Zero Tolerance has just released the 0203, a brand new folding knife. The 0203 follows in the classic ZT archetype as a large, heavy duty folder made from premium materials.
It’s hard to ignore a 4-inch blade, especially when the shape is a bit spicy, as it is here on the 0203. It’s a drop point, but one with an expanded belly with quite a bit of sweep, and a harpoon-style swedge created by a concave divot on the back half of the spine. This is a working knife for sure, at home powering through tough, fibrous materials like cardboard, or even working with wood in an outdoors camp knife-style setting.
ZT made a sensible blade steel choice here in rendering the 0203 in CPM-M4. This semi-stainless tool steel has long been a favorite amongst the metallurgical mavens due to its very high edge retention – so high, in fact, that CPM-M4 has been a staple choice for cutting competitions. It’s a bit tricky to sharpen, but it’s nothing that the enthusiasts the 0203 can’t handle, and the black blade coating will prevent rust from taking root easily.
The handle is an arching, lightly angular shape that has been used in a number of in-house ZT designs, including the 0545 and Kershaw label models as well. The scales are hewn from slabs of olive green G-10, laid over thick stainless steel liners and housing, for the first in the Zero Tolerance lineup, the DuraLock, the ambidextrous, Axis-like mechanism that parent company KAI first debuted on the Kershaw side of the catalog.
The 0203 is available now, and will certainly be center stage next month at Blade. It was dropped alongside a bevy of new Kershaw models – check back tomorrow for more info on those blades.
Knife in Featured Image: Zero Tolerance 0203
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