new to emerson

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crystalEyes

Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
241
Hi. I just purchased a commander and don't really know what to expect. Never held one. Many bad reviews and many good reviews out there for this knife. I am a loyal benchmade fan and im usually let down by competitors knives but I figured I'd take a chance with this knife. I work for the railroad and carry a blade every day so rugged quality and durability are a must for me.

What makes this knife so good? Can I expect the frame lock to wear out after several months of constant use? Does the hinge and lock hold up well against grease and/or sand (ie does grime get stuck in there easily?)?
 
The Commanders are liner locks. I have quite a few Benchmades and Spydercos and ZTs and other stuff, and my one Emerson has never let me down. That's the one I reach for when I don't want to worry about whether the knife can "take it or not".

The action may be a bit stiff for a while, but I like mine that way. It will probably ease up some with use, but I'm not talking about a few days here... more like a few weeks or months. You should expect the lock bar to go through a bit of an adjustment period with use after it gets in your pocket, but it shouldn't wear out any more than any other brand would. If it does get to the point where it won't function as a lock, Emerson's warranty will take care of it, just like any other reputable company. If it gets any kind of gunk in the pivot area, it can be washed out with warm water, dried with a hair dryer, and have a small bit of lube added. It'll be fine.

Ruggedness and durability are the things that Emerson's specialize in. They aren't "cutting edge" in terms of materials, and they don't have a lot of flash and bling to them. But they are solidly dependable and you can maintain them almost anywhere with almost anything. The Commander will be a V-grind with one sharpened bevel. That sometimes throws people off for a while, but once you get used to it, it works really well and is very easy to touch up. Emerson's 154CM responds well to a variety of sharpening materials and techniques. You don't have to be a sharpening guru to keep it shaving.

Enjoy the Commander... I'm considering either a Micro-Commander or a Traveler myself.
 
They are rugged knives that can take a beating but I can't stand the grinds or the prices.
I get so much more efficient cutting ability with my other brands that my Emerson CQC 15 only gets used to pry staples and such.
Their warranty was nice. They took care of me when my thumb disk broke off on the first day after a few openings, but that was such a bummer that I have given up on buying anymore Emersons.
 
HuntBomb said:
They are rugged knives that can take a beating but I can't stand the grinds or the prices.
I get so much more efficient cutting ability with my other brands that my Emerson CQC 15 only gets used to pry staples and such.
Their warranty was nice. They took care of me when my thumb disk broke off on the first day after a few openings, but that was such a bummer that I have given up on buying anymore Emersons.
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I think that was just a freak accident.. Never heard of a thumbdisk breaking off before.
 
HuntBomb said:
They are rugged knives that can take a beating but I can't stand the grinds or the prices.
I get so much more efficient cutting ability with my other brands that my Emerson CQC 15 only gets used to pry staples and such.
Their warranty was nice. They took care of me when my thumb disk broke off on the first day after a few openings, but that was such a bummer that I have given up on buying anymore Emersons.
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I think that was just a freak accident.. Never heard of a thumbdisk breaking off before.
 
I've heard most emersons are chisel grinds but that the commander is a v grind? Are there any perks to the emerson knife vs. Benchmade products? I don't particularly care for framelocks which is really my biggest concern with it.

I'll just have to wait until I get it to know for sure. I may end up loving it.
 
The Commander series, the CQC15s & minis, the Travelers & Endeavors, those are all V-grinds. There may be others as well. But be aware that even Emerson's V-grinds have a sharpened bevel only on one side.

Unless you're an Emerson collector, the only perks are the ones already mentioned... they are extremely robust and easy to maintain. They are not the best slicers. My M390 Barrages are better at that. They aren't the lightest folders. My Paras are weightless compared to my mini-15. They aren't going to have the latest of anything... blade steel, locks, handle material, pivot design, etc. They are old-school, tried-and-true hand tools.

Like I said up top... lots of knives do certain things better than my Emerson. But when I want something in my pocket that I absolutely trust not to fail no matter what I do with it, I grab my Emerson.
 
dalefuller said:
The Commanders are liner locks. I have quite a few Benchmades and Spydercos and ZTs and other stuff, and my one Emerson has never let me down. That's the one I reach for when I don't want to worry about whether the knife can "take it or not".

The action may be a bit stiff for a while, but I like mine that way. It will probably ease up some with use, but I'm not talking about a few days here... more like a few weeks or months. You should expect the lock bar to go through a bit of an adjustment period with use after it gets in your pocket, but it shouldn't wear out any more than any other brand would. If it does get to the point where it won't function as a lock, Emerson's warranty will take care of it, just like any other reputable company. If it gets any kind of gunk in the pivot area, it can be washed out with warm water, dried with a hair dryer, and have a small bit of lube added. It'll be fine.

