Unhappy Emerson Owner

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Silverweasel

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I recently purchased my first Emerson knife, a Specwar A-BT. After close inspection, I was less than satisfied. The scale on the left side was poorly fitted and at the heel on the non-blade side, the scale is about .015 above the frame of the knife. The blade is advertised in Emerson's literature as a "standard V grind." The edge on my knife is more like a "chisel grind." The overall fit and finish is characteristic of a cheap import. I sent a letter to Emerson and followed it up with an email. However, they never responded. My advice: Buy a MicroTech, Benchmade or Masters of Defense. They adhere to much higher standards of quality than does Emerson. Emerson is living on his past reputation ---- not on the quality of his knives. I'll never buy another one!:(
 
Chris, my Emersons are great and I have no complaints about fit and finish or anything else about them, but ... this is Knife Reviews & Testing, and review his knife is what he did. What other reason would anyone have for posting comments here? If you think he's being untruthful, say so, but realize if you are saying so without having seen his knife, you can't be very convincing.

I agree he doesn't sound totally convincing himself, since I would tend to believe that EKI would respond to an honest criticism. Does anyone else have any facts on this?
 
Well Esav, I think he is a troll.
He has been here all of a few days, and 2 out of his 3 posts have tried to drag Ernest Emerson personally through the mud.
He won't buy another Emerson knife because the scale is off .15, thats fine. I hope he doesn't buy anymore knives- That's more for me. Emerson Knives are not the "#1 Knives to look at," They are made for hard use. Personally, I could care less if one of the scales was off, but if he doesn't like it, that's his right.
However, Notice its not just the individual knife that is bad, or the company that is bad, Its Ernest Emerson for some reason. Now, I don't know the guy, but I think its pretty rude and unjusifiable to say that Ernest Emerson isn't making the quality of knives he claims to be just because this ******* got a lemon.
 
Originally posted by Chris Connolly
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However, Notice its not just the individual knife that is bad, or the company that is bad, Its Ernest Emerson for some reason.
I think he was referring to Emerson Knives Company, not to Mr. Emerson personally? Why do you think it was personal?

Now, I don't know the guy, but I think its pretty rude and unjusifiable to say that Ernest Emerson isn't making the quality of knives he claims to be just because this ******* got a lemon.
I'm not sure I understand this though. Do you mean that he was supposed to get several knives first, and only then complain, or despite of the knives number, he wasn't supposed to complain anyways?
 
Originally posted by Silverweasel
Emerson is living on his past reputation ---- not on the quality of his knives.
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If he wants to knock the knife, thats fine, I don't think an ad hominem attack is called for.
 
Silverweasel: If you received a knife that was not the quality you expected, why not simply call Emerson? A letter is certainly a poor way to get fast response. We also all know that if you don't get a fast email reply, pick up the phone.

You remember how a phone works? Pick up the receiver, dial the number and talk to the company. Very simple. Dialing Emerson, will certainly will take far less time than it took to type out a silly complaint that you posted (without even having the sense and decency to speak to the company first).

As a second solution, did you complain to the retailer or internet company you purchased the knife from? The reputable companies will exchange a knife, if in new condition, for quality reasons, or issue you a credit.

Emerson stands behind their product. No question about it. Call them and post what they tell you. Otherwise, your post makes it sound like you simply like to hear yourself complain.
 
Some of this might be a rant, but it touches on some true facts in business. For example, my company makes highly technical electronic devices for hospital equipment and the bio-tech industry. We engineered an alarm system for MRI machines where the patient is undergoing a procedure--a safety issue. If we ever got numerous customer service complaints, or failures during periodic tests, an administrator, or the boss himself, would have to get involved.

More to the point, let's face it. I've unwrapped a new knife from an on-line supplier and I've been disappointed; several hundred bucks and I'm ticked and I call customer service. I settle down, but my initial response is pretty heated. It's on my credit card.

All of my Emerson's were perfect, I got good service, they performed as advertised and when it became time to sell them, my friends greedily gobbled them up. Based on my limited experience (five knives), they have a better run than my Microtechs. But there was a brief period where SOME CQ's and Ravens had some problems; we are told that period is over and customer service responded to any and all complaints. I'm glad, that says a lot about a company. I would buy an Emerson today.

But I'm on the receiving end of this. My company is destruction testing a component right now. We don't want the end-user to launch a new product and have it crap in the field in six months. If it broke, and a client called in and chewed me out, I would let out a big sigh, and take it politely. That's business.
 
There have been QC issues with Emerson's production knives in the past, in fact, I have griped about them myself, but I've seen improvements and feel confident in purchasing an Emerson. If you find a defect in the knife, simply send it to the factory. That's what the warranty is for. Complaining that the scale is about .015 above the frame of the knife seems silly. Did you buy the knife to use it or just to look at? Perhaps an high-end custom art folder is what you seek, not a production folder designed to be used.
 
