Timberline Emerson/Neeley SPECWAR

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33Sierra

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I have a chance to buy a Timberline Emerson/Neeley Specwar. I know nothing about the Knife but its a large knife and has a black coating on the blade. Do any of you know of this Knife and what it is worth it looks to be in new shape as far as I can tell. Thanks
 
I was looking at some pictures of early Emerson knives just this morning, some pre-tactical models even. I think thses sold for around 350.00 here at a local knive shop when new. Really a beast of a knife and it was the first knife I saw that had the chisel grind and it was wicked sharp. If you have a chance to get it, I say do so just on the fact that you will have an Ernest Emerson / Vaughn Neely knife. They are somewhat collectable on that alone.


Cerberus
 
the only thing that i can add, is that make sure you know a bit about what you are buying, just because i think there were two versions that were released. i bought one within the year from a shop that was $85. this version came with a cordura sheath with kydex insert. i believe the more expensive collectable one has a kydex sheath with thigh rig, that is around the 3-4 hundred range these days.
 
I currently have 2 Specwars, one older piece with a kydex\nylon thigh rig and I paid $325 for it at a local cutlery store about 6yrs ago now. Last year I picked up another one on the secondary market for $120 and it had what appeared to be a blade-tech sheath setup for IWB carry. I've seen the prices vary i.e. Ebay, etc from about $80 up to $400 give or take, pending the sheath, blade finish, etc.
 
How can you tell the difference? I have one I bought 5+ years ago with Kydex/nylon thigh sheath and I paid $260 for it. The handle is a bit darker black then the blade is... Blade is more of a greyish finish... From the pics I've seen, they look pure black..... Have though about selling it(all it does is sit in a safe) but I just can't let go of it.... Very nice knife and set-up.... Just a bit "too much"
 
I have 2 of the original SpecWars, with the 2 available finishes, bead blasted and black Ti coated. The bead blasted one should be a uniform grey color, the black Ti version should be darker, with a high polished bevel area. Next to each other, they are easy to tell apart. Take a look at the pic I have attached.

I got the information about the finishes straight from Timberline, they were quick to respond and quite helpful, even though they haven't made the knife in a while. When the $85 knives with the crappy cordura sheaths started showing up, I asked Timberline if they knew what was going on, as the value of my original SpecWars tanked. I never got a response. My guess, and this is purely speculation, is that Timberline or one of their distributors "found" a bunch of knives without sheaths and dumped them on the market, knowing full well what that would do to the value of the earlier knives. Again, this is only my opinion.

As for current values, original knives with the good sheath in mint condition should be worth $200 - $350, depending on market conditions. Later knives, with the plain Kydex sheath, like marauder220's, should go for $150 - $200. Current issue knives with the cordura sheath with a piece of plastic jammed in should not go for much more than $100. Having said that, if you can find one of the later ones for $100 or so, it's a good buy both as a user or collectible.

Specwar01.jpg
 
That's one of the original ones, with a bead blasted blade. If the $85 "Botach Specials" hadn't hit the market, that knife would probably be worth around $350 in mint condition. Now, depending on whether or not you can find a buyer that understands the rareness of the knife with that sheath, you could probably get $200 - $250 for it.
 
I have found a few SpecWar knives for sale and I am wondering how the heck one would be able to tell a copy from a fake. Now one of these knives are on Ebay and one of them is currently going for like $30 so...if it was legit then that would be one hell of a deal. I have also found one with a tactical sheath that is selling for $125. I have been searching for this thing every since 1997, 3 years after I fell in love with the knife and well before I found out that they no longer made them. I want one of these like badly LOL in case you could not tell so if any of you can help me out then that would be greatly appreciated. The thing is the people I will be buying from I know absolutely nothing about so I want to know everything about this knife that I can. Thanks.

Also, does anybody know anything about Sam's Shooters Emporium?
 
^^^ I have no idea. I thought they quit making the Spec War many years ago. i know the one I am planning on getting looks exactly like the ones posted above with their corresponding sheaths.
 
This is a quick review I wrote a couple of months ago from various closeouts at Sportsman's Guide. The knife is the same shape as a SpecWar and possibly the source of low-price eBay "SpecWar" knives.

