Zero Tolerance

[jomill613]

Does anybody have a Zero Tolerance 0300 Series knife? I'm thinking about buying one but want to make sure they're worth the $200.

 

[pop-gunner]

I have a 0301 and it is a friggin tank.
Bit heavy for EDC but it has it's place in the rotation.
I got mine here as a blem and the only thing I could see was a small spot where it looked like the finish was light.

http://kershawguy.com/products-page/zt-blems/zt-0301-blem/

I have been known to hammer a $300 Emerson into a door to get through it so a spot on the finish smaller than a pin head doesn't bother me.
Hard use knives are just that...

 

[NickZac]

I have a 0301 also. It's def worth the money, but you do not have to spend $200...I got mine as a Blem for $150 on a sale...this guy often has them
http://kershawguy.com/products-page/zt-blems/

I also agree it's super heavy and so I do not EDC it much...but that's just my personal preference. The 030x series have the beefyness of Strider, the lock quality of Chris Reeve, the assisted action of Ken Onion/Kershaw the blade steel that is as good as it comes, the finish durability of a Sig, the tip/blade strength that is about as strong as folders get, and the blade shape itself is a fantastic grind capable of finesse cutting and heavy work all-in-one. Like Chris Reeves, you can fully detail strip it, clean it, grease it, and reassemble it in 5 minutes using only crude tools...and IMO for any EDC or heavy use knife, it's a major advantage given the insides of knives eventually get so dirty they need to be stripped (and most knives are complicated and doing this voids the warranty.)

If you do not mind the weight, you will love the knife. It can do what most folders cannot and it is as close as you get to a folding fixed blade, IMHO. While $150-200 is by no means chump change, it's a bargain when you consider that the 0300 can outperform many knives costing double it or more.

 

[ThisGuy918]

I also have an 0301 like Nickzac plus almost every other model. I edc it at least once a week, unless I'm trying something new. I love it and use mine for almost everything without fear. Grab a blemish from kershaw guy and never look back.

 

[alucard0822]

I have a 300, and 561, worth every penny I have a decent collection and the 300 is still probably my favorite. They actually are twice as good as a $100 knife. I opted aggainst blems, KAI will replace blades for $30, and has a great warranty as long as it doesn't have the XXXX on the blade. It is big and heavy, but I have it in my EDC rotation, I don't care about a couple oz, and the weight helps hack through some stuff that won't slice. They are kinda unique in that top designers use great designs with the best materials and machining for ZT to kinda show off their talents to the public in a relatively affordable knife.

 

[jomill613]

Great thank you for the advice and information. I think I'm going to go with the 0301 -Ranger Green with the Tiger Stripe.

 

[NickZac]

Good pick! It's a great knife and looks awesome. You won't regret it. It's stronger than many folders in the price range of $500-1,000+!!!

I forgot to mention something!...at least on the earlier ones, you could remove the torsion bar to disable the assisted mechanism and use it as a standard manual folder or as a manual flipper. The ball detent that holds the blade was made strong so the knife would stay closed without the need for the torsion bar (unlike almost all other assisted openers including most Kershaw products). I am a huge fan of manual flippers so I absolutely love this feature given it allows the user to decide on what configuration works best for their personal preference.

 

[jomill613]

That's pretty sweet you can make it a manual folder with the older ones. I'm more apt to the automatic ones. I'll be picking one up sometime next month. I expect it'll be my favorite carry knife.

 

[Polecat]

I have a 350 and really like it.

 

[alucard0822]

Good pick! It's a great knife and looks awesome. You won't regret it. It's stronger than many folders in the price range of $500-1,000+!!!

I forgot to mention something!...at least on the earlier ones, you could remove the torsion bar to disable the assisted mechanism and use it as a standard manual folder or as a manual flipper. The ball detent that holds the blade was made strong so the knife would stay closed without the need for the torsion bar (unlike almost all other assisted openers including most Kershaw products). I am a huge fan of manual flippers so I absolutely love this feature given it allows the user to decide on what configuration works best for their personal preference.

