emerson commander vs. spyderco wegner / spyderco military vs benchmade AFCK

spyken

spyken

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Apr 29, 2002
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anyone have any views? I just saw the emerson being offered at a competitive price - now suddenly, it's being considered as my new blade vs the other two.

is the emerson V-Ground? what is the angle of the edge? is it easy to sharpen the recurve blade on the sharpmaker 204?

thanks guys - I'm not very good at making decisions and really appreciate your comments....
:D
 
The Commander is chisel ground 154CM, it's not as easy to sharpen as the others but it's not rocket science either, just different. You can use the 204 with some practice, and then strop it to the final edge.

What is your intended use? I carry a mini commander EDC, primarily for defensive use and light cutting tasks. I have a full size, but for me it's too big for EDC - it does get some use during outdoor activities.

The commander is a great knife, but perhaps not as versatile as the Sypdies or the BM. As a pure tactical folder, it's hard to beat.


:cool:
 
The Commander has a V grind with a chisel edge. Get what I'm saying? The bevels are even down until the edge which is then only ground on one side. It's weird and I can't say that I like it too much. I haven't sharpened it so I don't know how difficult it would be. Since it's a chisel edge, however, it would take a different technique.

I've never handled or used the Wegner.

I love my Military and I have a fondness for my 2000 Commander. The AFCK is a great design.

Pick whichever one feels best in the hand.
 
thanks guys - I'm not very good at making decisions and really appreciate your comments....
Click to expand...

You can't possibly make a bad decision here. I have all but one of these knives, The Spyderco Wenger

The Commander doesn't have quite the same fine cutting ability the others have. An example might be taking bark of a branch. One way seems a bit awkward while the other way feels fine. While being V ground it still only has a single sharpening bevel. The tip angle is a bit blunt so it has less of a chance breaking as the finer tip on the Military. As I got more used to mine, the more I liked it.

BM AFCK Love that one too. before the Emerson it was my EDC. I still carry it. It comfortable in the hand, balanced,when I pick it up it always seems natural. I know without looking where the blade is, it seems almost instinctive:)
 
I'm glad you guys cleared the edge thing up for me. when I checked out EKI's website - they stated that the edge was a conventional v-grind - which I understand to mean a double bevel edge. But you guys are actually saying that it's a chisel grind at the actual cutting edge...am I understanding it correctly?

If that's the case, then shouldn't EKI say that it's chisel grind?

The edge matters to me cos I would like to maximise my 30/40 inclusive deg sharpmaker, and if the Commander (actually - mini Commander is more within my budget) has to be sharpened free hand because of its 30deg chisel grind - then, I'll go for the Spydie.

Shootist, I actually like the Wegner's looks - but am really concerned about the weight - 6 oz right? I don't really know how that feels in a pocket (the heaviest folder I have is a CQC7BTS - about 4 oz I think) - and it's not a lightweight. Any comments?

thanks:)
 
Spyken,
I’ll try to explain the difference. Chisel grind means that one side of the blade is completely flat from spine up to very edge and another one is both ground and sharpened. So EKI blades claimed as chisel ground are really chisel ground.
But their blades claimed as V-ground are somewhat odd. They are really ground on both sides but they are sharpened on the one side only. More, they are sharpened on improper for right-handed user side! Whittling the wood with such blade you will get the same result as doing it with improperly (upside down) held chisel. This makes EKI blades pretty useless for anything except destroying.
So I would eliminate them definitely choosing knife for utility use.

Wegner has very comfortable and secure handle, you can perform with it heavy cutting for long time with only minimal wrist fatigue. But it is some bit onto heavy side and I don’t trust liner locks designed for tip-up carry. The blade is hollow ground what makes it nice performer for shallow cuts but it cuts noticeably less precisely if you need to make deep slices, for ex. bread from a big loaf. Also SpyderHole could be somewhat bigger for easier opening...

Military is very different design from Wegner. Opening hole is big enough to operate even with gloved hands. Fully flat ground blade cuts through everything like dream. A lot of cutting power in light and slim though somewhat big package. Nice pointy tip for fine tip work but no way for prying. The handle is comfortably shaped but the scales are somewhat onto thin side and may become rough on heavy cutting. Or maybe not, you should handle it before buying to decide how comfortable it is for you.
The pivot pin is adjustable for wear and the liner lock is one of the best ever made.
If high cutting power in folder format is required and big, people scarring shape is not an issue – my choice would be (and really is) the Military, my regular around household knife.

AFCK is something between Wegner and Military in both handling comfort and cutting performance, it has saber ground blade (flat grind on the part of blade width). Very decent and versatile utility knife, close competitor for Military.
The newest AFCK 806 is available with BM Axis Lock.

Try to handle them all before buying. The handling and operating comfort is very individual thing and you shouldn’t rely on anyone’s opinion in this matter.

All three have normally ground and normally sharpened blades. You would have no trouble to sharpen them with SPYDERCO Sharpmaker.
 
have had or have all but the wegner, would rate them:

1) commander - it has the wave, is 'different' to sharpen though, not that hard once ya do it a time or two

2) BM AFCK the 800 and 806 are some of my favorite edc's, excellent knives for the $$, prefer them to several knives i have costing much more..

3) military - a good knife but i like the AFCK better, i like dual liners i know the singles are fine, but i still like the dual liners....

greg
 
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