I recently managed to capture a second-hand ZDP Stretch 2 from a nice gentleman up in Michigan. The knife arrived today, in almost new condition, and I immediately set about messing with it.
First up was a quick dissection to clean, check for perfect function and apply my own thread locker. The last is generally just an extravagance I like to perform but it was a requirement on this knife. I'm unsure if all the S2s or perchance all the ZDP S2s are like this but my example had no thread locker on any of the fasteners. Not a big deal I suppose, just something to be aware of. Lest you be unduly surprised when your pocket clip gets loose.
[imghttps://i.imgur.com/If4jxIS.jpg[/img]
I am intrigued by the interesting lock-cutout pattern.
Once the knife was all back together (thanks to Mr. Blonde's excellent reassembly thread) I did some cutting. Writing about a specific hobby always brings some inherent problems, there are only so many ways to praise a folding knife. I recently made the mistake of declaring a knife "the sharpest out of the box I've ever seen." Only to have the next two knives prove to be even sharper. This makes it quite hard to be taken seriously, so in light of this I've decided to make slightly less grandiose claims when describing my newest slicey thing.
I don't know if you've ever attempted to do this but it's actually pretty difficult with a very sharp knife. The S2 had those hanging tails popping off the paper.
Couple this with the fact that I was readily able to bisect hairs, not to mention the phenomenal shaving ability, and I think it would be safe to say that the ZDP S2 is sharp enough. You may find a sharper knife out there somewhere but I sincerely doubt it will have come from a factory that way.
Swinging around to the whole knife I would like to clarify my intent. A large part of this review is going to consist of a comparison between the S2 and the Delica 4 and the Endura 4. Quite simply because they share enough in common to be contenders for any serious purchasing recommendation and partly because they make a cute line-up of increasing size and ability.
I've been EDCing an Endura for the past month or so and have spent some time with the Delica as well, making a comparison of the three easily within my ability. I have yet to do more than a small about of cutting with the S2 so actual use updates will come in the future. Just based on handling and appearences it is clear that the S2 serves perfectly in the middle role between the D4 and the E4.
Overall, it's ever so slightly smaller than the E4 and a bit larger than the D4 but the blade of the S2 is actually thinner (due to a significant distal taper) and ground much acute than the D4/E4. Well, it's a FFG, obviously.
(Top to bottom: D4, E4, S2)
