Zero Tolerance has announced several new high performance knives at the 2014 SHOT Show. It looks like they’re offering something for everyone, but unfortunately there are no new value-priced models.
If you aren’t too familiar with the Zero Tolerance brand, there are three things you should know:
- Zero Tolerance knives are made in the USA.
- Zero Tolerance knives are well engineered from quality materials, and so their street pricing starts at about $115.
- Not every Zero Tolerance knife is suitable for every user. Some users don’t understand this and bash the brand and their products just because the knife they bought and wanted to like isn’t perfectly suited for their needs.
Following is the roundup of new Zero Tolerance knives that will be hitting the market in 2014. Right now they’re all listed as Buy Now.
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If you can’t wait and want a Zero Tolerance knife NOW, check out the Zero Tolerance 0801 Rexford knife, a new personal favorite. The 0566 ($144 via BladeHQ) and 0550 ($165 via BladeHQ) are also great models that are currently available.
Zero Tolerance 0562 (Hinderer Style)
The ZT 0562 is another Hinderer collaboration knife that features:
- 3.5″ blade made from Elmax powdered steel
- Hinderer’s flat-ground slicer blade shape
- Manual flipper blade deployment mechanism
- KVT ball-bearing pivot
- Textured G-10 handle scale (G-10 is a high strength glass fiber-reinforced epoxy)
- Stonewashed titanium back with hardened steel frame lock lockbar insert
- Reversible deep-carry pocket clip
- Closed length of 4.8″
This is by no means a small knife, and going by the feature set, it has the potential to be quite popular with Zero Tolerance fans and demanding users.
(Out of all these knives, this is the one I might be counting my pennies for.)
MSRP: $250
Street: $200
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Buy Now(via BladeHQ)
Zero Tolerance 0562CF (Hinderer Style, Carbon Fiber)
Similar to the 0562, the 0562CF has two distinct enhancements.
Instead of Elmax, the 0562CF’s knife blade is made from Bohler’s M390 powder steel. M390 has higher chromium and vanadium than Elmax, which according to the fact sheet (PDF) gives it highest corrosion resistance, optimum wear resistance, and excellent polishability.
Additionally, the 0562CF features a carbon fiber front scale, instead of G-10.
MSRP: $300
Street: $240
Buy Now(via BladeHQ)
Zero Tolerance 0620 (Emerson Style)
The ZT 0620 was borne from a Zero Tolerance and Emerson Knives collaboration. It has a slew of high performance features:
- 3.6″ Elmax powdered steel blade
- Modified tanto-style blade
- Non-reflective and wear-resistant DLC coating (diamond-like-carbon)
- Machined G-10 front scale
- Bead-blasted titanium back
- Frame lock with hardened steel lockbar insert
- Emerson “wave shaped feature” on blade spine for quick deployment
- Thumb disc/stud
- Closed length of 4.9″
What I find most interesting about the knife is that it has Emerson’s bladed deployment mechanism, where you can open the knife as you remove it from your pocket. This allows you to retrieve and deploy the knife blade with a singular motion.
How it works: when removing the knife from your pocket, the hook on the spine of the blade catches on the pocket spin and pivots the knife blade open.
The quick pocket deployment feature is aimed at military users, rescuers, and law enforcement users. If you’re interested in deploying the knife blade in such a manner, the ZT 0620 also has a traditional thumb stud for one-handed opening.
MSRP: $250
Street: $200
Buy Now(via BladeHQ)
Zero Tolerance 0620CF (Carbon Fiber)
As with the the ZT 0562CF, the ZT 0620CF features two noticeable differences compared to its base model – its blade is made from M390 powdered steel instead of Elmax, and its front handle scale is carbon fiber instead of G-10.
MSRP: $300
Street: $240
Buy Now(via BladeHQ)
Zero Tolerance 0180 (Hinderer Style, Fixed Blade)
The Zero Tolerance 0180 is a fixed-blade knife that is based on Rick Hinderer’s Fieldtac knife. It is described as a smaller and lighter fixed blade knife that’s built to handle tough duty.
The ZT 0180’s 4.2″ full-tang blade is made from Vanadis 4 Extra powdered stainless steel, which makes the knife blade very tough and resistant to chipping and cracking. It has an overall length of 9.2″, a machined G-10 handle, DLC non-reflective coating, and heavy jimping on the spine. It also comes with a belt sheath.
