Emerson CQC-12 vs. Strider SNG - which is tougher

The CQC-12 is gigantic, but it's solid. Unlike the previous poster, I find the Wave to be a practical feature - sure, you may never need it but it does work. I'd say tiger striping is a lot more "mall ninja" than the wave. He is right, however, you should handle both and find which you like best. I prefer a smaller knife that I'm going to have on me, than a huge one that's going to stay at home, and sometimes that extra 10-15% of size makes the difference. I carried a Commander for years and have no problems recommending a UTCOM or CQC8.

EDIT: Also, as a followup, the Crusader Forge offerings look very nice from what I've seen of them. They definitely bear checking out.
 
solvetek01 said:
I am looking for strong frame lock folder for work and SD.

This is a quote from the Emerson web site
"The CQC-12 is brutishly strong, has a bank vault .125 inch thick lock, and feels like a fixed blade in your hand. I don't think you can get much tougher or stronger than this one. This is not a general utility knife. This is an Abrams Tank with sharp edges."

Strider has a reputation for building a very tough folder also. The SNG and CQC12 are about the same size. The CQC12 has a wt of 4.6, I can not find the weight of the SNG. The CQC12 is about $100 less then the SNG. Price is a consideration for me.

I am looking for some thoughts or opinions on these two folders reguarding their value, durability and fit and finish.
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I'm not sure how thick the lock bar is on the Strider SnG. It looks like the lock bar on the SnG is thicker than 0.125 inches.

The blade thickness on the CQC-12 is the same as the listed blade thickness for the CRK Sebenza (both large and small) 0.125 inches. The Strider SnG blade is quite a bit thicker.

Strider does offer the SnG with a stone washed blade (no stripes).

Spine view (Sm Sebenza & SnG tanto)
stridersebenza002rot4.jpg



Profile (Sm Sebenza and SnG tanto)
stridersebenza004rbv6.jpg

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That's not an SnG, that's an SmF, which is much larger, longer and thicker than an SnG. That's the reason the Sebenza looks so dwarfed. The Sebenza and SnG are very similar in size.
 
J85909266 said:
That's not an SnG, that's an SmF, which is much larger, longer and thicker than an SnG. That's the reason the Sebenza looks so dwarfed. The Sebenza and SnG are very similar in size.
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Here's the Sm (small) Sebenza, the SnG, and added the SMF. Note, one way to tell the SnG from the SMF is to count the screws in the frame (3 vs.4).

knivessmsebsngsmfrzp5.jpg

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Here is the Large Sebenza along with the small Sebenza, SnG, and SMF.. Plus a spine view and an edge view.

Small Sebenza
Large Sebenza
SnG
SMF


knivessmseblgsebsngsmf0yq9.jpg


knivessmseblgsebsngsmf0si2.jpg

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Practical features are definitely individual - if I was working LE, a Wave could be important, in the field, stripes could possibly help as much. As a civilian in a factory job, they are more nuisance than value. Of course, "just because I might need to" could eliminate a lot of knives - and I don't plan to carry a box blade, terrorist weapon you know, so be American and buy what you darn well please. Don't let a minor quibble go too far, at that point, nothing will ever be perfect.

Size is a perceptive thing - one large knife may carry more easily than a smaller, there are a lot of factors that go into it. Tip up/down, clip position and type, thickness, grip material, and where you carry on what style/make pants you prefer. A Gen 1 Endura falls out of my jeans pocket when I'm sitting, on an hourly basis. A SnG in carpenters standing at work, never.

Take a lot of this with a grain of salt, it's how it works for you that is important.
 
If someone is worried about the look of the oxide stripes on a Strider, they also sell the SnG with a stonewashed blade.
The same type of finish used on the standard Sebanza blades.
 
I have a SMF with gunner grips and the CQC-12 with g10. (I almost got the all Ti, but couldnt find a compelling reason other than it was 'cool.')

I carry the Strider. It seems lighter in my pocket. It seems easier to control. I have no complaints at all with the Emerson, I love the wave.

I dont normally like S30V but I have yet to chip this blade, while my Emerson has some chips and has lost its probably .4cm of its tip. I dont remember abusing it, so I'm not sure how they got there.

My Strider has the digicam which I think is kinda lame, but better than the stripes.

Neither are sheeple friendly and I will probably get a small Chris Reeves or Scott Cook as soon as I find "the right one".
 
