Couldn’t decide between Emerson cqc7 and southern grind bad monkey so I got both. One has to go back. Need help to decide on my first “quality” knife.

King of the Cheese said:
If he was some fat guy named “Joe Blow”, and not Ernie Emerson, you’d never buy the knives and probably would criticize them just like me.
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For blues sake, I’ll have my last word to sum it up.

I’m no Ernie fan, didn’t know anything about who he was till after I bought his knives and still don’t know much about him. I would assume very few if any some how become an Ernie fan and then go, oh, he makes knives, I should buy some. That particular argument is ridiculous.

Anytime anyone mentions Emerson the haters are quick to come out. I don’t get it. Again, there’s knives that are mentioned that I don’t like for one reason or another and I just don’t have anything to say.

But to each their own, if you don’t like them then don’t buy them but I don’t see the point in trying to convince others not to like them.
 
HexY3co said:
It is a lot of money to me as well that is why I make informed purchases and do not inconvenience individuals or businesses in the buying process. They all have overhead that determines how they pay their employees, themselves and all their bills and it's not fair to make them absorb and lose margins on buyer remorse or indecision.
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If you pay MAP prices , I see no problem with returns for ANY reasonable concern . Their markup is "heathy" . No brick and mortar overhead for internet sales .

If you are sincerely interested in buying the knife , not just playing around .

I expect that most dealers would rather accept some returns , then have no sales from a customer .

Huge and successful online retailers, like Amazon and Ebay, go to great lengths to encourage sales by emphasizing easy /free returns .
 
HexY3co said:
It is a lot of money to me as well that is why I make informed purchases and do not inconvenience individuals or businesses in the buying process. They all have overhead that determines how they pay their employees, themselves and all their bills and it's not fair to make them absorb and lose margins on buyer remorse or indecision.
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That would make sense if they were losing money but they’re not. They receive the knife back in the same exact condition it was sent in. And it’s not buyers remorse, it’s not liking something like you thought you would like. This is only time I’ve done that so relax pal.
 
HexY3co said:
So if you don't use them how do you know you will like them? Just by looking at them? Dealers don't have big margins like some may believe and a return can cost them the majority of the margin in the process so they may just break even on a return resell. They have overhead like any business, returns absorb their margins. It's too late but don't be that guy that justifies buying and returning.
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It’s about getting the knife in your hand.. the ergos, size and shape, smoothness and craftsmanship, many many things you can’t get a good feel of from a picture. I don’t think the eBay guy who has 8000 knives listed is gonna be too hurt:
 
King of the Cheese said:
Emerson makes mediocre knives that seem amazing due to their cult-like following. I think the fit and finish of the SG knives is “better”, but after getting sold and being a small company, who knows how long they will be around. Personally I prefer the SG because the G10 on Emerson’s is like sandpaper, and I don’t care for chisel ground 154cm.

Have you considered a spider monkey? That’s my SG knife of choice.
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Yes I like it a lot! Just a bit small imo
 
Kettleman said:
Until I read that I was I was going to say wake up and small the roses my man. You have already spent Inkosi money, get rid of both and move up.

However that post has two points that will stop you from coming to the dark side and both originate from the same concern…


The Lady

1. Returning one takes my play out of the book.

2. Buying your first CRK will never be your “last knife purchase for a while”

Be a smart man and listen to the lady. They tend to be correct.
What the majority of us CRK guys have in common is ladies that have come to terms with being married to an idiot.


Oh and go with the Emerson. You will not break it.
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Funny you say that because I had that exact thought just a bit ago. Sell both and get a CRK: as you said and I’ve heard, they are addictive though lol. Any good models around 3.7” that are “tough” you would recommend?
 
mitchnola said:
I get the qc issues and less than premium materials. On the qc issues if there’s any problems they will cover it under warranty. Sure it’s a pain in the ass but they don’t leave you out to dry.

On the premium materials, only the blade steel can be considered less than premium but still a great steel that was the standard at one time. I see nothing wrong with g10 and titanium liners? Also, personally I think g10 is the best handlematerial when it comes to functionality.

On fit n finish I don’t see any problems with mine and would like to hear what the complaints are?

When buying an Emerson your getting excellent designed blades with beautiful grinds. Your getting some of if not the best ergonomic handles in the business. And the wave feature stands alone in deployment innovations. Your getting a nearly indestructible knife that’s easily repairable if ever necessary and very easily maintained.

People love to hate Emersons and complain about the negatives but completely disregard and ignore the positives. Imo of course.
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Well I will say I agree with you. And I was willing to put the downsides aside and get it anyway. I like it even though it’s a little small. But the biggest thing I’m worried about now is that when I use the wave feature to open, even fairly lightly, the lock touches the opposite liner and takes two thumbs pushing hard to close. Is that normal?
 
shinyedges said:
I feel you on this, but in my humble opinion.. the negatives out weigh the positives.

