• Preorders are LIVE for the 2024 BladeForums Traditional Knife

    Traditional Knife Information Thread - make sure you go in there and read up.

    Requirements: Be a Gold or higher member or have been a member of the forums since 6/2023 with at least 100 posts in the Traditional Forum. Preorder is for people who live in the continental US only, international orders will be separate.

    Delivery expected in Q4 2024, hopefully before the holidays.

    User Name
    Serial number request

Emerson liners vs Spyderco Military

W

Wick

Joined
Jun 6, 2002
Messages
55
I've been contemplating buying an Emerson for a while now but a lot of people mention how flimsy their liners can be. I want a good user knife that I wont be crushed if I loose.

I currently own Spyderco Military which is a nice knife but I am hesitant to use it hard because of the rather thin liner lock.

I've been spoiled by my Strider AR and Sebenza as far as lock strength goes.

So, how similar are the liners on the Spyderco Military as opposed to current production run Commanders and Specwars? Im also considering going away from the Emerson idea and getting Buck/Strider for this purpose.

Thanks for the info,

-Wick
 
i'm on my second Military. no liner/lockup problems yet.

had a cqc7 and traded it cause of the poor lockup.

i soooo want a good locking Commander, but every show i go to i can't find one.

so i would say go handle all the Emersons you can, if you find a lockup you like, hold onto it tight! then tell me where you got it and if they mail order :) .

Metis
 
I've had several Emerson's and one Military. All the of the locks worked just fine when clean, and all would move if oil got on the blade tang. I personally prefer the ergos of most of the Emerson line to the Military, but that's just personal preference. I'd say strenght under hard use is very similar. I had a problem with disengaging the Military lock with my finger if I gripped it wrong.

I have a Buck/Strider as well. It is definitely a more heavy duty knife, but it's still a liner lock. So the weakest point of the Miliary and Emerson's remain present in the Buck.
 
The Military seems to me to have a slightly stronger lock due to the liners being heavier, Any Emerson I consider buying i prefer to look at and see and check the QC and quality of first.
 
I don’t know anything about Emersons, but do know quite a lot about the Military. Realize first that most liner locks do not bust out at the liner, but at the pins. You can have a liner lock with a Sebenza thickness lock bar, but if the pins are wimpy, you’re just buying an illusion of strength. So I wouldn’t worry so much about the liner thickness on the Emersons. Look closely at the pins.

The Military uses a nested liner lock, which eliminates the pin problem. Under normal circumstances, the nested liner would have to blow out through the G10 scales for the lock to fail. That would take a wicked amount of pressure. You can consider the Military to be more than strong enough for chores where a folding knife is appropriate, and even a few chores where a folder is not. The liner lock on the Military is an amazing design.

Keep an eye out for the newer Military. It should start showing up in stores any time now. If I am correct, the steel has been changed to S30V. Some other minor enhancements have also been made. I’ll be picking up the new Military the second I see one for sale. It may not be pretty, but I’d go as far as to say that the Military is the most functional utility folder I’ve had the pleasure of using. I’ve found most of my folders to be great at first, but less than satisfying after extended use. The Military is one knife that you like more and more as you keep on using it.
 
Buzzbait makes a great point about the nested liners.

Check out the Gerber Harsey Air Ranger too. It has the liner-lock nested in its aluminum handle and is held there in part by the back-spacer/standoffs. A very interesting design on a very affordable knife.

Allen.
 
Discussions of liner locks come up so often that it is amusing at times. Take Emerson productions which is part of this topic thread. My experience with Emerson liner locks have been pretty poor. Metis is correct in that one should actually handle one before actually buying. But that is no guarantee that it will last that way after a while. Again, my experience. I will add though, that once a company finds the right "formula" for fitting their liner locks, the liner itself should be reduced to set flush with or even recessed with respect to its corresponding scale! The biggest problem with the liner when either partially or fully disengaging during use is the fact that the forefinger exerts enough pressure/ torque to cause this! This is true also for the Military. And the problem is amplified due to the huge single scale finger scallop! Perhaps the reports of such incidents, real or unfounded are so little in percentage that the companies will not justify a change. But I don' t see any further manufacturing costs involved in such a change.

