Picked up a new Emerson

[DRKBC]

Picked a new cqc7 V-grind, I have a CQC7b (no wave, chisel grind) that has gotten pretty beaten up over the years but is still going strong. People either love them or hate them but anyway here is the new knife.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

That is a beautiful knife. I am in the "love it" crowd. I love that convex grind and I prefer that ken style tanto the more swept smooth tanto tips.
Where can someone get that? Did you buy it from the Emerson website, if I may ask, or did you regrind it?

[SpyderNut]

Congrats, man. That is a good, solid knife. I have one nearly identical in black G-10 that I enjoy playing with from time to time. True, the CQC-7 generally doesn't win any beauty awards and may lack in the area of ergos, but it is tough to find something comparable for the money.

[DRKBC]

That is a beautiful knife. I am in the "love it" crowd. I love that convex grind and I prefer that ken style tanto the more swept smooth tanto tips.
Where can someone get that? Did you buy it from the Emerson website, if I may ask, or did you regrind it?

You know to handle it, is to love it. The tanto tip is really hand for a number tasks and the knife itself is really solid. This model differs from a regular CQC7 in that it is a "V" Grind instead of chisel, I through in a photo of it next to my CQC7 so you could see the difference and I also included a photo of a mini CQC15 as another example of the "V" grind.

You can buy them from most of the regular Emerson dealers as well as the Emerson site, this one is part of the Prestige series. I don't know that there is really a lot of difference in comparison to the regular model at least as far as the lock and construction are concerned. That said the G10 is different, a little more open as opposed to a the finer texture of the regular model and like I said it is "V" grind so there is also that. Emerson does to a fine job on the blades they are razor sharp and super robust, F&F is excellent particularly on the newer models with the stand offs.

[DRKBC]

Congrats, man. That is a good, solid knife. I have one nearly identical in black G-10 that I enjoy playing with from time to time. True, the CQC-7 generally doesn't win any beauty awards and may lack in the area of ergos, but it is tough to find something comparable for the money.

Thanks a lot SpyderNut, I am pretty happy with it.I beat the crap out of my current one and it stood up very well. I am anxious to try out the serrations and I like the "V" grind, although that said I have no issues with the chisel grind. It is a knife that you truly have to use to appreciate the design.

[StuntZombie]

How as the edge on yours DRKBC? I tried several Emersons (CQC-7V, SOCFK, and Journeyman) out a few months ago, and though I didn't mind the chisel grind, they were all pretty dull out of the box due to the angle and thickness. They did everything well except cut. I liked everything else about the knives though. Especially the handles. The SOCFK was particularly nice.

I keep hearing about razor sharp Emersons, but they seem to be rare as Unicorns for me. :p

[DRKBC]

How as the edge on yours DRKBC? I tried several Emersons (CQC-7V, SOCFK, and Journeyman) out a few months ago, and though I didn't mind the chisel grind, they were all pretty dull out of the box due to the angle and thickness. They did everything well except cut. I liked everything else about the knives though. Especially the handles. The SOCFK was particularly nice.

I keep hearing about razor sharp Emersons, but they seem to be rare as Unicorns for me. :p

Hi Chris,
So far so good for me. So far my luck with Emerson has bee good, my CQC15 came extremely sharp, probably one of the sharpest out of the box. The thing with the chisel grinds (which you may already know but I didn't) is when you sharpen them they can take a pretty significant angle as it is only on one side. I position my sharp maker on my leg and raise one side of it so that it is at about 15 degree angle and then sharpen away on the one side. On the flat side I just run the knife over the stone completely flat to knock off the burr (it doesn't do much for the finish, as you can see in the photo, but I use this knife a lot so it doesn't bother me) That said, before I figured this out (and was effectively sharpening at 20 degrees) it was not sharp :D

[StuntZombie]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one then. All of the ones I got had shallow, obtuse grinds. I reprofiled the CQC-7V and it was great, but I still couldn't warm up to it for some reason.

Now that I think about it, I actually had a CQC-7A years ago that came screaming sharp out of the box. I still kick myself for selling that one off.

I'd love to see them start using thinner bevels. I think a single bevel at 30 or even 40 degrees would improve things immensely. I just don't feel like putting that kind of bevel on myself. :D

[twinboysdad]

I am in the "never again" category and with shiny footprints I will leave it at that

[DRKBC]

I am in the "never again" category and with shiny footprints I will leave it at that

You know it's funny but it is one of those knives that people are either on one side of the fence on or the other on. I can honestly say I have never had a bad Emerson and I am really picky about quality. I have had to send other knives back before for issues but never an Emerson, just fortunate I guess but I am sorry to hear you have had bad luck with them.

[twinboysdad]

I have never had a bad one per say, they just aren't worth what they cost to me. They are really ergonomic for the most part. The wave feature has its place, but I don't need it. The handles are all clunky thick and the G10 is set to "pant shredder" grippyness. I personally am not going to disassemble a $200 knife to clean it up and set the blade center and Loctite the pivot, it is a $200 brand new knife. I hate the chisel grind, but I am right handed so it was designed to cut poorly for me by the side it was chiseled on. I liked a mini 15 and mini A100 pretty well of the 6 or 8 EKI's I have owned. Emerson serrations are pretty good. I guess I am too afi now to accept blade grinds that don't cut straight and I am not doing the QC myself. That being said none of mine were lemons, they were just very Emerson and it seems the designs either speak to you or they don't. They seem to sell plenty. Go over to Bladeforums and see the new thread where a BNIB HD 7 from EKI mind you, had the framelock lock up against the other scale. That is on a brand new $400 knife.

