What are you paying for when you buy Emerson?

AsianBeerCan

AsianBeerCan

Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
81
Hello all,
I have carried an Emerson Commander for a while now and I like it decently, but I was looking to buy something else and most other knives in its price category blow it out of the water, specs-wise. Why are Emersons so expensive for what you get? Why aren't they using at least CPM154 instead of 154CM at that price point, putting all their knives on bearings, etc? Just doesn't make sense that they're charging $250 for knives that would have been premium when I was in elementary school.
 
Emerson has a smaller production facility than a company like Benchmade, so their knives are going to cost more due to the scale of their business. I believe that all of the components of an Emerson knife are produced in their factory, to include the screws. Yes, you do pay a little for the name and for the patented wave feature, but I have not felt "ripped off" in doing so.

It would be nice to see them use CPM154 but Emersons 154CM has held up fine the humid and wet weather I have subjected it to. I'll gladly take 154CM over D2 or S30V.
 
You are paying for the design first of all. Emerson's designs are considered some of the best in the industry. Secondly you are buying a knife for life. If the lock wears out just send in the knife and they will replace it. While it may sound silly you are paying for the history as well.
 
Every Emerson I have owned has been a high-quality product. Yeah, the bar has been raised in F&F and better materials with other companies, but those other knives are not Emersons. There is a history to them.

Plus if you own one it makes you an official "operative" :D
 
You pay for a very good knife with a lot of personality.
I feel more ripped off by Spydie and Benchie than I do with Ernie's.
 
Lapedog said:
You are paying for the design first of all. Emerson's designs are considered some of the best in the industry. Secondly you are buying a knife for life. If the lock wears out just send in the knife and they will replace it. While it may sound silly you are paying for the history as well.
Click to expand...

This, exactly. Emerson's designs are brilliant.
 
Emerson is a very divisive brand. To their devotees, the knife designs are "ingenious" and the knives have "a lot of character." To their detractors, the designs are silly, the fit and finish is bad, and the prices are ridiculously inflated. Whichever camp you're in, it's hard to deny the fact that the knives are not ground on the optimal side for right-handed users (who are in the vast majority).
 
One is paying for knives designed by one of the best knife designers ever.
rolf
 
Emerson have great ergonomics and design, however... for the price they use subpar materials and QC w/o a question and frankly their liner lock is outdated. You can get a ZT 0630 which has a better lock, better materials, and better quality control for around $30+ dollars cheaper than most emersons.
 
I think I've only ever paid more than $200 on maybe two new Emerson out of the 10 or so that I've had. The rest have been picked up used (all lightly used w/ plenty of life left) from $190 down to about $90 right here on the Exchange. Unless you're getting one of the Signature models or something very limited like an HD-7, used on the Exchange is the way to go.

That's what I've paid.

I agree with every "why" already posted.
 
I don't own one and 99% sure I never will. Not that they're not good knives, just that there are SO many great knives out there. In both price ranges, custom and production Emersons, there are so many other amazing knives in those two price ranges!!!

Sounds like you are paying for the name, great reputation, and style of the knife.
 
I've owned quite a few Emersons. They were decent. Liked the Wave feature. Hated the chisel edge grind and rough scale finish and 154cm. I can get a better waved knife in the Lone Wolf Endura...IMO.
I am no longer a fan
 
Emerson is the epitome of a brand that you have to try yourself to see if you like them. Good or bad, you may find they are exactly how you anticipated or that your opinion could be reversed.
 
A lot of it is lack of economy of scale.

Emersons are expensive for the same reason Striders and Hinderers are expensive. They don't have the capacity to produce their product in the most economical way.

It's way more expensive per item to make 1000 pieces than it is to make 100,000 pieces.
 
I think that, just the same with a lot of brands/manufacturers, specific customer needs and wants play a large role in whether the price makes sense to a specific customer.

Some knife buyers may be looking for the specific combination of features offered by Emerson. For these buyers, the cost to purchase Emerson knives is warranted because they cannot achieve the same combination of features anywhere else.

For instance, the wave feature is available on ZT/Emerson collaborations. However, these knives have blades of S35-VN and Elmax, have double ground edges and bevels, and are titanium framelocks. For customers who are simply looking for the wave feature, and who are indifferent or negative towards Emerson's use of 154CM and liner locks, the cost to purchase Emerson knives is not warranted. The same principle holds true in the reverse situation; for customers who are looking for the wave feature and chisel grind/edge, and prefer 154CM and a liner lock, the cost to purchase a ZT/Emerson collaboration is not warranted.
 
Well, AsianBeerCan, you've asked one of the most polarizing questions ever dropped into a thread on BFC. Look at some of your answers so far...

FullMetalJackass is paying the premium because the Emerson has "personality" and he "feels like a real human built it." Intangible, subjective qualities, but there are folks out there who will shell out the cash in order to get it.

Rolf and Lapedog are willing to pay for the design from "one of the best knife designers ever." That's brought up often, but I never see anyone using the same logic to defend the price of a Benchmade that is designed by Osborne, Pardue, Sibert, Ritter, etc. etc... Lapedog even points out that the Emerson can be sent in for life if you have any problems with it. Benchmade offers you the same. I actually owned a Benchmade CQC7 and an Emerson CQC7 at the same time back in the day. I found the Benchmade to be superior. Same designer, same materials, same forever warrantee... but the BM was simply put together far better.

Still others point out that they've tried Emersons and found them to be overpriced for what you get. You've packed one around now and you seem to be pointing in that direction. SonnyDaze appears to have done the same.

benchwarmer380 says it's a brand you have to try out to see if you like them. I agree with this, and pretty much say that about all knife brands.

You've packed an Emerson around enough to know whether it gives you the bang-for-the-buck you need. You are using your objective senses to see that FOR YOUR MONEY, there may be better products out there. If you are looking for reasons to get another Emerson, you are going to get plenty... some objective, some subjective. If you are looking for reasons NOT to get another Emerson for the money, you are going to get plenty... some objective, some subjective. And folks will defend their reasons with a passion that will get a thread closed.

My advice is this. Don't ask US what makes the brand worth the money to YOU. It's a dead end street. Ask YOURSELF.
 
AsianBeerCan said:
Why are Emersons so expensive for what you get?
Click to expand...

For the vast majority of buyers, what they are buying is feeling good. And that's not a bad reason to buy an Emerson or any knife. As I say on BF about once week, all an Emerson - or any knife - does is just cut stuff. Its not black magic.

Emersons are strong and durable. They make a good, solid - albeit rudimentary - knife. But we who have purchased Emersons - and I own about half a dozen of them - use them primarily to open Amazon packages, utility bills and bags of cashews. We take pics of them and put them on Bladeforums. We aren't killing ISIS with them. So we just have fun with them, use them for our daily mostly-urban existence, and enjoy one in the pocket.

Emersons don't objectively do much of anything better than other knives. But they can make certain guys feel good, and that's why people spend the money on them. Same with Sebenzas and ZTs and everything else. Its mostly about feeling good, and feeling good is better than feeling not good.
 
1. Blade designs
2. Hand Ergos. No one else seems to consistently put out so many handles that work so well in a variety of grips.
3. Wave feature, best deployment ever.
4. Size. I prefer the "super" versions of most of his knives. Not many others making folders with this blade length.

Not everything needs to be a bearing flipper with S30/s35. 154 is still good.

If you want something Emerson like with more "modern" materials and care given to fit and finish look at the ZT0620CF and 0630. I have them and they are great. I especially think the ZT0620CF is a hell of a value at 189 bucks.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top