ZT Limited Edition 0999

[NDJeep]

not my kind of knife...even remotely... but that's the cool thing I don't have to buy it. as long as they keep producing quality users and offer a few new models every now and then I'm happy

 

[Scrim]

Carbon fiber insert in a harpooned blade?! Where does ZT come up with these unique ideas? I love ZT but this one has several "design elements" that seem a little "borrowed", to my eye anyway. Still, a nice looking knife.

 

[Scurvy092]

Carbon fiber insert in a harpooned blade?! Where does ZT come up with these unique ideas? I love ZT but this one has several "design elements" that seem a little "borrowed", to my eye anyway. Still, a nice looking knife.

Your eye seems to not have a sense of timing...

I can't seem to find a single reference to that 'venom attacker' from before 2016... It also appears to be a Kevin John knife... not exactly a company known for the 'original' design work.

 

[RamZar]

I was going to mention the same thing. A Kevin John Venom Attacker (famous/infamous Chinese clone/counterfeit knife maker) being the inspiration for the ZT 0999 designed well before June 2015!

There have been knives that have incorporated carbon fiber into the blade in a sort of lamination like Fox Stealth CF TI fixed blade and SOG Tomcat CF LE folder.

 

[Grandmaster]

How tough do you think the CF in the blade is? How would it do in an edc scenario?

 

[sticktodrum]

I was going to mention the same thing. A Kevin John Venom Attacker (famous/infamous Chinese clone/counterfeit knife maker) being the inspiration for the ZT 0999 designed well before June 2015!

There have been knives that have incorporated carbon fiber into the blade in a sort of lamination like Fox Stealth CF TI fixed blade and SOG Tomcat CF LE folder.

Your eye seems to not have a sense of timing...

I can't seem to find a single reference to that 'venom attacker' from before 2016... It also appears to be a Kevin John knife... not exactly a company known for the 'original' design work.

#rekt

 

[Hackenslash]

I'm going to sit this one out but best of luck to those of you jumping on board. I think it's an amazing design and an impressive work of engineering.

Hats off to ZT on this one.

 

[brancron]

There have been knives that have incorporated carbon fiber into the blade in a sort of lamination like Fox Stealth CF TI fixed blade and SOG Tomcat CF LE folder.

One cool example was the Beretta Avenger II:

 

[RamZar]

One cool example was the Beretta Avenger II:

That's very much like my SOG Tomcat 3.0 Limited Edition S95SL.

 

[RamZar]

There was a Marfione Custom DOC flipper with carbon fiber inlays in both the handle and blade. The subframe lock on the DOC was a KAI/ZT patent infringement.

 

[brancron]

That's very much like my SOG Tomcat 3.0 Limited Edition S95SL.

I'd bet they used the same OEM as both appear to have been made in Seki City. The Beretta is quite well made, and I've heard good things about the Tomcat too.

 

[mqqn]

Carbon fiber insert in a harpooned blade?! Where does ZT come up with these unique ideas? I love ZT but this one has several "design elements" that seem a little "borrowed", to my eye anyway. Still, a nice looking knife.

Hi Scrim!

From what I can tell, Kevin John is synonymous with "stolen design" -

http://www.everydaycommentary.com/2013/07/trolling-for-hate-pernicious-kevin-john.html

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1047589-Kevin-John-knock-offs

best

mqqn

 

[wobly]

I know that not everyone can afford to be dropping $750 for a knife, but why on earth would I want to stop someone from doing it? I agree with the earlier analogy about the car designs pushing the boundaries. I'm glad that ZT is producing something that generates a discussion. Some will like it, some will love it, some will hate it. And that is ok. Some people adore other designs, too. But why would we not want to have a company (ANY company!) that pushes limits? How boring would it be if we all carried Buck 110's?

 

[Brusiedmeat]

I have a feeling this wont sell out in the 1st day. Now the average person makes payments on their $700 phone, so maybe it is all relative to the time.
It's definitely not for me and no, I do not make payments on my phone.

