All I wanna know Ernie, is when are you going to let Benchmade produce the CQC8 like they did the CQC7.
I would buy one in a F***ing heartbeat.
Gold Member
All I wanna know Ernie, is when are you going to let Benchmade produce the CQC8 like they did the CQC7.
I would buy one in a F***ing heartbeat.
Registered User
I completely agree!Originally Posted by STR
Registered User
Amen, Brother!
Hooves and Knives
Bump for willis.
Moose
So, how goes it?
You know how it is, rum, sodomy, and the lash.
Yeah, they quit the rum a couple of days before I joined up.
Registered User
Well said Ernie...and I love the way you stand up for you company and your products
Knuckle Dragger
I got to meet up with Mr. Emerson again this weekend at the CA custom show. Met up with some BFC pirates too.
I scored a custom CQC-10 as well.
No F&F complaints from me on this one.
Thanks Ernie
Rob
"Here we have a knuckle dragging knifemaker making knives for knuckle dragger's" -Sal Glesser
Basic Member
Congrats, Rob, she is a beauty!
Registered User
[QUOTE=5.56;10062489]I got to meet up with Mr. Emerson again this weekend at the CA custom show. Met up with some BFC pirates too.
I scored a custom CQC-10 as well.
No F&F complaints from me on this one.
Congrats on that beauty 5.56!
I met Mr. Emerson at the show last weekend too, what a nice guy he was and really easy to talk with.
Registered User
I've had several EKI knives, and I found the fit and finish to be very bad on two of them. Anyone who says that this doesn't matter is insane. I have an Élan EL02 that has perfect fit and finish and cost a fraction of the price of my CQC7. I'll be carrying the Élan next time I deploy simply because I do not trust the Emerson as the fit and finish is so poor, I have perfect trust in my Élan, and any of the Spydercos or Benchmade knives I own.
Sorry but to say fit and finish isn't important is a moron.
Registered User
So you'll trust a knife made in a Chinese factory of subpar materials with a pirated lock design (one that is fickle and requires much more maintenance than a liner lock) and no idea of what the steel actually is?
Registered User
Well are they "insane" or are they a "moron"? And youve had several huh...
Ive only got one so far and it's all perfection.
Gold Member
I'll agree with Steve as well. I think he did a great job in his reply. My personal experience is that I've had 6 or so Emerson's over the years and posted good things about them.. but after getting into some other manufacturers knives (at a lower price point) I noticed that my Emerson's were not bad knives, just not up the the quality standards the others were bringing at a lower price point. There are tougher locks, tougher materials, easier to take care of materials and most of these things could be had in one knife for a less or same price. Of the 6 Emerson's I had, they were all sharp.. I have the scares to prove it. But I can sharpen a leaf spring to cut me too. The locks all stuck and after several thousand open/closings (which is usually how I cut myself, trying to break the lock in while watching TV) they would still stick. The blades would rub the handles b/c they would never stay centered. The pivot screws were always coming loose and one almost fell out once in my pocket. I think for a $150 or greater knife, the user should not have to send things back in or fix these flaws in design. I'll admit, I'm the one who kept drinking the Kool-aid so it's my own fault. But as a businessman, I would never be satisfied with sending out a less than perfect product. If you are getting only 30 complaints a year.. the actual total of issues is probably far exceeding to that number as most won't bother with more shipping and time w/o their product.. the'd rather sell it or try to fix themselves. I wish I had better experiences with your knives, if I did, I may not have sold all mine. But I'm also sure there are others that are glad I did so they could buy them. I also wish you luck in your businesses and do appreicate you being on the forum to answer and post... that does mean something in my book. Maybe just take some of the great ideas posed and think about how they could benefit everyone. Savage Arms has made a huge dent in the rifle market by listening to their customers.. ask Remington if they are OK with that. I do still like some of your designs though, just not at the price point or quality level.
Wannabe Rookie Bladesmith
Registered User
Now, I'm going to tell you that Chris Reeves is a dear friend of mine. Sal Glesser is a friend of mine and Columbia River well, I really don't know them personally. Having said that, I will now say that those are the knives that I am most often compared to. All of them have fine fit and finish.
