I own a multitude from both makers, but would consider myself much more of a Cold Steel fan. Much of my preference centers on my perception of value, in addition to the recurrent difficulty in obtaining Emerson products. As an example, I would absolutely buy an Emerson Super CQC-8 right now (which are sometimes unobtainable) at a street price of $150. But at $282, its just crazy. Emerson knives are just made from G10 and "decent" steel (154CM) just like every other knife out there, and lets face it - they have good but not superior fit and finish. So in my view, they have priced themselves out of what a normal buyer would be willing to pay.
Now, I obviously don't know what I am talking about, because Emerson seems to be raking in the money and doing just fine. So someone must be paying $282 for that knife. Its just not me. You can get a "similar" knife with similar performance from Cold Steel (XL Recon 1, XL Espada, large or XL Voyager) for $100. So what's the price difference for? To me, its pretty much just for the cool factor - which is purely subjective. I know that an Emerson guy would say there is no similarity between a Super CQC-8 and a Recon 1 XL, but to me they are practically speaking the same knife.
I just ordered a Cold Steel medium Espada (polished bolsters) for $123 shipped. I'm comparing apples and oranges here, but the fit, finish and lockup on a polished Espada are far superior to any of my liner lock G10 Emersons.
I have nothing against Emerson knives but the price. Its just hard for me to drop that kind of coinage on a knife that is not objectively twice as good as a Cold Steel knife costing half as much. Subjectively, to many buyers the Emersons are far superior, and I get it. I salute you guys for loving your Emersons.