Cqc-7a

[Alberta Ed]

Recently I reviewed a neat little Emerson-Kershaw CQC-8K, a great collaboration with Ernie’s trademark chisel grind tanto blade. I had wanted to try a genuine Emerson, but couldn’t bring myself to shell out $200+ for a blade with 154CM steel. Until now, anyway. Came into a little bit of pre-Christmas cash, and by some miraculous coincidence, discovered Blades Canada, a Vancouver outfit that carries a full selection of Emersons, at very good prices. Rather amazing, considering the Loonie is now at around 86 cents US. So I bit the bullet and ordered a CQC-7A, non-serrated, satin finish, no wave. The wave on the little Kershaw works great, a little too great, in fact, having found myself with a razor sharp chisel blade open right out of the pocket a few times. Disconcerting, plus the sheeple screams hurt my ears. It now lives in the car door side pocket where it can be easily accessed to cut a seatbelt, say, or dismember a Buick. Anyway, great service, the CQC-7A arrived in three days, which is pretty amazing considering Canada Post’s reputation of charging only 10 cents for delivery but 90 cents for storage.

First impressions: the CQC-7A is all business. No frills, just function. This is a solid little piece. It’s smaller than I envisioned. Opens as smoothly and locks as solidly as my Sebbie, which sounds like heresy, I know. No wobble. The G10 scales are nowhere near as abrasive as on my old Buck/Strider but provide an excellent grip. It is a little thinner than the Grippie, but feels heavier in the hand, though they both weigh about 3.8 oz.

The chisel grind on the V blade is a bit odd, but that’s Emerson for you, and I guess he’s got his reasons. I plan to hone it into a true V edge over time, but I’ll play with the chisel grind in the meanwhile to see if I change my mind. It came sharp, but not shaving sharp. Three minutes on the DMTs fixed that. It's now hair popping sharp.

The verdict? This one’s going to see a lot of pocket time. And open a lot of Christmas presents.

 

[dalefuller]

I love my 7AW. It's very easy to work with and maintain. I didn't like the feel of the handle in the beginning, but I'm warming up to it.

 

[longbow]

I think the 7a might be the best design EKI has come up with. Not a chisel grind though. It is a convential V grind sharpened on one side only. The B models are usually chisel ground you know flat on one side ground on the other to an edge. Just another note here, he doesn't call his tanto point a tanto point, he meant it as a guillotine point modeled after the guillotine of course. Just some fun facts about EKI's. keepem sharp

PS I think the other design EKI came up with that is SUPERB as an all arounder is the CQC11. The Emerson "Butcher" knife. A bit on the large size but again like I said good for about everything you would want to use a folder for. Pretty rare to boot.

 

[flarp]

First impressions: the CQC-7A is all business. No frills, just function.

That was my impression as well. The CQC-7 epitomizes a purely functional, hard-use knife. Emerson's tanto grind is pretty wicked on these - nice hard angles, and a good amount of thickness throughout the blade.