I used to carry a Benchmade 710 but at some point during a landscaping job it fell out of my back pocket and I could never find it. I decided after carrying my fathers extra Kershaw Blackout for a few weeks,I did not like carrying that knife, that I was going to buy a Spyderco military to replace my lost Benchmade. Over the weekend though i was at a gun shop I frequent and noticed they started carrying the brand Emerson and when i picked up one of the Commanders I loved it. It was so much more solid feeling than the Spyderco or Benchmade. I had a few questions before I bought it, how do yall feel about the Commander as an edc knife, does the black finish provide anymore protection than the regular finish, would you get the partially serrated or no serrated blade, and last where would you buy it online? I have heard there are a lot of fakes on the market so where would you go for the best price that has a good reputation? Thank you for your help
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Buying an Emerson Commander
- Thread starter gpewett
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The black coating isn't very good. I've worn out a bit of it around the wave opener, and I'm quite sure the only thing it ever rubbed against were my pocket liners. I would get one without serrations(mostly because I can't sharpen them). I like Emerson knives as they tend to be light for their size, though I'm not too crazy about how fast the lockbar moves to the other side. As for where to buy it, I got my 3 from eBay.
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I have 2 Emersons, a mini-CQC15 and a micro-Commander. I would also avoid serrations unless you've used them before and you know that you like them. Emerson's black coating will wear from the users I've seen, but the steel underneath is 154CM stainless so that shouldn't cause a lot of issues if you take care of the blade.
Mine are pretty new so I can't speak to the longevity of the lock, but they are both solid and early in their lockup. Be aware that Emerson puts a bit of an unusual grind on their blades. Even on their V-grinds, they only sharpen one side of the edge. You'll need to get used to how you maintain an edge like that. The Commander series is V-ground but sharpened only on the left side. Emerson's web site talks about how to sharpen this kind of edge. It seems really simple and so far I haven't had any issues keeping the mini-15 sharp enough to shave. If you use a Sharpmaker you should be able to keep it sharp with just one rod.
My biggest concern is the lock's long term reliability, but I knew that going in. I wanted to try one for myself and see how well it holds up to my uses rather than relying on everyone else's experiences. I like everything else about both knives. I'm carrying them for my large and small(er) EDC carries now instead of my Para and Sebenza. Time will tell how they do.
Mine are pretty new so I can't speak to the longevity of the lock, but they are both solid and early in their lockup. Be aware that Emerson puts a bit of an unusual grind on their blades. Even on their V-grinds, they only sharpen one side of the edge. You'll need to get used to how you maintain an edge like that. The Commander series is V-ground but sharpened only on the left side. Emerson's web site talks about how to sharpen this kind of edge. It seems really simple and so far I haven't had any issues keeping the mini-15 sharp enough to shave. If you use a Sharpmaker you should be able to keep it sharp with just one rod.
My biggest concern is the lock's long term reliability, but I knew that going in. I wanted to try one for myself and see how well it holds up to my uses rather than relying on everyone else's experiences. I like everything else about both knives. I'm carrying them for my large and small(er) EDC carries now instead of my Para and Sebenza. Time will tell how they do.
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I can't quite pin-point exactly why but it seems sort of, well, odd to say that when the manufacture offers their knife for MAP that it's higly marked up.
Perhaps it's just too early in the morning. Anyway, I went to everyone's favorite online auction site and checked some quick prices: It looks like one can
be had for around $200 before shipping. For what it's worth, businesses that offer that knife for that price are simply dealing in lost leaders.
Good luck
Perhaps it's just too early in the morning. Anyway, I went to everyone's favorite online auction site and checked some quick prices: It looks like one can
be had for around $200 before shipping. For what it's worth, businesses that offer that knife for that price are simply dealing in lost leaders.
Good luck
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1) Because Emerson has a different philosophy from what I'm used to about how liner locks are supposed to be manufactured and I don't have any personal user history with this design to know how dependable and long lasting it is
2) Because on the examples I've seen of Emersons that are several years old and have been well used, the lock bar side that actually moves and locks the blade has moved considerably from where it was reported to have started when just out of the box, indicating that these liner locks may wear more quickly than the design that I'm familiar with
The locking liner side is fairly thick compared to other LL that I've used. The thickness and materials don't concern me. It's simply that I'm unfamiliar with a LL designed the way Emerson does his and anything new to me, especially if it's different than what I'm used to, is going to be suspect until it proves itself... which I'm giving it a chance to do.
I don't know which model you're looking for, but my mini-15 was less than $150 from a local B&M and the micro-Com was about $180 with shipping from an online dealer. I don't buy from ebay myself, but if you shop around at the usual reputable online dealers, you should be able to get a pretty good deal (for an Emerson).
The gun shop I frequent has the model I want but not the blade. I have never bought a knife that wasn't from the manufacturer so I am not very familiar with retail stores and which ones to avoid. For example a simple google search brings up Emerson's wbsite which is selling them for 239 while the website right below them Knifecenter.com is selling them for 184 which is a $55 difference. Is this website reputable and if not what website exactly would you recommend not only for this knife purchase but for future ones?
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There are several of them that are good and probably just as honest, friendly, and helpful as the local store. When I do a Google search for Emerson Commander, the first 4 or 5 stores that pull up are all known to be good ones. If you can't find the store ever mentioned on bladeforums and you browse their site noticing that hardly any knives are in stock then it's probably not the best choice.
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the commander is a great knife (own 2 personally). i would suggest going for the stonewash finish since the black coating wears off quite fast and dont offer that much more protection....(usually ppl who guy black blades for the purpose of reducing light reflection or just to look cool). i would go for plain edge on the commander since it has a recurve which gives u plenty of power when cutting...serrations are not that useful in this case... thats my take =)
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...I sharpen them on my Spyderco Sharpmaker followed by a bit of leather and compound stropping.
Do you do both the sharpened and the unsharpened side of the blade, or just the sharpened side? Do you use just a Sharpmaker rod and do it freehand, or do you actually use the Sharpmaker and the base? If so, it looks to me like the 30 deg slots would be the best choice.
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm married to a Sharpmaker and a plain leather strop (no compound of any kind) and I'm new to Emersons... just tryin' to learn...