Next knife, not such a score. It's the Camillus(R) Timberline(R) Pilot Survival Knife ($30). I've always been intrigued by the unique design of the Timbrline Specwar, so I ordered this knife to satiate my curiosity. First impression, this feels like a very cheap knife. The handle is lightweight hard plastic, and the weight of the knife indicates there's not much of a tang. The ergonomics are not what I expected; I think the real Specwar is quite a bit larger. There's a gap along where the blade and handle meet, proving the tang is only half the width of the exposed blade. The knife is advertised as 440C - good steel or not, it's incredibly dull. I wrote to S.G. regarding the lack of markings on the knife. They confirmed that the knife was made by Camillus, and I learned on the Camillus Forum that the markings were skipped to keep the cost down on a closeout product. The sheath is also a cost-cutter, a simple sewn pouch with a plastic insert, belt loop, and snap.
I've seen a visually-identical Timberline knife advertised as "Aviator" for $170. I sincerely hope this is not the same knife. Is it worth $30? Probably. Is it worth $60? Probably not. Worth $100? No way.
Click to expand...

Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
Thanks for the help but the truth of the matter is I dunno if you will be able to tell if it is real or not just from the photos. I do know that it is at a supposedly good shop so...! Anyways here is the link to the 2 I am curently looking at. By the way I am not going to purchase it through Ebay but rather from the store via my g/f's credit card, that way if it isn't what it is supposed to be then I will just call the CC card company and let them know what is up. Anyways here are the links and tell me what you guys think judging from the pics. Thanks in Advance.

Link 1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43335&item=6530628104&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Link2
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42576&item=7154400246&rd=1

Someone please help me out and tell me what you think. Are these legit in your opinions or not? I would hate to pay $125 for a knife that is a fake cheapo!

Justin
 
Well I find this thread very confusing :confused: :confused: So let me add my two cents. Far as I know the specwars came out matte grey or black ti as pointed out by Klesk - good photos. They had two different sheaths. One was a tie down sheath as shown in the photo by mkent20, the other was just a belt sheath made of nylon and kydex. Prices varied depending on finish and sheath

IIRC after the specwar was discontinued timberline came out with smaller versions called the aviator and, again IIRC, the pilot.

I'm guessing these are different from the Camillus pilot survival knife. I remember handling the aviator and it seemed ok just smaller. I hope this helps or if I'm confused that someone can set this straight.

Oh DazedandConfzed those knives look real to me but what do I know. I bought mine off of ebay too and they look like the ones I saw in the store but couldn't afford to buy at that time when they were being produced.

Klesk - thanks for the info about the black ti having a highly polished bevel area. I have two - one with a highly polished bevel area and the other without. I was always suspicious that the highly polished bevel meant someone had resharpened the knife even though the seller swore up and down the knife was mib. Now the question is why doesn't the other one have a highly polished bevel area. Oh and I don't think someone found a batch of blades. The original specwars are made of ATS 34, and the "copies" are of 440. I think timberline made a deal with camillus to produce these a inexpensive versions.
 
This is a CQC7 fixed blade. I wonder why Emerson never put the Emerson logo on it. I wish Emerson would make the SpecWar again.
 
^^^Wow, you have just confused the hell out of me. I am not sure what you are talking about. How is the SpecWar fixed blade a CQC7?
 
Look at the CQC7 and the specwar. Both were designed/made by Emerson. Both look very similar. I bought a matte grey specwar at a gun show as a user. The original owner had screwed it up trying to resharpen it. I contacted both Emerson and Timberline about the possibility of resharpening and refinishing the blade. I got the impression from the Emerson response that they wanted nothing to do with the specwars. This was only my impression and their response could have been because of contractual reasons. They acknowledged that while Emerson was involved in the design of the Specwar all requests for service had to go to Timberline. For its part Timberline did not do resharpening or refinishing, but did provide tips on resharpening ie bevel angle. In the end I used my apex pro and put a razor sharp edge on it and in the process removed the matte grey coating along the entire bevel. So be advised if you resharpen your specwar.
 
Thanks for the input!! That is some very interesting news. It sucks that Emerson cannot help, that is weird and most likely due to reasons you mentioned. I guess where I get really confused is the part about comparing the Spec War with the CQC7 because too my knowledge the CQC7 is a folder and even though there is a folding SpecWar version, I am interested only in the fixed blade. I don't care much for folding knives due to personal reasons.

One thing that I have a hard time with here though is who exactly makes the fixed blade knife called the Aviator? I mean is it Emerson bragging rights or Timberline. Also, if you bought the Aviator and needed it resharpened then who would do it or do anything with it at all? Emerson or Timberline? I mean technically the Aviator belongs to Timberline but since it is just scaled down version of the SpecWar and Timberline won't or cannot do anything with them then where do you send it to have changes made or to be simply refinished etc.? It kind of sucks to pay that kind of money for a knife only to find out if you need a overhaul done to it, that nobody will do it. That is kind of like throwing away $150 or so.
 
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