Worth the money?

I will back Emerson knives 100%. They perform as intended. They are a tool. A well made tool that will last for many years. I would highly recommend the journeyman to you. It has a blade perfectly suited for the tasks that you mentioned. I have one and I beat the hell out of it on a daily basis. It excels at everything I have thrown at it.
 
I grew up on a cattle ranch and my first pocket knife was a benchmade version of the CQC7. I still have that knife and it is old as hell. It perfirmed like a champ through all the ranch chores. That knife is retired but it was replaced with an Emerson. I have knives from othee brands but when it comes to ease of sharpening the chisel grind has no competitors.
 
If you know a cop or military person he/she could order it for you direct from Emerson and save 20%.

I don't know why people hate on Emerson. I THINK its the price, but there are lots of the same people talking about buying 800 dollar Hinderers too. It kind of confuses me. Emersons were my first knives and still my daily carry. I went to a knife store the other day to see if I was missing anything. I handled some Spydercos and an Al Mar. Those brands to me were beautiful in an elegant sort of way. Nice balance, great little slicers, but the Emersons are tougher all day long.

Once you get into Zero Tolerance brands you start to get some competition. I handled the Strider Ken Onion ZT and that thing had a boss lockup and tough grip. It was kind of wide for me though...

Anyway, the point is, I think Emersons do a great job of being tough utility tools that don't get into being ridiculously bloated.
 
I have a few Emerson knives , but the Horseman is my favorite. I love the blade shape and the satin finish. It just looks like a high quality tool.

Comparing the fit and finish with my oldest Emerson ( a Blackbird), the horseman is just better. The ti liners are a littler thicker too.
It's a good choice for your first Emerson.

 
frankjuka said:
If you know a cop or military person he/she could order it for you direct from Emerson and save 20%.

I don't know why people hate on Emerson. I THINK its the price, but there are lots of the same people talking about buying 800 dollar Hinderers too. It kind of confuses me. Emersons were my first knives and still my daily carry. I went to a knife store the other day to see if I was missing anything. I handled some Spydercos and an Al Mar. Those brands to me were beautiful in an elegant sort of way. Nice balance, great little slicers, but the Emersons are tougher all day long.

Once you get into Zero Tolerance brands you start to get some competition. I handled the Strider Ken Onion ZT and that thing had a boss lockup and tough grip. It was kind of wide for me though...

Anyway, the point is, I think Emersons do a great job of being tough utility tools that don't get into being ridiculously bloated.
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Can they if they are a veteran who is no longer in service? And thanks a lot for the tip.
 
Cr4ze_w0lfe said:
I've been looking into purchasing my first Emerson for some work around the farm. And looking at the materials they seem a little pricey, could any of you long time Emerson users let me know how they are ( please no fanboys)? Do all Emerson's have titanium liner lock? And will any problems occur do to the titanium being a softer steel? Being on a farm I really want a heavy duty knife that's USA made and has great and lasting quality. I will also be carrying this knife as a EDC and would want to stay under 200$. It won't be used for dumb hard use (batoning or prying) but the knife won't be babied (cutting paper and boxes). Let me know what you guys think, thanks for any help.
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Well the Ti locks do wear faster than steel, which is why some knives are installing steel inserts. That would be a great idea but perhaps the liner stock is too thin for that and one of the selling points of Emersons is that they're not making a lot of changes from year to year on the same model (like Spyderco). Different philosophy. Anyway, as long as you don't modify the knife or have it pimped the warranty will cover it if you happen to wear out the lock (which is unlikely). I have an Emerson that was used constantly in a tactical situation for 10 years (not by me) and lockup was at about 80%. Also, after they wear for a bit the lock gets "work hardened."

There are lots of good knife companies out there but no one makes a knife quite like the Emersons.
 
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frankjuka said:
Once you get into Zero Tolerance brands you start to get some competition. I handled the Strider Ken Onion ZT and that thing had a boss lockup and tough grip. It was kind of wide for me though...

Anyway, the point is, I think Emersons do a great job of being tough utility tools that don't get into being ridiculously bloated.
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Agree about ZT. The 30x Strider collaboration is a workhorse and a great buy. I also just got one of the RJ Martin collaborations and that thing is ridiculous, with blade stock a quarter-inch thick, smooth as butter with KVT bearings, and a steel insert in the Ti lock bar. But they're about twice the price of a good Emerson.

BTW, I got the RJ 600 as a present for my brother who is a farmer/rancher out in eastern Washington. He might be afraid to use it, though. I would be.
 
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Also, I forgot to say... if the wave feature is at all interesting to you Emerson is the only way to go on that. They've been licensed to a few other outfits, but those are not the equal of the Emersons.
 
Either a horseman, CQC 7 or commander with Serrated blade would be great for farm work and edc/defense IMO.
 
I'd recommend going with a non-serrated blade that you can easily sharpen back up when you need to. As for how they hold up, Ernest Emerson himself has used his own knives for farming for ages. He grew up on one. He makes his knives for use and maintenance and doesn't mess around or try to build something to show off. Great blades.
 
freewheeling said:
Also, I forgot to say... if the wave feature is at all interesting to you Emerson is the only way to go on that. They've been licensed to a few other outfits, but those are not the equal of the Emersons.
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Honestly, I think my P'Kal and Col Moschin are easily equal to any Emersons I've owned.
 
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