Am I crazy to want an Emerson CQC 7

[enduraguy]

To me, Emersons always felt like a low brow appeal kind of knife. A knife for people who don't know any better, want something sharp that's low maintenance, or they feel like they can abuse. The type of person I wouldn't normally lend one of my personal blades too, but if I had an Emerson in my pocket, I'd hand it to em without batting an eye. I think I just figured out a reason to buy one! Loaner blade.

I'm not saying they're bad knives, they just don't appeal to me.

[demoncase]

I find that getting the thing is probably the best way of exorcising the desire for it- if that wasn't the case then there wouldn't be a second-hand advert in the world

....With the 'Shiny Footprints' mentality at the forefront here, the Emerson knives are certainly fit for their intended purpose but weren't a good fit for my needs. I don't get on with tanto folders for some reason- I've got a Lum Tanto that I carry on occasion and find myself hankering for a leaf-shaped-blade every time I do.

I found the fit/finish to be about the same as the mid-range CRKT M16s, which is best described as OK rather than excellent.

That said, I know a couple of folks that rave about 'em.....Each to their own, I guess.

[dewildeman]

I would not recommend buying one if you haven't handled one. If you have and still want one, you won't be happy until you buy one and scratch that itch. I haven't been to the Blade show but I don't believe they discount the price of the knives for the show. I have 3, a 7, reground 7 and a Mini Commander. The tanto 7 is not my favorite but it's been to Iraq and back and I won't get rid of it. The other two are my workhorse knives. I have Spydies that are around the same price or lower, but to me, it's apple and oranges.

[Monocrom]

I don't know that you're crazy for wanting one, but I'll tell you flat out that the Emersons I have did not impress me. YMMV.

Same.

I found them to be very disappointing as far as Quality Control is concerned.

[Cliff Stamp]

Emerson is a fairly polarizing character in many respects, his knives never really did appeal to me because they are mainly promoted as "fighting" knives which I don't personally have a use for.

However i do have planned at some point to buy one to support the maker because of the reason that he has innovated into the industry. This is to such an extent that some of the things he has done were mass-copied on a wide scale (wave).

Plus I respect on some level the open nature of the claims :

"The Emerson CQC-7 knife revolutionized the entire cutlery industry. It is the most sought after folding knife of all time. [...] The Emerson CQC-7 knife is the razor sharp chisel ground knife that has become the standard by which all hard-use folding knives are now judged."

[DRKBC]

You can fight with any knife, Spyderco certainly has fighting knives in there line but many of us (read most) don't use them for that purpose. Emerson's like any other knife can be used for a great variety of tasks. The CQC7 in particular because of the thick blade stock, decent steel, simplicity and great ergos makes a perfect work knife. I have had a couple, currently I have a V grind and to me it is the perfect Emerson, not the prettiest girl in the crowd but a great user and a classic that everyone should own. AKA did eventually buy a CQC7 and is pretty happy with it from what I read over at Emerson's corner on BF.

[Jason B.]

I have an Emerson commander that's about 10 years old now with about 5-6 years of carry time. It has had two factory services for worn out and/or slipping liner lock and currently needs a third, that it might one day get. I purchased it because it was cool and had the wave feature but it was never much more than that. It was disappointing in cutting performance and edge retention along with being a pain to sharpen thanks to the thick blade.

I loved it despite its many flaws but I won't buy another.

[Skidoosh]

I got a mini-commander at Christmas and so far I like it. It is not a great slicer and doesn't replace my Caly 3. It's not better, not worse, just different. Trying different brands and knives has helped me narrow down what I like in my knives.

