ZT Knives, all that or all hype?

I was thrilled with my first ZTs many years ago. Having broken or weakened folding lockers to the point where they were unsafe or just broken using them daily in construction the ZT knives seemed impervious to wear or usage. I feel like I had a piece of old fashioned American workman's knife in my pocket just like when the Buck 110s came out in the mass market outlets in the 70s. Except that I was older and could afford a far more sexy version of a work knife.

When I could see the new gas station style knives coming out with all their pointed and jagged edges, frame locks (AWFUL in dirty sweaty hands covered in grimy sawdust and dirt to grip to do heavy cutting, or have the lock surfaces foul because the knife was in the bottom of your tool belt bags for a while) and the long pointed blades... pass.

I bought an 0909 many years ago before the peacock / jewelry phase started. When they discontinued their work designs I was lucky enough to find another 0909 before they were unavailable and purchased it. That was about 10 years ago and I haven't come close to wearing out the first one so I am in no danger of needing another.

When their style of design and construction changed they pushed me to Cold Steel for my work knife fix. I have several of them now and I am completely happy with every one. And as far as construction goes, the A10 I have easily rivals the quality of any ZT I have ever handled.
 
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I believe ZT is one of these brands that doesn't need to release something new every month to keep their business going...

While i don't care for most of their recent releases, there are still some of their knives that keep with the former overbuilt tradition, and in addition moving away from their speedsafe things on their newer knives makes them more desirable to me than the earlier big guns...
 
ZT use to produce fantastic knives that were favorably compared to Hinderer, Chris Reeves and many custom folder makers. Their design and Machining quality was excellent. They had set a new standard for production knives. Then they abandon all that to produce junk that looks as though it was inspired by flea market knives. There is no reason for KAI to continue the brand. They should just roll whatever is left under their Kershaw label.

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They're a nice transition knife to help you cross the treacherous lands between pretty expensive (Spyderco, Viper, Hogue, and Benchmade) and OMG expensive knives (Hinderer, Chris Reeve Knives, Olamic, and Medford). If you don't wear a belt to hold your pants up, tank knives might not be your thing.
 
Early stuff was fantastic!! 0200, 3xx, 56x and most that came before those three!!
The only recent one I like is the 640 after a few additions of course because those scales look like barf!!!
So now I just have a 301st and a gussied up 640!!! Pics always make it better!!!
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People talk about ZT led the pack back to the old days. While that might be true, it was largely because of the collaborators, like Ken Onion, Sinkevic, Hinderer, and Emerson; ZT never led with or was known for their in-house designs. Once They stop collaborating with these great designers, they have become less attractive.

I don't know what happened about those collaborations. Maybe it's decisions made by KAI head people or maybe the collaborators are no longer interested in collaborating on new ZTs? Regardless, I cannot see zt back to its glory days with their own in-house designs.
 
All the ZT's I have and used have been top notch. They've held up to hard use both on and off work. Prying, scraping, hacking, whatever...never let me down. I've broken tips, snapped pocket clips, dropped from various heights and I still put these same pieces in my pocket at work and they're still rolling hard. G10 scales, full titanium, carbon fiber...grip has never slipped when I've used them with my hands covered in oil, or pipe dope, water, sweaty, etc.

Some may not dig the new designs, and to each their own. Spend your money where you want, but I'll continue to buy and support ZT. They've earned my trust over all these years and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
 
I only have two models, 0620 and this one:

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Both built very well, solid knives. 0990 is on the smaller site as YoMama noted but I love its blade geometry and overall look of the knife. I think they’ll survive even without bunch of new models, as other mentioned, their colabs are usually very well designed and made. I would love to get one of their Hinderer colabs.
‘My other ZT is Emerson colab, I’m not crazy about frame locks but this one works well when using the thumb disk, out of the pocket the wave is flawless…
I think the ZT knives are good,solid performers, especially the older models

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With the frame lock flipper fad showing no signs of dying, I would have thought ZT would be this forums favorite brand, since that's basically all ZT does, and if you actually like frame lock flippers, they seem to do it pretty well.
 
