Arrived from Cumberland Knives. My first Emerson design under the Emerson name, having had several Benchmade CQC7 both titanium and steel.
My first impressions are that the handle is too small, if it were longer my hands would fit it better, but it appears as though the design tried to mimic a folder in size and added a guard. The handle is of slight thickness, but this does not present much of a problem after some familiarization. It feels really good in the reverse grip, but I cannot find a comfortable forward grip except for saber, with my thumb on the spine, something I do not care for as it is too easy to lose the knife under duress in this grip. I will say that the handle has a very unusual feel to it, very comfortable, or it would/ will be when my hand gets accustomed to it. The handle is of an unusual polymer that seems to give a hair and is slightly soft, but durable. Time will tell about the latter.
I also thought that the blade tip grind was a little off profile and there were machining marks on the spine of the blade. I have been spoiled I think by the MDK work but I find the machining marks a little more indicative of QC oversight. I have heard of QC issues before at Emerson, but I do not point to these marks as an indicator of any such ongoing issue. I merely stipulate that for $100 I figure the blade would be ground right and finished properly. Neither affects adversely the function of the knife, but they are not pleasant to look at, and the knife thing does have aesthetics in there somewhere.
The blade is exceptionally sharp and the point and edge destroyed the box it was mailed in without a problem. I was surprised that the blade was V ground but still retains a chisel edge, I am curious about the reason behind this chisel edge on a blade ground on both sides. I have a much easier time maintaining a standard double grind. and either one is durable with maintenance work.
The sheath is pretty neat, similar to an Eagle or Blackhawk, adjustable for various sized belts via a velcro and flap system. The sheath has a kydex insert for the blade which fits extremely well, giving positve retention while giving up the knife in a big hurry. The kydex is held into the nylon sheath via Chicago screw, and is reversible for right or left carry, forward or reverse grip, a nice touch. The handle is further retained via nylon loop and snap-dot, again well executed. Retention may not be jumpable, but as I am not a paratrooper i do not care.
The sheath also hase a good sized pouch o the front for storing DMT hone, or SAK, or maybe even a multi-tool or flashlight should you find one to fit in there. I would even think a small first aid kit or "necessary" kit would fit in there, giving it the role of one stop shop for an emergency kit when bailing out of the car on a bad night in adverse weather. You could fit a couple snickers in there too...
Overall, I want to give the grip a chance. It has possibility, and the blade grind errors cannot be compared to a handmade perfection job like my MDK, but i also have to state Buck Knives never let an error like these get to me. I will post back here in a week or two with more. Anyone else have one of these?
My first impressions are that the handle is too small, if it were longer my hands would fit it better, but it appears as though the design tried to mimic a folder in size and added a guard. The handle is of slight thickness, but this does not present much of a problem after some familiarization. It feels really good in the reverse grip, but I cannot find a comfortable forward grip except for saber, with my thumb on the spine, something I do not care for as it is too easy to lose the knife under duress in this grip. I will say that the handle has a very unusual feel to it, very comfortable, or it would/ will be when my hand gets accustomed to it. The handle is of an unusual polymer that seems to give a hair and is slightly soft, but durable. Time will tell about the latter.
I also thought that the blade tip grind was a little off profile and there were machining marks on the spine of the blade. I have been spoiled I think by the MDK work but I find the machining marks a little more indicative of QC oversight. I have heard of QC issues before at Emerson, but I do not point to these marks as an indicator of any such ongoing issue. I merely stipulate that for $100 I figure the blade would be ground right and finished properly. Neither affects adversely the function of the knife, but they are not pleasant to look at, and the knife thing does have aesthetics in there somewhere.
The blade is exceptionally sharp and the point and edge destroyed the box it was mailed in without a problem. I was surprised that the blade was V ground but still retains a chisel edge, I am curious about the reason behind this chisel edge on a blade ground on both sides. I have a much easier time maintaining a standard double grind. and either one is durable with maintenance work.
The sheath is pretty neat, similar to an Eagle or Blackhawk, adjustable for various sized belts via a velcro and flap system. The sheath has a kydex insert for the blade which fits extremely well, giving positve retention while giving up the knife in a big hurry. The kydex is held into the nylon sheath via Chicago screw, and is reversible for right or left carry, forward or reverse grip, a nice touch. The handle is further retained via nylon loop and snap-dot, again well executed. Retention may not be jumpable, but as I am not a paratrooper i do not care.
The sheath also hase a good sized pouch o the front for storing DMT hone, or SAK, or maybe even a multi-tool or flashlight should you find one to fit in there. I would even think a small first aid kit or "necessary" kit would fit in there, giving it the role of one stop shop for an emergency kit when bailing out of the car on a bad night in adverse weather. You could fit a couple snickers in there too...
Overall, I want to give the grip a chance. It has possibility, and the blade grind errors cannot be compared to a handmade perfection job like my MDK, but i also have to state Buck Knives never let an error like these get to me. I will post back here in a week or two with more. Anyone else have one of these?
