Knife Collection Part 3 Zero Tolerance

My ZT collection is rather small at this point.  They are great knives, and if I were still in a law enforcement capacity, I would probably have more.  They are expensive for a non-custom folder, similar to the black box Benchmade knives, but they are over-built hard-use knives. 

This is my Zero Tolerance 0350TSST.

It features a 3.5 inch S-30V steel partially-serrated blade covered with a tiger-stripe tungsten  coating.  Overall length is 7.625 inches.  This is an assisted opening knife featuring the Speedsafe opening system.  It has both a thumb stud and a flipper protruding from the blade which can be used to open it one handed. 

The deep concealment pocket clip is 4-way adjustable.  The scales are G-10.  The knife comes very sharp.  The 0350 knives are a smaller, lighter version of the 0300 series.  The only issue with this knife is that it's a bit wide and on pants with a dedicated knife pocket, it can be a snug fit.  

ZT 0566

The blade is 3.25 inches long, plain edged S-35VN steel.  It features a thumb stud and a protruding flipper with the Speedsafe assisted opening.  This knife is based on a Hinderer design.  It is a smaller version of the 0560/0561 knife.  The front scale is G-10.  The rear is stainless steel.  The deep concealment pocket clip is 4-way adjustable.  

The only issue I've had is a broken pocket clip, which ZT replaced under warranty.

Zero Tolerance is the higher end knives from KAI.  The same company offers the Kershaw brand of knife.  

Knife Collection Part 2, Benchmade

My small Benchmade collection was acquired while I worked in corrections and law enforcement.  They are all from the black box collection.

The first of my Benchmades was the Nitrous Stryker.  It isn't offered anymore.  It is an assisted-opening, reverse tanto style partially serrated blade.  The steel is D2 tool steel.  Handles have G-10 scales and titanium liner.

It has a 3.7 inch blade.  The clip is low profile.  It is tip down, right hand carry only.  The spring assistance is great.  It is almost, but not quiet, Kershaw fast.  The knife is tough, all the Blackbox Benchmades seem to be.  Weight is 3.99 ounces.  This was my edc for over a year and shows little if any wear.

My second Benchmade was my first high quality auto.  I fell for the Adamas Auto.  It's a tank of a knife.  it weighs 7.62 ounces.

The blade is 3.82 inches long, partially serrated,clip-point and made of D2 tool steel.  The handles are stainless steel lined with G-10 scales.  Pocket Clip is tip up and reversible.  It was carried almost every day for over 2 years.  Very little visible wear.  

It uses the famous Benchmade Axis locking system.  It opens fast and very strong.  If you aren't expecting it, it can jump right out of your hand.  

My last Benchmade was kind of a throw back.  It was a Stryker Auto.  

Deep-carry, reversible pocket clip.  Blade is 3.6 inches, partially serrated, reverse tanto style made with black cerakote 154CM steel.  The handles are anodized aluminum.  Weight is 4.41 ounces.  This is a nice tough little knife.  It is slimmer and lighter than the Adamas.  It opens quick and strong.  The handles do show a lot of wear, I carried it about 2 years.  I replaced the clip at least once, as it got caught on something as I was getting out of a car in a hurry.  The blade still looks good.  I have no trouble keeping an edge on it though.  

I carried Benchmade's at a time when I carried a firearm and needed a good knife I could depend on.  I never had to use one as a weapon, but they did cut a lot of stuff and all three of these were excellent tools and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.  I've heard that Benchmade has had a drop in quality and none of these knifes are less than 5 years old.  The blackbox line are overbuilt for military and law enforcement.  I suspect they would suffer less from QC issues.  

Knife Collection Part One. Spyderco

Spyderco is a knife manufacturer I have know of for a long time, but never owned.  I honestly thought the spydie hole and blade shape were weird-looking and didn't make any sense.  I preferred tanto style blades and macho looking high-speed, low-drag knives.  In other words, I was an idiot.
In the last couple of years, I have acquired several Spydies.

My first was an Edura 4.  This is one of their bigger folding knives.  It has a 3.75 inch blade.  The blade is slim and made of VG-10 steel.  It's an excellent cutter.  Overall length is 8.75 inches.  The length, thickness, and shape of the handle feel great in my hand.  The pocket clip is 4 way adjustable.  It, like all the spydies I own, is lightweight.  My scale puts it at 4.06 oz.  Part of this is the reinforced fiberglass handle.  The slimmer blade make these knives great slicers.  Since, most of my knives have been chunky, overbuilt items, I was surprised at how great these skinny bladed, light-weight knives cut.  This is the hardest of my Spyderco's to flick open though.  I've fiddle with the pivot screw and improved it, but it is the hardest.  I've heard this is an issue with the lock back style knives.  The Edura is a long-running and popular model.