Originally posted by el cid
There have been QC issues with Emerson's production knives in the past, in fact, I have griped about them myself, but I've seen improvements and feel confident in purchasing an Emerson.
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That's very fair and honest and it's nice to see.

As for the description of the grind on the knife, I wrote this elsewhere:

EKI really needs to drop the "conventional V grind" description when speaking of their knives. While the blade itself IS V-ground on the knife in question and on some others, the final grind, the edge, is a chisel grind.

They would only benefit from being 100% accurate on their Website, it could avoid some misunderstandings in the future.
 
Well I don't know this fella Silverweasel either. But I do know that I was not happy with the 3 I purchased from various vendors on the forums. I had a Commander, Mach1, and CQC7A SF. Not one of those was what I would call sharp out of the box. Mine were put together fine though. No lock failures etc. I can't for the life of me figure the enamoration other forumites and people in general have with the EKI line of knives. They don't come that sharp out of the box, and they are a bitch to sharpen in the field. I also don't buy that old saw that they are hard use tools either. The two things any knife is made to do is cut and penetrate. Mine did neither well although I must say the CQC7 was the best of the bunch in this regard. I very unscientifically compared my CS XLG Voyager and an old Outdoor Edge Magna to the Commander, Mach1, and the CQC for penetration and cutting ability on my old leather bike jacket, and an old carhart jacket. Not impressed one iota with any of the EKI's in there ability to cut or slash. The CS and Magna ran rings around them, literally. I am not a martial artist with knives by an stretch but these 2 cheap extremely sharp knives were effortless in there penetration and cutting abilities. Far above the EKI's. I had the EKI's as sharp as I could get them too. What led me to perform this test was my cutting board. I tried sticking the Comm. into the cutting board point first after using it in the kitchen. Well it would dent the cutting board with the point but for the life of me I couldn't get the darn thing to stick. So I went and got the Mach and the CQC and had the same results. I will say they were put together well though. As for a response from EKI company never rec. any for the email I wrote either. I did call though once when I rec. the CQC and it was about as dull as a butter knife when I removed it from the box. The nice lady told me that because it was a knife it probably needed to be sharpened. Well duh! as my daughter would say. This has been my experience with my EKI's. Will I buy another? Not in the near future. I have purchased a bunch of knives lately not the least of which were the 3 EKI's. All of them except for these 3 EKI's are sharp enough out of the box to use. I traded the CQC for an MOD Trident. I think I got the better trade. Better made and very sharp. Don't much care for all the writing on the blade but hey I can live with it. The liner lock does not fail, it is a nice wide blade and now it is astoundingly sharp. Much more so than my CQC ever thought of being. Sorry for the rant but again for the life of me I just don't see where EKI's are that great. I know people will say they are meant for one purpose and one purpose only. Well all I have to say is how many times will you use your knife for self defense? None I would hope. I think I need to get a life or something or maybe some cheese with my whine! Hey keep'em sharp and I know some people really like the single grind and dual bevel single edged knives. Me I like to be able to use a minimum amount of effort when cutting something. Something I felt the EKI's did not offer.
 
longbow: This thread again shows the wide variety of consumer expectations and quality in the knife industry. I also have 2 Commanders and 1 CQC7. All of them were extremely sharp out of the box. In contrast my BM 710 was exceptionally dull (out of the box), whereas many other people comment on how perfect their 710 is.

The CQC7 was the sharpest. In fact, on a post, long ago, I asked about the CQC7 being sharper than the Commander and was told by Emerson Co. that they usually are sharper.

I find the quality on all 3 to be very good (for the money I paid). If you pay $200 for a Commander, you might be disappointed. If you pay $140, you will be happy.

I have also found a very interesting thing about the Commander quality (more so than with the CQC7): The one I use as EDC has gotten more stable in lock up and much more of a solid feel after using it for a long while.
 
One of the first knives I ever purchased was the Benchmade-Emerson CQC-7 about 7 or 8 years ago. I still have it. Later I got an Emerson Knife Comapny CQC-7 and found its quality to be the same if not better. I've owned and used many knives over the years, and the CQC-7 is the only one that I've had accidents with! My left palm, right index finger, left index finger, and right thigh will attest to that. I guess I'm wasn't being too careful and the knife was damn sharp!

Here's why I like Emerson's knives.

The designs: They are pretty original. He was one of the first to use the chisel grind/American tanto on a folder. he came out with the wave feature. The Commander design (handle/recurve-ed blade) is very nice. The knives have the quintesential tactical look. And they all share a sort of common design (look, materials, finish) that make them unique. Granted, other companies have these features too, but Emerson, at least to me, epitomizes them. Microtech, another great company, also possesses these traits.

