How are Emerson Knives

Heiheit said:
I just purchased a cold steel recon 1 off amazon for 60 bucks and wow, they aren't kidding about this thing. Actually reminds me off the CQC-13 a bit. Perfect lockup, strongest lock out there, awesome blade shape and handle ergos. I stripped the coating and now its perfect. I'd recommend one of the Recon 1's, Ak-47s or American lawman over an Emerson if you're looking for "hard use tactical". This is coming from a person who hates Cold Steel as a company, but is starting to like their knives.
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Thanks, I'll check them out. I would have never thought to look at a Cold Steel.
 
unit said:
What part of his statement do you not agree with?

Aesthetically, I do not like slotted heads, but all else equal they will resist rounding more than a design that has a smaller effective diameter key-way (such as a center drive like a hex, torx, square, or Phillips).
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The whole reason we advanced to phillips, square, and torx type drive is because of a little something called cam-out. So regarding the "MUCH less likely to strip", that is completely false.
 
knifenut1013 said:
The whole reason we advanced to phillips, square, and torx type drive is because of a little something called cam-out. So regarding the "MUCH less likely to strip", that is completely false.
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You are absolutely accurate in that statement. I like the idea of a flat head pivot screw, but every time I would adjust the screw, the driver would always go flying off of the teflon coated slot into the poor g-10.
 
I think sometimes people get carried away with how they think things should be and forget that people run their own businesses and get to run them any way they want. The world would be a boring place if there was only one business model or one design. Buy and use what you like.
 
I just don't like their whole elitist, tacticool approach to selling. They are fine knives, if horribly overpriced. They created a name and demand by creating some neat knives, then didn't change a thing for years. I think half of the hype is that they make such ridiculously small batches that people think they are damn near customs, then jump on the first available one they find. I can think of dozens of knives with better or equal materials, better or equal fit and finish from half a dozen companies and for half the cost.

They do have a few unique designs that if you must have them I don't see why not, but other than that I just don't get it.
 
I really hope they made some of the emersons with lockback. No other reason for this than personal preference..
 
knifenut1013 said:
The whole reason we advanced to phillips, square, and torx type drive is because of a little something called cam-out. So regarding the "MUCH less likely to strip", that is completely false.
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Phillips drivers were designed to cam-out, prior to torque-limiting tools on production lines. I would argue that Phillips are slightly more likely to cam out than a slotted driver. Square drives tend to cam out as well due to the holes being slightly oversized since it's a straight-wall driver design and the hole has to be slightly larger than the driver, but I think they're better than Phillips. Robertson drive is ideal but try finding real Robertson spec drivers and hardware in the US that aren't just square drives marketed as Robertson (THIS IS BAD!!!). My belief is that Torx are superior to slotted, phillips, and square, but on par with properly matched Robertson drivers/hardware.

I understand your point completely and agree with you fundamentally, and I believe slotted screws are most likely used for cost, not 'ease of use'. You can get Torx drivers everywhere, cheap ones that will be good enough to take a knife apart, and I don't know how many people are taking their knives apart where they need the ability to clean out the fastener head easily before they do so. Is it common to need to disassemble your knife in places where you need this 'feature'? I think I'd be more worried about losing the damn screws.
 
I have had a couple Emersons over the years, and still have two. The ones I currently retain are a non-wave 7B stamped 2004 (which I have had since it was new), and a 13 stamped 2005 (which I bought in 2007). Previous Emersons include a 10, a 7B with wave, and an 8.
All of them were great, with no locking or play issues.

Emersons are finished a little rougher than some others, and that's just the way they are supposed to be. They are "hard use" tools, and if you've ever actually used a tool in such a way, you'll be well aware that shiny finish and flawless blade polish don't last.
 
I've handled a couple well-used examples and the lock bars were progressed pretty far, but they were beat to hell and back so it's understandable. The owners were very happy with them. I put them in the same category as Al Mar, nice stuff but out of my sensible price range when I can get something every bit as tough/ same materials for much less.
 
