- Joined
- Jul 11, 2007
- Messages
- 849
Just got my first Emerson of the year. I went with a CQC-8 produced in the Jan-Mar time frame. I want to quickly go through the changes I've noticed from past runs. Overall, it's an awesome knife in terms of design and build quality. When I have it open in the hand, it's very hefty and conveys trust. Of course, no blade play what so ever.
Immediately, the biggest change you'll notice is the new pivot screw. The thin slotted matte screw has been replaced by a shiny wide-slot screw which now sits more recessed into the G10. I guess now you can use a penny to adjust it and the black coating won't rub off as easily. You could always tell the amount of use an Emerson has gone through by how faded the pivot screw has gotten.
The G10 is the supper grippy honey-comb version first introduced around last July. It's meticulously sanded on the edges so to prevent shredding your pocket. Emerson-made scales are always some of the best in the industry I think. It's my favorite G10 pattern on any knife thus far. If you want this G10 pattern you better grab some fast, the latest runs look to be back to the smoother version.
The liners are typical Emerson liners with machining marks, more so on the SS than the Ti side. But I see it's much better here than some previous runs; here you have to look really closely to see the marks. For me, I care more about the finish of the blade than the liners, but of course for some, unpolished liners is a deal breaker. The lock-up is SOLID, as with any of my 21 production Emersons in my collection. I have received knives with absolutely horrendously cut liners, but never a knife with bad lock-up or blade play. The initial lock-up looks to be about 40%, sticky.
The action is gunky as hell. I can barely open this one-handed. They must use molasses on the pivots.
The blade is well finished with the exception of the thumb-ramp/wave area. The flat par of the raised areas have pretty bad machining marks in the form of deep lines. This is something you should actually care about because of rust. Unfortunately, it's something EKI has been very inconsistent on. I have a 2010 CQC 7 with well-finished ramp along with several other models. Maybe the machining marks are meant to be additional jimping? I don't think so; the lines left are to thin to grab a hold of anything. The stonewash is well-done; the satin grind is beautiful. And as always, Extremely sharp and the tip is a needle.
The hardware on this particular one is unique. The thumb disc, the pivot nut, and 2 screws are finished in gun metal grey-- not the typical black.
I paid about $195. in-stock all over for the same price.
Thanks for reading!
Immediately, the biggest change you'll notice is the new pivot screw. The thin slotted matte screw has been replaced by a shiny wide-slot screw which now sits more recessed into the G10. I guess now you can use a penny to adjust it and the black coating won't rub off as easily. You could always tell the amount of use an Emerson has gone through by how faded the pivot screw has gotten.
The G10 is the supper grippy honey-comb version first introduced around last July. It's meticulously sanded on the edges so to prevent shredding your pocket. Emerson-made scales are always some of the best in the industry I think. It's my favorite G10 pattern on any knife thus far. If you want this G10 pattern you better grab some fast, the latest runs look to be back to the smoother version.
The liners are typical Emerson liners with machining marks, more so on the SS than the Ti side. But I see it's much better here than some previous runs; here you have to look really closely to see the marks. For me, I care more about the finish of the blade than the liners, but of course for some, unpolished liners is a deal breaker. The lock-up is SOLID, as with any of my 21 production Emersons in my collection. I have received knives with absolutely horrendously cut liners, but never a knife with bad lock-up or blade play. The initial lock-up looks to be about 40%, sticky.
The action is gunky as hell. I can barely open this one-handed. They must use molasses on the pivots.
The blade is well finished with the exception of the thumb-ramp/wave area. The flat par of the raised areas have pretty bad machining marks in the form of deep lines. This is something you should actually care about because of rust. Unfortunately, it's something EKI has been very inconsistent on. I have a 2010 CQC 7 with well-finished ramp along with several other models. Maybe the machining marks are meant to be additional jimping? I don't think so; the lines left are to thin to grab a hold of anything. The stonewash is well-done; the satin grind is beautiful. And as always, Extremely sharp and the tip is a needle.
The hardware on this particular one is unique. The thumb disc, the pivot nut, and 2 screws are finished in gun metal grey-- not the typical black.
I paid about $195. in-stock all over for the same price.
Thanks for reading!
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