Get ready for more gear reviews! After publishing my deer hunting load out and realizing there is a plethora of gear I can review, I asked readers on social media if they wanted to see me do more gear reviews. The consensus was affirmative. They wanted to see more reviews. As a result, I am going down the list of gear from my deer hunting load for starters. I’ll mix in other posts here and there, but expect to see more of these types of reviews in the foreseeable future.
This isn’t the first time I’ve covered the Zero Tolerance 0350. The first time I mentioned it on this blog was about a year ago when I attempted to post some deal of the week type blog posts which I discontinued shortly thereafter. I also mentioned this knife when discussing the value of spending a bit more cash on a quality knife and again when talking about the anatomy of my everyday carry. Even though I’ve mentioned it before, I’m going to dive a bit deeper into it here in this post.
I picked up this knife several years ago and carried it everyday since. I’ve used it and abused it in many different settings. It’s opened packages, broken down cardboard, and even used for food prep out in the field. Overall, it’s been my favorite pocket folding knife for a long time. Like many other people, I describe this knife as an overbuilt tank. More importantly it’s a really well thought out knife.
The blade on this bad boy is 3.25″ of CPM S30V steel with an HRC hardness of 57-59. In my opinion this is an ideal length for everyday use. The steel is great! It provides very good edge retention. It’s relatively easy to sharpen. It’s tough and offers very good corrosion resistance. While available in various other finishes (and serrated versions), this one is specifically finished in a black DLC coating.
Like a lot of other Zero Tolerance knives, this one includes an assisted SpeedSafe opening action. This action makes it very easy to deploy and use. The ridiculously thick liner lock secures the knife open confidently while it is in use. Trust me, there are several other knives with questionable liner locks. This may not seem like a big deal, but I don’t know anyone who would be okay with a liner lock failing.
The G10 handles are nice and thick. Not so thick they make the knife bulky, but thick and grippy enough to get a good purchase on it before putting the knife to use. One of my favorite things about the handles is the four different positions the pocket clip can be moved to. This allows the knife to be carried tip up or down in any pocket safely.
I’d like to be able to adequately articulate the pros and cons of the blade shape, but alas I’m not a knife expert. I can tell you the tip isn’t as sharp as it was when it was new, but I’m sure that’s a result of use and my nonexistent sharpening skills. I have found the curved area of the edge closest to the handle to be a little difficult to sharpen. Thankfully that part of the blade gets much less use and requires much less sharpening than the front half of the blade. At the end of the day, the blade cuts stuff and hasn’t given me any trouble (that I can remember) cutting anything I’ve attempted to cut.
I’ve seen this knife on sale for as low as $128 and priced up to $195. I picked it up on sale for about $140. It’s not an inexpensive folding pocket knife, but in terms of quality and utility I consider it to be very well priced for what one gets.