To be precise, it's a
Benchmade 975S "Emerson CQC-7". Benchmade offered both the 970 (shorter, I think it was normally listed as 3.375") and the 975, in bead-blast and Black-T ("BT"), partially serrated ("S") and plain (though I think the plain Black-T models only appeared in small quantities, right at the end). They were really popular sellers for Benchmade, right up with there with the AFCKs, until the 97-98 year boundary (is that right?), when the license from Emerson ran out and Ernie declined to renew it. Some months after that, Benchmade released the 910 Elishewitz Stryker, to have a (really terrific) tanto folder back in their line, and then Emerson Knives released their own production version of Ernie's CQC-7 (in the shorter length only).
A 970SBT was my first Benchmade... the steep tanto point and chisel grind make it impractical for utility use, and the liner lock occasionally needed a sledgehammer to release (a not altogether uncommon problem, IIRC), but it
did get me started down a long path of carrying larger G10/Ti/ATS-34/(etc.)-based folders, and
collecting knives, rather than just
owning one or two
------------------
Carl /\/\/\ AKTI #A000921 /\/\/\ San Diego, California
Think this through with me ... Let me know your mind
Wo-oah, what I want to know ... is are you kind?
-- Hunter/Garcia, "Uncle John's Band"
