- Joined
- Feb 16, 2001
- Messages
- 1,015
Oh my god... what a headache these chinese copies are.*
Let me give you some background info first. I have been on/off these forums the last ten years, so I am not always up to date with the latest knife news. But sometimes I happen to have a few bucks towards sharp stuff.
I have owned a 2000 something Emerson Commander. Sold it and got a 98 Commander that I later traded. So you could say I am not a newbie regarding EKI. Well, I had some free time this summer so I thought I would get back into Emerson knives. Great ergonomics and cool design. *I also had time to "break it in" so let's move to the ordering phase.*
I went to Ebay looking for Emersons and found a model with a CQC7 blade and a Commander type handle. I thought "cool, tanto and great ergonomics in one package" and didn't read all the "yadda-yadda-legalese" stuff. Something that would come back and haunt me.
First clue something was wrong - the price. Less than 40 bucks for an Emerson? Oh, must be a mistake. Maybe a zero disappeared somewhere in the transaction. After all, the knife had a framelock.
Imagine my surprise when it arrived at my doorstep less than two weeks later.*
Opened the package and... Oh no. So that was why it was so cheap - they could't even get the name straight on the box: "Emerson" followed by another big name in the knife industry. You have probably guessed it by now.
A chinese knock-off.*
Why oh why didn't I read the description on Ebay? I am in such a hurry sometimes. Well I'll open it anyway and check it out. I have never bought a knock-off so this could be educational, I thought.*
I open the box and find that at least the knife looks like the one pictured on Ebay. Tanto, wave, Emerson skull clip (used to be an optional extra in the beginning of 2000, pfft don't over do it if you want to get away with it), frame lock (seems to be some kind of metal - pewter?), g10 like scale on one side (doesn't feel different from the real stuff - probably cheap plastic). Talk about overkill knock off. They took all the good design elements (skull clip, frame lock, low price) and crammed them into one knife. Nice try. Won't fool me (well it did, in a way. Nevermind let's move on).*
I proceeded to inspect the knife a bit closer to find the clues that it is in fact a copy. *All the screws are black without any marks. Must have been painted with some kind of enamel paint after it was assembled. Ah, found a nice try to make it more like an original. One clip screw needs tightening about a quarter turn, someone did their homework in that sweat shop. Weird, the screw didn't scratch (must be a thick layer of enamel).
Otherwise the knife looks too "finished". You Emerson affeciniados know what I mean. My chinese knife didn't need any adjustments (or "making it your own") like the original usually needs; blade a bit off-center, lock-up a bit too much on one side or the other, gritty pivot pin and maybe a clip screw or screw hole that may need warranty repair. All the stuff that gives it that serious tool feeling. This copy had none of these endearing traits. Lets see how gritty my copy is.*
I open it and... Hrmhpf. I close it and open it again. Yes, my first try confirmed. It is smooth right out of the box. As a previous owner of the real thing, I mentioned this earlier and as you knife-nuts know, a real Emerson need to be broken in. This one was too smooth. I tried the wave and it worked a little too well. Too smooth. I don't think this knife is safe. It opens up too fast. I will probably only open it with the thumb disc from now on.*
Lock-up is quite good I have to admit. No blade play. This only confirms the brilliant engineering decision behind Emerson knives design to use the time tried liner lock. A lock that even a village shop (obviously) can make. A simple but sturdy lock worthy a tool knife. It locks up about 25% of the frame, but then how hard can it be working with (supposedly) pewter?
The blade was sharp but (insert condescending laugh here) a V-grind! Come on. This is a dead give-away. Everyone knows that an Emerson has a chisel grind.
Overall a nice try, but they tried too hard. It is like they went through an EKI knife catalog, picked out the best features and crammed them into one knife.
I am guessing that the next step is to produce and sell a larger version. Maybe with a plastic scale resembling something fancier than G10, like Carbon fiber. And why not mark the blade with ATS34 or some powder steel like M390...
