A bit of Emerson history pleaes.

Status
Not open for further replies.
onlooker96

onlooker96

BANNED
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
778
I was wondering, when was the wave feature invented? What was the first production knife and custom with this feature? When was the first SPECWAR knife made and which model was it? What was the first model and what year did the first production knife from Emerson (not Benchmade.)
I looked on the Emerson webpage but was not able to find it. If you know, please feel free to chime in,
Thanks
 
You might be able to find more information on your queries on youtube or even trying to search this subforum. Some videos discuss specific models, I haven't been able to get many overinformative resources either.
 
Because of the size and values of the company, there hasn't been a ton of press. But with such humble beginnings, comes a whole lot of great stories. Emerson has made mention a few times, but I will paraphrase from what I can recall. Emerson had been contacted by one of the teams (Coranado??) to produce a folder with a bladecatch (in the event that a blade ran up the spine), but that was still low-profile.

From that, he quickly worked up a prototype, but he never intented for the blade to open as it did. After the teams picked up the protos for T&E, Ernie was playing in his shop. As he went to draw the knife, the blade opened a bit. He continued and finally found out what happened. At that very moment (as it's told) he received a call from the teams...something to the lines of "Do you have any fuc*ing idea what this thing does??". There the wave was born.

Though I am not the 'final word', I think that the first model (for the Naval Special Warfare - 1997) was the ESM-1, and later the ES1-C (for civis). But as far as I know the 'Wave' production was on the Commander in 1998. Again, Mr. Emerson would be the best source. The Commander was the third production knife in the line up, after the SPECWAR (96), Raven (97).

Going back to the Wave (which is just the common name, as Emerson doesn't actually hold the patent), and Emerson as a whole, I have to make a brief comment. Here is a company that has held true to its roots, and will never try say that they did this or that...the proof is in the results. Ernie will never claim to be the genius to invented the wave -- it was just a wonderful accident that he has embraced. I love the way it was said - and please apologize for my paraphrasing - "I'm not going to claim to have the best designs, steel, etc, but the one thing that I think we do best as a company, is listen".

Pretty well every knife that has been designed, has been done so with the input and wants of others. There's a reason these designs stick, because they keep on working, and pushing forward.

There's a brand new video from Nutnfancy from SHOT. People harp on Emerson, saying he's a dick, but people that I know who have met him while training in Cali still talk about him to this day. The video itself not only explains some history, clears up a few points, but also shows his enthusiasm and humble attitude.

Hope that helps...minus my 2cents at the end. Cheers, M
 
As noted above, the first knife with a wave was the ES1-M, which was made in 1995. For a long time, it was the only knife with it. When the factory knives began, the Commander (which was essentially a 85% version of the ES1-M) became the first production knife with a wave, in 1998. The very first production knives were the Raven 1997, followed by the SpecWar in 1998. The SpecWar had a wave added to it to become the limited edition SOCFK, sometime around 2000 iirc.
 
Yes, check out nutn's recent interview at ShotShow 2012, if your looking for some history on Emerson you wont be disappointed. Also, Ernie does have the patent on the wave feature but it isnt labeled ”the wave” on the patent, its called something else, I forget, but check out the video he speaks all about it.
 
onlooker96 said:
I was wondering, when was the wave feature invented? What was the first production knife and custom with this feature? When was the first SPECWAR knife made and which model was it? What was the first model and what year did the first production knife from Emerson (not Benchmade.)
I looked on the Emerson webpage but was not able to find it. If you know, please feel free to chime in,
Thanks
Click to expand...

ok, I wouldn't normally do this on a forum, suggest a diffrent one I mean. But I suggest you head over to the Usual Suspects Network. I'm a member there as well and honestly, you will see and learn stuff there, specially bout Emerson that almost never comes to light here. As great as a forum as this is. That why I belong to both. Also I hope the mods here don't get to pissed at me for this comment.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top