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- Oct 10, 2009
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Emerson Mini A-100 Review
Occasionally youll come across a knife that you hold and you just go Yep thats it Only a few knives in my collection have made me do that; the Emerson Mini A-100 is one of them. I picked this bad boy back in late July. Here is my review on this blade.
Handle Design (4 inches)
Let me preface by saying this is a section that is quite subjective. Handle design and ergonomics are a personal preference, and your tastes may very well differ than mine. I love the slim handle of the Mini A-100. The thin taper allows it to fit very well in my hand, and the lack of ergonomic curves allows me to vary my grip with no discomfort. In addition to the slim taper towards the bottom the Mini A-100 also retains a good amount of thickness, so it fills your hand. I recently handled the Cold Steel Hold Out 3. I really wanted to like it but it was an uncomfortable knife to grip hard since it just did not fill the hand. The G10 is grippy without being overly abrasive, the lanyard hole is decently sized, and there are some traction spots (jimping).
One potential flaw for some with this straight handle are the limitations for self defense. A lack of a choil or guard means you should not be too aggressive is thrusting motions unless you switch to reverse grip. I have limited use for knives in this manner since
a) legal problems associated with that
b) no real training (I was heartbroken to find out that watching Rambo does not constitute as training)
c) Its only a 3 inch blade.
The one thing Ive noticed on the handle that I would like a little different is the cutout. I wish it was a tad larger to make opening the knife a little easier. Overall a fantastic handle and I love it.
Blade (3 inches)
My EDC needs are fairly mundane so I cant say I am a hard user. However I will say Ive taken this blade against green wood, dry wood, thick plastic, food, envelopes/paper, cardboard and other usual things people tend to do with EDC blades. Ive not batoned with it, chopped with it or taken out any sentries with it (or have I?). Generally Im boring in this regard. The knife is the usual 3 mm (0.125 inces) thick with the grind starting halfway down. The edge on this is actually a more acute angle when compared to my other Emersons; this is good because it will help facilitate better slicing. Overall it handles most of the tasks I presented to it very well. Since the tip retains a large amount of steel it gives you the leeway to push a knife of this size a little harder than many others out there.
The chisel edge takes some getting used to but it cuts, surprisingly well for the thickness. As you can probably tell I sharpened this blade on my Japanese waterstones. I went up to 8000 grit. This is not my best work but trust me it is still plenty sharp.
The blade is a spearpoint and it has some belly which is nice. A little belly is good for edc work. Its not as much as some others, but at no point when cutting with it did I go Gee you know what would make this knife even better? More belly. It worked just fine.
This knife doesnt cut hard fruit well (especially apples). My gut instinct tells me this will not be a deal breaker for most considering this knife. If you feel that such a quality is a must in your pocket knife then might I suggest a low cost, flat ground paring knife; I hear they cut well in food prep related tasks. This knife however does handle meat well. [Insert gratuitous steak picture]
I usually take stonewash over black coated blades, but this was the only version available at the time. The black coating has held up well so far.
Build Quality, Fit and Finish, Lockup and whatever else I want to say but am unsure where to put it
Ok so Emersons are not known for being Beauty Queens and this is no different. The finish is decent but the fit is good. Ive taken this knife apart many times and put it back together with no problems. Its easy as hell, and all Emerson owners know this already. The action is smooth and controlled; just how I like it. The pocket clip is mounted a little high for my tastes, but I don't even have it on. I just drop it in my pocket without the clip.
Id like to make a statement to all knifemakers, Emerson and a few other companies do something I feel every knife company should. If you are going to assemble your knife with screws under the pretense that customers can take it apart if need be, PLEASE, PLEASE Heat Treat the screws. Emerson does this, I dont have to worry about stripping, but few things irk me more in the knife industry than shipping a knife that have screws with the toughness of butter. These screws kick ass and more people need to do this. (Rant over)
Lock up seems solid, so nothing to worry about there
Conclusion
As you might have guessed by now, I like this knife. The Emerson Mini A-100 is one of my favourite EDC blades and has dominated pocket time in the two months that Ive had it. I dont see myself getting rid of it anytime soon and I hope to one day have a custom version of it.
