable of heavy duty use as well. The Charge has been a fantastic tool over the years. With care I’ve used it for everything and then some, even using the flat of the pliers as a hammer many times, which is something Leatherman wouldn’t approve of. Needed to be done and with some common sense got the job done without ruining the tool. That’s the kind of performance you get from tough, quality tools. The Voyager is a sub 50 dollar knife, yet I’ve used Voyagers many times before for chopping and prying and the Cold Steel barely notices it. No, its not a prybar, but it’s a tough folder and within reason it can take some hard use that other knives just can’t take. I don’t expect ZT to be as tough as my Cold Steel Voyager, the Triad lock is probably tougher, but I do expect it to be what ZT claims, a hard use tool.
But hey, whatever, man. You got this all figured out. Just don't come in here complaining when you break your folder purposely abusing it by using it for things it wasn't designed for. I wouldn't use any knife you've listed here for "chopping, stabbing, prying", etc. Use the right tool for the job. Don't want to be told that? Then you probably shouldn't post here.

Also, when you break your knife (and you will), you'll probably want to delete this thread before you send an email to ZT asking them to fix it.
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You seem pretty sure about it. I’ve been using and collecting knives for over 20 years. If you want to wait here until I come back crying that I broke my ZT you may want to grab some coffee and make yourself comfortable. You’ll be waiting for a while.

kniferbro said:
Ahhh my mistake. Sorry!

FerFAL, are you aware the Emerson collabs use the solid pivot bolt with a nut on one side? That to me is very appealing in a knife you may be beating on.
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YEs, at this point I really love the 0630 but I also dont want to miss the discontinued classic , the 0650.

FerFAL
 
This has been hashed before, basically hard use is a marketing term used by emerson zt and a ton of other knife manufacturers. I believe quiet was just saying be smart about how you use a folder so as to prevent breakage. Don't by into marketing use your judgment and if you pry or chop be careful and do it within reason.

If you've been doing this 20 years and carry a leatherman I imagine you would know this already. Pry with the multitool instead it will hold up longer.
FerFAL said:
But I don’t carry a fixed blade every day. I carry a folder and a multitool.
Right now I carry a Cold Steel Tanto Voyager (Large, combo edge) in my left front pocket and a Leatherman Charge Tti in my right front pocket. Been doing so for years. Whatever replaces the Voyager should be capable of heavy duty use as well. The Charge has been a fantastic tool over the years. With care I’ve used it for everything and then some, even using the flat of the pliers as a hammer many times, which is something Leatherman wouldn’t approve of. Needed to be done and with some common sense got the job done without ruining the tool. That’s the kind of performance you get from tough, quality tools. The Voyager is a sub 50 dollar knife, yet I’ve used Voyagers many times before for chopping and prying and the Cold Steel barely notices it. No, its not a prybar, but it’s a tough folder and within reason it can take some hard use that other knives just can’t take. I don’t expect ZT to be as tough as my Cold Steel Voyager, the Triad lock is probably tougher, but I do expect it to be what ZT claims, a hard use tool.

You seem pretty sure about it. I’ve been using and collecting knives for over 20 years. If you want to wait here until I come back crying that I broke my ZT you may want to grab some coffee and make yourself comfortable. You’ll be waiting for a while.

FerFAL
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FerFal.. your bringing up the charge and using it in unconventional ways . Reminds me of something that happened to me . And I believe is on topic as to wanting a tool that can handle the extremes in an emergency . I was dropping my little girl off at school . Had the baby in the back seat , in her car seat . My keys had fallen out of my pocket . I got out not realizing this . My daughter got out and hit the lock and shut the door .I'm locked out , the baby is still in the back seat . It's 90°+ in the hot Texas summer . I gave myself no more than 1 minute to figure it out , before I had to break the window . I always had my wave on my belt in those days .. thinking fast I whipped it out used the pliers to remove the antenna. Used the plyers to pry the door open enough to stick the antenna in and hit the auto lock. . All in under a minute ..
 
First off, this thread got really dumb. Bickering is unbecoming.