Spark said:
The CQC-12 is gigantic, but it's solid. Unlike the previous poster, I find the Wave to be a practical feature - sure, you may never need it but it does work. I'd say tiger striping is a lot more "mall ninja" than the wave. He is right, however, you should handle both and find which you like best. I prefer a smaller knife that I'm going to have on me, than a huge one that's going to stay at home, and sometimes that extra 10-15% of size makes the difference. I carried a Commander for years and have no problems recommending a UTCOM or CQC8.

EDIT: Also, as a followup, the Crusader Forge offerings look very nice from what I've seen of them. They definitely bear checking out.
Click to expand...

i suppose size is a subjective thing but imho the '12 isnt gigantic by any means, its been my experience that it carries well in the pocket as its pretty slim, to me a gigantic folder would be a BM rukus, REKAT sifu, something over a 4" blade, or a really beefy folder like a SKI AR or GB, the '12 is smaller than any of these.

point being the '12 carries as well as any EKI, and better than most.
 
Only held them both FWIW;

1. Handling and ergos
2. Weight
3. More functional blade shape and grind
4. More EDC-sized

I'd go with the SNG.
 
Strider says the they use an over sized "bull pivot". Hoe does the strider bull pivot compare to the cqc12 1/4 pivot.

also what kind of washers do theese knives use plastic or bronze?
 
SnG is phosfor bronze, IIRC. I don't know anyone who has actually loaded either knife in a test fixture and stressed it to failure. Results like that have always been noticeably absent from the knife scene; only recently have customers wanted the information, and their are a few video tests on stuff like that. The biggest problem seems to be a complete lack of agreement on what constitutes a scientific test.

In the land of opinion, tho, plenty of it out there, the trick is to sort through who is competent to comment, and the casual method of posting on the internet can distort some people's perception.

I own a SnG, I chose it because I preferred the features and the total approach to the knife's design. I have a BM CQC7, so it was an informed decision in that regard, it is a good contrast. As a utility knife, I believe the SnG is better, but it's really going to boil down to what you want in the knife.

If you're looking for a folding pitot or prybar, both will eventually fail, might as well figure out what they will do for you in the meantime and chose that one.
 
When you are looking at the blade in the Sebanza, think same thickness as a CQC-12.

The blade thickness on the CQC-12 is the same as the listed blade thickness for the CRK Sebenza (both large and small) 0.125 inches.
The Strider SnG blade is quite a bit thicker.

Spine view (Sm Sebenza & SnG tanto)
stridersebenza002rot4.jpg
 
Thickness of the spine is only one way to judge how strong the blade is. You need to look at it from all angles, including grind. Both knives can be broken with relitive ease 1/4inch from the tip. -Which is the right about the only place I've ever broken a knife. The strider pivot is by far the largest I've seen. The emerson still has a pretty decent pivot though. I'm pretty sure the strider has metal washers and the emerson has plastic ones.
Also, in my opinion, the emerson is far less noticable in the pocket. Iirc, it's thinner than liner-lock emersons due to it's lack of liners. To me, the strider is clearly a stronger built knife. I also greatly perfer the grind on the strider. However, I "never had any" negitive issues cutting with the 12. And after a point, how strong of a knife do you really need? -When does the extra thickness become a negitive? If you want one of the strongest folding knives out there, strider is the way to go. But the emerson is still stronger than the average folder. And given the price difference, you could have it reground to cut even better by someone like Tom Krien, if you were so inclined. To me, the striders oversized parts, choil, and flat grind don't do enough to beat the emersons carriability, handle, wave, and price. Thumb disk vs hole is a toss up. As is clip point vs drop point. Striders pocket clip is oversized and will come tighter than average. Emersons is more normal, similar to an average benchmade or spyderco. Which is better depends on you.
 
The person starting this thread I don't think realized that there was so much of a difference in the thickness of the blades between the SnG and the CQC-12.
The SnG, certainly the tanto version (see pics above), has a really beefy blade and I would certainly think "tougher" than a CQC-12.

The other points you bring up are fine but his question was about toughness.
 
Yes, the tanto sng would have a significantly stronger tip than either the drop point sng or cqc-12.
No question. But this guy asked about value, as well as which knife is tougher. He said, "Price is a consideration". Looking closer to his question he also asked about fit and finsh, as well as durability. I'd say "fit and finish" is near equal from my experience. I used my emerson far harder than my sng, so "duralbilty" is hard to put a solid opinion on, but I'd guess that in the long run, the strider would hold out longer. My emerson is about to come back from the factory any day, and when it was sent, the lock had worn over to the g-10 side. Both have good warrantees, and will fix anything that happens from normal use. I probably like both knives about the same when it comes down to it; but considering the price, I give it to the emerson. Both are nice knives though, just different.
 
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