And yes, I' m still waiting for that compression lock Military...

Nakano
 
OK, i KNOW that liner thickness is not the most important factor in how strong or reliable a liner lock is, i know that geometry and the way the lock is fitted and recessed are equally important and yet, i am positive that a liner must have at least a certain minimum thickness to be very strong and reliable, and im sorry, but i just dont think the Emerson's liners are thick enough, and doubly so for a knife that claims to be "the number 1 hard use folder...", i see no good reason why they dont increase liner thickness a little bit, EVEN if its just to enhance the PERCEPTION of strength. I think they probably lose a lot of customers to their thin liners, they certainly lost me. Maybe the Sebenza's thick framelock, or the Strider AR's thick liners are overkill, but you know what, when it comes to cutting my fingers off, I'll take overkill over underkill any day and twice on thursday...
 
Well, I sure as heck don't buy that "number 1 hard use folder..." marketing hype (and I think Emersons are too damn expensive to begin with), but the liners must be strong enough to satisfy all of those Emerson fans.
I think that if there were a problem we would have heard about it by now.

So, anyone out there have a Emerson lock fail because the liner was too thin?
If so, let's hear about it.

Allen.
 
Heck. I'd like to hear from anybody who has had ANY liner lock fail because the liner was too thin.
 
A thicker liner may have the additional advantage of wearing slower than a thinner liner, if it seats on the tang properly. I owned a Kershaw Random Task Knife for about a year, and at the end the liner would hardly engage with the tang. With that nifty assisted-opening feature I cycled that folder countless times, and I guess that 440V tang did a number on the titanium liner. Kershaw stood by their product and repaired it for free (looked like they just replaced the liner).
 
Originally posted by Buzzbait
Heck. I'd like to hear from anybody who has had ANY liner lock fail because the liner was too thin.
Click to expand...
I've had two liner locks fail because of excessive wear.
Were they too thin? Not necessarily (one got carried daily for 6 years before having a problem), but thin equals faster wear. And wear equals lock failure in a liner lock knife.

Realize first that most liner locks do not bust out at the liner, but at the pins.
Click to expand...
What pins? I've never heard of any liner lock "busting out" anywhere, and never owned a liner lock that had a pin through the lockbar. Seen them wear out, get torqued too hard, fail from being cut at the wrong angle, and a couple of the little cheapie ones get bent from a little pressure in the wrong direction...
 
the liner locks feel a lot worse than the actually are, if that makes any sense.

But i hate all ti liner locks, everyone should be making Al Mar SERE2K and BM TSEK like liner locks
 
I have an Emerson Mini Commander, and it seems very nice and solid, including the liner lock. I looked for a Commander and could not find one locally that looked like the liner lock engaged well.

The Military is a very nice knife, but the ergonomics on the Emerson Commanders are really perfect for my hand.

You might look at the Mini Commanders as they seem to have a better buzz on the Forum about it's liner lock.
 
i dont own a military but i do own a commander and i think the lock is stiff as crap. A friend has a commander from a few years ago and he says that mine is much beefier than his. Things he noticd right off the bat were the blade being thicker, the grip more comfortable and the liners thicker. buy both and sell the one you dont like. or buy both and keep them both. why limit yourself?
 
What year is marked on your blade?

The '98 series were definitely made to a higher standard than the current ones (i.e. thicker liners and scales), although the 2003 models have a bigger Wave, and as of 2002, they have longer backspacers, which makes for a better feel.

-j

Originally posted by mlawson
i dont own a military but i do own a commander and i think the lock is stiff as crap. A friend has a commander from a few years ago and he says that mine is much beefier than his. Things he noticd right off the bat were the blade being thicker, the grip more comfortable and the liners thicker. buy both and sell the one you dont like. or buy both and keep them both. why limit yourself?
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top