Zero Tolerance and Kershaw Rolled Out Seven Knives for Halloween
KAI's two brands rarely launch in the same week, but the end of October produced a joint drop that reads like a strategy document. Zero Tolerance went back to big, overbuilt folders with the 0316 and 0512DL in CPM Cru-Wear, while Kershaw covered everything from a $3-ish budget flipper to a MagnaCut premium piece. Seven knives, one message: the company wants the whole shelf.
The ZTs are the interesting half. The 0316 is a 3.5-inch drop point with a hex-driver pivot assembly, positioned by ZT itself as a return to the heavy-duty roots that built the brand. The 0512DL is slightly smaller at 3.45 inches, also in Cru-Wear, and uses the KAI DuraLock — the ambidextrous crossbar mechanism that has become the company's signature. Cru-Wear is a tool steel with excellent toughness and edge stability, the right call for knives marketed on durability.
On the Kershaw side the spread is wider. The Launch 24 is the newest automatic, with a 3-inch 14C28N blade on a button. The Continental is the premium manual: 3.35 inches of CPM MagnaCut with textured aluminum scales in a bronze anodize and a DuraLock. There is a carbon-fiber Bareknuckle in MagnaCut, a Conduit XL in 8Cr13MoV with GFN scales, and a Hectic with stainless scales, a frame lock and a 3.05-inch wharncliffe. Add the Beskar, a D2 trailing point with stainless inlays in a DuraLock frame.
The pattern worth noting is how far MagnaCut has moved down the price ladder. Two years ago it was a $200-and-up steel; here it appears on mainstream Kershaw models alongside 8Cr13MoV in the same launch. That is good news for buyers and a problem for anyone trying to differentiate a knife by its steel alone, because the steel no longer tells you what class of knife you are holding.
Verdict: the 0316 and 0512DL are the ones to watch if you want a hard-use folder with real steel. The Continental is the best value of the bunch for a general EDC buyer, and the budget models are worth a look only if the price lands where the specs suggest it should.
Disclosure: EDC News may earn a commission on links in this article. Nothing here changes the price you pay.