Anyone else out there fallen for these chinese knock-offs?
Let me give you some background info first. I have been on/off these forums the last ten years, so I am not always up to date with the latest knife news. But sometimes I happen to have a few bucks towards sharp stuff.
I have owned a 2000 something Emerson Commander. Sold it and got a 98 Commander that I later traded. So you could say I am not a newbie regarding EKI. Well, I had some free time this summer so I thought I would get back into Emerson knives. Great ergonomics and cool design. *I also had time to "break it in" so let's move to the ordering phase.*
I went to Ebay looking for Emersons and found a model with a CQC7 blade and a Commander type handle. I thought "cool, tanto and great ergonomics in one package" and didn't read all the "yadda-yadda-legalese" stuff. Something that would come back and haunt me.
First clue something was wrong - the price. Less than 40 bucks for an Emerson? Oh, must be a mistake. Maybe a zero disappeared somewhere in the transaction. After all, the knife had a framelock.
Imagine my surprise when it arrived at my doorstep less than two weeks later.*
Opened the package and... Oh no. So that was why it was so cheap - they could't even get the name straight on the box: "Emerson" followed by another big name in the knife industry. You have probably guessed it by now.
A chinese knock-off.*
Why oh why didn't I read the description on Ebay? I am in such a hurry sometimes. Well I'll open it anyway and check it out. I have never bought a knock-off so this could be educational, I thought.*
I open the box and find that at least the knife looks like the one pictured on Ebay. Tanto, wave, Emerson skull clip (used to be an optional extra in the beginning of 2000, pfft don't over do it if you want to get away with it), frame lock (seems to be some kind of metal - pewter?), g10 like scale on one side (doesn't feel different from the real stuff - probably cheap plastic). Talk about overkill knock off. They took all the good design elements (skull clip, frame lock, low price) and crammed them into one knife. Nice try. Won't fool me (well it did, in a way. Nevermind let's move on).*
I proceeded to inspect the knife a bit closer to find the clues that it is in fact a copy. *All the screws are black without any marks. Must have been painted with some kind of enamel paint after it was assembled. Ah, found a nice try to make it more like an original. One clip screw needs tightening about a quarter turn, someone did their homework in that sweat shop. Weird, the screw didn't scratch (must be a thick layer of enamel).
Otherwise the knife looks too "finished". You Emerson affeciniados know what I mean. My chinese knife didn't need any adjustments (or "making it your own") like the original usually needs; blade a bit off-center, lock-up a bit too much on one side or the other, gritty pivot pin and maybe a clip screw or screw hole that may need warranty repair. All the stuff that gives it that serious tool feeling. This copy had none of these endearing traits. Lets see how gritty my copy is.*
I open it and... Hrmhpf. I close it and open it again. Yes, my first try confirmed. It is smooth right out of the box. As a previous owner of the real thing, I mentioned this earlier and as you knife-nuts know, a real Emerson need to be broken in. This one was too smooth. I tried the wave and it worked a little too well. Too smooth. I don't think this knife is safe. It opens up too fast. I will probably only open it with the thumb disc from now on.*
Lock-up is quite good I have to admit. No blade play. This only confirms the brilliant engineering decision behind Emerson knives design to use the time tried liner lock. A lock that even a village shop (obviously) can make. A simple but sturdy lock worthy a tool knife. It locks up about 25% of the frame, but then how hard can it be working with (supposedly) pewter?
The blade was sharp but (insert condescending laugh here) a V-grind! Come on. This is a dead give-away. Everyone knows that an Emerson has a chisel grind.
Overall a nice try, but they tried too hard. It is like they went through an EKI knife catalog, picked out the best features and crammed them into one knife.
I am guessing that the next step is to produce and sell a larger version. Maybe with a plastic scale resembling something fancier than G10, like Carbon fiber. And why not mark the blade with ATS34 or some powder steel like M390...
Anyone else out there fallen for these chinese knock-offs?
