Not pleased with Emerson

Haze, I'm not attacking the fan boy's attitude. As I said earlier, I respect people standing up behind the brand that they like. So I'm not going to mention who said what. You are correct, most (or all) people in this thread agree with the fact that EKI has poor F&F. However, those who stand behind EKI product don't see this as a problem as long as they can cut with EKI folders; hence the implication.

All I'm saying is that EKI should try to improve their QC and their F&F. For the price that EKI is asking, we can at least expect the knives are in excellent condition out of the box without the end user having to send it back. It does not seem that EKI really takes care of its clients, otherwise someone from EKI must have already said something regarding this matter. There were similar posts in the past, but I don't recall anyone from EKI try to clear this matter.

I love some of EKI's design. I love the CQC 22, but too bad I don't think I'll ever purchase it.
 
Fare enough, there is no point in clonking heads here as it seems we all agree for the most part any way. :)

I think I personally take the F&F thing on the chin as I mod pretty much every production EKI
I have (bar the ECA knives) so the F&F is actually top totch on my knives. :p:thumbup:
 
I would have to agree on better attention to detail. I mean, I can understand that people tell me not to use a dedicated self-defense knife for everyday use. But then, why make the claim of "#1 Hard-Use Knives" if I'm not allowed to actually say, USE them, presumably hard?

I gotta wonder if Ankerson butchered one of these knives yet, and whether or not he thinks it lives up to its claim.

Anyways, I expect to get my Super Karambit in tomorrow. If the tip breaks off from cutting paper, that's where I'm putting my foot down:p.
 
daoud said:
Having not had a good folder in recent years, I've recently gone kinda overboard and bought a number of decent-quality folders, all of which I've heard good things about on this forum and elsewhere.

Today I received my first Emerson, a Mini Commander. I was VERY anxious to compare it with my other recently-acquired folding knives, including a Benchmade Griptilian, a Zero Tolerance 350, a Kershaw Junkyard Dog II, a Kershaw Spec Bump, and two Ontario Rat Model Ones(I got a twofer on those).

I expected the Emerson's fit, finish and action to be at least as good, and hopefully better than all these other less-expensive knives.

Unfortunately not.

The fit and finish are rough and the action of the knife was STIFF and felt as if there was sand in the pivot point.
The lock doesn't lock up very much- it's solid but you can clearly see that the butt end of the blade needs some metal taken off so the liner can engage more fully.
I've lubed it and loosened up the pivot screw as far as I can without getting any wobbling- and it still doesn't open anywhere near as smoothly as even the Taiwan-made cheapo Ontario Rat.

So I consulted this forum to see if there have been others who have experienced such issues. Quite a number, as it turns out!

No, I haven't yet contacted Emerson's Customer Service.
Why should I have to? Do they not check these things out before the knives leave the factory. It's difficult to believe that they don't . So why does my Mini Commander, brand new, right out of the box, not open and close as smoothly as a $60.00 Kershaw or even a $25.00 Ontario?

Why all this talk about a break-in period, or sanding washers, or Teflon lube, etc. etc?

Why can't this expensive, raved about knife perform, look and feel as well as I expect it to- I'm easily pleased! I'm looking for reasons to like this knife, but except for the blade being insanely sharp, there aren't any.

It seems to me as if there are a lot of folks who have been taken in by the Emerson myth- there sure are a lot of excuses why these knives aren't up to par. The one I like best was the person who basically said that real Emerson aficionados don't really care about silly little things like quality control and performance- it's all about the design, dontcha know.

I don't know about all that. All I know is that I work hard- I earn my living literally by the sweat of my brow- and I don't apologise for wanting some quality for my money.

So if I contact Emerson, what are they going to do for me? Probably the best thing they could do is send me another Kershaw- now THOSE are some slick knives.

