ZT0393, ZT0609

[tyyreaun]

I'm a big fan of the 0393, not so much for what you get out of the box, but for the potential to upgrade or customize it. So far, I've had the liners re-anodized, the blade reground (including removing the DLC), and I replaced the G-10 scales with custom-made full coverage micarta ones. Yes, that did more than double the price of the knife, but the end product is incredibly good, and will easily compete against $600 customs or high end production competitors.

For the 0609, even though it uses a thinner stock, it's still not really ground out of the box for slicing - relatively thick behind the edge compared to what you can get from other companies. If you absolutely love the design, or really want a ZT that can slice better than most of their models, it'll get the job done, but I do think there are better options out there.

 

[JimMD]

I'm a big fan of the 0393, not so much for what you get out of the box, but for the potential to upgrade or customize it. So far, I've had the liners re-anodized, the blade reground (including removing the DLC), and I replaced the G-10 scales with custom-made full coverage micarta ones. Yes, that did more than double the price of the knife, but the end product is incredibly good, and will easily compete against $600 customs or high end production competitors.

For the 0609, even though it uses a thinner stock, it's still not really ground out of the box for slicing - relatively thick behind the edge compared to what you can get from other companies. If you absolutely love the design, or really want a ZT that can slice better than most of their models, it'll get the job done, but I do think there are better options out there.

I'm no expert, but my 0609 measures the same as my M390 PM2 for thickness behind the edge.

 

[tyyreaun]

I'm no expert, but my 0609 measures the same as my M390 PM2 for thickness behind the edge.

Well, I've never had a PM2 that I'd call "thin" behind the edge, either, but of course there may also be variance between individual 0609s. I had the sprint version in S35VN, which may also have been ground differently.

 

[jstn]

Why the hell do I need to buy the pivot tool separately? It's so annoying. Why doesn't KAI just ship the tool and the knife together and add $16.95 to the total price? The current practice ruins an otherwise pretty good knife. It's not like there are multiple ZTs needing this tool.

To the OP - I do not own ZT 0609 but from the Internet picture, it appears length-wise ZT 0609 is close to ZT 0566, both falling into the smaller pack of ZTs.

Exactly why I do not and will not own the 609. Petty? Maybe, but there are plenty of other small Ti framelocks out there that I can use my current Wiha bits to adjust.

 

[Lapedog]

Here is a Chinese clone of a knife with a see through pivot that uses a 5mm allen wrench. Why couldn’t ZT do a see through pivot like this?

Knife is being covered up because I don’t want to advertise clones.

 

[BD_01]

I’ve handled both. I was surprised by how good the 0393 feels in hand and by its amazing action. I’m not a fan of the knife aesthetically though, and I’m not really into thick blade stock right now.

There’s not much I don’t like about the 0609, especially because I’m gravitating towards thinner & lighter knives for EDC.

I’ll buy a 0609 if/when the bums actually start shipping the pivot tool—if only based on principle.
I’ll buy a 0393 if/when they do an ORBLK sprint.

 

[JimMD]

Well, I've never had a PM2 that I'd call "thin" behind the edge, either, but of course there may also be variance between individual 0609s. I had the sprint version in S35VN, which may also have been ground differently.

The PM2 and 0609 are adequately thin for me. Granted that focusing only on thickness behind the edge is overly simplistic to assess slicing ability, I’ve found that knives that exceed 0.025 inches generally don’t cut it for me.

Sorry.

Anyway, all my other Spydercos are better slicers than the PM2 and are <0.020 inches behind the edge. I get 0.023 inches for both my PM2 and 0609, and I consider them both adequate for slicing. They also are better suited for harder (not hard) use than my better sliders.

The Native 5 I used to have was at least 0.026 inches behind the edge and not great at slicing fruit, which is my most common slicing use case.

 

[RBid]

I’m cutting cardboard, plastic, flex straps, zip ties, etc with my 0609. It’s blowing through that stuff, including long, perpendicular-to-material cardboard cuts (as opposed to laying down material and making drag slices), like it’s all liquid. This thing cuts very, very well.

 

[bflying]

Wondering if the 0609 pivot could be managed with a couple of spring collar tools. Using the angle attachment.