Cons:
1.Price for what you get
2.Locks that wear very fast when waved as the knife is marketed to wave.
3.Rougher fit and finish than it's competitors
4.Left hand chisel grinds for right handed people (even on v ground models it's a chisel edge)
5.Low edge retention due to soft heat treat
6. Soft body screws
7. Destroys clothing lol*

Pros

1. Ergos
2. Grippy g10 lol*
3. Blade that can be dinged recklessly into things because it's soft
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Yes one thing I noticed already is that when I wave the knife even lightly the lock touches the opposite liner and takes two thumbs pushing very hard to close it
 
gooeytek said:
Don't get me wrong, I dig the designs and ergonomics but that's where it ends. That said, I have lots of Emersons but every single one of them has been modded and customized to what I think they should be.

Old pic, but these are some that have had framelock conversions, for example (I still have a couple that have remained linerlocks):


View attachment 2318924
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Where the heck did u get that conversion done? I would love that
 
shinyedges said:
Of the 3 or 5 emersons I've had, waving them open fast pushed the liner deeper towards the other side and caused it to be very difficult to disengage repeating this is what leads to accelerated wearing of the liners. Yes they will replace it if you send it in, but why? I used ZT emersons for years and never had that issue.

Fit and finish issues? Compare a real emerson to the zt emersons of which I've had multiples of every model for 7 or 8 years. Quality of machining, smoothness of edges, blade centering, finishing of surfaces inside.

Soft screws have been documented here for idk how long.


Now, I've had these conversations about emersons many many times on this forum going back. People who love them, love them. Despite the facts above. Which is cool. Not everyone has to like the same things. It just ticks all the right boxes for some folks.

Hell, even I like the designs and ergos on many of the knives he puts out. I don't care for ernie for several well documented and discussed reasons and I don't find the knives worth the price because I can make any knife wave. To each his own.
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Love those ZT Emerson’s! To bad they are impossible to find . And also I’m already having that problem after owning the knife for 18 hours. When I wave it open the lock touches opposite liner and takes two thumbs pushing hard to disengage it. Makes me second guess owning it
 
Smiffman said:
Funny you say that because I had that exact thought just a bit ago. Sell both and get a CRK: as you said and I’ve heard, they are addictive though lol. Any good models around 3.7” that are “tough” you would recommend?
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Umnumzaan and Inkosi both 3.6 and tough as nails. Hell the Sebenza is thought then most will need and also 3.6. I use them all at work daily.
 
King of the Cheese said:
Ernie is lucky, honestly. His business model only works due to the fanboy support. Imagine if Benchmade or Spyderco made all their knives in chisel ground 154cm and 95% of them in sandpaper black G10? I’m not hating on the dude, but those conditions would not be a recipe for success anywhere else. His following and customs have created a perfect storm.
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Based upon that logic (and general dismissal of anything other than specifications) Harley-Davidson should have been out of business 60 years ago. Different tastes are a real thing.
 
Smiffman said:
Well I will say I agree with you. And I was willing to put the downsides aside and get it anyway. I like it even though it’s a little small. But the biggest thing I’m worried about now is that when I use the wave feature to open, even fairly lightly, the lock touches the opposite liner and takes two thumbs pushing hard to close. Is that normal?
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Yea, as admitted, there qc is sub par at best. That seems to be a common problem considering 30% of mine have that issue. However none of mind are actually off the blade tang so I personally don’t consider it a safety thing and it just hasn’t bothered me enough to send in. I spoke with them at bladeshow and they will warranty it. Agreed it’s a pain in the ass though.

As far as the lock stick, it was on every one I had. You can use a pencil or sharpie where the lock touches the blade to help temporarily. Once broken in though none of mine have lock stick no matter how hard you open them and the lock will settle in a spot and stay there.
 
Smiffman said:
I will look into them thanks! Will probably be hard to use an expensive like that at first haha. Every scratch probably hurts to see
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I will tell you this. If you want to try one and done with CRK. I’ll recommend ( as will others) the large Inkosi Insingo. It’s as tough as you can expect a folder to be and is slim fairly light and carry’s very well.
If I were to ever go back to just one knife it would be the Large PJ Inkosi Insingo.
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Officer's Match said:
Based upon that logic (and general dismissal of anything other than specifications) Harley-Davidson should have been out of business 60 years ago. Different tastes are a real thing.
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I mean, I agree on the HD thing.. and I don’t really need to care about “taste” when we are talking about what makes a good knife. It’s a pocket knife, not a $25,000 motorcycle. The average citizen won’t be staring in awe as you walk by with “EMERSON” on the pocket clip.
 
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