With my interest peeked, I checked the internet for info about Spyderco's.  I kept hearing about a model called the Paramilitary 2.  Everybody seemed to think it rivaled sliced bread as the greatest thing.  It featured a newer locking style and other wonderful things.  I ordered one.

 They were mostly right.  The PM2 is shorter than the Edura 4.  3.44 inch blade and an overall length of 828 inches.  The blade is SV30 steel and the handle has G-10 scales.  It's heavier, my scale says 4.34 ounces, and more expensive.  It flicks open like it's pivoting on melted butter.  The compression lock is awesome.  It's the easiest one-handed close knife outside an auto.  Excuse the pictures.  Mine came out of my pocket for the picks and needed cleaning.  The knife features a deep carry pocket clip that is 4 way adjustable.

I didn't initially think I would be happier with the shorter blade length, but kind of forgot about it.  The knife is a slicer and never failed to do what I asked of it.  It's my favorite carry knife,

The next Spydie I picked up was the Manix 2.  Mine featured the translucent blue fiberglass reinforced co-polymer handles.

The blade is 3.37 inches and overall length is 8 inches.  The knife folded is kind of wide.  It won't fit in the knife pocket of some of my pants.  On the other hand, it's an awesome cooking knife.  It also flicks open easily.  It uses a ball-bearing locking system similar to Benchmade's Axis system, making it easy to close too.  This knife and the PM2 are very similar in ease of flicking open.  This knife does offer the option of flipping open with the lock disengaged though.  Weight is 3.49 ounces.  The blade steel is CTS-BD1 if I read it right.  It features a deep carry wire pocket clip adjustable for left or right hand carry.

My last Spyderco, my most recent was a gift.  It's a very popular model, and was the basis for the Edura design I believe.  It's the Delica 4.

I have zero experience with anything from opening and closing it.  It's a little easier to flick open than the Edura, probable because the blade is smaller and the angle a bit different.  My scale says this one is 2.89 ounces.  It has a 2.875 VG-10 blade and the same fiberglass reinforced nylon of the Edura 4.  Same phosphor-bronze washer.  It is just smaller than the Edura 4.  4-way adjustable pocket clip and overall length of  7.125 inches.  It seems like a sweet knife and I look forward the carrying it.

That's my Spyderco collection.  Most of my knives are working knives, I don't do a lot of decorative stuff.  These are awesome knives.  I'm very pleased with them. 

I plan to do a few more of these type posts..  Hopefully a Benchmade, ZT, Kershaw, Cold Steel, Rieke, Smith and Wesson/Shrade posts.

Recent Shooting

I recently acquired a couple of new handguns.  My experience with my CZ-P07 has been awesome, so I decided to check out the CZ-P10C.  A few dry fires in the store and I went for it.  I normally prefer black firearms, but the flat dark earth model had factory night sights.  There aren't a lot of companies offering trijicon sights for CZ's.  Dawson, XS, and Night Fision were the only one's I found online and I was looking at around $100 for the Night Fision, more for the other two.  The price for the CZ-P10C with the night sights was the same as the one without, and the flat dark earth model had an ambi mag release, while the black one was reversible, making me think the flat dark earth model might be newer.  The mag and slide releases were also stiffer on the black model.  I also knew from reading that the night sights used by CZ were the Dawson sights, so seemed to be well worth living with a non-black firearm.  The awesome sales guy also gave me a month of free indoor range time.

I had also traded for an H and K VP-9SK recently.  I took them both to the range yesterday.

The awesomeness of the P-07 carries over to the P-10C.  As an added bonus, the mags from mine interchange, which is awesome, and half my Glock 19 holsters work with it.  I kept my practice at 5 and 7 yards for my first run.  I put 50 rounds through each gun.  The trigger on the CZ is AWESOME.  I'm not a great shot, but the first time with the gun I put 10 rounds into a space the size of my fist on center of the target.  I was able to repeat this 4 more times.  This was not super rapid fire, but not slow fire either.  It was what my academy instructor called deliberate fire.  