I mean, I have no doubt this Mini Commander is tough as nails. I'm quite sure it could be driven through the hood of a car or whatever it is they advertise. But come on- does toughness have to mean hard-to-open, hard to close, gritty and less than beautifully finished? It shouldn't.
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well, for one thing if ya contacted EKI & sent the thing in they would fix it.

why should you contact them? well, for one thing i dont think they engage in the reading of minds, how else would they know ya are having problems?? am i missing something here?

why dont ya send it in, get it fixed, sell it and get another wonderfull kershaw lol?? emersons arent for everyone, if you dont care for them, buy something else. problem solved.

FWIW all emerson lovers are required to sign a document attesting to the fact that we do NOT expect good F&F, QC, etc, i dont know about everyone else but to me the crappier the better, especially if its crappy AND expensive, i'll buy 2 or 3 of those lol.

like i said, sell the thing and get what you want and be happy, lifes too short.
 
I remember that there was a review about Ontario Rat folder that has gone to Afghanistan (or Iraq ?), was used the heck out of it, and come back in excellent condition. Would that constitue hard-use ? I bet the Rat folder has better F&F than EKI folders.
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Interesting.

I took my knives to Iraq. I took them to Afghanistan. I indicated in previous posts here that they've seen hard service in places that many might prefer not to go, and under difficult circumstances. Never the less, if one speaks in favor of the knives which proved themselves, one is labeled a "fan boy."

Interesting, indeed.

The only one of my knives which didn't come back (and "back is a relative term: I'm still there on a regular basis) was a mini-commander which disappeared last year in Mosul. I had no trouble with any of my knives.

The truth is that I trust my knives because I've carried them and used them in places where nobody cares how they look, least of all, me. I do care very much how they perform, and they've performed admirably...well enough that they earned my trust, in places where I trust them with my life.

If you want to call that being a "fan boy," then have at it.
 
sns3guppy said:
Interesting.

I took my knives to Iraq. I took them to Afghanistan. I indicated in previous posts here that they've seen hard service in places that many might prefer not to go, and under difficult circumstances. Never the less, if one speaks in favor of the knives which proved themselves, one is labeled a "fan boy."

Interesting, indeed.

The only one of my knives which didn't come back (and "back is a relative term: I'm still there on a regular basis) was a mini-commander which disappeared last year in Mosul. I had no trouble with any of my knives.

The truth is that I trust my knives because I've carried them and used them in places where nobody cares how they look, least of all, me. I do care very much how they perform, and they've performed admirably...well enough that they earned my trust, in places where I trust them with my life.

If you want to call that being a "fan boy," then have at it.
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What kind of cutting? Rope? Cans? Wires?

Any significant chipping?

I just got my Super Karambit and all seems well after I've tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes. Liner lock is a bit stiff, but it seems like it's breaking in. Edge and tip isn't as sharp as I would like it. I'm going to touch up the edge on my paper wheels, which is a bit tricky with the hawkbill blade, but that makes it all the more fun. My only real beef is that when I swung the blade back and the tip stabbed me in the arm, it was only a tiny prick rather than deep penetration, so I was understandably disappointed:D.
 
daoud said:
Having not had a good folder in recent years, I've recently gone kinda overboard and bought a number of decent-quality folders, all of which I've heard good things about on this forum and elsewhere.

Today I received my first Emerson, a Mini Commander. I was VERY anxious to compare it with my other recently-acquired folding knives, including a Benchmade Griptilian, a Zero Tolerance 350, a Kershaw Junkyard Dog II, a Kershaw Spec Bump, and two Ontario Rat Model Ones(I got a twofer on those).

I expected the Emerson's fit, finish and action to be at least as good, and hopefully better than all these other less-expensive knives.

Unfortunately not.

The fit and finish are rough and the action of the knife was STIFF and felt as if there was sand in the pivot point.
The lock doesn't lock up very much- it's solid but you can clearly see that the butt end of the blade needs some metal taken off so the liner can engage more fully.
I've lubed it and loosened up the pivot screw as far as I can without getting any wobbling- and it still doesn't open anywhere near as smoothly as even the Taiwan-made cheapo Ontario Rat.
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I'm in the same boat.

