doubts about Commander

Joined
Dec 3, 2000
Messages
3,002
howdy ya'll! had a question for ya', and I promise, I'm not trying to slander or badmouth needlessly, but I am being candid in my perceptions...so here goes...in early December I had a couple extra bucks, and bought a Commander on a whim. there were LOTS of things I liked about it, I loved the blade design, the comfortable handle, the "Wave" feature (of course) the materials put into it, the fact that it could be adjusted with simple, everyday hand tools, etc. all in all very striking, and rugged looking. after about a week I noticed it did have flaws....the lock was very weak, I could smack the top of the blade and it would fold, keeping an appropriate amount of tension on the blade was a constant task of re-tightening and loosening the blade screw (maybe Loc-Tite coulda done some good there) and I actually started to HATE the chisel ground blade (which I realize is just a matter of preference) thing is, it had enough good features to make me tempted to try buying another one, I already met a couple of folks that said they could do something about the chisel grind for me, was my knife just somehow extraordinarily the bad apple of the bunch, or have other folks had similar experiences? I normally shy away from a product altogether when I've experienced a disappointment, but man! that knife really had a lot of good features! anybody care to share their own experiences? Any input is appreciated!
 
Originally posted by Runs With Scissors:
[ there were LOTS of things I liked about it, I loved the blade design, the comfortable handle, the "Wave" feature (of course) the materials put into it, the fact that it could be adjusted with simple, everyday hand tools, etc. all in all very striking, and rugged looking. after about a week I noticed it did have flaws ...
_________________________________________

Ditto here with the positive likes, and ditto with some of the negatives, except I didn't need a week. The finish overall was really poor. Parts mating was amateur. The lock seems less than par and embarrassing for a "tough use" knife. I really don't use it that much and certainly not that hard. I got a CRK&T M-16 for about 25% of the price and it has some better attributes in the fit and finish department.
 
Runs -

OK. I haven't been her too long, but in my time I've seen more than a few posts about bad Commanders. Now, to be honest, I haven't had a problem. I own two (for now) Emersons - a 2000 Commander and a Green-T SOCFK. I bought both of them "blind" (the Commander off eBay, and the SOFCK from Extreme Outfitters in VA), so I didn't get a chance to compare them to any others. But, Like I said, they're both perfect. I've seen complaints about blades not being centered - both mine are dead down the middle. I've also seen complaints about the liner locks. Again, both of mine lock up nice and tight, there's no blade play, and it takes a pretty good push with my thumb to get the lock to break from the blade (with a pretty audible "click") Most of the Suspects here will tell you similar stories - i.e., no problems. Now, personally, I think you may have gotten a bad apple. If your "gunshy" about another Commander, try a different Emerson - the SOCFK is a great knife, as is the CQC7, Mach-1... hell, ALL Ernie's knives are great!
biggrin.gif
My advice would be to find a store that sells more than one model, and try them all out. Test out the things you found wrong on the Commander on the other models. I'll bet you find more than one that fit the bill. And, if you're feeling daring, try a different Commander! I'd be sirprised if it let you down. Good luck!!

Chris
 
Runs, if you have a problem with the knife, you should send it back to Emerson. According to many manufacturers, they "hear" about problems with their knives, but they aren't getting that many back. So, to them, there isn't a major problem. It's just an occasional fluke. Without the defective products coming back for an actual count, the problems remain as rumored and not substantiated.

I have had a few Commanders. Two had problems. I was going to send them back, but I had a couple of people who didn't mind the problems and wanted them badly. So, I sold them.

------------------
If ignorance is bliss,
why aren't more people happy?
 
See my post.http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/001124.html

[This message has been edited by shadow45 (edited 02-09-2001).]
 
Back
Top