The VP9SK was great too.  The trigger wasn't a crisp as the CZ, but still blew all my Glocks and the Taurus PT111G2 out of the water.  My first group opened up a bit, but they tightened as I got used to the trigger.  I am very pleased with both my new toys.  

Weirdness

I recently became aware of something odd.  While working for the state I carried a Glock 23.  I had a lot of training on this model.  I own a 19.  It was my first ever Glock.  I have shot it a lot.  These guns are pretty much identical.  I shot the 23 better.  I don't know if this every registered with me, but it was true.

I was recently shooting.  I was helping someone get ready for her carry permit test.  After she was done, I took some time to shoot.  I shot about 50 rounds out of the 19.  Then I brought out my 30s and shot about 25 rounds out of it.  I shot way better with the 30s.

A couple of weeks later we went to a different range.  I shot my newest treasure, a CZ P-07.  This was my first non-striker fired handgun in 10 years.  I put about 100 rounds through it, first time out.  My son also fired about that many rounds out of it.  He shot fairly well, although I didn't have him fire any double-action shots from it.  I did a lot better than I expected with it.

I've never compared how I shoot the 19 against my 26 or 43.  I haven't formally set out to compare my performance with it to the 30s or any other firearm, but on casual inspection, I seem to shoot worse with it.  Which is alarming since it is my  carry gun except in the heat of summer, when I carry the 26 or 43.  This may change after some more trigger time with the CZ though.  It's similar in size,  a bit heavier, and a lot harder to accessorize, but it's more glove friendly and I like it.  I seem to shoot it well, even with the double action first shot.

Why would this be?  The 23 should be harder to shoot.  The 23 is supposed to have more recoil.  I never felt there was much difference in recoil between the 19 and 23.  It could be sights  The 23 had 3 dot night sights.  The 19 had standard Glock sights, until I switched it to XS big dots.  But the 30s is a shorter barrel, larger caliber, a bit fatter, and has the same XS sight set up.

Maybe I like bigger calibers?  But then why better with the CZ, which is also 9mm?  I don't have any idea.  But then I also have a sample size of 1.  I have only one 19, 30s, CZ, and no longer have access to the 23, but it was the only 23 I ever fired.

EDC ITEMS and a MAJOR UPDATE

Well first off, as of March 2017 I am no longer employed by the Department of Correction.  We parted ways rather unexpectedly and I was out of full time work for almost a year.  I then worked in a call center for abit, before being hired for my current job.  I am now working for a non-profit that tries to help troubled kids.  I am being certified as a family support specialist.  The money isn't as good, but the benefits are nearly identical to the state as we seem to have state/county employee status.  It's odd.  Anyway, I sleep better at night, enjoy going to work again, although to be fair I work out of a home office so the commute is short.  I still carry pretty much everyday, although I do sometimes have to disarm to enter certain places now.  I find myself carrying the glock 26 and 43 way more than the larger firearms.  I have taken to using an Uncle Mike's pocket holster for the 26, and occasionally for the Taurus PT111.  I use a Desantis pocket holster for the 43 a lot.  I picked up a 12 round magpul pmag for the 26.  The only new holsters I have added other than the pocket holsters are a Don Hume glock holster.  It fits all my glocks but the 43.  It will also hold the Taurus.  It's a great leather owb holster.  I also picked up a kydex iwb holster off ebay for the Taurus.  I don't carry it a lot but I do like to be prepared.

The main changes I have made have been with my accessories.  I think I am still allowed to carry a collapsible baton, but retired the mini baton I kept on my weak side for use in firearm retention.  I still carry my asp flashlight on a daily basis.  I carried the Benchmade Auto Stryker daily until I accidentally stretched the pocket clip for the second time.  This time it wouldn't go back, no matter what I did.  This is my third Benchmade and all 3 have had the same issue.  It's my fault, because I am catching them while exiting vehicles, mostly on seatbelts.  It's not happened on anything but Benchmades, but then except for the one Kershaw, I have been exclusively carrying Benchmade.

I did contact Benchmade and give them the model numbers of my knives and they are sending replacement clips at no charge, which is cool.  But I almost lost both my autos, so I decided to try something different.  First up was a SOG Spec Elite II.  It's a pretty nice little auto.  It's light and slim with a deep carry clip.  it really gets down into the pocket.  Not sure how fast I could retrieve it if I needed too.  I'm not a knife snob.  The blade steel isn't as good as a benchmade, but it has a good edge from the factory.  I rather like it.  I carry it a lot.  This is a blade hq pic of it.

