Most of you have at least a passing familiarity with the famous Rick Hinderer XM-18 knife. Personally, this is one of my favorite designs in all of knife-history. It is very unique...and, in terms of how it "feels" in my hand, is "perfect".

The Zero Tolerance division of Kai Cutlery (parent company of Kershaw) does a wonderful job of manufacturing extremely high quality modern folding knives that have a distinctively tactical flavor. Within the past couple of years, Rick Hinderer has been doing a variety of collaborations with ZT. The knife shown in this photo was the first of those collaborations; the ZT550. In size and general feel, it is VERY similar to the XM-18. I really find that Rick's "arched" treatment of blade-to-handle orientation makes for a tremendously comfortable knife.

In a direct comparison to the XM-18...the ZT550's handle isn't quite as comfortable...but it is still extremely nice to hold. As much as I like the Spanto grind of the XM-18, I actually like the drop point design of the ZT550 a little better. Done in S35VN, the 3.5" blade is extremely practical.

All-in-all, this ZT550 is another magnificient piece of modern cutlery. Zero Tolerance and Rick Hinderer certainly produced an amazing knife!