I have quite a bunch of very nice folders from various manufacturers; a selection of Microtechs, Benchmades, a Zero Tolerence, Kershaws, Spydercos, and others. Today I received my first Emerson... a black Commander.

I took it out of the package and first noticed its blade wasn't centered. Oh well. Then I opened it and it felt like a rusty hinge. The blade bevel grinds were of different widths on either side of the blade but it was extremely sharp; that made me feel a little better.

But to be completely honest, my first thought was, "Crap... I should have spent the money on another ZT."

Then I put it in my pocket and waved it open. Cool! But the liner lock stuck and I had to use both hands to pinch it back to the frame so I could close the knife.

I'll have it apart shortly and do some tuning to get it up to snuff. And that's no big deal, it's just something I've never had to do with any of the other high-end (or mid-line) folders I've purchased.

I have rifles (a 9.3x62 CZ 550 in particular) and pistols (a Colt Combat Elite comes to mind) that have started me off with the same kind of poor first impression but ended up being favorites in the long run (after some tweaking), so I have hope.

I'm going to have to really fall in love with this knife or the odds of me buying another Emerson are kind of slim.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
desmobob said:
snip....

I took it out of the package and first noticed its blade wasn't centered. Oh well. Then I opened it and it felt like a rusty hinge. The blade bevel grinds were of different widths on either side of the blade but it was extremely sharp; that made me feel a little better.

Then I put it in my pocket and waved it open. Cool! But the liner lock stuck and I had to use both hands to pinch it back to the frame so I could close the knife.
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Emerson knives only have the edge bevel on one side so that is totally normal. I also find that some people think the blade looks off center because of the asymetric edge. (I'm not saying your knife isn't off center, I'm just pointing that out :)) The action is rarely smooth out the box as EKI use a pretty "heavy" grease on the pivot area. Just clean it up and use something like tuffglide or what ever you like to use and it will be fine.

The sticky lock is due to the gauling of the titanium lock face on the steel blade tang. This will sort it's self out in a short while so it's not a problem, or at least it won't be soon.

:):thumbup:
 
I also noticed the lock might sometimes get "stuck" if I were to swing the knife around a bit, or if I popped it open particularly fast. It might be a quicker fix to sand down the two contact points a bit.

And titanium huh? I guess that explains the high cost of the knives.
 
Noctis3880 said:
I also noticed the lock might sometimes get "stuck" if I were to swing the knife around a bit, or if I popped it open particularly fast. It might be a quicker fix to sand down the two contact points a bit.

And titanium huh? I guess that explains the high cost of the knives.
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Don't go sanding things ! just let it seat it's self in.

You will just cause your self problems down the line if you start tweeking the lock up with stuff like that.
 
IGotStabbed said:
I seriously do not understand where the poor F&F comes from? I have a 2007 and 2010 CQC7 and both seem very very well made.

Go ahead call some of us fan boys or mall-ninjas whatever, but the fact remains, this is a pointless thread started by 1 dissatisfied user out of thousands of satisfied user who don't bother posting about their positive experience. AND The OP also probably couldn't afford, and shouldn't have bought a $200 knife. Psychology plays a big role on your judgment. Sorry.
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If you haven't seen a shoddy Emerson, that doesn't necessarily mean they're super rare cases. By the same token those of us who've reported sub-par quality Emersons doesn't mean that every Emerson production is garbage. However enough people have expressed criticism to support the claim that a noticeable fraction of Emersons have issues.

I have a 2007 Super CQC 7 that has vertical blade play, had a 2009 CQC 10 that had a lockbar that slipped off the tang face.

My Super Karambit is alright, though I got it in a trade and had to reprofile the tip (which was broken by the previous owner), but it is not exempt from the rough finish complaints echoed on this forum (gritty pivot, tooling marks).
 
daoud said:
...

