Now only if Emerson would let Benchmade make an exact copy of the CQC8. I would be in heaven!
Warning: This will be a bit of a rant. If you really like Emerson knives, look away.
Sorry to derail my own thread a bit but I've been wanting to say this for a while. I also plan on doing some video reviews soon, including one on this topic, so this is a chance to kind of get my thoughts in order.
I'll tell you what, in my opinion, should happen. Emerson should hand over the designs for his knives to Zero Tolerance and they should build an Emerson line based on the ZT 0200. The 0200 was what an Emerson should be and is very similar in design: 154CM blade, black G10 scales, liner lock (though steel instead of titanium). If they would just take each Emerson model, build it like the 0200, and price them at about $150 I would buy at least a CQC-10, CQC-8, Horseman, and Combat Karambit. They could even keep the steel locking liner and 154CM. They need to keep the PB washers of the 0200. I would like to see a V grind on the secondary bevel but I could even live with the chisel grind if ZT built them.
At one time I had about a dozen Emersons that ranged from 2005-2015 models bought both new and used. I was not completely happy with any of them and really grew to despise them. The finish was universally bad and the fit was mostly terrible. The nylon washers made for sluggish deployment and usually started squeaking. I could not reliably "wave" any of the open, unlike my ZT 0630 and Spyderco Karahawk that "wave" open so well that I have to be careful not to do it. The ones that I actually used all quickly developed a lot of blade play and sporadic lock-up. This was very light use and mostly just carry with a lot of open/closing. I believe this has to do with the bad fit of he parts. You can't expect to throw parts together like that and have them wear in with any kind of predicability. I sold all the ones I used at pretty good discounted prices. I really wanted to use my CQC-10, CQC-8 (the one I traded), and Combat Karambit but I didn't want them to suffer the same fate so they just sat in storage. Eventually I got tired of looking at them and sold them.
I don't know how they concluded these knives to be "The World's #1 Hard Use Knives" or how you could ever quantity such a thing. Of course, that's just marketing. I would really like to know if the ones supposedly used by so many special ops guys are regular production examples. Obviously the one used by NASA is not. I can tell you that I am in the military. I am a comm guy, not a special ops badass. I'm in the Air Force and currently work with a lot of Marine, Navy, and Army folks. I've only ever met one other person using an Emerson. The few special ops folks I know were not familiar with them. Mostly folks have Benchmades because they get issued a lot. People universally adore their Benchmades in my experience. I started showing some Emerson knives to coworkers, most of whom are not knife nuts. I got reactions like these:
- It doesn't open very smoothly.
- It doesn't feel very sturdy.
- It feels cheap.
- It looks like you bought it at a flea market. (actual quote)
Given the price point of these knives and the competition at that price point, I can't believe they sell at all. I only bought them because I bought into the hype. It's a real shame because the designs are fantastic. The Horseman and CQC-8 are some of the most comfortable knives I've ever held.
This photo shows most of the Emersons I had though I also had a second Combat Karambit and trainer as well as the EDC-1.
This photo shows the only ones remaining:
- I kept the karambit trainer because I got it really cheap and need one. I still have a Karahawk and a fixed Ontario Ranger EOD and neither of those have a trainer version.
- I kept the EDC-1 because it's a pretty rare knife and I actually like it. It's not a real Emerson but built by Multitasker in China. It has a better fit/finish than most of the real Emersons I had.
- Finally, the Horseman...I kept it for a few reasons. First, it is my favorite Emerson design, a truly awesome design. Second, it developed such terrible lockup that I would NEVER sell it to anyone. I consider it dangerous to use. I bought this thing brand new and used it to open a few boxes. I tried to disassemble it several times to see if I could reassemble it to make it better. No dice. I will likely send it to Emerson to have them look at it but I just keep forgetting to do it. It doesn't really matter because I won't sell it and probably won't use it even if they can fix it.
I really like my ZT 0630 Emerson collaboration. It's close to a CQC-8 but it's not the same. I want the actual Emerson designs I just want them built in a quality way.
I think these ZT 0200s are exactly how an Emerson should be made.
If ZT builds them, I am confident buyers will come.
RANT OFF
