Worst knife you've ever purchased...

ALLHSS said:
Whoa buddy, them's fightin' words. (not to me, but to many of the Emerson fans on here)
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They asked, and I answered. I'm sorry if Emerson fans are a little sensitive.

Let me be clear. I've owned a grand total of 3. The first was a Mini CQC-15, it was a disappointing let down unfortunately. Very roughly made, didn't center, gritty action, sticky lock. I tried to like it. I loved the design, but it was too valuable to keep. I sold it. Then next was a used Micro Commander, and this one was better, but the detent ball had a worn flat spot on it. It would squeak whenever I opened or closed it. Lubrication was only temporary. The squeak eventually returned. Eventually I parted with it again. The third one I bought was another Mini CQC-15 after arranging to have some custom work done on it. It was the same as before, rough and unrefined. But the result of the custom work is pictured below. This knife is my grail now, absolutely flawless. Like I said, I love their designs. Only the blade is original. It's the only part Emerson does right in my opinion. Sorry, just my $.02.

 
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I'm not offended either. To each their own. Maybe Moxy can go on the Emerson forum and post his concerns.
 
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I understood that. Your post made me realize I made a blanket statement without any support so I thought I'd share my experience.

Sosa said:
I'm not offended either. To each their own. Maybe Moxy can go on the Emerson forum and post his or her concerns.
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Ha, I'd be swimming against the current over there... no thanks.
 
It's a tie! The Gerber Evo and the Remington FAST. Even Gerber should be ashamed of the EVO's poor quality and the fact that the design was ripped off from CRKT's M16 Series. The Remington FAST looked like a good folder at the time, until it popped open, tearing a hole in my jeans and almost stabbing me. Oh, and the honorable mention goes to the Buck Bantam. Generally I like Buck, but the critics are correct about the Bantam; it's lock is on the flimsy side and that coupled with a thin, uncomfortable handle creates a blade ready to cut the user's hand on opening.
 
Honestly? a Benchmade 940 last year. I was super excited for it too but it was insanely dull out of the box compared to my insanely sharp OTB Grip and it developed blade play in minutes of playing with the axis lock. Every time I adjusted it, it just loosened up again. I was just extremely let down by i especially after all of the amazing things I heard about it on here. I ended up trading it for a ZT. I like tactical style folders more than gentleman/traditional style anyway.
 
I don't buy knives I don't like so the short answer is no. I've researched knives I thought I'd like and not bought them after reading enough reviews.

One that comes to mind is the original Kabar Dozier Thorn, I didn't trust the lock after I saw a friend and I showed him how the lock could call with moderate torquing and I like Dozier's knives and I'm a fan of D2.
 
The worst knife I ever bought was also the first knife I ever bought (with my own money, at least). I think I was maybe 14 or 15 at the time. It was an Mtech flea market special, complete with mystery stainless blade with no heat treat, serrations, and a handle patterned like a gun slide. I bought it expressly because it was the most stupid, ridiculous, over-the-top knife design I had ever seen and I just HAD to have it. Literally the moment I got home one of the screws popped out of the handle (evidently pre-stripped of threading) and rolled under my stove, never to be seen again. Ended up putting me off carrying knives until I was in grad school.

Also worth mentioning is my buddy's little Gerber paraframe mini. My god did he use the hell out of that thing. It couldn't take an edge to save its life, even the serrations were dull. The lock was so weak it was basically a loose friction folder. All the screws except for the pivot had fallen out within a month (leaving the two halves of the handle free to rotate around the tiny blade), but he kept on using that broken deathtrap for at least a year. And he REALLY used that thing every day on the job too. Don't know how he did it. He eventually threw it out when it stuck him through his pocket... and he bought another one. I saved him from himself and bought him a Cryo 2 that year for his birthday.
 
Moxy said:
They asked, and I answered. I'm sorry if Emerson fans are a little sensitive.

..... This knife is my grail now, absolutely flawless. Like I said, I love their designs. Only the blade is original. It's the only part Emerson does right in my opinion. Sorry, just my $.02.

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Knice knife.
 
I've never bought a 'worst' that I can remember.

Worst knife I've ever had I found in the street---a small Gerber paraframe tanto. I thought someone must have lost it but, after carrying it for a day, I now believe they probably just threw it down and went on.

I find it difficult to kill any knife so now I sometimes carry it in a boot as a junker---rarely.
 
All I can say is that no matter how disappointed in a knife I may be, resurrecting a 6 year old thread to bash it is simply beneath me.
 
cncpro11 said:
All I can say is that no matter how disappointed in a knife I may be, resurrecting a 6 year old thread to bash it is simply beneath me.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again. Some people just need to EDC a stick.

There are people that buy knives and don't understand what they are getting or what they are buying. This lack of research can breed haters quickly, it happens and quite often. The expectations are high and they don't bother to try and get stuff fixed or bother to learn anything about the brand. They are simply content to be spiteful due to their experience, and their perpetuating ignorance makes it even tougher to explain and discuss things. Now, this is not to say it is like that all the time, but it happens enough to have made me take notice. I guess if you read enough threads from beginning to end you pick up on this stuff more readily.
 
It's alive! Aliiiiiive!!!!!!!

Just in case I haven't answered this one already - Schrade Cliphanger. Hands down. It is a turd with a cactus handle.
 
jayz5000 said:
Honestly? a Benchmade 940 last year. I was super excited for it too but it was insanely dull out of the box compared to my insanely sharp OTB Grip and it developed blade play in minutes of playing with the axis lock. Every time I adjusted it, it just loosened up again. I was just extremely let down by i especially after all of the amazing things I heard about it on here. I ended up trading it for a ZT. I like tactical style folders more than gentleman/traditional style anyway.
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Benchmade knives can be tricky to set up. Unless you polish and flatten the washers you sometimes have to decide between a stiff action with no blade play, or a fast action with a little wiggle. Also I've noticed the threads on some pivot screws are not very tight fitting. You need a reasonable amount of stiff threadlocker to get it to stay. Once you get past that they are very reliable and consistent.
 
The Bear Grylls Paracord Fixed Blade. It's....I....I'm not not ready to talk about it

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Condor Kukri, hands down...

I literally took it out of the box, took one swing at a log and it broke right at the cho! I exchanged it for the Condor Golok and I've had no problems since.


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Buck Redpoint
The pivot screw spun freely and stuck with only one rotation of the threading in the pivot nut. Lots of blade play.
Thing had 2 washers on one side and one on the other. One of the three washers was partially folded over.
Tried my best to fix it.
 
Just to be clear I love emerson knives, however the only time I have had a knife fail that wasn't a result of me trying to make it fail or doing something stupid with it were 2 emersons, both had lock failure and closed on me during light use. Granted both were brand new out of box, and EKI fixed both hassle free for me, but now I know to be a little careful with a brand new emerson until that lockbar settles a bit. FWIW the knives were a cqc-10 and a horseman.
 
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