Reasons to prefer Emerson Knives

Emerson knives are tools for knife users. If you dont need one, you wont understand them. My horseman is the best work knife i ever had. The handle design alone on most emersons is reason enough to appreciate the knives. Their 154cm heat treat is great. The blades are tough, with good edge retention.
 
Just recently got my first Emerson - its a brilliantly designed tank and a whole lotta knife for the money.
 
I don't get why people disparage 154cm. It is one of my all time favourite steels. Emersons are the best in my opinion. That isn't to say there aren't other knives that are also the best. There is just something about Emersons. I love the way they are built and hope they never change it. I need to get an Emerson framelock one of these days.
 
I am able to adjust my Emerson with a Penny, a butterknife works too, maybe the right sized rock would.Thats what I love about them, I used to think they should use better steels but the 154cm is excellent. I feel something primordial when ever I hold it. I only wish they'd tap both sides of the knives so I could carry a small one and a large one in both pockets. I own eight Emersons now so they must be doing something right.
 
7a and an old Mach1 with the green scales, hard chrome, and all ti liners. Oh yea an old original issue BM 975 in ats34, first iteration that came out. Wish I could find the box on that one. BUT all that being said I find myself carrying a Rough Rider Deer Hunter folder and a SYCKO 311 now adays more than anything. I also think one of the best designs other than the 7a is the 11 which I call the Emerson Butcher knife. keepem sharp
 
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CookieRawwr said:
I am able to adjust my Emerson with a Penny, a butterknife works too, maybe the right sized rock would.Thats what I love about them, I used to think they should use better steels but the 154cm is excellent. I feel something primordial when ever I hold it. I only wish they'd tap both sides of the knives so I could carry a small one and a large one in both pockets. I own eight Emersons now so they must be doing something right.
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You can carry your right hand Emersons in the left pocket. I am left handed and always do. Just put them in your left pocket with the wave sitting against the inside seam closest to your zipper. Draw the knife so it waves into reverse grip and it's easy to flip around to forward grip with a little practice, very fluid.
 
I for some reason just love mine. They are just awesome tools for THERE intended purpose and customers. more than just latest greatest. They are fast , tough, ergonomic, and the corrosion resistance and all other things that make up a EMERSON. Something about them I just really like carrying and using them. I have had a emerson in my rotation since 2002. Also love the basic screw driver construction!!!!!👍👍👍http://[URL=http://s655.photobucket.com/user/RUTTINGBULL/media/Mobile%20Uploads/E9801CCC-B34D-40C9-85A6-9333D5E455C1.jpg.html][/URL]http://[URL=http://s655.photobucket.com/user/RUTTINGBULL/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1F47C1BA-51E0-4A28-8BA7-DFDF7DE3F579.jpg.html][/URL]
 
I am a steel snob. I love M4, and M390 and S110V, Cruwear, and, and, and, etc. I used to make fun of Emersons. $250 for plain jane 154cm and rough G10? Get the heck outta here, that's just robbery. A friend here urged me to at least try them out, and he sold me my first Emerson, the Horseman. Thankfully it was a cheap purchase, because I didn't like it. Didn't like the blade-shape at all, though the ergos were decent. Just not a fan, so I sold it and moved on. So at that time, the experiment was a failure.

Then I was looking through the "What Knives Are You Carrying Today" thread back when I used to participate in it pretty heavily, and saw the A100 for the first time. Even with just seeing a picture, I loved it immediately. I absolutely loved the simplicity of it, the beauty of the grind on the blade, everything about how it looked. I purchased one right away. It arrived, and I carried it for awhile, and it just worked out. It would kick much more expensive knives out of my pocket quite often. Then I had a chance to purchase a couple of other Emersons and it just snowballed to the point where now, I have several of them. I still love and carry that A100, but if I had to pick one Emerson to keep above all others, it would be my Vindicator. I think it's a knife that is absolutely flawless. That it is "mere" 154cm bothers me not one bit. The ergos are staggering, in that it feels like it was custom made to fit my hand. In fact, that's really one of the huge things for the Emersons I have now, they all feel custom tailored to fit me. My 13, my Jungle Commander, my Vindicator, and my Persian (to name a few), just flawless ergos, in any grip.

