CQC 8 vs Contego

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kwik9

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Nov 16, 2009
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Has there been any threads comparing the Emerson cqc 8 and the Benchmade 810 Contego? They seem similar enough to warrant a comparison. Anybody own both knives that can help a brother out?
 
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I have both, the only thing these blades have in common is the reverse tanto blade, other than that one has cpm m4 and is jimped to hell(I love it though), and has an axis lock, other is 154cm emerson ergos, and is a liner lock, I carry my contego alot, my cqc-8 is sitting in the box, haven't carried it in months, The contego also has a glass breaker where the cqc-8 doesn't. I told a friend of mine on here the contego is everything the cqc-8 isn't, What i mean is the cqc-8 is a great design and a great knife, But benchmade took the blade shape added a really good steel jimped it to hell and back and put a glass breaker on it. I love emersons I mean love them, BUT gotta give credit where credit is due IMHO the contego is a better knife all around. The only thing I don't like about the contego is the pocket clip, it's a low rider same clip that is on the 275 i believe, I had to take some pliers and bend it a little to get the right amount of tension on it, but when you grip the contego you can feel the pocket clip move, It kinda feels cheap, I wish benchmade would've either put the same clip as the 710 or griptillian or even the "arrow clip". It's not a deal breaker by any means but It's my only gripe about the 810.
 
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Yes, I was aware of the lock difference and steel difference. The feel and use difference is what I was wondering about.
Thanks Allen, I appreciate the help. I love Emerson knives as well, but on paper the Benchmade seems to be the better knife. Anybody else own both?
 
Oh ok I'll jump in on that one too, the emerson handle is more comfortable in your bare hands, the jimping on the contego will eat your hands up if you plan on using it for a long period of time, I put it through it's paces when i got it just to see how well it held an edge, and I had to grab some gloves. I don't have girl hands either I've done manual labor my whole life and my hands are pretty tough but the contego still started hurting my hands after about 5 minutes of cutting. I sanded down the g-10 a little and it helped some but the hot spots for me came from all the jimping in the liners not the g-10
 
kwik9 said:
Anybody else own both?
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Me. In terms of cutting stuff, they are functionally pretty similar. But the Contego is just more refined in my view. Smoother opening, different lock, lots more jimping and G10 contouring (too much, actually), low rider clip, glass breaker, etc. Nothing wrong at all with the the CQC-8, and I've been thinking about adding a Super CQC-8 (but they are very spendy). But as between the the CQC-8 and Contego, they are just different knives that function similarly - but the Contego is just more refined. Thats about the best I can put it. I did a little look at the Contego here: link. I agree with Allen that the Contego is rough on the hands, even after sanding the G10.
 
Allen R. said:
I wish benchmade would've either put the same clip as the 710 or griptillian or even the "arrow clip". It's not a deal breaker by any means but It's my only gripe about the 810.
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I agree!! Low rider clips have their place I guess but they seem ill suited for the Contego and especially the Adamas.
 
Thanks powernoodle, I have read your thread on the 810 and enjoyed it very much. I appreciate your feedback.
 
Allen R. said:
Oh ok I'll jump in on that one too, the emerson handle is more comfortable in your bare hands, the jimping on the contego will eat your hands up if you plan on using it for a long period of time, I put it through it's paces when i got it just to see how well it held an edge, and I had to grab some gloves. I don't have girl hands either I've done manual labor my whole life and my hands are pretty tough but the contego still started hurting my hands after about 5 minutes of cutting. I sanded down the g-10 a little and it helped some but the hot spots for me came from all the jimping in the liners not the g-10
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Thanks again Allen, for the input and the pics!
 
Regarding the glass-breaker not being on the Emersons, I've noticed that when the blade is closed you have an angled area of tang sticking out past the scales. Wouldn't this work for a glass-breaker?
 
I like the Contego better. It's not going to slip out of your hand, it's quite abrasive. It's really nice though.
 
I was thinkin of doing it with the cqc-8 it sits lower in the handle with would be less metal to be removed, I definitely want a double edged reverse tanto, straight up bad ass blade CM glad you diggin my idea too, OP sorry for hijacking your thread me and CM been talking about double edging either the contego or the 8.
 
Allen R. said:
I was thinkin of doing it with the cqc-8 it sits lower in the handle with would be less metal to be removed, I definitely want a double edged reverse tanto, straight up bad ass blade CM glad you diggin my idea too, OP sorry for hijacking your thread me and CM been talking about double edging either the contego or the 8.
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No problem, sounds like a cool idea.
 
Allen R. said:
The only thing I don't like about the contego is the pocket clip, it's a low rider same clip that is on the 275 i believe, I had to take some pliers and bend it a little to get the right amount of tension on it, but when you grip the contego you can feel the pocket clip move, It kinda feels cheap, I wish benchmade would've either put the same clip as the 710 or griptillian or even the "arrow clip". It's not a deal breaker by any means but It's my only gripe about the 810.
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You can call up Benchmade and ask for a standard or arrow clip and they'll mail a couple to you, free of charge.

Allen R. said:
Oh ok I'll jump in on that one too, the emerson handle is more comfortable in your bare hands, the jimping on the contego will eat your hands up if you plan on using it for a long period of time, I put it through it's paces when i got it just to see how well it held an edge, and I had to grab some gloves. I don't have girl hands either I've done manual labor my whole life and my hands are pretty tough but the contego still started hurting my hands after about 5 minutes of cutting. I sanded down the g-10 a little and it helped some but the hot spots for me came from all the jimping in the liners not the g-10
Click to expand...
Benchmade has since toned down the jimping on the liners a little bit, so it shouldn't pose as much of an issue now.
 
VolundoftheForge said:
Regarding the glass-breaker not being on the Emersons, I've noticed that when the blade is closed you have an angled area of tang sticking out past the scales. Wouldn't this work for a glass-breaker?
Click to expand...

I was wondering this as well when I was looking at my horseman the other day.
 
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