[jmh58]

Had a CQ-7 (??) some time ago.. Did not like the chisle grind.. Gifted it away.. John :)

[DRKBC]

I have never had a bad one per say, they just aren't worth what they cost to me. They are really ergonomic for the most part. The wave feature has its place, but I don't need it. The handles are all clunky thick and the G10 is set to "pant shredder" grippyness. I personally am not going to disassemble a $200 knife to clean it up and set the blade center and Loctite the pivot, it is a $200 brand new knife. I hate the chisel grind, but I am right handed so it was designed to cut poorly for me by the side it was chiseled on. I liked a mini 15 and mini A100 pretty well of the 6 or 8 EKI's I have owned. Emerson serrations are pretty good. I guess I am too afi now to accept blade grinds that don't cut straight and I am not doing the QC myself. That being said none of mine were lemons, they were just very Emerson and it seems the designs either speak to you or they don't. They seem to sell plenty. Go over to Bladeforums and see the new thread where a BNIB HD 7 from EKI mind you, had the framelock lock up against the other scale. That is on a brand new $400 knife.

I hear you, I think that is why it is great we have so much choice in the knife world right now. For many of the reasons they don't work for you they work for me.

- Value, to me my for an American knife they can go head to head with the other brands out there.

- The fact they are not complicated to strip down and lube was actually one of the reasons I bought one, I like to be able to take my knife apart and service it without voiding the warranty. I use this knife outside and sometimes it needs it.

- The Grippy G10 and the handle. For work, I like how grippy Emerson knives are they can get wet and mucky and the thick large handles are still ergonomic and easy to hold on to.

- The chisel grind is great for some tasks but not for all, there is no shoulder on the blade to get caught up when you are cutting into harder materials and I like it for scraping. The tanto tip In particular can be used like a chisel and you can pry with it in a pinch. Plus if I lend it to some Munyuk that doesn't know how to use a knife he is less likely to destroy it.

- The wave, like you, I can take or leave it is handy for some, a thumb ramp for me :D

- QC - Re I the thread over at BF you are talking about; we are all on these forums a lot and see that all the companies have their problems, even Spyderco and CRK. I have sent knives back to Spyderco and they have been great, they fix the problem or in my case they replaced the knife and were pleasant to deal with. For me it is how a company deals with the issue I don't expect perfection and Emerson is not perfect but they stand behind them and, knock on wood, I haven't received a bad knife from them.

Anyway, I do understand the point you made and I know you aren't alone in your belief, I certainly own more Spyderco's than Emerson's but I find they both have their place and I am glad to have the choice.

[StuntZombie]

Using regular philips and standard screws is something I wish more companies would do. It is rather nice when I can take my knife down just using a Swiss Army Knife.

[DRKBC]

Using regular philips and standard screws is something I wish more companies would do. It is rather nice when I can take my knife down just using a Swiss Army Knife.

I think it's a good feature too, very easy knife to service. I probably should feel OK about just rinsing off a knife under the tap and dropping in some lube in but if it gets sand or mud in it, I like to take apart ... I sleep better :D

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Question for long-time Emerson users/collectors:

Do you prefer the satin/stonewashed Emerson blades, or, the blackened/darkened ones? I notice he has made both over the years. I saw a picture of his recent, the Patriot, with wood handle scales. Very beautiful looking knife.


http://emersonknives.com/shop/knives/patriot-2/" target="_blank

[twinboysdad]

Although I sound anti EKI, I will say their stone washed blades are really pretty and set off the grinds very well. I greatly prefer it to BT finish in that it is prettier and less weapony looking on knives that already are aggressive looking if raising eyebrows is of concern to you. I have not heard of rusting on any EKI non coated blades

[DRKBC]

Question for long-time Emerson users/collectors:

Do you prefer the satin/stonewashed Emerson blades, or, the blackened/darkened ones? I notice he has made both over the years. I saw a picture of his recent, the Patriot, with wood handle scales. Very beautiful looking knife.


http://emersonknives.com/shop/knives/patriot-2/" target="_blank

Like "twinboysdad" I prefer the Stonewash, they do a very good job of it ( I think the best) and it really highlights the grind. The black does get scratched and some people like that battle scared look , me not so much. I like the worn look of the Stonewashed blade more than black knife but that is just my preference.

That Patriot is cool knife as is the E.T.A.K. I am sure you read the wood on the Patriot also has some historical significance. Unfortunately for me the Patriot and the E.T.A.K. are just too big. I only use Emerson's for utility and for my use knives more in the 8" range suit me best, so that pretty much means CQC7's or mini everything else and as of yet neither of these are made in the smaller version.

[twinboysdad]

Non EKI fan chiming in again, if you don't mind the chisel grind the Bulldog is a stout little EDC with much better ethos than the regular 7's. If you don't like chisels the Horseman is closer to something Spyderco might make. Again, EKI has lots good going for it, I just prefer Spyderco