 

[oregonknifenerd]

There are only a few "custom" makers I know of that have the tools to pull some of the 0999 tricks off.
It takes a large investment in materials technology, tools, and especially talent to put together something like the 0999.
It may not be the first for everything. You may not think it hit every mark. But it brings together a lot of different
things in a unique design. I think KAI hit a home run. The Blade judges thought so also.

 

[Scrim]

Hi Scrim!

From what I can tell, Kevin John is synonymous with "stolen design" -

http://www.everydaycommentary.com/2013/07/trolling-for-hate-pernicious-kevin-john.html

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1047589-Kevin-John-knock-offs

best

mqqn

---Hey mqqn!

There seems to be a lot of mystery around many Chinese manufacturers. Who's actually making what for who behind the scenes. And of those Chinese manufacturers, more & more are seemingly coming out with more & more "original" designs. Lot's of gray areas and subjectivity lumped in with opinions about their obvious & unfortunate knock offs of others IP. My comment was simply based on the Venom Attacker being on the market for nearly a year (maybe more, no one seems sure of when it hit the market exactly, let alone when it was first designed)...but it's been out for a while now, vs. the (admittedly very nice looking) ZT 0999...which is not yet on the market as we speak. So it seemed like a fair & reasonable assumption on the timing of design. But just an assumption and comparison of some design similarities, not much more than that. Best, Scrim

 

[KELAMA]

I'd rather buy a decent handgun for $750.

^ This! :thumbup:

Thanks, Alex. I'll take "things I don't want" for a thousand, please.

^ That should be about what these will be starting at on the secondary market. I wouldn't be surprised seeing the first one's hitting the Bay, listed around $1500+.

All in all, Id rather have a ZT0777.

^ I'd have to agree! The 777, is my favorite ZT LE. :thumbup:

 

[KELAMA]

I had the opportunity to really check these out at Blade.

They are really advanced in the construction, the backspacer and lockbar are machined from billet ti, with the backspacer having a cutout through which the flipper tab "flies through" and eventually becomes the blade stop. Hard to describe.

The handle is 3d machined CF. Anyone here ever machined CF or even talked to someone who has? It's not easy.

The cutout in the blade with the carbon filler is a styling queue and another opportunity to showcase production capability.

I don't see any other companies making anything that comes near the 999 in terms of stacked variances and engineering technology.

Remember, this design was submitted at Blade in the American Knife of the Year category, which many of you might be surprised, IT WON in 2015.

https://zt.kaiusaltd.com/blog/zts-0999-wins-the-blade-show-american-made-knife-of-the-year-award

I am hoping I am lucky to score one, and I will use it just as I do all my knives. Some will buy just to flip, but that is life in the big city.


Pictures from Blade 2015 - and I apologize, it's hard (at least for me) to get good pictures there -

Now to go check my emails to see if I got the newsletter!

best

mqqn

This ZT definitely look's much nicer in your pictures, than in the email I received from ZT today! Thanks for sharing. Now I'm definitely on the fence! :thumbup:

I think the price reflects not only the amount of work that is going into it but also the limited numbers.

That's an insane amount of tooling and programming and other sunk costs to put down just to get this thing made. Spreading that only over a handful of knives makes it super expensive.

When you have a LE like the 0392, you get the spread those costs across over a thousand knives and it's not nearly that complicated like the 0999.

Are the looks for everyone, not at all. It's a statement piece about pushing the boundaries of what they can do machining wise.

^ :thumbup:

 

[LX_Emergency]

I like it. But I don't have that kind of cash laying around to buy a knife when my family needs a new car.

Expect this one to be a homerun in term of sales though.

 

[jill jackson]

Carbon fiber insert in a harpooned blade?! Where does ZT come up with these unique ideas? I love ZT but this one has several "design elements" that seem a little "borrowed", to my eye anyway. Still, a nice looking knife.

I think the carbon fiber looks better on the KJ. Because, the tabs on the ZT makes it looks removable and flimsy. Probably isn't but , why the tabs?