This is a great bar tool.  We saw a flair bartender on Celebrity Cruises use this to make orange, lime and lemon rind peels for martinis.  He showed us how and it is so easy and makes our martinis at home cocktail hours and dinner parties look professional.  We have not used this to make zest but the channel knife works so well with fresh citrus fruit skins.  It is just the right balance of sharpness so I have never cut myself but I can make beautiful curly twists of oranges, lemons and limes effortlessly.  The grip is great because even if you hands are wet the large rubber handle is stable.  It cleans up easily too with some warm water and Dawn.  We have been using ours for more than 6 months and the stainless steel head and black rubber grip look like new.  We highly recommend.  Kudos again to Oxo for another amazing tool.