Today I received my first Emerson, a Mini Commander. I was VERY anxious to compare it with my other recently-acquired folding knives, including a Benchmade Griptilian, a Zero Tolerance 350, a Kershaw Junkyard Dog II, a Kershaw Spec Bump, and two Ontario Rat Model Ones(I got a twofer on those).

I expected the Emerson's fit, finish and action to be at least as good, and hopefully better than all these other less-expensive knives.

Unfortunately not.
...
The lock doesn't lock up very much- it's solid but you can clearly see that the butt end of the blade needs some metal taken off so the liner can engage more fully.
Click to expand...

Just from that kills all credibility of this "knife user". You want the knife to come with tang dead center with liner? After 100 opens, it won't engage! EVEN the newest of the newbies know you WANT an early lockup on a new liner lock!


Haze don't submit to this BS. Emerson's F&F is top notch. I'll repeat this again. These are borderline folks who should be buying sub $50 knives. When they go over their budget their expectations goes through the roof. Any small imperfection, they scream bloody murder. Sorry but no one cares.

Sorry but no one cares. Emerson's F&F is fine.
 
IGotStabbed said:
Just from that kills all credibility of this "knife user". You want the knife to come with tang dead center with liner? After 100 opens, it won't engage! EVEN the newest of the newbies know you WANT an early lockup on a new liner lock!


Haze don't submit to this BS. Emerson's F&F is top notch. I'll repeat this again. These are borderline folks who should be buying sub $50 knives. When they go over their budget their expectations goes through the roof. Any small imperfection, they scream bloody murder. Sorry but no one cares.

Sorry but no one cares. Emerson's F&F is fine.
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Every one has to start some where, I don't mind trying to helping folks if I can. People sometimes already have their minds made up and just want to have whinge but some just need shown the way. :):thumbup:
 
IGotStabbed said:
Just from that kills all credibility of this "knife user". You want the knife to come with tang dead center with liner? After 100 opens, it won't engage! EVEN the newest of the newbies know you WANT an early lockup on a new liner lock!


Haze don't submit to this BS. Emerson's F&F is top notch. I'll repeat this again. These are borderline folks who should be buying sub $50 knives. When they go over their budget their expectations goes through the roof. Any small imperfection, they scream bloody murder. Sorry but no one cares.

Sorry but no one cares. Emerson's F&F is fine.
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Perhaps I jumped the gun on that end. Though when I wave open my Super Karambit, the liner lock reaches too far into the tang(I assume because of the additional force used to open it) and gets difficult to close without prying it back. I really hope that all it needs is to break in, that the part that gets stuck will be broken off(on a microscopic level) enough for me to close it without using my keys as a prybar(not a bad idea to have a useless key with you).
 
IGotStabbed said:
Haze don't submit to this BS. Emerson's F&F is top notch. I'll repeat this again. These are borderline folks who should be buying sub $50 knives. When they go over their budget their expectations goes through the roof. Any small imperfection, they scream bloody murder.
Sorry but no one cares. Emerson's F&F is fine.
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Yessss!!! This is all my sub $50 colection

http://pagoda.snimka.bg/hobby/knives.106310
http://pagoda.snimka.bg/hobby/sig-amp-knives.73380
http://pagoda.snimka.bg/hobby/black-sea.152189
 
SOLD!:D
images
 
IGotStabbed said:
Emerson's F&F is top notch. I'll repeat this again. These are borderline folks who should be buying sub $50 knives.
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No, it isn't.
My Umnumzaan has top notch fit and finish.
My SmF's have better fit and finish than the CQC-12, either of the ones I've owned.:eek:
My Spyderco Mini-Manix (original) has better fit and finish.
My Spyderco Kris has practically a custom level of fit and finish, on a knife with MSRP of $200, which I got for $89.
You are just being insufferably arrogant and condescending, and it get's quite annoying, like a tiny splinter than won't go away.
 
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