FerFAL said:
Thanks ALLHSS, if you dont mind me asking,
1)What kind of stupid things did you do with it? I'm not planning on busting my knife against a brick for a youtub video, but I want a knife that can honestly tolerate some abuse if ever needed. (example, used for self defense, prying or cutting materials it shouldnt in an emergency situation, etc)
If we go by Cliff Stamps video, the 0560 is practically garbage, alothugh I would question why not send back to ZT a clear lemon. Then again the Russian guy in youtube insanely abuses a 550 (check 550 hard use, click subtitles) and somehow the knife holds on. Granted, the Russian is smarter than some American youtuber that aparently dont know how to hold tight a framelock and go nuts when it disengages with light spine tapping. But still, what the Russian guy did to that 550 is disturbing and the knife took it like no other frame or liner lock managed to in previous videos. I also think the washer pivot of the 550 had something to do with it, and maybe why ZT is not using the KVT ball-bearing system in thier 0630...
2)Id love to know, why did you buy the 0560 again after selling it? Maybe you had a reason I can use in making up my own mind.:thumbup:
FerFAL
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Well, I batonned through a board to use it to clean out a vacuum. I guess you could say I pryed with it, but I can't remember specific examples. I never do abuse testing for the sake of it. What I was specifically referring to was a time when I was not in a great mindset and decided to see if I could throw it and stick it in a tree. Out of like 10 throws it probably stuck 7 times (pretty surprising). It didn't really do anything to the knife, amazingly. I ended up selling it to my brother for ridiculously cheap and he still carries and uses it daily.

I think this whole thing of titanium frame locks being good for hard use/abuse is ridiculous. Most have a lock bar cutout that is as thin or thinner than most liner locks. So that means there is less of a weaker material supporting the lock than in a liner lock. I also think the whole "your grip ensures that the lock doesn't disengage" thing is also ridiculous. The whole point of a lock is so that you don't get injured in the case of accidental misuse, so why rely on the fact that you'll hold the knife correctly to ensure the lock stays secure. If you want a hard use lock then you should get a knife with a triad lock.

I bought one because I found one with a custom white g10 frag scale for a great deal and it's discontinued. I might sell it once the flipping gets dull.
 
ALLHSS said:
First off, this thread got really dumb. Bickering is unbecoming.





Well, I batonned through a board to use it to clean out a vacuum. I guess you could say I pryed with it, but I can't remember specific examples. I never do abuse testing for the sake of it. What I was specifically referring to was a time when I was not in a great mindset and decided to see if I could throw it and stick it in a tree. Out of like 10 throws it probably stuck 7 times (pretty surprising). It didn't really do anything to the knife, amazingly. I ended up selling it to my brother for ridiculously cheap and he still carries and uses it daily.

I think this whole thing of titanium frame locks being good for hard use/abuse is ridiculous. Most have a lock bar cutout that is as thin or thinner than most liner locks. So that means there is less of a weaker material supporting the lock than in a liner lock. I also think the whole "your grip ensures that the lock doesn't disengage" thing is also ridiculous. The whole point of a lock is so that you don't get injured in the case of accidental misuse, so why rely on the fact that you'll hold the knife correctly to ensure the lock stays secure. If you want a hard use lock then you should get a knife with a triad lock.

I bought one because I found one with a custom white g10 frag scale for a great deal and it's discontinued. I might sell it once the flipping gets dull.
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Wow thanks for your valuable input. I think you're pretty dumb too :)
 
shinyedges said:
This has been hashed before, basically hard use is a marketing term used by emerson zt and a ton of other knife manufacturers. I believe quiet was just saying be smart about how you use a folder so as to prevent breakage. Don't by into marketing use your judgment and if you pry or chop be careful and do it within reason.

If you've been doing this 20 years and carry a leatherman I imagine you would know this already. Pry with the multitool instead it will hold up longer.
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I'd agree that "hard use" or "tactical" are words used more in marketing than honest product description. I still expect a good company that stands by its product to "somewhat" be true to that. If Cold Steel calls their knives the toughest folders for example, then Id be let down by the company if their folders fail where most other quality ones keep going.
Victorinox for example is a great company, but they dont go around calling their products the toughest knives in the market. If I bust the blade of my Hiker prying a box open, then that's on me. Having said that their Soldier does have a large screwdriver which they call a prying tool themselves and it actually works pretty well within reason.
To be honest Id rather pry with the Voayger's tanto blade than with the Charge's flat screwdriver! If anything, it sure is cheaper to replace.
panzeron said:
FerFal.. your bringing up the charge and using it in unconventional ways . Reminds me of something that happened to me . And I believe is on topic as to wanting a tool that can handle the extremes in an emergency . I was dropping my little girl off at school . Had the baby in the back seat , in her car seat . My keys had fallen out of my pocket . I got out not realizing this . My daughter got out and hit the lock and shut the door .I'm locked out , the baby is still in the back seat . It's 90°+ in the hot Texas summer . I gave myself no more than 1 minute to figure it out , before I had to break the window . I always had my wave on my belt in those days .. thinking fast I whipped it out used the pliers to remove the antenna. Used the plyers to pry the door open enough to stick the antenna in and hit the auto lock. . All in under a minute ..
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Wow! neat story and fast thinking. I believe you should always have a full size folder and multitool.
FerFAL
 
