Emerson? The question was 'who makes the best liner lock' and Emerson in my opinion lags behind the others for all around reasons as to the definition of 'best.' However function is not the only thing I look at if I'm determining what is best. First of all, the term best is so subjective to begin with that its hard to be objective in reply for anyone. For some best would mean best in all areas including fit and finish which would immediately exclude knives like Emerson because, well I mean just look at them. Ernie gets away with some of the worst finishes in production knives. This is nothing personal against Emerson so don't take this wrong. Just pull out one of yours and look if you don't believe me. Often times when I spit these kind of things out people think I'm being personal. I'm not. I'm being factual. Also, Emerson knives is in my opinion the corner cutting king in the industry for many reasons, fit and finish being one of them because its non existent. Quite simply put you can buy a cheap $19 Mantis knife with a better finish on it than the highest dollar Emerson folder.
I wish I could rate them higher than I do but I don't, mostly due to the poor fit and finish on virtually every one I've seen as well as other things.. One of those other things is the chisel grind which obviously is not for everyone. Emerson stands out here. At times folks buying one for the first time feel slighted like, whats this all about and I've had them write me asking me why he does one side grinds and the wrong side at that, as well as questions regarding whether I can resharpen the bevel to a true V grind like they are used to. Most are not aware that to do that voids the warranty so once again we have another ding for why they can't be rated best in my opinion.
But as to why they were not mentioned. You may not like it but you did seem to want to know why they were not mentioned with your surprise that I didn't even give them so much as an honorable mention. If you were to ask me which I prefer personally if I was looking at a liner lock my answer would be the one that works regardless of who made it. Doesn't matter how good it looks, so I do have some Emersons but many other EKI knives have fallen short of what I expected or wanted just the same. If it doesn't function its no good to me because above all else it has to work and there is nothing worse than a folder lacking in other areas like fit and finish that also doesn't work. I pay particular attention to the contact angle when I'm buying my own liner locks which is one of those areas where I could get real technical but I'll spare you. I also do not buy into the BS that the thickness does not matter. Most of the guys saying that only do it for marketing reasons because they make and sell them with thinner liners themselves so of course they have to say that. Look at what they carry in their own pockets though and you'll see what they really know in their hearts IMO. Thicker not only wears better but it flexes less and quite frankly if I can put moderate spine pressure on the blade with the knife in the opened position locked and I can with that little bit of pressure move the blade away from the stop pin and flex the lock I won't own it and if I do its just to collect, certainly not to use. Not only this but thicker liners are looked at more favorably across the board by end line users as inherently more valuable except for the severely crippled koolaid drinkers that are blinded by the faith. Lets face it beefy is better in the eyes of many. I base this on more than my own frame locks too. But for example, if I offer .125 or .160 thickness titanium to someone they go with the .160 most every time.
Lets compare the Emerson side by side briefly with others. You can buy a BenchMade Axis Lock and for less than an Emerson and you won't see laser cut marks or sharp edges on them like you routinely do on any Emerson you buy even at $100 less in cost to the end line user. Nor will you have a gritty action but instead a smooth as silk action on most all of them. When you don't get this from other manufacturers, be it BM, Spyderco, Kershaw, or any of the other big ones its not referred to as standard production issue as if its to be expected like it is by Emerson (its not and should not be expected) but its looked at by all the others as a flaw and they fix it! Thats the fact its nothing personal. When I wrote Emerson complaining about a finish on some liners and scales with laser cut marks and rounded edges causing very visible gaps under the G10 where the liners and G10 meet I got an email back from Ernest himself telling me they were standard production liners. In other words too bad Steve! No offer to fix it was even mentioned. I can't share the exact words or the personal letter to me but the jist of the letter to me was this. "Thats the way they are, have a nice day." Now you can take this anyway you want it but thats basically saying in so many words its to be expected and it is nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. In other words they are not concerned with finishing for production Emerson knives. Ernie is a Guild member so you can't tell me he doesn't know how to finish. His customs are finished by the way. Its just for productions that the corners are cut on finishing. Again, this is evident looking at them by the way, if you don't like my answer. And although its just my opinion on how they rank since I'm the one that was asked, the things I speak of regarding finishing are factual.