Mike-Mike said:
I have one and I think we can have a short discussion about this:

g10 over steel and titanium = FRN? NOPE
titanium Liner lock = steel lockback? NOPE
154CM = VG10? Ok I'll give you this one.
Wave works better? No way. The wave is too far away from the fulcrum.
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Well finished FRN with a skeletonized liner is better to me than G10 that looks like it was dremeled out.

You may be hard-pressed to find someone that agrees with you that a Spyderco lockback is inferior to a Emerson linerlock.

As for the Ti, it is lighter, but you know that it is not as strong as steel, and it wears faster too, right? There are all kinds of reports of Emersons liner locks wearing prematurely, or the lockup migrating, etc. Lockback vs. liner is more of a preference than one being superior to the other.

For the record, the Endura Wave is not an Emerson design. It is a Spyderco design that uses one of Emersons traits (and patent).
 
I'm getting real sick of people saying Emersons are hard use tools. That does not excuse them from making poor f&f.

All high quality knives are hard use tools, not just Emersons. How come the other brands don't have poor f&f?
 
Mike-Mike said:
I think it's funny. The Question was "How are Emerson knives"

Compared to who?

Show me an equal quality knife with Better fit and finish and opens as fast as the Emerson for the same price point.
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Manix 2 with a zip tie strapped to it.

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154CM blade, G10 handles, Ball lock, fit and finish that isn't a total abortion, just as fast, and comes in at less than half the price of, say, a CQC-10.
 
Thats not a bad one. Onlt took 18 hours for someone to come up with a knife that needed to be ghetto modified to fit the description I outlined. Oh and the Mantix never had a lock problem....lol

Dorito Monk said:
Manix 2 with a zip tie strapped to it.

IMGP1755.jpg


154CM blade, G10 handles, Ball lock, fit and finish that isn't a total abortion, just as fast, and comes in at less than half the price of, say, a CQC-10.
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Emerson = Overpriced, outdated, tacticool, poorly manufactured knives with shady liner-locks.
(OH, but they are great for cutting oneself out of a downed helicopter while chasing terrorists)
The CQC-7 that I bought a few years ago wasn't worth the gas I wasted going to pick it up.
 
I found that the liner locks worked out okay.
There were no issues with safety...the only issue was wearing across the blade tang a little too quick, and waving the knife open was the culprit in that. If you wave your knife open a bunch, the lock will wear quicker.

I'll go with what another poster said; they're about $50 overpriced.
Just as I've often said that Striders are about $150 overpriced (they are).
But, I ended up with some Emersons and Striders.:confused::)
 
I am always amused with these Emerson F&F threads. Here is a concept, if you don't like the fit and finish, don't buy one, but don't bust the chops of the people that are satisfied with them. I own five Emerson knives and have been quite satisfied with them and I don't feel that I overpaid for what I got. If I could only keep ten knives, five of them would be Emersons.
 
A.P.F. said:
I am always amused with these Emerson F&F threads. Here is a concept, if you don't like the fit and finish, don't buy one
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The F&F is nothing that sandpaper cannot fix.
Which is why I say they should be $50 cheaper. It pays for my sandpaper and my time.;)
My Combat Karambit is awesome after sandpaper treatment...before that, it caused terrible skin irritation around the ring area if actually used for any length of time.
As I like using my knives (weird concept, I know:D), it was an issue that needed to be addressed.

There was also this, which Emerson said was acceptable when I sent it back:

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I still don't like that tang burn, as it does not show attention to detail in the least.
 
A.P.F. said:
I am always amused with these Emerson F&F threads. Here is a concept, if you don't like the fit and finish, don't buy one, but don't bust the chops of the people that are satisfied with them. I own five Emerson knives and have been quite satisfied with them and I don't feel that I overpaid for what I got. If I could only keep ten knives, five of them would be Emersons.
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Yes, but the topic wasn't "Should I buy an Emerson even though fit and finish isn't great." it was "How are Emerson Knives.". The OP was asking if the F&F has improved in recent years so it clearly IS important to him.
 
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