Ruggedness and durability are the things that Emerson's specialize in. They aren't "cutting edge" in terms of materials, and they don't have a lot of flash and bling to them. But they are solidly dependable and you can maintain them almost anywhere with almost anything. The Commander will be a V-grind with one sharpened bevel. That sometimes throws people off for a while, but once you get used to it, it works really well and is very easy to touch up. Emerson's 154CM responds well to a variety of sharpening materials and techniques. You don't have to be a sharpening guru to keep it shaving.

Enjoy the Commander... I'm considering either a Micro-Commander or a Traveler myself.
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You have benchmades and ZT's and you pick the Emerson to carry because you don't want to worry about wether it can take it or not :confused:
 
jeepin said:
You have benchmades and ZT's and you pick the Emerson to carry because you don't want to worry about wether it can take it or not :confused:
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I agree with this man. Emerson's are nice and all and I carry them sometimes, but why step down from a ZT or Benchmade? By the way I've had every problem there can be had from a knife with Emerson including a thumb disk breaking off and I think their warranty isn't all that compared to how Benchmade treated me.
 
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jeepin said:
You have benchmades and ZT's and you pick the Emerson to carry because you don't want to worry about wether it can take it or not :confused:
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That's correct. That Emerson's like an old Buck 110 I had. Didn't matter what I did to / with that knife, it just kept working. The mini-15's the same way. The coating is beat up from scraping construction adhesive and caulk, I've rolled the edge a couple of times on nails and staples, the blade occasionally runs into steel racking in the warehouse when I use it there... I'm not going to use my 586s or Paras for that kind of work. They're great slicers and that's the bulk of the cutting I do, for this other kind of stuff, I want the Emerson.
 
Emersons are working knives....since you're a working man you'll more than likely love it. The other guys use their knives as pocket jewelry. There's nothing wrong with that. But for me it's a tool first and foremost. And Emersons ride daily with me from campus to the roof to my paper delivery job doing all I ask of them and more. Nothing wrong with Spyderco or ZT...I personally love Spyderco but something about Emerson right now just has me hooked on them. In fact they're all I've purchased this past year.
 
Got my commander yesterday and I am quite pleased with it so far. It's a heavy bugger and I have seen better in the fit and finish department but it will work great as an EDC. Rock solid, super early lockup which is a good thing.
 
crystalEyes said:
Got my commander yesterday and I am quite pleased with it so far. It's a heavy bugger and I have seen better in the fit and finish department but it will work great as an EDC. Rock solid, super early lockup which is a good thing.
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What year was it made?.
 
jeepin said:
What year was it made?.
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It says 2013. Do they change year by year?

It sure is tough to open, even after I dipped it in oil. At first I thought it was cause it was brand new but is this a typical feature of emersons? I think I'm gonna take it apart and see if that helps.
 
crystalEyes said:
It says 2013. Do they change year by year?

It sure is tough to open, even after I dipped it in oil. At first I thought it was cause it was brand new but is this a typical feature of emersons? I think I'm gonna take it apart and see if that helps.
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I heard that the fit and finish improved from 2012-2014.

As far as it being tough to open, you can loosen the pivot screw a tiny bit, And open it and close it quite a bit. They say it will get smoother after awhile.
 
jeepin said:
I heard that the fit and finish improved from 2012-2014.

As far as it being tough to open, you can loosen the pivot screw a tiny bit, And open it and close it quite a bit. They say it will get smoother after awhile.
Click to expand...

Its not terrible, but one of the g10 scales does overlap by a few hundredths of an inch, which might as well be a mile in a machinists world.

Also, did they ever play with the grinds? Everyone tells me the commander series have V grinds but this is undoubtedly a chisel grind. It's the serrated version and sometimes I've seen companies change the grind depending of the presence or absence of serrations is this what happened?
 
No. Production Commanders are "V" ground but sharpened on one side, the left. For example, a production CQC-7 is not only chisel ground but also has a secondary sharpened bevel. Some customs are chisel ground and have a zero grind meaning they don't have a secondary sharpened bevel.
 
MiG Angel said:
No. Production Commanders are "V" ground but sharpened on one side, the left. For example, a production CQC-7 is not only chisel ground but also has a secondary sharpened bevel. Some customs are chisel ground and have a zero grind meaning they don't have a secondary sharpened bevel.
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So...it's a chisel grind.

Wouldn't it have to have a secondary bevel to be a v grind? I'm no mogul of knife terminology but I know enough to tell this blade is only ground on one side of the edge.

I think I'll turn it into a true v grind. Might take me a while but I'll take before and after pics and maybe a couple of my benchmades that have real v grinds to show you what I mean.
 
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