Oh, and this model I happened to write Emerson about was a very expensive semi custom model with a hand ground blade by Ernie himself. Even that one which is one you would think is a step above a normal production folder, and the most expensive knife I have ever bought new, has an absolutely horrible, even embarrassing finish on it if it was anyone else's knife. But to them over at EKI its just par for the course and to be expected to have a crappy finish with gaps, laser cut lines visible and sharp edges all around the inside that the new owner must take down if it bothers him and this even on ones with the 'semi custom' level blades in them! Honesty the finish on this $800 one is not one iota better than my $117 Ebay special CQC7A Emerson folder. Both are crappy with G10 not flush, laser marks showing, burn marking in some places, gaps under the scales with light shining through and so on. You may think Emersons are great for function and mostly they are but for the ranking of best I'm sorry. That title would be undeserving. Still wondering why I don't consider them to be so nice?
More? Emerson uses a titanium lock side and a cheap 300 series stainless non locking side liner. This is fact. This is to cut cost plain and simple don't kid yourself. That stainless is cheaper to use and buy than titanium. Its all about money but it didn't reduce the cost at all to the end line user you see? The cost to you stays the same and at that retail price it just increases the profits for Emerson using stainless on one side. Someone told me when he quit using the green G10 it was also about cutting cost but I have not verified this. Anyway, Ernest diluted the products in his line up with these stainless liners in 2007 and I'm not the only one suggesting this and thats just telling it like it is nothing personal intended or implied. We all know its all about $. Stating facts is all it is. I simply call it as I see it.
Its no different than the post office raising rates to make more profit but cutting back hours and days opened giving you less at the same time. Nothing you can do about it when its the governement but in a free market the companies should be reamed royally for it but instead with Emerson they are praised to the high heavens and the fans put up with it and he gets away with it when others would dare try. Yet people can't figure that out at times and still ask me why I rarely mention Emerson as one of the better liner lock companies. Quite frankly due to just these things I do not consider them to be one of the better manufacturing companies. Compare a $179 Emerson to a $100 Kershaw sometime looking at just the finish and fit of things like the scales, the liners, sharp or rounded edges and so on and yet both locks function and both are quality made knives. You'll see that although both are made in the USA one stands out as lagging behind for finish and its the Emerson plain and simple. Emersons typically are very gritty and stiff when new compared to even many cheap knives and particularly Kershaws and also from all the other manufacturers. Look them over and compare if you don't believe me. Kershaw makes a better liner lock all around than Emerson. I base this on all areas though, not just function and forgetting the hype which is meaningless drivel. I was a field tester for Kershaw and trust me. Their knives work just as well as any Emerson period! But forget manufacturers or names. You have to look at these knives forgetting the name on them.
Look at a new knife as if it was a blank sterile knife you had no idea about. Forget the aura, the legends and all the hype. Pay no attention to the logos or the name or the DVDs or the other hype BS surrounding them to market them. Look at them this way and what do you see then looking at it objectively? Looking at an Emerson this way as a blank slate comparing it to a Kershaw, BenchMade, Spyderco, Lone Wolf or other knife looking at them as blank slates also, in most cases I see a crappy finish on a more expensive knife, a gritty action on a more expensive knife, and a lock that functions with the same level of reliability and ease as the better looking ones with the better actions and one that has a weird angle on the edge or a one side edge that means adjusting how I will need to maintain it compared to what I'm used to. I believe this is how most lay people will look at them. Its how my wife would look at it or a non knife person just wanting a carry knife would see it. Which one would you rate higher? Personally Emerson is at the bottom for me. Quite honestly I think they are a good foundation for a great knife. Why do you think so many end line users send them to guys like me to make them better with some kind of an upgrade? Its no accident really if you ask me. They need help to make them right thats why. That part is my opinion.
Pick up any folder in your collection and really look at it this way. Although I've said it I'll say it once more. You can see obvious laser cut lines all over most all Emerson production folders, edges that have a wire on them at times that can even cut your skin on the inside edges on some. I know because they have been mailed to me to remove this. You can even find some with burn marks left on them from the laser cutter with no evidence of even a tiny bit of belt time to finish them out. If this is important to you then obviously its going to be dead zero in ranking for best liner lock no matter how good it may function. Sometimes you have to look at these things as if you were not a knife nut. Look at them the way your wife would for initial impression forgetting all you think you know about knives and judge it briefly from the stand point of a typical real world non knife nut user. When I do this I'm unimpressed with Emerson knives when they are in that typical new out of the box condition.
STR
Which is just one of many reasons I prefer that style lock. Its nice when you can actually make your own so in that regard I favor both the lock back and frame lock also since I can make them. Not like I can build me an axis lock or one of the other proprietary lock systems without legal issue. Sal told me he was licensing the compression lock so I could make those and I thought about it, but its another one that just doesn't do much for me so I passed.
