ZT 0223

John_0917 said:
Oh yeah it’s hysterical, their sales director is possibly one of the most immature people I’ve ever seen in such a position, they banned me from their forum somewhere else for posting pictures of my badly warped Natrix.

They haven’t had a presence here in awhile since they were way out of their depth with the need to act like professionals.

Kershaw used to deliver great value with their Chinese made models, these days they are overpriced relative to others and their quality has declined notably. Chinese brands like Steel Will and We are vastly superior at similar prices.
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Steel Will is based in the U.S. and most of their knives are made in Italy, I believe. Though some are definitely made in China.

Actually, now that I look, most dealers don't list where Steel Will's lower end folding knives are made. Interesting. I assumed they were made in Italy like the higher end stuff, but I guess maybe not. Must be why they don't list it, worked on me.
 
John_0917 said:
I wonder if they have had a change in product management?
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One of their brand reps posted this in a green place: "The Kershaw/ZT think tank has been going pretty hard the last few months. The new product development team has been focusing on current and upcoming industry trends as well as some wild and crazy stuff. We have had Mr. MacNair locked away, hidden from sunlight coming up with design after design. Our new young designer Mr. Keel has been using his millennial/GenZ brain to really bring a new look and modern feel to the Kershaw designs. The new stuff in that's going on in the factory right now, is in my opinion some of the best stuff we have ever worked on. I am beyond excited.

So get ready, because SHOT 2020 is only 235 days away. #hypetrain"

b00n said:
Especially the XCOM thing I don't understand. I mean I can't be the only one who thinks that a ZT version of that knife would be a much more fitting "Military Knife Hommage" than the 0223? Like make the XCOM slightly larger with better materials and you have a well designed, cool looking modern "combat folder" with the Les George name attached to it? Like 3.75in blade length, brown or natural micarta scales, satin blade finish, pb washers and a slightly nicer thumb disc or a thumb stud? I think that would sell. At least better than the 0223...
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This was the exact knife that I was hoping for when I saw the beginning of their announcement video.
 
evilgreg said:
I hope you shopped that, I didn't even see it before and now I can't stop staring at the mesmerizing awfulness.
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I wish I did. I was looking up specs for the XCOM since I wasn't sure if it "needed to be larger" but it's already 3.6, so upping it to 3.75 would be a good difference but wouldn't make it too huge in my opionion. And now I didn't photoshop the holes on the OFFICIAL promo image...it's just...I mean who there went "Yeah, it's fine..nobody will be bothered by it. I mean we have sand, we have ammo casings...it looks good...enough."
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L.H.S said:
Steel Will is based in the U.S. and most of their knives are made in Italy, I believe. Though some are definitely made in China.

Actually, now that I look, most dealers don't list where Steel Will's lower end folding knives are made. Interesting. I assumed they were made in Italy like the higher end stuff, but I guess maybe not. Must be why they don't list it, worked on me.
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No their budget line is definitely made in China, I think they’re pretty open about that. The higher end M390 models are Italian.
 
Silent H said:
This was the exact knife that I was hoping for when I saw the beginning of their announcement video.
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#MeToo ... but seriously, when I saw the IG video I was "No way...they are actually making it?" then the video stopped loading and I getting annoyed, reloaded it, then the reveal. Needless to say I was disappointed. But hey, Medford made a pretty good USMC Fighting Folder. :thumbsup:
 
They finally responded to my "break knife here" joke 48 hours later, at least they didn't block me like they did to some others. Let's see how they respond to my reply.

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I own three ZT knives. The 0562, 0808, 0566. I love all three.

At this point in the game for ZT, they should know better. They should know what their fans and buyers expect from them. That’s why Im criticizing them on the 0223 more than I would another brand.
 
It actually looks pretty decent in the custom SUPER STALLION™ (!) that Tim created.
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Honestly seeing the custom, the whole WW2 Make it an Hommage now appears like a today marketing after thought to benefit of the D-Day Anniversary which annoys me a lot. The Custom is more like this Modern Sleek Techno Knife that would be more fitting in Rike's Lineup or if Elijah Isham was told "Design something a terminator would carry and not a fantasy warlord."
 
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Therom said:
They are mainly acting as trend followers nowadays.
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It does seem that the newly released models are getting discontinued faster and faster nowadays. I feel like the reason the 300 series stayed in production so long was because it trend setting, esp in design and construction, while the newer stuff is phased out quickly because they're mostly chasing trends now.
 
I'm a big ZT fan but the 0223 has to be the worst I've ever seen come out of their camp. I'd say this one doesn't last long at all before being discontinued.
 
While ZT is still (and probably always will be) my favorite knife brand, they have dropped the ball with a lot of the new designs. Especially this one. But, on the other hand, makes me want a 0470 that much more lol
They could do so much more than what they are doing. How about a new double-edge fixed blade like the 0150? Or some more tantos besides the 0400 and 0620? And more steel options like Spyderco does (how’s about some M4!?) would really be cool.
 
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I they very in need of drilling holes they may have worked on choils... not everyone like them but at least them have a purpose
 
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