Tldr; go buy this knife. Its pretty awesome.
Occasionally youll come across a knife that you hold and you just go Yep thats it Only a few knives in my collection have made me do that; the Emerson Mini A-100 is one of them. I picked this bad boy back in late July. Here is my review on this blade.
Handle Design (4 inches)
Let me preface by saying this is a section that is quite subjective. Handle design and ergonomics are a personal preference, and your tastes may very well differ than mine. I love the slim handle of the Mini A-100. The thin taper allows it to fit very well in my hand, and the lack of ergonomic curves allows me to vary my grip with no discomfort. In addition to the slim taper towards the bottom the Mini A-100 also retains a good amount of thickness, so it fills your hand. I recently handled the Cold Steel Hold Out 3. I really wanted to like it but it was an uncomfortable knife to grip hard since it just did not fill the hand. The G10 is grippy without being overly abrasive, the lanyard hole is decently sized, and there are some traction spots (jimping).
One potential flaw for some with this straight handle are the limitations for self defense. A lack of a choil or guard means you should not be too aggressive is thrusting motions unless you switch to reverse grip. I have limited use for knives in this manner since
a) legal problems associated with that
b) no real training (I was heartbroken to find out that watching Rambo does not constitute as training)
c) Its only a 3 inch blade.
The one thing Ive noticed on the handle that I would like a little different is the cutout. I wish it was a tad larger to make opening the knife a little easier. Overall a fantastic handle and I love it.
Blade (3 inches)
My EDC needs are fairly mundane so I cant say I am a hard user. However I will say Ive taken this blade against green wood, dry wood, thick plastic, food, envelopes/paper, cardboard and other usual things people tend to do with EDC blades. Ive not batoned with it, chopped with it or taken out any sentries with it (or have I?). Generally Im boring in this regard. The knife is the usual 3 mm (0.125 inces) thick with the grind starting halfway down. The edge on this is actually a more acute angle when compared to my other Emersons; this is good because it will help facilitate better slicing. Overall it handles most of the tasks I presented to it very well. Since the tip retains a large amount of steel it gives you the leeway to push a knife of this size a little harder than many others out there.
The chisel edge takes some getting used to but it cuts, surprisingly well for the thickness. As you can probably tell I sharpened this blade on my Japanese waterstones. I went up to 8000 grit. This is not my best work but trust me it is still plenty sharp.
The blade is a spearpoint and it has some belly which is nice. A little belly is good for edc work. Its not as much as some others, but at no point when cutting with it did I go Gee you know what would make this knife even better? More belly. It worked just fine.
This knife doesnt cut hard fruit well (especially apples). My gut instinct tells me this will not be a deal breaker for most considering this knife. If you feel that such a quality is a must in your pocket knife then might I suggest a low cost, flat ground paring knife; I hear they cut well in food prep related tasks. This knife however does handle meat well. [Insert gratuitous steak picture]
I usually take stonewash over black coated blades, but this was the only version available at the time. The black coating has held up well so far.
Build Quality, Fit and Finish, Lockup and whatever else I want to say but am unsure where to put it
Ok so Emersons are not known for being Beauty Queens and this is no different. The finish is decent but the fit is good. Ive taken this knife apart many times and put it back together with no problems. Its easy as hell, and all Emerson owners know this already. The action is smooth and controlled; just how I like it. The pocket clip is mounted a little high for my tastes, but I don't even have it on. I just drop it in my pocket without the clip.
Id like to make a statement to all knifemakers, Emerson and a few other companies do something I feel every knife company should. If you are going to assemble your knife with screws under the pretense that customers can take it apart if need be, PLEASE, PLEASE Heat Treat the screws. Emerson does this, I dont have to worry about stripping, but few things irk me more in the knife industry than shipping a knife that have screws with the toughness of butter. These screws kick ass and more people need to do this. (Rant over)
Lock up seems solid, so nothing to worry about there
Conclusion
As you might have guessed by now, I like this knife. The Emerson Mini A-100 is one of my favourite EDC blades and has dominated pocket time in the two months that Ive had it. I dont see myself getting rid of it anytime soon and I hope to one day have a custom version of it.
Tldr; go buy this knife. Its pretty awesome.