[bearfacedkiller]

I wonder what the OP decided or if he is still looking for input since the question was originally asked a year ago. :confused:

Have things been too slow on here? People are digging 'em up lately. :D

[twinboysdad]

I just find them grossly overpriced for what you get. There are Spydercos I feel similar about, but when you look at what you get in a Tuff vs a similar priced CQC 8 and there is no comparison that the Tuff has better materials at the same price point. If they were about $100 they would be at expectation in my mind. Again the Lagriffe is their best model to me. I like Ernie as well although I found his "only Emersons were at the OBL raid" rant to be hard to swallow considering we know how soldiers are with their knives and I guarantee you there was a Spyderco or BM or Kershaw or whatever at that raid as well as any EKI. Generally whatever is either issued or at the PX is carried

[twinboysdad]

I just find them grossly overpriced for what you get. There are Spydercos I feel similar about, but when you look at what you get in a Tuff vs a similar priced CQC 8 and there is no comparison that the Tuff has better materials at the same price point. If they were about $100 they would be at expectation in my mind. Again the Lagriffe is their best model to me. I like Ernie as well although I found his "only Emersons were at the OBL raid" rant to be hard to swallow considering we know how soldiers are with their knives and I guarantee you there was a Spyderco or BM or Kershaw or whatever at that raid as well as any EKI. Generally whatever is either issued or at the PX is carried

[StuntZombie]

I wanted to like them, and went through a half dozen different models last year before I decided they weren't for me. I found that they couldn't do the one thing that knives are supposed to do, cut.

[762cal]

I own the CQC-7 tanto, chisel edge because the price is "right" (i got it second hand for about the same price of brand new Endura4 in my country)
the fit and finish is like everyone commented: rough. but hey they use that for marketing!
it is a great knife but yes, too pricey for me.

[DRKBC]

The three I have had have all been exceptionally well finished, I honestly have zero complaints about Emerson.

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[Kali_Commando]

You are not crazy at all. I was in the same love triangle for the cqc7 behind my PM2's back!! :p

I picked up one of the Jungle Green versions and I can not tell you how much I don't regret it! The fit and finish is exceptional, so I can't comment on other folks experiences. Maybe I got lucky? who knows. All I know is my PM2 has a playmate now :D

[twinboysdad]

I just find tantos to be less useful for everything I do. Not just EKI but any tanto. I would go with the 10 or 8 if I was to ever buy another EKI.

[Kali_Commando]

I just find tantos to be less useful for everything I do. Not just EKI but any tanto. I would go with the 10 or 8 if I was to ever buy another EKI.

Yep, well my PM2 will continue to do most of the grunt work :p .. My EKI will be seeing light utility use but its main purpose is for EDC self defense/emergency situations due to the quick deploy wave feature; It will have its role.

[Monocrom]

Plus I respect on some level the open nature of the claims :

"The Emerson CQC-7 knife revolutionized the entire cutlery industry. It is the most sought after folding knife of all time. [...] The Emerson CQC-7 knife is the razor sharp chisel ground knife that has become the standard by which all hard-use folding knives are now judged."

Ironically, those claims would apply more to the Benchmade version on the CQC-7 made with Emerson's permission before he started up his Production company.

[RanCoWeAla]

Ernest Emerson is a super nice guy. I bought a CQC 8 from him personally at the 2013 Blade Show and he autographed it for me with an electronic engraving tool. Needless to say that's one that will never leave my collection and my Son will inherit one day. However having said all that you might want to make sure this knife doesn't have the chisel grind where it is just sharpened on one side and perfectly flat on the other because I wouldn't have one of those. I have never been able to figure that out.

[VashHash]

I've purchased 3 emersons. I bought the folding Karambit first and then the super karambit and then finally i found someone selling a persian. I bought them all used all at under $200 so i didn't feel like i did bad on the price. Unfortunately the wave feature on these knives and the ti liners cause the lock to wear very rapidly. Now the two karambits see no use at all because of this. The persian was ground so thin at the tip it broke off slicing a water bottle in half. i like to use this test for sharpness. I had a factory spyderco ayoob cut a bottle 3 times and it lobed off each section without the bottle moving. I never would have guessed this test would have broken the tip of a knife but it did. I used that as an excuse to put a full conventional V grind on the actual edge as this knife was V ground with a chisel edge. Still it never performed like i wanted it to so it was also retired to the shelf. Emerson customs do appeal to be visually and so do some of the production models but with past experience i pass on them all.