ZT400 versus Spyker

Artfully Martial

Artfully Martial

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
4,761
Can someone give me a reason to choose one over the other? I have a sudden desire for something a little out of the ordinary.

spyker.jpg


ket-zt-0400.jpg
 
I've always been curious about the Spyder. I know you have an odd attraction to the ZT400, but I simply cannot condone the purchase of a knife that ugly and mall ninja aggressive looking.

I say try the Spyker.
 
I would choose the Spyker but you need to take that ugly ass logo off of the blade though. I also don't like the look of the silver twill inlays either. Other than that I bet it is a solid useful knife. I only have two Spyderco knives but I am very pleased with them. The ZT looks nice for a ninja knife but I hate coated blades. I guess it is hard to be stealthy with a shiny blade.;)
 
Art Mart,

I happen to love the Scavenger (0400) for the same reasons I love the Kershaw Blur: Good grip, AO, durable. But the Scavenger has a finger choil, which is even better for safety.

I don't like the SPYKER loge stamped across the other, and really don't like the blade design of the spyker. Plus, I have a Spec Bump if I need a recurve blade.

The ZT Knife is also cheaper, so there you go!

Jeremy
 
Good to hear an opposing view point. One point of clarification though. Looking at the photos, it appears to me that the Spyker has a finger choil and the 0400 does not (it appears to have a flipper instead). I've used the Spykers in real life, so I can at least confirm the presence of a finger choil in the production version of the knife.

Which one of these is bigger (dimensions wise) when closed, do you know? The length when closed is pretty important to me.
 
I guess I meant finger guard/flipper, but you are right, they both have finger guards.

The spyker is about the same size as the spec bump, but a little thinner in the handle.

They are both about 5" closed.
 
AM, any reason you are considering the SpyKer instead of the Bump? They seem like basically the same knife but the bump has kershaw's SpeedSafe.
 
I totally hate the huge logo on the blade of the Spyker. Why did they do that? Does anybody ever like it when a knife or gun company does that? Ever? Huge writing all over everything? And yet they still do it. Just to hear people complain.
 
Well, the main reason I'm looking at the Spyker as opposed to the Bump is that I already have a Bump. I really, really like the carbon fiber semicircles and finger choil, also that it's a manual as opposed to AO. But...the blade shape is pretty extreme.
 
The mini skirmish is definitely a real competitor here, and is surprisingly cheaper than either of these knives from NGK...
I think I'm over these two knives, at least momentarily. The ZT4 is just too far out and the Spyker doesn't feel right in my hand...it feels okay without using the choil, but with the choil, it's just unnatural.
I'm not out of my weird designs phase just yet, however. Lately the Gravitator, with it's silver and black G10 weirdness, has been attracting me.

IMG_0812.JPG


I've never gone through must-have knives so quickly before....I've "noticed" about 5 knives I've just had to have in the last three weeks...and fallen out of love with them pretty quickly too.

I might still pick up a Spyker down the road though.
 
I for one like the zt, and its more aggresive grind. I thought it was supposed to have a strider NM grond on it though so i am kinda dissapointed wiht it.
 
just ride out the wave of materialism and you'll find that your old ones are just fine ;)

but seriously, hard to believe that an onion knife can have bad ergos. while looking at & feeling my bump it seems like a little more surface area for the thumb would be a good thing. Does the difference in thickness between knives make it less comfortable?

I've been trying to get up the courage to get one of the other ZT models, the ones that are partway between the Bump & Offset in design lines.


--
but really, what's with that Gravitator's blade shape? it looks like there's a lot of extra steel (compared, say, to Onion's Leek blade)
 
The Spyker feels pretty well if you're not using the choil. I normally LOVE finger choils, but in this case, it "feels" tacked on...it lets your other fingers ride on a bump in the midsection of the handle. For me anyway. It's not painful or anything, but it feels very awkward.

As per the Gravitator, it's got a modified wharncliffe. Normally I hate wharnies, but this one is pretty wild.

pair.jpg


Forgive the black blades...it just so happens in the best photos available seem to all have black blades.

It's also available with a spearpoint. It's actually a different name though, I think, even though the handle and blade steel are identical. The gravitator (wharncliffe) is the 425, I think, and the "Fusion(?)" with the spearpoint is the 426.

Check out this photo of its liner.
IMG_0816.JPG


I know I'm a big supporter of the locking liner thickness isn't super important line, but man, it's nice to know there's a beefy one backing you up.
 
Of all the knives mentioned here, I like the Gravitator the best, simply because I'm falling in love with pointy, aggressive wharncliffe blades right now, and those are some cool looking handles.
 
I can so relate A.M... the Grav bug bit me late last year and I kept just coming back to it before I scored one.

I really should take the time and line it up with some other liner locks for comparison pics...

You've probably already seen me post this pic, but here it is again "in traffic" with some other popular blades. Pictured are the CRKT M21, BM Grip in D2, BM 910 in M2, BM 425, BM 710 in M2, S30V Native, Calypso Jr in ZDP-189, Leek, Chive, and BM 921 Switchback.



I know you have an M16, the Grip easily out performs the very-similar M21 liner lock as far as strength and rigidity. Of those pictured above, the liner locks are the M21, BM 910, Grav, and Leek; and I'd rate the Grav as being the toughest of them all with the 910/Leek having a close tie for second (and the CRKT being the least robust).

I'd hate to be lambasted for saying this (without ever having made a physical comparison in person) but the liner lock and frame of the Grav could be said to have Strider's or Airkat's reputation for being overbuilt.

I do wish I'd have managed to get a satin though, but as you can see somehow I've attracted a fair number of black-coated Benchmade blades.

I've seen/handled the Spyker...it just wasn't my personal cup of tea. That ZT400 looks like one sweet blade though, and if it comes down to wanting a smaller blade I don't think you'd do wrong with a mini-Skirmish either as you can see that Grav is almost as big as the 710.
 
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The Leek is offered as both a framelock and a liner lock, depending on the model. The G10 leeks are liner locks, for instance. Although, I've never seen one in real life...
 
i would choose the spyker over the other one. tanto blades are almost useless for me i need belly. the wharncliff is more or less useless too, dont like straight blades. however if theyre not gonna be used maybe theyll do anyway. yeah and that logo just gotta go, how can the do that
 
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