SHOT Show 2013: ZT and Surefire
As far as innovation goes, no two brands push the tech envelop in the production world more than ZT and Surefire. So when I saw tweets and posts about both I was excited to open them up and take a peek.
Zero Tolerance
Zero Tolerance has been on a roll of late, running the table at BLADE Show like a gambler with loaded dice at the craps table. They have a penchant for finding the hottest custom designer from the best custom makers and translating them into stellar high end production folders. First up is the Rexford ZT. Here is the Blade HQ video:
The 801 seems to be modeled after the custom Rexford Singularity a gorgeous blade in its own right. The price looks good to around $180 and the release seems to be like all SHOT Show releases--3rd quarter. The big drawback is, however, this is probably going to be a heavy blade.
That's not the only gem, or, in fact, the most brilliant one. For me, the ZT 0556, is the knife to buy coming out of SHOT Show thus far. For all those that read the Cryo review and thought I was bonkers, the 0556 seems to indicate that the KAI felt there was room for improvement. The 0556 is a smaller version of the 56X series of knives, or, seen in another way, a slightly larger premium version of the Cryo. Either way, this is as close to an XM-18 as most folks will ever get and the blade looks awesome:
This is only the second knife I have ever put in a notification for (the other is the Cryo). I am stoked, though I will admit there are a few things I don't like. I hate assisted openers as they are both a cover up for a cheaper, rougher pivot, and they usually do away with a good detent on the blade (using the torsion bar or spring to generate the detent). I'd also like it if they made the blade 3 inches instead of 3.25 inches, but that is quibbling. The weight is not listed, but if you scale down from the 56X you get something like 5 ounces (5.8 ounces divided by 3.75 inch blade gives you 1.54; that times 3.25 gives you a weight of roughly 5 ounces). This is significant because it shows that the Cryo was too heavy--less than an extra ounce but a full half inch more in length. Oh and the price is not too crazy either, looking like something under $180 in terms of street pricing.
If you order through this link:
Blade HQ
the proceeds benefit the site and future giveaways.
Surefire
So much of what Surefire puts out at SHOT Shows is vaporware (where is the Aegis, for example?) that I am not sure how to really take their showing. Here is a good link with pics. Here is the CPF thread talking about the lights. The 4000 lumen beast was shown last year as a 2000 lumen monster. They appear to have upgraded its emitter, along with the emitters of every other light shown. None of the stuff they showed that was ostensibly new was all that great for EDC. Its little unfair though because they just released the EB1, the successor to the E1B. I'd really like to see Surefire take advantage of emitter tech and release an AA or AAA light. As Zebralight has proven, you can get amazingly high lumen counts using a single AA alkaline battery. There is officially no excuse not to make an alkaline light.
I think I can safely summarize the sentiments around CPF re: Surefire's SHOT Show wares: vaporware and yawn.
Zero Tolerance
Zero Tolerance has been on a roll of late, running the table at BLADE Show like a gambler with loaded dice at the craps table. They have a penchant for finding the hottest custom designer from the best custom makers and translating them into stellar high end production folders. First up is the Rexford ZT. Here is the Blade HQ video:
The 801 seems to be modeled after the custom Rexford Singularity a gorgeous blade in its own right. The price looks good to around $180 and the release seems to be like all SHOT Show releases--3rd quarter. The big drawback is, however, this is probably going to be a heavy blade.
That's not the only gem, or, in fact, the most brilliant one. For me, the ZT 0556, is the knife to buy coming out of SHOT Show thus far. For all those that read the Cryo review and thought I was bonkers, the 0556 seems to indicate that the KAI felt there was room for improvement. The 0556 is a smaller version of the 56X series of knives, or, seen in another way, a slightly larger premium version of the Cryo. Either way, this is as close to an XM-18 as most folks will ever get and the blade looks awesome:
This is only the second knife I have ever put in a notification for (the other is the Cryo). I am stoked, though I will admit there are a few things I don't like. I hate assisted openers as they are both a cover up for a cheaper, rougher pivot, and they usually do away with a good detent on the blade (using the torsion bar or spring to generate the detent). I'd also like it if they made the blade 3 inches instead of 3.25 inches, but that is quibbling. The weight is not listed, but if you scale down from the 56X you get something like 5 ounces (5.8 ounces divided by 3.75 inch blade gives you 1.54; that times 3.25 gives you a weight of roughly 5 ounces). This is significant because it shows that the Cryo was too heavy--less than an extra ounce but a full half inch more in length. Oh and the price is not too crazy either, looking like something under $180 in terms of street pricing.
If you order through this link:
Blade HQ
the proceeds benefit the site and future giveaways.
Surefire
So much of what Surefire puts out at SHOT Shows is vaporware (where is the Aegis, for example?) that I am not sure how to really take their showing. Here is a good link with pics. Here is the CPF thread talking about the lights. The 4000 lumen beast was shown last year as a 2000 lumen monster. They appear to have upgraded its emitter, along with the emitters of every other light shown. None of the stuff they showed that was ostensibly new was all that great for EDC. Its little unfair though because they just released the EB1, the successor to the E1B. I'd really like to see Surefire take advantage of emitter tech and release an AA or AAA light. As Zebralight has proven, you can get amazingly high lumen counts using a single AA alkaline battery. There is officially no excuse not to make an alkaline light.
I think I can safely summarize the sentiments around CPF re: Surefire's SHOT Show wares: vaporware and yawn.