Can someone tell me about Emerson knives?

M

MODkevin

Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
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I am new here and not knowledgable about knives at all. I am an avid gunner and am starting to pick up an interest in knives. I have a MOD Mark II auto that I can't carry b/c of laws. I just got a spyderco delica4 wave that I like (but doesn't give me that warm feeling like my MOD gives me). At the last gun show, I asked the knife guy about the wave feature and the first thing he mentioned was Emerson (though he didn't have any) and then showed me the spyderco. This weekend, the girlfriend and I were at the beach and we went into a really nice knife shop owned by a very helpful (good salesperson) man who showed us the emerson knives and talked a little about how the wave feature works a little better on the emerson than the spyderco. Well, after staring at the mini commander with lust, the gf bought it for me. Wooohooo can't wait to get my hands on it!!! Problem is, I have to wait till my birthday in January. If I follow my normal pattern, I will eventually be taking a knife fighting or self defense class. I enjoy going to pistol and rifle classes, so the next logical step will be learning to use a knife the correct way. Anyway, can someone tell me a little about what I will be getting and please don't tell me I have a not so good knife . Thanks
 
In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, the salesman did tell you one untruth. The Spyderco version of the wave feature works better (more reliably) than the Emerson version. Note that this is based on one of the earlier Emerson Waved CQC6 models, not your Mini-Commander. In spite of being a liner lock and therefore easier to flip open than the lockback Spyderco, I still got occasional deployment failures when I carried it.

Emerson may have made improvements since I bought mine, but I can't see them by looking at pictures on the internet. Sal definitely made improvements when he made his version of the feature.

My Emerson knives are sturdy and reliable, but the chisel ground edges drove me to benching the lot of them. I'll never buy another chisel ground knife as long as I live.
 
Emerson calls their stuff hard use knives because they will stand up to very hard use and it sounds good. I got one of the Emerson commanders when they came out and still have it, it is faster than any auto if both are drawn from your pocket, if you already have it in your hand it is about even as a flick of the wrist will bring the blade out , the commander is 154cm wich take and holds a very sharp edge and is only sharpened on one side. I use a spyderco sharpmaker to do mine. Be very careful when you are learning to use it or letting someone else try it and all your friends will want to if they see you present it a couple of times ,myself and several buddies have scars to prove it. I still carry it some but it is a bit large for dress slacks so I carry a smaller benchmade auto most of the time but the commander will outcut just about anything I have ever tried..Enjoy ,be careful.
 
Emersons are sturdy knives. But yeah, that chisel ground edge is a bear. I like em though, they are tough hombres.A working mans knife.Another thing that emersons do that kinda bugs is they eat pockets.at least mine do. I can tell which pair of jeans I wore last while carrying my CQC7. Hey, You were in Gulf Shores Alabama? St Nicks in Foley?
 
If you like the Mark II you will do fine with the Mini Commander.

About the chisel grind on Emerson knives: there are two kinds. A true, full chisel grind means the knife is only sharpened on one side of the blade, with the other side left unground. This is how Emerson does many of his knives.

On some other Emerson knives, he has a v-grind, that is, both sides have a primary bevel. But he only puts his secondary bevel on one side.

The only real problem with this is, he puts the chisel grind on the left side. Ideally, for slicing control, it should be on the strong side, which for most of us is the right side. His way, the blade has a tendency to curve off away from the chisel ground side.

On a slash, it's not noticeable. Most of us don't slash our sandwiches or cardboard cartons or other utility subjects of our edged tools, though. :)
 
ive posted this in the eki forum and elsewhere, but thats ok.

i have been an emerson buyer/carrier for a few years. i love the 7, and have 13, psark, and i recently lost my combat karambit. :(

i got the chance to meet ernie at last years plaza cutlery knife show. i, and many others, had a few questions about knives, self defense, etc.

he spent about 30 (maybe more) minutes talking to me. gave me his undivided attention, for the most part. he not only answered my questions, but asked some of his own, and engaged in the conversation. all the while about 50 people standing around his table. i talked to a couple guys afterwards, and they said the same thing. he loves his customers, and shows it.

i buy the company as much as i buy the product. perhaps my opinions about his knives are biased, because of my opinions about the man. but i believe eki knives are worth every penny, and he has a life long customer.
 
Carried a CQC-7 while in the Army and it did all the jobs I asked of it. My EDC now is a CQC-12. When I go out running I carry a LaGriffe. My only complaint with Emerson knives is that I cannot sharpen the V-Grind & Chisel-Grind as well as I can a traditional grind.

Additionally Mr. Emerson is a gentleman and very interesting to talk to.
 
I bought a CQC7BW last week and think it's great. Planning on a CQC10 :cool:

I haven't tried sharpening it yet, hope it's not a nightmare scenario like some have reported...

I'm sure he's a great person with a great company, but one thing that kind of irks me is the hyperbole in the catalog:

The CQC-7B is by far the most sought after folding knife of all time... that has become the standard by which all hard-use folding knives are now judged. This is the knife that revolutionized the entire cutlery industry.