Zero Tolerance is my favorite knife company, besides Hinderer. Hinderers are overpriced if you compare them to ZT. $465 for an XM vs $280 for a 0562cf, which aren’t much different other than aesthetics. I don’t care for most of the new designs, but my 0452s, 0801s, 0095s 0566s are some of the best knives made IMO.
Also, I feel the 0808 was one of the most underrated knives they ever put out. Full titanium, a good size (and shape) blade, S35VN, for like $200. It feels much better in hand than the 0450s, which for some reason are a lot more popular. (The 0900s were awesome too, and I wish i hadn’t sold mine)
I hope in the future they return to their roots, and do some more sprints/collaborations with Rexford, Sinkevich, George, etc. I have 6 different 0452 versions, but I’m always down for more lol
Edit: the ONLY one I’ve owned and didn’t like at all was the 0456. Big, heavy, bulky knife that would be great for beating on, but I felt it was too “pretty” for that so I sold mine. I might pick up a 0308 or maybe a 0640 in the near future, but I got my eyes set on a Wharncliffe Eklipse if/when my budget allows.
But I’ll always be a fan of Zero Tolerance. They are completely responsible for my knife addiction lol
 
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Like others stated, ZT has seen better days in terms of introducing new designs. One of my favorites was the ZT0392; still better than the Hinderer Eklipse IMHO. The hype was real back then. Glad these two are in my collection.
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A few years ago, they were leading the market - producing well-machined production knives designed by custom makers in premium materials. They were the people who first made Ti framelock flippers, lock bar inserts and ball-bearing pivots widely available. Unfortunately for them, the market caught up and then overtook them, particularly the high-end Chinese manufacturers, who are producing custom-maker-collaboration knives in super-premium fit, finish and materials, for less cost (and seem to be more responsive to customer demands, e.g. "remove the bill-boarding" "give us finer edges").

I wouldn't say they're more expensive than Spyderco and Benchmade, though. If you compare like for like, in terms of construction and materials, they're generally significantly cheaper.

I don't buy many ZTs these days. Last one I got was the 0308, which really comes alive with the custom scales available from USAMadeBlade. If they made more Emerson collaborations, I'd probably buy them (like many people, I love many Emerson designs, but not impressed with the materials or F&F).
 
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I still like a few of their available models, basically the Hinderer and Emerson designs. They had much cooler stuff back when. I never trusted something about the brand. Something always felt a little off to me.

I can't stand anything they have released in the past few years. I wouldn't be caught dead with one of those doofy looking Star Trek knives.
(Disclaimer: Yes, I am aware that my knife preferences are ridiculous to a lot of people as well, but the thread asked, so I'm going to answer.)
 
I hope ZT can find its way back to offering great mid-tech designs with great production quality at distinctly lower prices. The Hinderer, Sinkevich, and Emerson collaborations are my favorites. And the 030x series are classics.

ZTs desire to do more in-house designs and cover the market more widely has left me as flat as most others here. Widening is fine, but not at the expense of abandoning their core market. I’m amazed they have introduced nothing since 2018 that has interested me.
 
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scdub said:
I like them.
I only carry a ZT or a Cold Steel folder these days. I bought the 0560 on pre-order and immediately waved it and put it in my pocket. It’s been my main edc since.

I’m not sure if it’s an ongoing issue (and I’m not sure how prevalent it was - maybe someone here can shed more light) but I believe there was a time several years ago when they were having geometry problems with some of their framelocks which made them fairly easy to disengage with a “spine whack”. I haven’t heard of earlier models having this problem, but I don’t know when it started.
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I also got my wife a 0022 recently and made it even MORE like pocket jewelry with a propane torch. The quality and build was very good on this one as on my older models.
Like most of the folks above, I tend to prefer their early models.
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I absolutely love my little 0022. It is always in my Carpenter pocket as a back up knife. Occasionally I will switch it out with my Spyderco McBee.
 
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