- Joined
- Jan 4, 2013
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- 715
As some of yall may have noted, up to this point I've done a few shorter and more cursory updates on EDCing my 560cbcf. It has gone through a month (more actually) of daily carry through a variety of locations and environments and has been put to use in all of them, and I thought it might be time to do a full on review- I don't think there is much else that I'll see from this beast that I have not already.
Part of my daily EDC for the last month
For the sake organization, I'm going to lump all of the elements I'd like to discuss into two categories: Use and Non-use. Use being how the knife performs, for lack of a better way of putting it, like a knife. How it cuts, how the steel holds up, opening, lockup, etc. Non-use is maintenance, carry, and anything else that isn't inherently related to the knife's job.
We'll start with the non-use aspects. First, this knife is big. Very big. Bigger than you would expect even knowing the measurements. I fully understood the size of what I was getting into with this monster because I'd handled some of the base model 560/561s in a local (a relative term around here) knife shop, but really was still sort or surprised at just how big this was when I started carrying it. I had EDCed a large Sebenza 21 immediately prior to this and despite what would on paper seem to not be a large jump in size, it really feels much larger. I certainly don't mind, actually I rather like, the massive size, but it is definitely something to consider when looking at any version of the 560. For the sake of beating a dead horse, it is big and if that isn't what you are looking for this probably isn't the knife for you
Despite the large size and thick blade stock, this knife is incredibly light. The lighter carbon fiber, the titanium lock side (a ZT standard but still worth mentioning) and the flow through construction makes the weight a real non factor even when carrying something of this size. I've carried this a few times in light weight athletic shorts and didn't find it to be too heavy for those situations and in my daily attire of jeans I can say that I never notice the weight.
Carrying this particular knife is something of an interesting study of contrasts. It is extremely light and with the simple deep ride pocket clip not only do I not notice it, I doubt many who aren't in the knife community do either. It could easily just be a pen clipped in my pocket for all I or anyone else would notice- that is until you stick your hand in the pocket with it. It does dominate pocket space. More than a few times I've had to do some maneuvering to retrieve my keys from the same pocket. It really is a marvel that a knife that takes up this much real estate in your pocket (and it does- especially with the shape and the flipper sticking out) is discrete and easy to carry otherwise.
Maintenance on the 0560 was a wonderful surprise. It is worth sharing here that a fair amount of my knife use is outdoors and ranching related. A normal afternoon's work for my knife includes being covered in sweat from my pocket (it is hot in Texas if anyone was uncertain) and includes everything from very light work, like cutting round bale wrapping, to cutting limbs, packaging, cardboard and variety of other materials. My EDC knife is the only constant tool with me in these situations, so it is regularly used and occasionally abused. I was fully expecting that keeping this knife clean and it working order daily was going to be an annoying amount of work, but I was wonderfully surprised. The bearings are quick and easy to blow out, disassembly for full cleaning is quick and easy, and I've never really had a situation where need of maintenance negatively effected any performance. The s110v, even at this lower RC, performs well (more on that to come in the use section) and is quite easy to sharpen, touch up, and strop back to shaving sharp with minimal tools and just a few minutes of patience. I put an edge on and sharpened with the 600 grit side of spyderco double stuff stone, use the 1000 grit side for minor touch ups, and strop loaded with black and green compounds. I can safely say that I'm far less versed in steels than many of the people around here, but I've had enough experience carrying premium steels that I can confidently say this is my favorite of any steel I've ever used- but again more on the steel later in the use area. Overall, I have to say this knife is very low maintenance. Coming from the Sebenza that had so few moving parts and such a simple construction I was expecting to have to do more and have since marveled at how in this case more parts with the KVT bearings have actually led less work thanks to very good design.
At this point, I should put out something of a public service announcement about 14c28n. If you have never been around this steel before, you should know it does rust, and, in my experience, quite easily. I've had the exact same experience with my JYD, so I don't think it is this particular knife as much as just the steel composition. Even just a hot day's sweat has been enough in my experience to create lots of little rust spots. The good news is they tend to clean up and off really easily and I've never experienced pitting of any sort, but do not be shocked if you see these guys.
On to the purpose of the knife- the Use section! In favor of full disclosure, the 560cbcf is my favorite user I've ever experienced. I'll try to be fair here, but if I come across fanboyish at any point at least I offered warning ahead of time that I love this knife in action. All of the basics are there. The lock up is very good- no blade play and after the first week no sticking at all. Even if I partially open it and flip it as hard as I can with my wrist there is zero lock movement or stickness; you can't ask for more. The flipping action is very good. It fires easily and with plenty of authority. I use rem oil to maintain my knives and even with just the little of that around and in the detent track and hole and the smoothness and speed are really fantastic. The KVT bearings are fast, smooth, ZT has definitely made a believer out of me on the benefits and ease of the bearings over the washers. I came in skeptical about additional maintenance and concerned they wouldn't hold up- now I'm not sure I could be happy without them.
