The Company We Keep

ZEV is known for precision pistol parts and custom builds, and TEKTO for folders with tight tolerances and smooth, dependable actions. Two brands that sweat the same details made for an easy partnership. The ZEV x TEKTO F2 Bravo pairs ZEV's signature look, a forged carbon handle and bronze titanium hardware, with a MagnaCut blade and ceramic ball bearings. It launched as a limited release on ZEV's site and sold out in minutes.

Zastava and TEKTO share Serbian roots, and both make gear that is meant to be carried and used, not kept on a shelf. The A7 Zastava came first, an S35VN OTF with wood inlays set into an aluminum frame, a nod to the wood and metal look of Zastava rifles. The F4 Echo followed as its folding partner, an S35VN flipper with G10 inlays in Serbian red, American walnut or black.

It started with a small trial run of the F1 x EOTECH, a titanium-coated D2 blade on a textured black G10 handle with bronze EOTECH accents. It sold out in days, and EOTECH asked us to make its 30th anniversary knife. The F2 x EOTECH carried the anniversary marks on a forged carbon handle through 2025 and continues today without them. Shooting Illustrated covered the first launch, and a third knife is on the way.

Shadow Systems and TEKTO are two fast-growing brands with a lot of the same customers, so a small project together made sense. We reworked our F1 Alpha for Shadow with a CPM 20CV blade, a ceramic ball bearing pivot and a forged carbon handle with a pattern that is different on every knife. Shadow Systems sells it on its own site.