Now, with all due respect, I will also tell you this. None of those knives were present when (all) of the Somali pirates were taken down. None of those knives were present when Al Zarqawi was captured and killed.
None of those knives were present when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was taken captive. And none of those knives were present when Osama Bin Laden was shot dead. Yet, there were knives that were present at all of those and hundreds more firefights, assaults and covert actions. Anyone care to guess what knives those were?We make tens of thousands of knives a year. We get about 35-40 complaints a year about fit and finish, and it is less than a fraction of one percent of our total. The other tens of thousands seen to be just fine for our customers.Now, before all the business majors and other business experts come out and say "Ernest Emerson is not a good businessman. He isn't responding to the demands of his customers or evolving his business plan." I will just say this, "Like Hell I'm not." We haven't even had to advertise in almost 10 years. And yet our businesses (all 4) continue to grow and prosper.
And before these same folks also come out to make statements like, "Emerson is just being lazy" or "design, performance and finish are all as equally important, he's just making excuses for his lack of consideration for our needs." Well, there is a big difference between wants and needs and sometimes the two meanings get switched. I don't make excuses. I never did and I never will. I will, though give you the reasons why I do as I do.
You can say what you want about me or my knives, but you can never say that I don't know my customers. Hell, I know several thousand of them on a first name basis, and many are my friends. I know what knives they need and I know what they want and expect in an Emerson Knife. There are no other major knife companies with that close a relationship to their customers.
Most of you know me. It's obvious that some of you do not. To me a knife is just like a good hammer. It is a tool. I just need it to work and work. People come to like Emerson Knives because that's what they do. And I'm happy that in that regard, I've done my job well.
A little more about me. I've dealt with this same type of issue both in regard to shooting and in combat skills. I've had people say things like "Your feet were not in the "right" position. Your punch didn't turn properly. You didn't squeeze your knees together on the arm bar." I usually respond by saying "come here, put your hands up." And in a couple of seconds they are either on their ass or tapping out. I once had a guy tell me one time I don't know anything about weapon control in a knife attack. I had him come out and I said "I want you to "control" my knife." I hit him about six times with the knife, and kicked his right leg so hard that he buckled. I told him, You're lucky I didn't throw my left cross. your guard was down the whole time you were chasing my knife. I didn't want to hurt you." In a real fight you don't control the weapon. You control the man. The weapon will follow." By the way, he is now a good friend of mine.
I can't tell you about all the different martial arts and the goofy names for all of their techniques. I couldn't tell you all the crazy "rules of fighting" that they all claimed you needed to know. I can tell you what it's like to get caught with a straight right and get knocked clean out. I can tell you what it feels like to knock someone out. I can tell you what it's like to break your knuckles on someone's face (more than once). I can tell you what it feels like to feel your nose slowly snap as your face is being ground into the mat. I can tell you what it's like to see cross-eyed for a couple of hours after being hit so hard you see stars. I can tell you what it feels like when your jaws and teeth don't align for a couple of days after taking a good hook to the chin.
I can tell you what it's like to do roadwork in the snow in the dark at 0430 hrs before you start your morning workout in a freezing cold gym at 0500 hours for two hours, knowing that you are going to train for another two hours that evening.
Most of the guys who always knew all the details about fighting arts just couldn't tell you those things.
As to shooting skills, I know nothing about ballistics, wound cavities, foot pounds of energy, muzzle velocity, etc, etc. But I can hit a target. I can hit it under stress and I can hit it when someone is shooting back at me. And it doesn't matter if it is a pistol, a rifle, a subgun, or a shotgun.
We could track a white tail deer in the Northern woods in -12 degree weather, shoot it, dress it out and eat venison if you would like. I use a 50 year old Remington 30-06 that used to belong to my Dad, to do the job. I wouldn't even be able to tell you what brand of bullets I was using.
I have a friend who is a Navy SEAL Sniper who told me he was not interested in all the minutiae and details that revolve around shooters and their discussions of such. But, his Chief told him, son, you have to learn all that crap or you'll never be accepted into the "community" no matter how good you are. He was the top sniper in his class and has a long list of "accomplishments." He knows his dope but he still doesn't' know all of the facts and figures the others guys argue about constantly. And everyone wants him for their deployment.