I have a knife collection that includes Olamics, Chris Reeve Knives, ZT, Spyderco, and other notables, and of course, now Emersons. I hate to say it, but my three favorite Emersons have ergos that are superior to all of my other knives with the SINGLE exception of my two Olamic Wayfarers. Heh, comparing an Emerson knife to an Olamic Wayfarer? That's high praise indeed. The steel, sure it's "only" 154cm, but it sharpens easily on my Sharpmaker, a few swipes and I'm back in business with a scary sharp edge that does hold for a fair amount of time.

So, I can say that I am a huge fan, and have my eye on a few more Emersons that will be on my purchase list in 2017.
 
Dont forget the wave, its pure genius magic. I didnt think Id like it, but I now see its pure awesomeness.
 
The blade steel Emerson uses was developed in the 1970's, and that in and of itself is not an issue. IMO the issue is that most knife manufacturers have abandoned the ingot steel production methods in favor of the powdered metallurgy production process. That has propelled the availability of super-premium steel to the market. This presented a tremendous increase in value to the knife consumer, for an immaterial increase in the cost of production. The market passed that improvement on to the consumer. Everyone is happy.

154CM is not equivalent to CPM154, and I think that is the gist of the complaint people have. EKI products don't represent the best value for the same dollar, in the minds of most consumers. And let's be honest that is how we place value on items, by comparing items of similar cost against each competing products perceived value. Understanding that "perceived value" is extremely subjective, the quality of the blade steel is a significant factor of perceived value in the minds of most knife consumers. There are an infinite number of other considerations the consumer uses to value a knife, but those attributes begin to approach the outside the curve, they are closer to the edges.

With EKI, consumers place other considerations above the blade steel choice he uses. Contributors to this post (and others) have mentioned EKI superb ergos, warranty service, the companies history with suppling the most elite warriors our country has, getting to deal with Ernie in person and online, one-man shop versus the conglomerate that is KAI, Benchmade, etc., availability to obtain custom knives, and the list goes on.

Taking aim at the 154CM is an easy target in this case.

In full disclosure I have a mini commander, Persian, Gentleman Jim, and the Sheepdog Bowie flipper I bought from KnifeArt last week arrived yesterday... Flipping perfection really. But so is the ZT 0804CF I have as well.
 
Lycosa said:
A good post.^
What's the steel on the ZT?
rolf
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Rolf that particlular ZT I mentioned, the 0804CF has a blade composed of CTS-204P, which is Carpenter Steel's version of M390. This is about at cutting-edge (no pun intended) as you can get when it comes to modern blade steels. HRC is 60-62 and it is well into stainless territory with Chromium making up 20% of its mass. So it has extreme durability and superior corrosion resistance. This is a/k/a Micro-Melt 20-4p.

The CPM process (a/k/a spray forming) results in a higher carbon and alloy steel that is composed of uniform and very fine grain carbides. Using the conventional ingot process, as the carbon and alloy content was increased, the micro-structure of the steel moved from finer grains to more coarse grains. Applying the CPM process to the alloy blend that is 154CM, results in a better performing steel in terms of ease of sharpening wear resistance, durability/toughness.

I have nothing to support this, but I would imagine that the price of 154CM bar stock has probably dropped significantly since the decade-long proliferation of spray-forming. It would have very little demand as a blade steel.

Can anyone comment on the wholesale cost of 154CM compared to what it was 5 and 10 years ago?

I wanted to add that those MUCH more experienced in knife making have argued that knife edge and blade geometry, combined with proper heat treatment might better separate knives of similar alloy chemistry from one another. But there is a direct link between powder/particulate metallurgy and improved blade steel performance and characteristics.
 
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I was thinking about my collection of knives, I have 25 +/- (I haven't actually counted them all). Of those 25, four of them are Emerson Knives.
 
Thanks, seeverscpa.
This I know... were Emerson to switch to other blade steels, they would sell like hotcakes.
Ernest knows this.
rolf
 
I'm loving my new sheepdog Bowie flipper. Flips like a dream. Lol. But lock stick is significant on some openings. It's kind of odd that if I open the knife with a very forceful flip, the liner is easy to disengage. But if I flip it with less force, the audible sound on lock-up is different and it's a bitch to unlock.

Why would that be? I mean I can see that it locks up to a much higher percentage when I use little or moderate force. That's the reason for the differing lock stick, but I can't understand why it would lock up differently depending on how hard I flip the knife.
 
Mike, the wave definitely works. Do you ever find yourself drawing the knife from your pocket in such a way as to not engage the wave opener? I consciously do that so i can use the thumb disc to open the knife. I don't always want the knife opening as it leaves my pocket.
 
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