Up to this point, the 0560cbcf seems rather middle of the road for a high end knife. From everything I've covered thus far it is very good, but at this price point that is to be expected. Where this knife excels is in being a knife (brilliant right?). The handle is simple and allows for almost any imaginable grip to securely lock into place. The jimping is perfect and wonderfully utilitarian. It helps secure your hand without being too sharp or painful and is still sufficiently large and sharp to work well with thick leather gloves. The blade shape is fantastic. There is the right amount of tip for sticking or stabbing without compromising the strength and integrity of blade. I haven't hesitated to stab through cans or stick the knife in a nearby tree if I need both hands free. It does just enough while maintaining the utmost strength. There is enough rounded belly to handle anything and a good long flat section for normal everyday cutting tasks. The blade shape and the handle meld into something really special in that it is simple, extremely utilitarian, and comfortable in almost every task. All designs are compromises and the designer has to decide exactly what they value. The strength of this design is that it really can be used for virtually anything comfortably. It may not be the best for any specific task, but it is very very good for almost every task and for anyone who may need a knife for a wide variety of purposes, this design is hard to beat.
My favorite aspect of the 560cbcf is the blade steel. This is my first experience with s110v, and despite it being a super steel I was a blank slate since I knew this would be a softer iteration than most and the countless reviews of the steel I had read were rather moot. Every cut with this knife is a pleasure. With most steels when cutting something delicate, phone book paper or toilet paper for instance, there is usually the moment before the actual cutting starts where the knife is moving and the user is trying to find the perfect amount of pressure to cut without ripping. This time may be less than a second and is rarely longer than and instant. Maybe I'm a subpar sharpener, but I've always noted this experience with interest and thought of it as finding a sort of sweet spot for cutting. The s110v with a 600 grit and even a 1000 grit edge doesn't have a sweet spot- when it touches it cuts. The toothiness the edge can hold is sort of mind boggling. When it touches something it immediately begins cutting and cutting viciously. From the perspective of a knife person, it's a great experience to be able to take such a thick blade put it through most any medium with little or no resistance and know that when I want a cut, it will cut- it is a great tactile feeling. From the perspective of just a normal guy who uses his tool, its fantastic just how little thought or effort I have to put in to getting this knife to do what its suppose to do. From retrieving from my pocket, opening, knowing that it'll open without thought (aka great flipper and durable design that can handle pocket trash), to cutting (both in the actual cut and how it feels in hand), closing, and returning it there is never a stage where I have to concern myself with the knife in my hand. It is so perfectly utilitarian that it allows the user to focus solely on the task at hand, but so well designed and brilliant that any knife aficionado can enjoy the exact same elements and glean just how well done the knife is.
Oh and here is a picture of my 560cbcf stabbed into a tree because every thread needs a picture like this.
This is my first attempt at a full length review, so hopefully I covered most of my bases and provided information some of yall find interesting. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to try and answer them!
Part of my daily EDC for the last month
For the sake organization, I'm going to lump all of the elements I'd like to discuss into two categories: Use and Non-use. Use being how the knife performs, for lack of a better way of putting it, like a knife. How it cuts, how the steel holds up, opening, lockup, etc. Non-use is maintenance, carry, and anything else that isn't inherently related to the knife's job.
We'll start with the non-use aspects. First, this knife is big. Very big. Bigger than you would expect even knowing the measurements. I fully understood the size of what I was getting into with this monster because I'd handled some of the base model 560/561s in a local (a relative term around here) knife shop, but really was still sort or surprised at just how big this was when I started carrying it. I had EDCed a large Sebenza 21 immediately prior to this and despite what would on paper seem to not be a large jump in size, it really feels much larger. I certainly don't mind, actually I rather like, the massive size, but it is definitely something to consider when looking at any version of the 560. For the sake of beating a dead horse, it is big and if that isn't what you are looking for this probably isn't the knife for you
Despite the large size and thick blade stock, this knife is incredibly light. The lighter carbon fiber, the titanium lock side (a ZT standard but still worth mentioning) and the flow through construction makes the weight a real non factor even when carrying something of this size. I've carried this a few times in light weight athletic shorts and didn't find it to be too heavy for those situations and in my daily attire of jeans I can say that I never notice the weight.
Carrying this particular knife is something of an interesting study of contrasts. It is extremely light and with the simple deep ride pocket clip not only do I not notice it, I doubt many who aren't in the knife community do either. It could easily just be a pen clipped in my pocket for all I or anyone else would notice- that is until you stick your hand in the pocket with it. It does dominate pocket space. More than a few times I've had to do some maneuvering to retrieve my keys from the same pocket. It really is a marvel that a knife that takes up this much real estate in your pocket (and it does- especially with the shape and the flipper sticking out) is discrete and easy to carry otherwise.