I was a pretty good athlete, a serious athlete. I played college football and pro baseball. In my high school we had a serious badminton competition every year and many of the competitors went out and purchased $150.00 aluminum rackets to compete with. They were very nice, very light, very tight and had a lot of spring. My Junior year I went down to our local hardware store and bought a cheap backyard badminton set for $29.95 with four wooden rackets. I took one of those loose wooden rackets, painted it red, white and blue, wrote the words "U.S. Bomber," on the handle and whipped everyone in the tournament of over 100 players. I did it to prove it was not about the equipment, it was about the player. You may want to read an article I wrote for Human Events, on the problem with weapons dependency for more insight into that mindset.
When I played ball, I couldn't tell you all the stats of the major league players or who was in first place. I didn't buy a new mitt or cleats every year. But I can tell you what it feels like to catch a line drive hit so hard that it hisses in the air and your hand swells up for days after the catch. I could tell you how you can't sleep on either side at night because of the open strawberries on your hips from stealing bases. I could tell you the difference in the feel of a bat due to its grain and density when it contacts the ball. And I could tell you what it feels like to hit one "out of the park", and I never, ever, wore batting gloves. I still have and use the same mitt I bought in 1971. After re-lacing it dozens of times, it still catches as good as it ever did.
The guys who always knew all the stats never got the chance to play against those major leaguers. I did.
People are always trying to put me in a box, a conventional box along with all the other conventional knife companies. I get that. Problem is, we're not conventional. Never have been and never will be. I don't fit into a box - any box for that matter, and I never will.
Some have even bragged, "I've got the balls to tell Ernest Emerson what's wrong with his knives. I'm not a fan boy." All I can say is if that's your definition of having balls then you've not had a very hard life.
You might ask why is Emerson going on about all this stuff? It has nothing to do with knives or fit and finish.
Well, it has everything to do with my knives because it is about me and who I am. My knives reflect me, the way I see them and the way I use them. The point being made is that some of you do not know me or even know about me. If you did know me then you would know one thing for sure, that I am about performance and performance only. Either something works or it does not. Either you can do something or you cannot. It does not matter to me how much you "know" about the subject or the fanciness of your gear. And whether or not the handles or liners line up perfectly or not on the ass end of a knife does not affect the performance of the knife in one single way.
And in the end those other, highly finished knives don't get to go on all those crazy adventures that mine do. And selfishly, I'm damned proud of it. Maybe I'm doing something right.most of this is completely irrelevant as to why you think fit and finish is not important. You mention "a knife is like a hammer", well, it isn't. But if you truly think so then when is the last time you have seen a $150+ hammer?Maybe some of you know me just a little better now. And maybe some of you will now know why my knives are the way they are. And maybe some of you will still find fault with our knives, myself and the way I do things. I'm ok with that.
My Best Regards,
Ernest R. Emerson
you said:
You are being disingenuous, and insulting to those you call "friends" with this statement. You may know that some of your knives are being carried by military personal, but you do not know what is not being carried. It is absolute pure arrogance to think you do. You have military personal whom you call friends, you may know what they carry but you can not speak for every person who carries a blade.Now, with all due respect, I will also tell you this. None of those knives were present when (all) of the Somali pirates were taken down. None of those knives were present when Al Zarqawi was captured and killed.
None of those knives were present when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was taken captive. And none of those knives were present when Osama Bin Laden was shot dead. Yet, there were knives that were present at all of those and hundreds more firefights, assaults and covert actions. Anyone care to guess what knives those were?
Instead of "Fit and Finish - A Long Story" this should be called "Fit and Finish - inflating Mr Emerson's ego"
Registered User
This is exactly on. IMO 30 complaints a year is about 29 complaints too many, he should be trying to fix the issues instead of making excuses.
Assistant to the Regional Manager
This post is not about the knives made by this guy, at all. I don't own one, never have, probably never will. This is about this guy's statements.
