ZT9 Bayonet: Anyone actually use it?

S

scouter27

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May 27, 2000
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I am thinking about getting myself a bayonet. Like everything I of this nature I own, I want it to be truly functional for it's intended purpose. I have no fantasies about actually using the thing in anger, but if it were to come to it, I would prefer to have the option (if that makes any sense).

Anyway...

I trained with the M7 on Parris Island and saw numerous M9s in pieces in out armory. The M7 seems like a decent stickerl, and the M9 I have heard has been improved in recent years. That's great, but the lines of the ZT9 are outstanding. More stabbyness than the M9 and a larger wound channel than the M7. Full tang construction, but the choice of S30V has me a little iffy about it. I know it's a great steel for a hard use knife. Does anyone know what the hardness of the ZT9 is? I don't really know enough about steel to know what would be appropriate with S30V, so help there would be good too.


One easy question if you own one: Would it be possible to flip the blade orientation so the cutting edge was pointing up when the knife is mounted? I prefer this way for several of reasons, both in bayonet fighting and in use as a utility knife.

Thanks
 
You need the USMC OKC Bayonet. In my opinion, S30V is a mistake for a knife like this, but who am I to question. I think at the end of the day its a gimmick. I think the Military made a mistake when it turned away from carbon steel in its bayonets. They made them uneccesarily expensive, with no increase in utility.
 
Smash05 said:
You need the USMC OKC Bayonet. In my opinion, S30V is a mistake for a knife like this, but who am I to question. I think at the end of the day its a gimmick. I think the Military made a mistake when it turned away from carbon steel in its bayonets. They made them uneccesarily expensive, with no increase in utility.
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Why do you think S30V is a mistake? Although it would have not have been my first choice, I think it should work just fine. Why a gimmick? The ZT9 looks to a very functional piece of equipment.

Now what would be awesome is one made from 3V....that would be sweet. :)
 
It seems that way to me. Its a premium blade steel on decidedly rough use implement(bayonet) and I am not sure that S30V is up to the lateral forces. It might very well be on that thick a blade, but in a lot of ways the ZT9 is an answer in search of a question. Then again, many knives are ;) That is not to say that I think its non-functional, just that I would rather a cheaper/tough steel for something whose primary roles is stabbing. What does a ZT9 do that a $40 bayonet and a $50 folder cannot do, and do just as well? I guess that for me, with regards to certain blade functions simpler is better. To each his own.
 
Smash05 said:
Its a premium blade steel on decidedly rough use implement(bayonet) and I am not sure that S30V is up to the lateral forces...

That is not to say that I think its non-functional, just that I would rather a cheaper/tough steel for something whose primary roles is stabbing. What does a ZT9 do that a $40 bayonet and a $50 folder cannot do, and do just as well? I guess that for me, with regards to certain blade functions simpler is better.
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When the ZT-9 project was put in front of us, S30V was the requested/required steel. We didn't really have a say with regards to the materials and/or specs.

The bayonet was never intended for our catalog, but due to demand, we opted on moving forward with it. As of today, the ZT-9 has exceeded what we had on forecast.

As to the steel, I don't foresee or haven't heard of any lateral force issues to date, and know these are in the field. I'm unsure it's primary role is stabbing,

The ZT-9 is overbuilt like a majority of our ZT products, but that is one of the reasons users like our stuff.
 
Smash05 said:
Y I think at the end of the day its a gimmick. They made them uneccesarily expensive, with no increase in utility.
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Hopefully I explained the ZT-9 and how it came to be with my above post. We made them to a the requested specs of a customer. Expensive yes, unnecessarily expensive, I don't personally think so.

Have you ever held a ZT-9?

It's certainly not a gimmick.
 
Thomas W said:
Hopefully I explained the ZT-9 and how it came to be with my above post. We made them to a the requested specs of a customer. Expensive yes, unnecessarily expensive, I don't personally think so.

Have you ever held a ZT-9?

It's certainly not a gimmick.
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:thumbup:
You have to hold it to appreciate it. It is an amazing piece of steel.
 
Maybe its just me, but if my Lt says "fix bayonets", we got all sorts of problems:P

Aside from that, it does look like a nice knife and I would be curious to hear how it handles in use.
 
Thomas W, thank you for your insight. I really like the design of the blade. Looks a lot like the Strider MT, to me. Makes sense though, being a Strider Collaboration (right?). Is the heat treatment the same on the Strider S30V blades?

I know for a fact that Strider fixed blades will not break under some pretty serious lateral force. I once pried a car door open with a BN-SS.
 
As to the bayonet being used primarily for stabbing. It is used little if ever for stabbing 98% of the use bayonets recieve in the field is in utility roles, including batonning and prying open crates; cutting through metal strapping; opening cans and drums, searching for hidden objects (probbing for mines) etc.

S30V is one of the few stainless steels which will work really well in this role. It is tough and yet takes a dynamite edge.

Personaly I would willingly spend the extra for the ZT. Their products are top notch. If there were any problems due to lateral stress they would have shown up by now and we would have heard a lot of folks screaming about it.
 
scouter27 said:
.. being a Strider Collaboration (right?). Is the heat treatment the same on the Strider S30V blades?
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It is a Strider design, yes.

The HT will vary from Kai USA and Strider, although I would think they are fairly similar.
 
Now I may be wrong of course, but I get the impression that it is more of a field/utility knife that can be used as a bayonet -however rare that actual stabby bayonet action is nowadays - than a traditional bayonet that usually makes for a poor using knife.


(Not to joke too much about serious matters.. but does one get a free replacement if it snaps in half in some Taliban's ribcage? :D :p )
 
Frankki said:
(Not to joke too much about serious matters.. but does one get a free replacement if it snaps in half in some Taliban's ribcage? :D :p )
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ZT's warranty is excellent...no worries on a replacement. :p
 
Of course you have "all sorts of problems." You are in combat, people really really want to kill you and Murphy rules. So what is the alternative, surrender? cut and run? Good infantry troops dig in and do what ever they have to do to hold their ground.
 
Thanks everyone. I am still looking for some personal practical experience with one. Anyone stuck one in a tire dummy?

Do I really have to be the first?
 
Can I just ask does steel really matter when it comes to a bayonet? As long as it is tough, can take a good edge, wouldn't that be all you needed, as even if the bayonet edge is not that sharp, it will stab someone won't it? Unless the tip is broken.
 
Even with a broken tip you can stab... given enough force. Regardless, as a bayonet, no you don't need much in the steel. The full tang and durability of Strider's S30V is what got my attention in this as a bayonet. With that in mind, I think it would also make a good utility knife. The design it appears to be based on (or at least similar to) is the Strider MT. I owned one for a while, but it didn't really fit where I wanted it to, too big. The Marine Corps Scout Snipers give the shorter version (Mod 10) to one student from every class. To me, that says something about the usefulness of the design.

Anyway, I'm off to collect my pennies :D
 
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