A Tale of 2 Karambits.

stabman

stabman

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Sep 17, 2007
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I got a stone washed Emerson Combat Karambit last week. Bent liner, tang burn, and a very round point---GREAT quality for brand new out of the box.:barf:
TODAY, my 5.11 CUB Master's karambit showed up. PERFECT point and blade grinds, solid lock-up, zero blemishes of any kind.
Emerson: made in USA, cost of $229 plus shipping.
5.11 CUB: made in Taiwan, cost of $139 plus shipping.
After this, I'm forced to wonder WHY I was paying more in the past for made in the USA "quality."
I don't CARE about the warranty...I buy knives of a quality where I won't HAVE to use the warranty. Thought THAT was what I was paying more for.
Except in the case of the Emerson, where right out of the sealed box it needs warranty work.
I'll just add that the ergonomics are superior on the Master's karambit as well, and the filled-in retention ring is a better design.
 
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I've never received a bad Emerson karambit and I have several. I also have several 5.11 Journeyman and Masters folding karambits. While most of them have been perfect I have noticed that some of the S30V Masters variants seem to vary in their sharpness when received and I have had to return one Journeyman karambit back to New Graham due to a faulty locking mechanism. Overall.........I cannot complain about either company or their karambits.
 
You did get a bit of a raw deal on that EKI kerambit, no two ways.

What did EKI say about it ? They are going to give you a new one I presume ?
 
That is too bad. Unfortunately all it takes is one or two people in the whole company who aren't doing their best and it can hurt a reputation built on years of hard work. Would Emerson himself let a knife like that leave the building? I doubt it. Whoever did should be fired plain and simple.

However I bought a cqc-14 awhile back new for $150. The liner lock was sloppy after two weeks. I had to pay $20 in shipping costs to make it right. That isn't right in my book so I sold my Emersons and no longer consider them when it is time to make a knife purchase. It's too bad because I loved that little bugger. Maybe in a year or two I will get over my butt-hurt and get another one of those little suckers. It was a very cool knife!
 
slimshaneee said:
That is too bad. Unfortunately all it takes is one or two people in the whole company who aren't doing their best and it can hurt a reputation built on years of hard work. Would Emerson himself let a knife like that leave the building? I doubt it. Whoever did should be fired plain and simple.

However I bought a cqc-14 awhile back new for $150. The liner lock was sloppy after two weeks. I had to pay $20 in shipping costs to make it right. That isn't right in my book so I sold my Emersons and no longer consider them when it is time to make a knife purc//hase. It's too bad because I loved that little bugger. Maybe in a year or two I will get over my butt-hurt and get another one of those little suckers. It was a very cool knife!
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what, did you pay $20 in shipping for; next day air service?
 
Haze said:
You did get a bit of a raw deal on that EKI kerambit, no two ways.

What did EKI say about it ? They are going to give you a new one I presume ?
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Still waiting for them to get back to me from my last e-mail.
I'd rather they just send me a new blade and non-locking liner, as it appears that my last shipment to the States may have gone "missing" with USPS, and UPS here refused to ship knives, as they don't ship "weapons."
I know that the liners are interchangeable, despite Emerson's claims of hand-fitting them. I don't care if it voids the warranty having me install the new parts either; I just want the damn knife the way it should have been when I bought it, and I'm not willing to ship any more knives so that some postal worker can get free stuff.
UPS's policy(UPS Canada that is) makes NO sense, as True North Knives uses UPS as their default shipping option.
What the hell does UPS think TNK is shipping, spoons???
 
That really sucks. I hate it how companies will actually sell knives that are that messed up hoping they find someone that doesnt return them. -1 to emerson imo
 
When I buy, I tend not to think about country of origin; workers overseas work just as hard.

Sucks about Emerson. I was considering buying a snubnose karambit, but maybe not anymore.
 
You have to ship it insured to them.
And you have to give them $14 to ship it back to you. So it was a good $20
 
I just finished dealing with EKI and I must say, I WAS impressed with their quality of work, I WAS NOT impressed with their customer service......two different things I guess. Like Slimshaneee, I too purchased a 14 (awesome knife by the way). The liner lock was a bit tight and the rear portion of the tang needed to be ground down a bit more. Yes, I could have probably had it done locally, but figured that it was a brand new knife and they should fix it to maintain the warranty. I contacted EKI and they were more than happy to fix it for me.....for free even, fantastic! They did inform me that I needed to send them a check for $14.00 for return shipping though. So, I had a brand new knife (obviously with a quality control issue) and not only did I have to pay to ship it back to them, but they also wanted me to pay to ship it back to myself. They require $14.00 to do ANY work for you.....warranty related or not. I didn't think that was right....I passed. A few months later I shipped it back to them to drill and tap the clip for left handed carry.....since I had to pay the same for that, I just had them fix the previous issue while they had it. Quality was top notch, but customer service was a bit sketchy throughout the process....that can be another reply if interested.
JT
 
I don't like the thought of paying $14 for shipping on top of the money I'd have to spend to send it to them ON TOP of the shipping I paid to get the damn knife in the first place.:mad:
Shouldn't have to pay for return shipping for a defect.
 
Supmonkeyface said:
Thats why I buy Spyderco karambits. :) :D
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But.....they are somewhat heavy and the grip feels slick to me. And.....they are out of production. If Spyderco would reintroduce the same karambit with a framelock and a G-10 or even FRN opposite side scale I would buy it!!
 
Well in a perfect world that would happen! :( I was mostly saying that because I never heard anything about spyderco's karambit QC.

And I thought, since its a karambit with the hole, the grip doesn't really matter, as long as your finger is strong enough.
 
Damn,the Emerson bashing is getting rough.I only have one but it is perfect.Why slam a company over one problem?
 
Well, they are problems that more than one person is having......that starts to add up. However, my intent was NOT to bash EKI......I own their product, and in the future, will probably own more of their product.....maybe just not sight unseen anymore.
JT
 
Supmonkeyface said:
Well in a perfect world that would happen! :( I was mostly saying that because I never heard anything about spyderco's karambit QC.

And I thought, since its a karambit with the hole, the grip doesn't really matter, as long as your finger is strong enough.
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Gripping a karambit made from all stainless is quite different than gripping one made with G-10 or micarta scales. The texture makes it more non-slip to me. I own two of the Spyderco karambits and it is a superb design. I just don't care for the all stainless handle construction.
 
Haze said:
You do realise that this thread is about the same kerambit ?

Now a question for you about investigating before ..............:p
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Oh, snap!!:eek: Thanks, Haze!

mmarkh, my sincerest apologies!!:o

:foot: Doesn't taste too good!

Regards,
3G
 
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