The man and the history: Ernest Emerson is the real deal. He is a practitioner of martial arts. He has made knives for the military elite. And, to me, most importantly, he makes handmade knives. He knows what it takes to make a knife from start to finish as an individual. I like the fact that he was able to allow a poor guy like me, own a knife of his design in a production piece, who couldn't afford one of his high dollar handmades. (But that's not true anymore; I got a CQC6!)

it is true though, with production pieces, not every one is going to be perfect and not every purchaser is going to be happy, and not every knife is going to come hair popping sharp. Sure, it is natural to be disappointed and maybe even angry.

Anyways, that's why I like Emerson's knives.

Roger
 
At first, I was not overly impressed with Emerson's QC. It was "OK", but not really what I had expected considering the ledgednary reputation of the customs.

Recently, at a local B&M dealer, I picked up a Spec-War A and was very impressed. At the "nerve-center" of any liner lock, the liner clicked open precisely to the same point on the tang every time I cycled it. Of course, it was great in the hand. I bought it.

In addition, other Emersons I handled on that visit also had no QC probs.

If there were probs early on, it seems they have been dealt with.

BTW, the Spec-War is a terrific knife. Chisel ground, though, which may be irksome to a few. But it's not designed for whittling.;)
 
I don't know maybe it was me with the particular knives I recieved. I just am not sold on them. The liner locks worked 100% on all three but the liner finish and the blade as it rotates around the pivots weren't that well finished at all. Lots of tool marks etc. I really don't see that on the more higher end production folders especially the SERE 2K. Maybe I am wrong comparing most higher end prod. knives to this one folder. But the ones Ihave seen and the one I own are of custom quality. I have a few BM's, MOD, CS, etc.etc. My point is that every one of these knives I own sharpen up to a razors edge with a nice penetrating type point. Even my sole neck knive a REKAT fang is scary sharp. I am not fond of the chisel grind either. Just me though. Well keepem sharp and these comments by me are in no way here impune Mr. Emerson's character etc. Keep'em sharp
 
longbow: It is interesting that you bring up the SERE 2000. Without question the SERE is finished much nicer than the Commander and CQC7. I have always been astonished at how nice the workmanship is on the SERE, for the money. I have to agree with you 100% on this point.
 
Man, a dull Emerson, that's something you don't hear about often and you have/had three of them. It might be that the actual edge feels different to you, I don't know. Some people have said that even a razor sharp chisel grind feels different. They don't to me. But to each his own.
 
Hi Don, I know the edges feel different. For a fact they do. What I am saying though is that for instance I couldn't really open an envelope without first tearing it some. Mundane task for a knife for sure but one I use a knife for about every day. I am telling you though when trying to put cuts etc. into my old leather the effort required was a helluva lot more than when using the CS or the Magna. Much more. I had them as sharp as I could get them too but to me the edge grinds are just to thick. When I would end up with a nice edge you could look at it in a good light and see where it was thinned down enough to where it just wouldn't hold up. For instance today in the mail I rec. a CS Lg Voyager older style clip point from Chris Aolia, sorry if I massacred his name in spelling. Point being is that the knife was pretty sharp when I rec. and in less than a minute on a small Spyderco stone the thing is astoundingly sharp now. I am not saying all knives are like this or this easy to sharpen but they all should get this sharp. Picked up a Whirlwind on Tues of this week. Unreal gadget factor with the speed safe mech. but again like a razor out of the box. I have examined a few EKI's at gunshows and truthfully none have impressed me with there sharpness out of the box. Like I said before nothing against EKI's as they are fine and lots of people like them. They just don't float my boat. Keep'em sharp
 
I don't get into these things very often but ANYBODY is ENTITLED to an OPINION! If you have a problem with a knife get it off your chest! I found out years ago that if you slam whoever is "in vogue" at the time, their defenders will come out of the woodwork and give you total greif! My gosh, just do a archive search under "Mad Dog"!

This guy did NOTHING wrong here but since E.E. is all in vogue these days, (and by the way I've met Ernie and he's a great guy and I used to live about 10 miles from his shop), that's not to say you shouldn't critique a makers knife, (or his production knives), if they're not up to expectations.

I've made enemies from more than one "famous" maker because I've called them on sloppiness in not producing what I wanted or the product wasn't "up to snuff".

Yeah, I too like "love fests", but if a product isn't as advertised, let them and us know!
 
Originally posted by Gene ANYBODY is ENTITLED to an OPINION! If you have a problem with a knife get it off your chest! [/B]
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Absolutely. Advertising will always tell us what's right with a product. Reviewers are supposed to tell us where the problems are.
 
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