Wow, I wish I'd tried Emerson sooner.

Joined
Jul 9, 2021
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Hi, new to the forum, but not new to pocket knife collecting. I only buy knives I intend to carry and use, and for that reason, my budget generally topped out at $150 or so for many years. Yes, it still hurts to lose or foul up a $150 tool, even a $20 tool, but I can live thorough it. Well, I had kind of topped off at that price range, bought and sold many over the years, with a "permanent collection" of maybe 20 good quality, interesting pieces, all of which I have no intention of selling.

I decided I'd take the plunge into the next tier of blades, and wanted a gentleman's knife, and a not so gentleman's knife. A shop nearby carries ZT and Emerson, and I picked up the ZT 0707, and am not disappointed. SHARP, weightless, and I like slightly weird designs, so it checked the boxes I wanted for a gentleman's blade. For my utilitarian choice, I was considering a beefier ZT, or the Emerson Kwaiken they had sitting there. Honestly, the ZT looked and felt great, but the Kwaiken spoke a little louder, and I'm not sure why. I'm not military, have a few rifles but no tactical bent here. It's heavy, bulky, the scales are so rough they're weapons unto themselves, basically nothing that really moved my needle previously. But I'd heard all the good things, love my Spyderco Wave openers, and ffs the blade looks like a samurai sword. So I bit. And other than a few days of the ZT, the Kwaiken's been in my pocket just about every day for 3 months now. Including my job, in my suit pants.

Why? Because it's freaking awesome. It's way too rough to clip carry in suit pants, negating consistent wave opening, but I don't care. It's heavy! I better wear underwear with board shorts, this thing will take them down! Don't care! None of the downsides matter once you have to break down a crate of double boxed guitars. The crazy sharp yet predictable chisel grind, the steel tempering, the fit, the balance... it's as easy and comfortable to use to open a letter, gut a fish, or cut spectra rope. I've never had it all come together like this before, and with a "novelty" blade shape to boot. Again, I like a little weird. I've only needed to strop it once in 3 months, just took down double cardboard again like a filet knife, and I had to write about it. Gosh I hate that they're so rare and apparently discontinued, I take my knives fishing too and the Pacific is fairly unforgiving of one false move. At any rate, now I get the Emerson thing. My skinny little ZT that cost MORE is a fun little blade, but there's a big difference in the dollar cost value here. Does anyone know if Emerson re-runs out of stock designs? Thanks for your indulgence.
 
Emerson is in my top 3 brands I buy now. It's Emerson, ZT and BM for me. I like the simplicity of Emerson and appreciate the style. My favorite is the Mini 15. It is far and away the easiest to maintain of my folders and easiest to adjust.
 
I like emerson designs very much, I just wish the price would come down a tad to get straight to the point...so I just buy emerson collabs lol

Agreed, my Wave Endura and Delica are staying in the collection. The Emerson build and material quality are worth saving for, glad it was my first "next level" purchase, it's got a super sharp tip so I'm awaiting the sad day that breaks off, but so far so good. The worst thing I could do is lose it, other than that, I don't know how to kill it! I fish in salt water and just today noticed a few rust beads on the blade, and they just wiped off with my finger, not even a little visible pitting. I continue to use it, and continue to be impressed.
 
Just used the butt end to break up a block of ice cubes. Easily the only folder I own that could do that, well, maybe an Opinel, but the Kwaiken didn't even get a scratch on the scales.
 
Emerson's are an acquired taste. I've been buying/using them since 1999. I will concur that the prices are a bit high when you buy them from EKI since they are list price and the shipping is high.
 
Emerson's are an acquired taste. I've been buying/using them since 1999. I will concur that the prices are a bit high when you buy them from EKI since they are list price and the shipping is high.
I have acquired the taste :) Just saw the Kwaiken's back in stock, just a few days after joining the forum, well done mods ;) .
 
Better late than never. I carried a Benchmade 970 as part of a two knife rotation for almost 20 years before getting a “real” Emerson in 2015. Now I’ve got 11 Emerson’s. A few of them look a bit rough but damn they just work.
 
Better late than never. I carried a Benchmade 970 as part of a two knife rotation for almost 20 years before getting a “real” Emerson in 2015. Now I’ve got 11 Emerson’s. A few of them look a bit rough but damn they just work.

They just work! Sage words. I just love them for the uber simplicity.
 
Late to the party (with the thread & Emerson Knives) and I’ll start by saying I own some fairly nice knives. One thing that Ernest Emerson knows is ergonomics, they feel good in hand. The G10 is grippy and in my opinion, second to none. I don’t mind chisel grinds and I certainly don’t mind 154CM.

M Murindo Emerson, going forward will only sell through the EKI website. To my knowledge only two dealers have stock left (one of them being a forum sponsor).

I own 4 Emerson’s now, all bought within the past three weeks. The only other maker I own 4 of is Shirogorovs. Don’t get me wrong, there’s literally no comparison, but as M Mister X so eloquently stated….they just work.


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I like your color picks for handles. Too many black handles out there. ;)
The Mini Commander in Coyote Tan with black liners is a limited edition. Emerson made 150 in Coyote Tan w/black liners….and 150 in OD green with black liners. I just missed the OD green or I would have bought them both.
 
Glad you brought this up as I also have put off the 2 Emerson knives that have been calling me for a long time which are the CQC-7B & A100. Actually, I was looking at the website earlier, thinking about them again. I noticed they do have the Tactical Kwaiken in stock as well. Price hasn't been a reason for me waiting at all but honestly, they do seem overpriced. They have a straightforward and simple design that should be very low cost manufacture (my opinion, of course). What I would like to know from someone who has experience, is if you had say, the A100 in one hand and a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 in the other, would you honestly think you had $50 more worth of knife in the A100? OP, feel free to respond comparing the PM2 to the Kwaiken if you have an opinion, obviously the price difference is even greater there.

 
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