MSRP: $275
Street: $220
Buy Now(via BladeHQ)
Zero Tolerance 0102 Tactical Tomahawk
The ZT 0102 is a new tactical tomahawk with full-tang Vanadis 4 Extra steel blade and G-10 handle scales. As with the 0180, this particular steel was chosen for its high toughness and resistance to chipping. The tomahawk also features a back spine which doubles as a pry bar.
- Blade length: 4.75″
- Overall length: 16″
It comes with a sheath for storage and carry.
MSRP: $400
Street: $320
Buy Now(via BladeHQ)
JG
What they should also say is the weight. I own a zt 0350, I like it but bloody hell it weighs about 3 pounds. Heaviest knife in EDC folder category I ever owned, it weighs TWICE as much as Endura 4 which has longer blade.
Stuart
I checked ZT’s website, and weight specs aren’t available for any of the new knives. My guess is that maybe they’re waiting until the first knives leaves the production floor. That way they don’t have inaccurate numbers floating around in case something changes before the first batch hits their dealer network.
Anyways, yea, Zero Tolerance knives are a bit weighty. But on the other hand, they’re built to face serious abuse.
JG
Yeah, I get their philosophy. Thing is that in case of a folding knife the weak link will always be the pivot and the lock, which will not change by adding massive, full and barely skeletonized liners (case of zt0350).
It is fun to have a tough folding knife but that’s about it in term of utility. My six years old benchmade griptilian has not been built “for tough use” but it whitstood years of daily abuse at work, even batoning with a hammer. The scars are there, plenty of them but in terms of mechanical performance the knife is as new – not a trace of bladeplay etc.
All this because I remembered that it’s a folding knife. Which also weighs almost a half of the ZT.
Greg W.
“Hinderer’s flat-ground slicer blade shape”.
I prefer a true flat grind for passing through materials. What is the rockwell hardness I wonder?
Stuart
With proper tempering, Elmax can reach 57-59 HRC for max toughness, and with added treatment 60-62 HRC for max wear resistance. M390 can reach 60-62 HRC.
Vanadis 4 Extra is a tool steel that can reach 64-65 HRC.
Greg W.
Thank you. I would like to have a knife at 65 HRC.
Ethan V
I don’t think you would want it for very long! lol. Most steels at 65 RC are going to be incredibly brittle and chip under normal wear. For most of the Super Steels (S30V, S35VN, Elmax, 154CM, etc…) 60 is about the highest you wanna go. After that, they become very brittle and become more hard to sharpen than it’s worth.
Tom
The ZT knives look nice, but they are all too big to legally carry in most places. Most places in the US have 3″ or 4″ as the max size, do depending on where you live/work/drive through a 3.25″ or 3.5″ blade might be a no-no.
The city I live in is 4″, but the University I work at and the city I work in has a 3″ blade rule.
george
I love knives and always have a few on me. but knives that get over the $50
range just confuse me. most have always done everything I have asked of them so not sure what these fancy things can do better. I ask them to cut. that’s all I need. how does a $140 knife cut better ?
Ethan V
The main things that contribute to price of one of these blades is: Materials used, machining of those materials, and the craftsmanship and labor put into them. The blades in this price range are going to be made from much higher quality and refined steels, typically alloys with higher vanadium and niobium concentrations that allow for much tighter and more uniform carbide formation, and what that does is allow a much finer edge to be taken on the blade and have it be much harder than cheaper steels. So this means an S30V edge with a much thinner bevel will hold better than some 8CR13MOV edge at a wide bevel. What comes with better steel is more wear on machinery and tooling to create the blades as well. Knives like these from ZT and the like (Strider, Emerson, Chris Reeve) are also semi-custom knives, which means each one is hand fitted by a technician in the US to assure proper assembly. Anyway, lots of reasons why the price point is higher on these blades.
Shawn
Many of the ZT folders are designed to stand up to “hard use” – which makes them barely suitable as a defensive weapon. I’d prefer to protect myself with a firearm or fixed blade or stick, but if I must carry a folder as a weapon, I want one that is unlikely to fail catastrophically. All those titanium handle slabs, oversized pivots, frame locks and quick deployment options (can’t believe ZT’s got the wave now!) make for knives that I feel I can fight with if necessary. Doesn’t make them cut better. That’s what Spydercos are for. Worth $200 +…
john m
hi,would your store have a zt knife model 0562cf in stock for sale?
thanks, john m.
Stuart
The ZT0562CF doesn’t seem to be in stock anywhere right now.