Why is Emerson so controversial in the "knife community"? Is Emerson the official knife brand for boomer FUDs that consider themselves too good for the buck 110?
Without being too familiar with their products my initial impression is that their prices are high for the construction methods they use, maybe they were up to par 10-15 years ago but now you can get an overseas made knife with a similar build quality for $50-$100, or a much better build quality USA made knife for $160-$200. Im also unsure about them using a titanium liner lock, it seems like it will lack durability compared to a steel liner lock or a titanium frame lock with a steel insert. So what's the deal with Emmerson?
the only thing special i noticed about emerson is that wave opening thingy but besides that its just a knife, might as well get one the higher priced cold steels, as for serious military gear i always though winkler made the best
Cold steel definitely makes some robust knives but i have seen a lot of complaints about quality going down since the brand was sold.
If i wanted a meme bombproof folder i would probably get the demco ad20.5
It uses a new lock by the guy that designed the triad lock that cold steel uses but its much easier to manipulate while being as strong.
The probem with demco knives is that they are ugly as hell.
>quality going down since the brand was sold.
CS quality was always an afterthought at best, they were never anything other than a marketing firm disguised as a knife maker, and they've always had knives made wherever the bid was cheapest, like China, since the 1990s
I don't really disagre but they used to be better. You used to be able to get their higher tier not bottom of the barrel folders for less than $100 and the one i had at least was made in japan. But that was a long time ago.
CS used to be overbuilt, heavy, and a tad cringe, but offered a very functional product for a low price.
>afterthought at best
its a shame really i get that it cuts costs but i fucking hate buying something and having to modify it before use, i had a couple cs machetes and some had warped blades, all shitty edges and some literally no edge at all that you had to put on yourself, or tomahawk with a crooked eye
i forgot to add that if they upped the prices for 10-20% but made the products with higher quality out of the factor it would be way better
>for serious military gear i always though winkler made the best
I would love to just carry a small fixed blade but i live in a bright blue state and people think they are scarey. For whatever reason people don't blink if you carry a folder with a 4 inch blade but if you carry a little 2.5 inch fixed blade it freaks people out.
I think that they scared of the pointy (and knify) tip. (table knives supposedly have round ends because some French king used to be suHispanicions of these sharp tips).
Just make the tip freaking square and no one will give it a second glance imo.
Another thing i notice about emerson knives is that softer then typical temper on the blades. Most are listed as 57-59 rockwell and he mostly uses 154cm steel. Now i can see some very solid arguments that the current trends in pocket knives where many brands are offering maximet or 690 or cruwear steel at 62 rockwell are maybe going just too far, i think a lot of people who buy knives like that won't be able to sharpen them themselves at all. But it seems like emerson is maybe going too far in the other direction and making knives you will have to sharpen as often as a victorinox or something in 440c.
a couple competitors have pointed out that emersons aren't really that tough if you start mistreating them as they're not particularly refined designwise- couple slabs of G10, liners, washers, blade. You can stomp one into a nonfunctional state. Now, that's overkill for most folding folding knives- but it's also not wrong in that emerson's reputation is predicated on "hard use" knives for hard men and they're resting on their laurels.
they're largely chisel ground and the intent is that they can be sharpened in the field. whether that's a practical philosophy or not is up to you.
What a waste of blessed quints
Had a Kershaw with the Emerson Wave device and loved it. Will shred your pocket lip eventually though.
bump, somone here has to have all the merson lore for me
I had a cqc-13, huge tolerances so itll function full of dirt and shit. overpriced but they make cheaper models like the cqc 10 I think for $40. hard to find a cool looking folding bowie
God I'm such an idiot I sold that shit all mangled up for 250 bones
As a fan, and someone who has a few, this is why.
>bad quality control and finishing
Parts don't fit very flush, are very rough, have machining marks all over liners etc. Blades themselves are immaculate though. None of this really matter except for the price they charge and the competition at the price point, but they are made in USA.
>steel and builds are behind the times
Back in the day, titanium liners, G10 and 154CM steel and made in the USA was pretty top of the line, and naturally their tactical rough no-nonsense design made them popular as elite knives for operators. Hideo Kojima even knew about them. Problem is they kept making them that way for decades and still charged the same, while the competition was using super steals and better finishing, better designs etc.
>philips screws
Personally I like them, and it sets them apart from the competition.
>Price
Yeah now valid. Still made in the USA, but at this point they are relying on their reputation, history and fanbase.
>pic related
>gorgeous blade, and sharp as fuck
Awesome thanks that's exactly the info i was looking for.
Glad my 10 minute wall of text didn't go to waste, anon. Cheers!
dumby high pricing for the quality to start with and their QC has steadily decreased, kinda a shame honestly. They're like the surefire story on steroids.
knife guy here. i had one. the wave is a cool gimmick, but outside of that they've very average knives. bit over priced, bit worse than they used to be and a bit outclassed by a bunch of stuff at the same price point. every emerson i've ever handled has had horrible lock stick, not sure if i've been unlucky with them or if it's just a factor of how they're built. i gave mine to my dad and he likes it. just get it if it appeals to you, then resell it if it doesn't, but i think your money is better spent elsewhere.
>every emerson i've ever handled has had horrible lock stick
One of mine has it. I even took the thing apart, and used like 1000 grit sandpaper to lightly smooth out the rough contact edges on the knife, and an hour later of barely taking anything off the surfaces, the lock stick was worse.
FML.
try the sharpie trick. only way i've ever made it any better. use a sharpie to draw on where the lock bar meets the blade. it'll help a lot and improve the knife tenfold. but it's only temporary. so you'll have to do that every few weeks or so.
too expensive for what you get, even if they are pretty stout.
i'd rather buy a tri-ad lock cold steel folder for hard use as others have mentioned. most of the ana had cold steel ak-47s (shit name, but that's cold steel for you), and that was a good choice.
Emerson has a good aesthetic but that's pretty much it. For a knife in 2023 you can really do better in terms of the materials, lock, etc.
Also the idea that you need a folding knife that deploys as it comes out of your pocket (slowly destroying your pocket in the process) is frankly just mall ninja shit. If I could turn into God for a moment and just get a list of situations where "if this guy had a wave opener, he would've been okay!" I'm pretty sure the list would be zero or near-zero
isn't emerson a chink airshit brand
a rat-1 for 40 dollars is a far better deal