Zero Tolerance 0566 Thoughts

I am really not a fan of this knife at all. It's a great quality knife, but the design isn't really my cup of tea. I don't typically like Hinderer designs at all. They're way too boring for my tastes, and I feel as if they all kind of look the same. Also, you all know I prefer my small knives, so this was never going to work as an EDC knife for me. It's way too overbuilt for my tastes and not worth the money in my opinion.

First of, I should mention I deassisted mine and the scales are custom. The typical 0566 comes with black G10 scales and is spring assisted. It's extremely easy to deassist this blade. Just take out the torsion bar, and you are good to go. It flips pretty nicely once you deassist it. It takes a little more effort to flip, but it's much nicer than having it spring assisted. I'm not sure who made these custom scales, but they are very nice. The color is sweet, and they feel good in the hand.

Like I said at the beginning, the design isn't really my thing. I don't like framelocks all that much. This one is a stainless steel framelock, not even titanium, which makes me think it's extremely overpriced. I believe these retail for $144 on Blade HQ. I'm sure you can find them cheaper, but still, for that price, it's definitely not worth it. That seems like a lot for the sub-par materials you are getting. Most framelocks over a $100 are usually titanium, not crappy stainless steel.

The blade is nice. I've really got no complaints there. It's the only part about this knife that I don't absolutely hate. It's nothing special by any means, but it handles everything you'd need it to. The Elmax steel is nice. Mine is super sharp and has retained its edge well. The thumb stud is mostly for show and just a blade stop if anything.

The handles are pretty nice. I definitely would not have liked the original black G10 scales. There's nothing wrong with them. I personally prefer having colorful knives. The ergos are pretty bad. There are a lot of hotspots, which make the knife extremely uncomfortable to hold. That's a big reason why I don't like framelocks or most metal knife handles for that matter. The edges on metal handles are usually much to sharp for my preferences.

The knife is so heavy that it doesn't really carry all that well. The clip is a deep carry clip, and I'm not a fan of those at all. As to be expected, the knife is very handle heavy. I could never get behind carrying this knife that much, because it's way too heavy for what it is. If I'm wanting to carry a mid-size knife, I need something a lot lighter than this beast.

All in all, I really don't have many good things to say about this knife. I'm not the biggest fan of ZT, because it seems to me that they only make these titanium or stainless steel framelocks. They have little to no small knife options. I know a lot of you dudes love ZTs, and I think that's the case because they're not that hard for you carry and you all have bigger hands. It's not a terrible knife in terms of quality, but it is a terrible knife in terms of design. I'm kind of bummed it didn't work out for me. It makes me want to steer clear of any ZTs in the future. I don't think this is anything special, so save your money for a better ZT. As far as value goes, this knife is an awful value. I definitely do not recommend this as an EDC knife. Thanks for looking!