I don't know this Emerson guy, but he's claiming that his knives are so good, they are chosen by the SEALS on famous missions. He even claims to know what knives were specifically not taken on those missions. Apparently, the SEALS only trust his magical knives. Bullsh**. And I don't think the SEALS would tell a knife maker mission details like that. He also claimed to be able to kick anyone's ass. Really? Anybody can just put those hands up, and he'll have them tapping instantly? I checked out his website: "Owning an Emerson Knife brings you membership in an elite group."
Here's my conclusion: this guy sure brags an awful lot and makes some pretty wild claims. As for the knives, don't know and don't care. I'm not buying one, that's for damn sure.
Last edited by Magnaminous_G; 11-05-2011 at 02:56 PM.
Registered User
Look I'm a huge fan of Emerson Knives, as well as many other brands out there. And I can say that Emersons are not the "only" knives or whatever that SEAL Teams use, for one there is no "offiical" SEAL anything and whenever a company states that as other companies do with many things not just knives but everything from work-out equipment to I'm assure someone would try and market socks of the "official" sock of Navy SEALs blah blah. Guys in the Teams use everything from issued knives such as good 'ol fasion Kabars to SOG knives to whatever else has been procured and there is many. The SEAL Teams are always looking for new stuff to get and try out and many,many things are aquired. And yet some guys still, many in fact buy gear i.e. knives that they personally prefer and again this is with anything froom boots to rifles etc. In fact most other guys will probally tell you that one way they sometimes reconize that there are SEALs around its cause they all have diffrent stuff. Nothing about the Teams is standard in way of equipment. So to say that "Emersons are the exclusive knife of the bin laden raid" is indeed a wrong statment. No I wasn't there but I can say with certainty that I'm sure more than EKI was there.
Also all this being said Emersons are actually my favorite knives. But still facts are facts.
Gold Member
Good Post
Baryonyx Walkeri
I respect Mr. Emerson's philosophy and business savvy, but I continue to respectfully disagree with his approach to this matter, both in terms of fit and finish and in customer care. Clearly he's got a good thing going for himself and I wish him continued success. However, I doubt that I will ever own or carry an EKI knife so long as these issues persist.
Well said, STR.
Baryonyx Knife Co. ~Condors, Moras, Deluxe Tramontinas, and More!
"To live at all is miracle enough."
— Mervyn Peake
Gold Member
Just wanted to mention, SOTF-S is across the street. I have yet to see an EKI knife in theater. I have seen one over the last 8 years. An MI CPT had a Commander in garrison. The next day, he had a CRKT Desert Cruiser. I have known two SF Soldiers who cared enough about knives to discuss what they liked. One collected Randalls and Cold Steel folders. The other likes Kershaws with speedsafe, his current favorite cost $25.
fit and finish is probably good enough since the absolute most prevalent blades are CRKTs and Gerbers, so there's your competition, at a fifth the price.
"When the thunderclap comes, there is no time to cover the ears"
Gold Member
Gosh I'm glad I read this thread and to think I was going to lay out my hard earned money for (what I thought was) a superior knife. Sounds like somebody doesn't employ Quality Control Inspectors, or even give a d*mn that the scales don't match the liners on the handles ($25 Rat-1s are better than that) and uses a steel that isn't much different than a good batch of AUS8A.I respect Mr. Emerson's philosophy and business savvy, but I continue to respectfully disagree with his approach to this matter, both in terms of fit and finish and in customer care. Clearly he's got a good thing going for himself and I wish him continued success. However, I doubt that I will ever own or carry an EKI knife so long as these issues persist.
Well said, STR.
Thanks for warning me off of your product line - even though I was going to buy the ill-made, wrong-handed chisel cut, beater.
Hope to see you in the Octagon soon, against Anderson Silva, Johnny Jones or hey - Chuck Liddel is making a comeback and is a little older & slower! I want to see you kick their asses.
Honestly, kidding you aside, I hope the responses you got will cause you to care a little more about what knife owners and prospective customers would like to buy from you.
Last edited by cziv; 11-18-2011 at 07:22 PM. Reason: spelling
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