The Zero Tolerance 0350 is about the most serious EDC knife I’ve gotten my hands on. This assisted-opening flipper sports an S30V combo blade, G10 scales and the thickest frame liners I’ve ever seen. Its brick-shithouse construction is matched by rather brutish good looks; even the pommel is aggressively jimped for striking and for an extra-firm reverse grip. This bad boy looks like head-to-head competition for the Benchmade 300 Axis I’ve had for a while. Jump over to The Truth About Knives for more . . .
The 0350 comes in several configurations and blade steels. It also comes in a plain edge version, which is my preference between the two.
Ok here is a question.
How much should one spend for an EDC knife. Ok it might wind up in your trunk or carried, or where ever, but is meant to be there is you need it.
I couldn’t see spending hundreds, but 20 bucks seems like a cheep side too. Then again a $20 dollar knife that might just sit in a bug out bag, seems like a good idea, since it is not really used unless TSHTF.
I’ve said this in other knife threads, but these days I never spend more than $25 on a knife.
$25 or $250, your gonna break the tip off e entually and if you can’t dig out splinters with it, what good is it?
Yeah, you can regrind the blade to make a new tip, but it’s never the same.
I use a knife a lot, so I treat them as a consumable.
*you’re
I’d agree mostly, except that I LOVE this knife so damned much. I got a blemished one for $80 (this is the time of year for it if you’re curious). I use it daily at work taking the little plastic couplers off of duplex optical fibers, opening boxes, etc… and the s30v holds up pretty well. Hell it held up pretty well to being dropped onto concrete. Arkansas stones are pretty much out for sharpening though.
But then I was feeling very rich when I got mine last December.
Perhaps I’m an EDC snob, but I like good knives. Benchmade, CRKT, Leatherman Skeletool / MUT, etc. I wouldn’t want to bring a cheap knife to an emergency, or to a fight. I think Kershaw makes good products, and that CRKT makes something that has very good bang for the buck. The CRKT M16 series can be purchased well under $100.
I am really fond of my Kershaw Cryo 2. I really dislike sharpening S30V and super steels, the 8CR13MOV holds a nice edge but is easy to sharpen. Only thing I wish it had was G10 scales on one side like the ZT’s and the Hinderers.
Kershaw makes surprisingly good stuff for down around $20 and sometimes even a little less if you shop around. I love the Clash and the Oso Sweet which are both $20-25 but my EDC blade currently is a Blem ZT0350 that I got for $85 (up to $95 now at kershawguy.com). There are good options for pretty much any budget so there is a good knife out there for almost any budget.
I’ve used this knife almost everyday in the field for more than a year and couldn’t be happier. It’s tough as nails and just about perfect for my application. Yes, it does cost a bit more than I’d normally like to spend, but the value it offers more than makes up for that.
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