Maintenance on the 0560 was a wonderful surprise. It is worth sharing here that a fair amount of my knife use is outdoors and ranching related. A normal afternoon's work for my knife includes being covered in sweat from my pocket (it is hot in Texas if anyone was uncertain) and includes everything from very light work, like cutting round bale wrapping, to cutting limbs, packaging, cardboard and variety of other materials. My EDC knife is the only constant tool with me in these situations, so it is regularly used and occasionally abused. I was fully expecting that keeping this knife clean and it working order daily was going to be an annoying amount of work, but I was wonderfully surprised. The bearings are quick and easy to blow out, disassembly for full cleaning is quick and easy, and I've never really had a situation where need of maintenance negatively effected any performance. The s110v, even at this lower RC, performs well (more on that to come in the use section) and is quite easy to sharpen, touch up, and strop back to shaving sharp with minimal tools and just a few minutes of patience. I put an edge on and sharpened with the 600 grit side of spyderco double stuff stone, use the 1000 grit side for minor touch ups, and strop loaded with black and green compounds. I can safely say that I'm far less versed in steels than many of the people around here, but I've had enough experience carrying premium steels that I can confidently say this is my favorite of any steel I've ever used- but again more on the steel later in the use area. Overall, I have to say this knife is very low maintenance. Coming from the Sebenza that had so few moving parts and such a simple construction I was expecting to have to do more and have since marveled at how in this case more parts with the KVT bearings have actually led less work thanks to very good design.
At this point, I should put out something of a public service announcement about 14c28n. If you have never been around this steel before, you should know it does rust, and, in my experience, quite easily. I've had the exact same experience with my JYD, so I don't think it is this particular knife as much as just the steel composition. Even just a hot day's sweat has been enough in my experience to create lots of little rust spots. The good news is they tend to clean up and off really easily and I've never experienced pitting of any sort, but do not be shocked if you see these guys.
On to the purpose of the knife- the Use section! In favor of full disclosure, the 560cbcf is my favorite user I've ever experienced. I'll try to be fair here, but if I come across fanboyish at any point at least I offered warning ahead of time that I love this knife in action. All of the basics are there. The lock up is very good- no blade play and after the first week no sticking at all. Even if I partially open it and flip it as hard as I can with my wrist there is zero lock movement or stickness; you can't ask for more. The flipping action is very good. It fires easily and with plenty of authority. I use rem oil to maintain my knives and even with just the little of that around and in the detent track and hole and the smoothness and speed are really fantastic. The KVT bearings are fast, smooth, ZT has definitely made a believer out of me on the benefits and ease of the bearings over the washers. I came in skeptical about additional maintenance and concerned they wouldn't hold up- now I'm not sure I could be happy without them.
Up to this point, the 0560cbcf seems rather middle of the road for a high end knife. From everything I've covered thus far it is very good, but at this price point that is to be expected. Where this knife excels is in being a knife (brilliant right?). The handle is simple and allows for almost any imaginable grip to securely lock into place. The jimping is perfect and wonderfully utilitarian. It helps secure your hand without being too sharp or painful and is still sufficiently large and sharp to work well with thick leather gloves. The blade shape is fantastic. There is the right amount of tip for sticking or stabbing without compromising the strength and integrity of blade. I haven't hesitated to stab through cans or stick the knife in a nearby tree if I need both hands free. It does just enough while maintaining the utmost strength. There is enough rounded belly to handle anything and a good long flat section for normal everyday cutting tasks. The blade shape and the handle meld into something really special in that it is simple, extremely utilitarian, and comfortable in almost every task. All designs are compromises and the designer has to decide exactly what they value. The strength of this design is that it really can be used for virtually anything comfortably. It may not be the best for any specific task, but it is very very good for almost every task and for anyone who may need a knife for a wide variety of purposes, this design is hard to beat.
My favorite aspect of the 560cbcf is the blade steel. This is my first experience with s110v, and despite it being a super steel I was a blank slate since I knew this would be a softer iteration than most and the countless reviews of the steel I had read were rather moot. Every cut with this knife is a pleasure. With most steels when cutting something delicate, phone book paper or toilet paper for instance, there is usually the moment before the actual cutting starts where the knife is moving and the user is trying to find the perfect amount of pressure to cut without ripping. This time may be less than a second and is rarely longer than and instant. Maybe I'm a subpar sharpener, but I've always noted this experience with interest and thought of it as finding a sort of sweet spot for cutting. The s110v with a 600 grit and even a 1000 grit edge doesn't have a sweet spot- when it touches it cuts. The toothiness the edge can hold is sort of mind boggling. When it touches something it immediately begins cutting and cutting viciously. From the perspective of a knife person, it's a great experience to be able to take such a thick blade put it through most any medium with little or no resistance and know that when I want a cut, it will cut- it is a great tactile feeling. From the perspective of just a normal guy who uses his tool, its fantastic just how little thought or effort I have to put in to getting this knife to do what its suppose to do. From retrieving from my pocket, opening, knowing that it'll open without thought (aka great flipper and durable design that can handle pocket trash), to cutting (both in the actual cut and how it feels in hand), closing, and returning it there is never a stage where I have to concern myself with the knife in my hand. It is so perfectly utilitarian that it allows the user to focus solely on the task at hand, but so well designed and brilliant that any knife aficionado can enjoy the exact same elements and glean just how well done the knife is.
Oh and here is a picture of my 560cbcf stabbed into a tree because every thread needs a picture like this.
This is my first attempt at a full length review, so hopefully I covered most of my bases and provided information some of yall find interesting. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to try and answer them!