My vote also goes to the 0562 (although it isn't on your list) I have the G10 version and for me I find the size better for EDC. It is not a small knife by any means but the 0560 is a little large (for me) for daily carry, the 0562 is also a little less chunky than the 0630. That said, you really can't go to far wrong the ZT line up, it offers tremendous value.
 
DRK said:
My vote also goes to the 0562 (although it isn't on your list) I have the G10 version and for me I find the size better for EDC. It is not a small knife by any means but the 0560 is a little large (for me) for daily carry, the 0562 is also a little less chunky than the 0630. That said, you really can't go to far wrong the ZT line up, it offers tremendous value.
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Do you know when 0560/0561 first had steel inserts used in their lockbars? any idea of the year?
FerFAL
 
Of your choices I would go with the 560 or 561, just because I don't like or have any need for a waved blade.

You seem to be a big fan of the 561 on your blog, where you describe it with "this is as good as it gets in a production knife." So I am guessing you already have your own answer.
 
kniferbro said:
Wow thanks for your valuable input. I think you're pretty dumb too :)
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My pleasure 👍✊💦

I had an 0562 also. I found that the male/male pivot screw (vs the male/female on the 0300, 0560, 0630 etc) was prone to self loosening when flipped.

Also, I think a well made frame lock doesn't need a lock bar insert. Another part to break.
 
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FerFal .. not sure when they started putting the steel insert in . But a couple of months back I was deciding on whether to get the 562 or 560 .. bladehq had several 560-61 variations. I called to ask if they had the steel insert, and was told no . But have seen them advertised on other sights with them . So I'm thinking fairly recently . Also it is my understanding that the 560bw is to remain in production.
 
Lock bar inserts are supposed to be for when a lock bar wears over to the otherside its cheaper to replace the insert than the entire titanium side. Also it alleviates lock stick which can be very severe.
 
shinyedges said:
Lock bar inserts are supposed to be for when a lock bar wears over to the otherside its cheaper to replace the insert than the entire titanium side. Also it alleviates lock stick which can be very severe.
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Yeah, I know. I just have found that not all locks wear across. I also don't have much faith in warranties on the real long term. Not that I don't think ZT's is great, I do actually. I just don't expect that when a lock bar insert actually wears out in 20 years there will be any spares around that fit the specific knife.
 
I have a 0561, and I would recommend it to anyone. I use the hell out of my 0561, being in construction I get a lot of opportunities to really use my knives and that knife has seen more like pocket time than any other knife. It hasn't once given me a reason to doubt it. But honestly. Any ZT frame lock will treat you great in my opinion.
 
ALLHSS said:
My pleasure 👍✊💦

I had an 0562 also. I found that the male/male pivot screw (vs the male/female on the 0300, 0560, 0630 etc) was prone to self loosening when flipped.

Also, I think a well made frame lock doesn't need a lock bar insert. Another part to break.
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Even a well made Frame lock will wear down over time due to titanium being a much softer material than the steel used for your blade. It's the same concept as middle school physical science, you can take a diamond and scratch near about anything. But you can't take a piece of steel and scratch a diamond. So if you use that frame lock every day or just sit there and flip it all the time after a while that lock face is going to wear down causing bad locking. Even your custom knife makers use lock bar inserts or something that accomplishes the same thing.
 
acphillips3 said:
Even a well made Frame lock will wear down over time due to titanium being a much softer material than the steel used for your blade. It's the same concept as middle school physical science, you can take a diamond and scratch near about anything. But you can't take a piece of steel and scratch a diamond. So if you use that frame lock every day or just sit there and flip it all the time after a while that lock face is going to wear down causing bad locking. Even your custom knife makers use lock bar inserts or something that accomplishes the same thing.
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Yeah, I know, but in my experience a well made frame lock will wear to a point and then stop and keep good lock up. It's about geometry.

I'm not trying to level a crusade against lock bar inserts, I don't think they'll become the norm, I just have mixed feelings about them.
 
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