Your opinion on Emerson Knives

luh1202

luh1202

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This is just a picture I got from the Emerson official web, for model A-100.
I'd love to hear your guys opinions on Emerson Knives in general.
Thanks
 

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i like many of them. fit and finish levels arent what many folks want but mine work fine as knives..... pricey though.
 
jbmonkey said:
i like many of them. fit and finish levels arent what many folks want but mine work fine as knives..... pricey though.
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I don't get it. With all the respect here, I'm pretty sure with the same money (if not even cheaper), you can get a lot different knives with better finish and higher end material. is there any thing special about Emerson knives?
 
luh1202 said:
I don't get it. With all the respect here, I'm pretty sure with the same money (if not even cheaper), you can get a lot different knives with better finish and higher end material. is there any thing special about Emerson knives?
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just like some of the designs and the materials work well enough as a knife. i have a lot of different knives. some high fit and finish and top end materials, others not so much. just like different knives for different reasons.
 
Either you love them or hate them. I have sold most of mine off but that's because I'm just moving into slip joints and less tactical knives in general. Still grab the Super CQC-8 every now and then
 
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I bought this kershaw Emerson a few months ago to try out the wave feature and to see if I wanted to pay full Emerson price. (The one above was about $39.00)
I didn't appeal to me.
I decided to keep it around though But gets very little use.

Andy
 
IMO the knives have poor fit, finish, and materials for the price they're asking for them.

Amusingly, their fans seem to think that poor fit and finish is indicative of a true working tool's capabilities "they're rough around the edges because they're built for hard use" as if a ZT or something similar would be less capable because it was well made.
 
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jill jackson said:
Don't forget the fans claim the steel is superior because, you can sharpen it readily.
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Good point, I've noticed before that Emerson groupies seem to take all the cons and turn them into pros:

154CM at the same prices as superior steels? It's tougher and easier to sharpen than newer steels.

Wrong sided chisel grind makes it harder to cut straight? It's sharper and easier to sharpen.

Poor fit and finish? Emerson tools are already beat up when you buy them so you won't feel bad using them.
 
So many superior options for less money. Chisel grinds are not only awkward, but make the blade look unfinished. I don't find a single thing appealing about Emerson. The coolest thing they got going is the logo, because boys like skulls. :)
 
To my eye, the designs are.......meh.
Don't have one, and don't see that changing any time soon.
Joe
 
I neither love nor hate Emerson knives. I do (or have) owned several over the years since the late '90s. I really TRIED to like them as tools, but realized that other brands' knives worked better for me in that regard. I disagree that Emerson's chisel grinds (or V-grind chisel edges) are sharper than other blades, or that they're necessarily any easier to resharpen. They are what they are. For ME, the only V-or-hollow-grind, chisel-edged knives that serve my purposes well are full-SE Spydercos, because their chisel edges are far less steeply (obtusely) ground.

IMO, Emersons do feel nice in hand. But I've never found them to cut any better than (or even as well as) other brands' knives, like Spyderco, CRK, CS, Victorinox, etc. I also haven't found that they hold up any better (for my purposes) through use over time than others. In some ways quite the opposite, in fact.

Jim
 
they are underwhelming
there are a lot of better options in the price range
thus, I never bought one
 
I handled many over the years. As others have pointed out above, I don't think they are worth the $. I think you can find better bang for the buck for the money (ZT for example).
 
My favorite Emerson is the CQC7. Love the grip. I will never buy one though because I don't like the way their blades are ground. Besides, I'm not in uniform any more. I don't need a high speed, low drag knife.

Most of Emerson's knives are "meh" in my book.
 
for the price they ask you can get...
- tougher folders (Cold Steel)
- smoother opening (Benchmade)
- better steel (Spyderco)
- better, more varied grinds (Spyderco)
- stronger lock (Cold Steel)
- and overall better fit and finish, from most if not all brands at that price point

the appeal to me was the Wave, but that is also used now in folders by Spyderco, ZT, Cold Steel, DPX, etc.

Yeah they're "proudly made in America" but for most of us foreigners that matters little or nothing at all
 
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