Most newer ones still have the ball in the frame lock, but no hole in the blade for it to drop into, my 2012ish 300 is like that, so nothing to retain the blade closed, unless you have a really hard and small drill bit with a good press and a steady hand. I know lots of bladeforum people like to turn it into a manual folder, outside of law in some places I don't get it. I like the nice smooth assist, especially without a detent to clear, to give up spring assist I want something like KVT, an auto system, or axis lock in it's place

 

[NickZac]

Most newer ones still have the ball in the frame lock, but no hole in the blade for it to drop into, my 2012ish 300 is like that, so nothing to retain the blade closed, unless you have a really hard and small drill bit with a good press and a steady hand. I know lots of bladeforum people like to turn it into a manual folder, outside of law in some places I don't get it. I like the nice smooth assist, especially without a detent to clear, to give up spring assist I want something like KVT, an auto system, or axis lock in it's place

Darn...when I got mine that part really excited me...I guess they stopped making the hole on the blade as they figured it wasn't necessary and perhaps compromised the strength of the blade in hard-use situations? I imagine less than 1% of people turn manual-capable assisted Kershaws into manual flippers.

I like the Kershaw assist...the main reason I turned mine into a manual was just to play with as a manual flipper to me is like a chew toy to a dog!

Do they still come with the tool? Mine came with a takedown tool but I think I heard somewhere they do not send them anymore (not that it really matters given a SwissTool can take them apart with ease).

 

[alucard0822]

Darn...when I got mine that part really excited me...I guess they stopped making the hole on the blade as they figured it wasn't necessary and perhaps compromised the strength of the blade in hard-use situations? I imagine less than 1% of people turn manual-capable assisted Kershaws into manual flippers.

I like the Kershaw assist...the main reason I turned mine into a manual was just to play with as a manual flipper to me is like a chew toy to a dog!

Do they still come with the tool? Mine came with a takedown tool but I think I heard somewhere they do not send them anymore (not that it really matters given a SwissTool can take them apart with ease).

No takedown tool. A hole in the blade that small wouldn't weaken it appreciably, most of their other knives have it, on the 300, the ball just reduces friction against the lock, doesn't need a detent hole as the spring cams over and holds the blade in. If you do want to make it a manual, should be easy with something around a .8mm carbide bit, doesn't have to be that deep, but easy enough to drill at the end of the detent ball track in the blade.

 

[NickZac]

No takedown tool. A hole in the blade that small wouldn't weaken it appreciably, most of their other knives have it, on the 300, the ball just reduces friction against the lock, doesn't need a detent hole as the spring cams over and holds the blade in. If you do want to make it a manual, should be easy with something around a .8mm carbide bit, doesn't have to be that deep, but easy enough to drill at the end of the detent ball track in the blade.

I wonder why they stopped it then? Perhaps just because no one actually made it into a manual as the knife works so well as an assisted opener?

 

[alucard0822]

I wonder why they stopped it then? Perhaps just because no one actually made it into a manual as the knife works so well as an assisted opener?

It opens smoother and easier without the resistance of the detent, and the spring holds the blade closed, so it isn't vital for EDC. Outside of the problem with a manual conversion the main downside is it is only safe locked open if the spring breaks being it could flop open at any time when closed. The spring is fairly big, and compared to the smaller speedsafe knives it has a relatively short range of motion, so it should be less prone to breakage.

 

[ThawMyTongue]

I opted for the smaller 0350TS, but I will say the ZT quality is amazing. It is built like a tank, but it still refined and very usable. It is my EDC and I can't imagine not having it. I say go for it!

 

[NickZac]

It opens smoother and easier without the resistance of the detent, and the spring holds the blade closed, so it isn't vital for EDC. Outside of the problem with a manual conversion the main downside is it is only safe locked open if the spring breaks being it could flop open at any time when closed. The spring is fairly big, and compared to the smaller speedsafe knives it has a relatively short range of motion, so it should be less prone to breakage.

Makes sense...it is a pretty robust spring. Even the Kershaws with much thinner torsion bars seem to almost never break, so I imagine it breaking is really so unlikely it just isn't an issue...and I guess that how the lock doesn't rely on the mechanism makes it even less significant. I got one of the omega springs in an AXIS lock to fail...but only after flipping it probably a few hundred times a day on average for over 5 years, quite forceful, totaling hundreds of thousands of cycles (trainer, demo, and self-amusement) and being dropped thousands of times. Those are pretty thin springs too so if it takes the omega springs that long to have issues, it may take a few decades to a century to get a ZT assist spring to fail!!!