(Mini)Commander vs Horseman

Shazb0t

Shazb0t

Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
34
I'm debating between picking up a Horseman, Commander, or Mini Commander as my next knife purchase. It would be for EDC tasks in a professional environment so size and look are factors. Normal usage would be opening packages and various small cutting tasks.

I currently carry a Large Micarta Sebenza 25 and don't feel out of place using it. I have a medium to small sized hand and I think that size (8.335" overall, 3.625" blade) is perfect which makes me weary of the Commander at 8.75" overall and 3.75" blade length. It might be too large for my uses, but I have not held or seen one in person.

On the flip side the Mini Commander at 8.00" overall and 3.4" blade length is a bit smaller than my Sebenza and I'm not sure if it will hit the same sweet spot that I'm used to.

Enter the Horseman at 8.35" overall and 3.54" blade length. Seems to be right on the money. It has a different blade shape than the Commanders, but not one that I dislike. I prefer a normal v ground edge to the chisel grind on all of these, but it doesn't appear to be overly difficult to reprofile the grind to a normal v grind on the Horseman since it is hollow ground on both sides and not flat on the backside. I don't know how difficult it would be to reprofile the chisel on the recurve of the Commanders.


Essentially, as owners who are familiar with these models, how do these 3 compare to each other from a size, grip, blade usage perspective and if you had to pick one of the three taking into account my criteria which one would you chose?
 
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I have a sebenza 25, and the commander. I had a horseman in the past and didn't care for the ergonomics of the handle myself but you may like them. Only way to know is to handle one. Never held a mini commander but the regular commander I like a lot! The commander and horseman are both v ground with a chisel edge.

If it were my decision I would pick the mini commander. Another option to look at might be the cqc 10.
 
Of those three I would say the Mini Commander looks the least "threatening". It would be my last choice of the three since I prefer larger handles but since you have smaller hands it may work better for you. All three are capable knives.
 
I know im in the minority but ive never been a big fan of the Commander or recurves in general. I love the Horseman!
 
Of those three i own a horseman and commander. Both great knives but very different. If i could only keep one id keep the commander for the longer blade.....i just prefer longer blades. If it was between the mini commander and horseman...id pick the horseman. I like the handle and blade shape and it is a great smaller knife. Useful for all tasks. I really have no use for the mini commander due to living without knife length restriction laws and other such headaches to deal with. I only picked up the horseman as i own a few cqc8s and i love those knives so much i figured a smaller version of the same would be good for those few times i want smaller...and i wasnt wrong.
 
My vote is for the Horseman. I'm not really a recurve guy as I feel there are limitations to the recurve blade but that depends on what type of use you intend. The Horseman was the only Emerson in my collection for a period of 2 years as my only work/EDC folder after selling the other 26 or so Emerson's from my collection at that time. Light, slender and very low profile in pocket.
 
I generally don't like small knives so I have never had the Mini-Commander. I have owned a Super Commander and a regular and of the two I think the regular is better for most applications. I currently own a Horseman and at first I thought it a bit too small. The blade length is not bad on paper, but it just looks a lot smaller than it actually is. It might be because its not very wide from spine to edge. I was going to trade it away, but now its starting to grow on me. I am planning to send it to josh for a regrind and then it will be a keeper for sure.
 
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