ZeroTolerence 0095BW New Titanium Folding Knife Review

Zero Tolerance has always made knives I find appealing. Most of the designs are very beefy and will take a lot of abuse with no ill effects to the blade or locking mechanism. This new design is no exception as far as being able to take abuse and keep on working. This new ZT is a limited edition knife.

The curved grip (handle) shape is nicely done and provides a very solid grip. The handles are made entirely of Titanium while the blade is made of S35VN. The flipper, which activates the blade opening, is larger than many previous models and serves two purposes. It makes the flipper easier to use as well as providing a solid point of contact for the user’s index finger which prevents your hand from slipping forward under heavy use.

The titanium handle has wide, contoured chamfers to provide a secure, comfortable grip. A titanium frame lock with a hardened lockbar insert secures the blade open during use. ZT’s KVT ball-bearing opening system lets you open the 0095BW with ease. The 0095BW’s pocketclip is reversible for left- and right-handed tip-up carry.

S35VN is an improvement on S35V both of which are stainless steel alloys created specifically for knife blades.CPM S35VN is a martensitic stainless steel designed to offer improved toughness over CPM S30V. It is also easier to machine and polish than CPM S30V. Its chemistry has been rebalanced so that it forms some niobium carbides along with vanadium and chromium carbides. Substituting niobium carbides for some of the vanadium carbides makes CPM S35VN about 15-20% tougher than CPM S30V without any loss of wear resistance. CPM S35VN’s improved toughness gives it better resistance to edge chipping.Because both vanadium and niobium carbides are harder and more effective than chromium carbides in providing wear resistance,the CPM stainless blade steels offer improved edge retention
over conventional high chromium steels such as 440C and D2.

After receiving this knife I swapped it out and replaced my usual daily carry with this ZT. I use a knife a great deal for everything from opening boxes to carving, cutting rope and leather (I make knife sheaths). During the seven or so weeks I’ve used it I’ve used it for the regular chores I mentioned as well as giving it some abuse in testing. I went so far as sticking in through the top of a metal 55 gallon drum that was on the shooting range. It went right on through the first time I tried it. The steel drum left a few minor scratches to the blackwash finish but they didn’t really amount to anything. I even used the butt of the handles to drive a couple of smaller nails into a target stand. The edge held up well with no chips noted even when viewed under a low power microscope. Generally just using a fine ceramic rod would bring the edge back good as new.

After all the use I put it through I sat down with it and used some Breakthrough solvent to clean it up. After cleaning and rinsing it off I used my bottle of Flitz knife and gun wax. This is a great product for any gun or knife. While it does clean some it polishes and leaves a coating of Carnauba and Beeswax behind providing protection from rust, scratches etc. You can even use it on wood as a polish as well as plastic, blued guns, stainless steel and about anything else you need polished. Anyway, after cleaning and polishing about half the scratches were reduced in size with the smaller ones mostly gone. Of course realistically the way I used this knife it should have scratches on it! The blackwash finish is tough and not easily worn off. Overall ZT has another winner in this knife.

The MSRP is $275.00 but can be found online for $220.00 at Knife Art.com.