When I was shopping there was another blade that caught my eye.  I had gone in to check for a SOG and I bought an SOG, but in the next case was this:

Spyderco Endura 4.  I had never owned an actual Spyderco.  I had a tiny Frost imitation a long time ago.  I remember it was all stainless and had a serrated blade.  As a first this might not have been the best choice.  It doesn't flip as well as some, although with some oil and adjusting the pivot screw, I can make it open fairly smoothly.  Apparently this model is just not the easiest opening one.  On the other hand it is a slicer.  It has a very nice 4" blade, but carries very nicely.  It's light and slender, and doesn't take up a lot of pocket real estate.

After awhile I realized the Spyder bug had bitten and aquired 2 more.

This is my main carry blade currently.  It's a little smaller than the Endura, but opens smooth as silk.  The handles are g-10 and very nice.  It carries great.  It's the Paramilitary 2.

One advantage of the Spydercos are they aren't assisted or autos, but open quickly.  This makes it more likely to be legal if I travel to another state that doesn't allow auto or assisted knives.  The first knife has about a 4 inch blade, which is the limit for my state.  This one is around 3.5 inches.

Somehow I also ended up with this little fellow.

It's a Manix 2.  It has translucent fiberglass reenforced nylon handles and a ball bearing lock.  This is similar to the axis lock on Benchmade.  It flips open pretty nice with a little adjusting.  It closes smoother than either of the other two, although the compression lock on the PM2 is my favorite of the locking systems.  The Manix hasn't been carried much yet.  It will though, it has a slighly shorter blade than the PM2.  The wire pocket clip carries deeper than the other 2 knives.

During the knife binge, ZT knives came across my path.  I ended up with 2.   They are assisted knives.  I find I like them, they are awesome knives.  Tough as you could ask a folding knife to be, but open like magic.  They do look a bit scary though.  Not the sort of thing you would want to whip out at a staff meeting to open the bag of candy.

This is the zt350ts.  It's actually got a shorter blade than most of my spyderco's but it's a heavy blade.  It takes up more space in the pockets than the Spydies too, but man it's cool.  It carries deep and has a flipper.  It's also available with a black or satin finish blade, I just wanted the tigerstripe blade.  This is a smaller version of the 300 series.  For a ZT is's compact.

The ZT 0566CF is a smaller version of the Hinder designed 560/561.  With a 3.25 inch blade it is also a smaller ZT.  I don't think it flips open as easy as the 350.  It is an assisted flipper, but I think the difference in blade weight may make a difference.  It carries well and has a deep carry pocket clip.

Oddly none of these knives have a either a tanto or wharncliffe style blade.

Belt Update

Sorry I haven't posted lately.  Life has interfered.

I want to update everyone on my gunbelts.

First, the Uncle Mike's instructor belt is still going strong.  I still recommend it highly.  It is my second favorite belt.


The SOE edc belt quickly became my favorite belt, period.  It's just heavy nylon webbing with a ton of heavy duty stitching.  It's tough as hell and awesome.  I bought an 1 1/2 inch wide belt with a 1 inch cobra buckle.  It uses velcro to adjust the buckle when you first put it on for the day.  After that the cobra buckle lets you fasten and unfasten it to visit the bathroom, retuck your shirt, whatever.  The reason you use the velcro strap to adjust it when you first put it on is that it's hard to thread the  buckle through the belt loops.  So it's easiest to remove the male half of the buckle, which has a nylon stip with velcro holding it on.   Clip the male half into the female half then thread the other end of the belt through the loops.  Then unclip the buckle, reattach the male end, reclip it and adjust the fit.  This belt is awesome.  I've used it as an inner belt for my duty belt also.  It's much more comfortable than the Uncle Mikes, mainly because I'm fat and the Uncle Mike's belt buckle tends to dig into my tactical muffin top if I have to sit a lot.  I plan to order one of their low profile edc belts soon.

The Trac Line belt has been used much more.  It's not as heavy duty as either of my other belts.  It is more adjustable than a standard belt, but not nearly as much so as the belt with the velcro strips.   I must fall into a size range that the 1/4 inch adjustments doesn't cover, because it isn't as secure as either of the other belts.  Even carrying my Glock 43, my pants tend to shift downward more than with the SOE or Uncle Mike's.  I've dropped about 3 pants sizes since getting the belt and it still does it.