Really? :confused:
 
I feel the Spyderco Wave is the easiest on pockets, the easiest to work successfully and more reliably and certainly the smoothest over any other Waves you can buy. Seriously without telling you anything more than what I've seen in use of most all that is available and from doing my own Waves for folks (with Ernest Emerson's blessings I might add) it seems to me that any user regardless of experience is more likely to get the 80 or 90% open type actions when using the Wave more frequently with the Emersons than the Spydercos and this is more true when they are new too. After the Emerson breaks in I think it will improve but that can take a while depending on how you use it. If you want the smoothest action new out of the box I have yet to see any Emerson that compares to the Spyderco models I've used.

Emersons are typically gritty feeling in the pivot and even stiff when new based on my experiences. My last three have been just horrible from them. I like em fine and have several but that is what I see. This is also why many folks prefer to buy used Emersons that have been broken in good too. Heck I'm one of them. I also see a heck of a lot of Emerson folks knives for pocket clips, or south paw conversions and am surprised at the number of them that have sloppy loose pivot pins with blades that have lots of lateral blade play. When I've inquired about this in the past with a few of them I learned they did this on purpose so it would work easier when they opened it with the Wave. So in that regard if the owner of that store wants to tell you its easier with the Emerson I'd like to know what he is using because I haven't seen it. I'd suggest seeing how much blade play his own knife has in the pivot and see if you can live with it that way.

I'd also suggest the Endura 4 with the Wave; as its my favorite Waved factory model hands down. The only Emerson Wave I've used that I'd say is up there with the Waved Endura for ease and successful deployment is the Emerson M-Wave and I doubt your dealer friend will have one. However the CQC10, and the Mini Commander and Commander models have Waves that work fairly well but they are still much harder on pockets than the Endura will ever be in my opinion. Honestly I don't know what the dealer is seeing. I'd like to though. I've thought to myself that the only way Ernie can compete with the action of the Waved Spydercos would be to start Waving his own Hard Wear lockback line up of knives.

And speaking of lockbacks again. Above and beyond all this Wave talk there is one other thing to consider in the knives you are looking at and thats how much you value your fingers. It may be true that I favor lockbacks anyway but in truth the Endura 4 lock is much more reliable than the liner lock from EKI. There are posts in the EKI forum right now about new knives from EKI and the problems with defeated lock ups among other type problems with them. I personally feel the quality control has gone down hill bad over at EKI. I hate to say it but it seems to me Ernie is away so much focused on other things like Guitars, and Military and LEO training that his team at the store making knives is dropping the ball all over the place. Some others have suggested he is spreading himself too thin by having his fingers in too many baskets.

If you go Emerson I'd strongly suggest buying the knife in person so you can play with them and find one that works and functions like you hope for.

STR
 
mikesae said:
The CQC-7B is by far the most sought after folding knife of all time... that has become the standard by which all hard-use folding knives are now judged. This is the knife that revolutionized the entire cutlery industry.

Really? :confused:
Click to expand...

ernie first designed the 7 for benchmade, which produced several models in differing blade lengths, finishes, edges, and one in titanium/carbide, in the mid to late 90's.

it was among the first, if not the first, to introduce the term "tactical" to the industry, though it is currently a term that is grossly overused.

many, including me, consider it to be the first true "combat folder". liner locks may have been in use at the time, but the 7 was the first i had ever seen, and it was widely available. every folder i owned was a lockback or a slipjoint prior to this.
 
I have carried a commander for 2+ years, it is IMO the best knife i own right next to my CQC-8. the pocket wear problem is only in the begining once the G-10 scales wear in and you give a little bend to the pocket clip its all good. I really like the single grind and have no problem sharpening it, plus it gets really sharp. this knife will take everything you can throw at right to the point you think its going to break but it will just keep going.
 
If you use the Sharpmaker to maintain the edge on an Emerson, chisel or v-grind-with-a-chisel-edge, it will gradually approximate a "normal" v-grind.

But I find it easy to use a benchstone on a chisel grind, keeping that particularly effective slashing edge.

As I understand the sequence, Bob Lum first popularized a specialized Japanese blade tip as the Americanized tanto. Cold Steel made a succes of it with a hollow v-grind, which they still use. Ernie Emerson turned it into a chisel ground tactical, that is, a combat zone hard use slashing prybar and had several models made by Benchmade while he was setting up his own manufacturing company. Benchmade and then others continued with a variety of similar bladeforms.
 
I have carried EKI's for a long time and only recenly have started carrying others. For ergo's the Commander series is superb at least for me. I have no problem sharpening the chisel ground edge either. All this being said I do think there are much better knives out there for edc/s.d. The BM 710 being one of them. I also like the MOD/MT line better too. I could go into the reasons etc. but would take to long here.

EKI's are good knives, you can take them apart and not void any warranty issue with them also EKI's warranty service is second to none. All good points. My particular favorite of the EKI line is the CQC 11. Like it even better than the Commander but the ergo's aren't as good for me but I like the blade shape much better. keepem sharp
 
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