Emerson CQC-7: an ongoing review

[Korean Hog]

I bought the Emerson CQC-7 this week. Mostly because I'm a knife geek and I never quite pulled the trigger on one. It felt like being a knife guy without a CRK.
I "had" to get one to round out my collection and see what all the fuss was about.
Personally, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about positive and negative.

These are my initial impressions:

This thing is a CHUNK of steel. A lightweight comfy Delica it is NOT.
However, I don't think it's intended to be, and as hard use folders go, the knife carries light enough and as agile as possible and stay structurally sound.

The blade is plenty sharp though. This cut was made by placing the forward edge flat against the box and sliding. That is to say, I didn't stab and then pull the blade through like any dull knife would readily do, it is legitimately sharp!

I like the fact that the secondary edge bevel is nice and tall. A lot of knives I've bought, and especially "tactical" folders, have the tiniest little secondary bevel I guess it helps to keep the edge strong and chip free, but it does nothing to make the knife sharp like it's supposed to be.
I've seen people calling the bevel on the wrong side of this chisel grind, but when you're using the knife in the grip shown here to scrape barnacles off of a surface to set mines on an operation it works great! (Ernest Emerson cited this as the original idea behind the chisel grind for Team guys), or in my case: skin wire, debur pipe/ wood, notch things etc. the grind is on the right side.
I guess I'm not thinking of all the things I use a knife in this grip for, but I know for sure I use this reverse grip a lot to scrape, notch, and skin things all the time. Once you get the hang of this cutting grip/ motion with out cutting your self, it's easier to do all kinds of things and I find I have more control with things as simple as opening that irritating clam shell packaging. The chisel grind works really well. Look at Japanese cooking knives! The bevel is on the correct side! For me at least

The knife is comfy and has a roomy handle with a little space to spare in forward and reverse grips. I don't have long hands or fingers, but I do have thick, beefy, sausage like fingers and hands, I definitely need an ergonomic handle with space and the CQC-7 accomplishes that.

The knife closes easily, no detectable lock stick and has good detent. It's nice and centered as well. The lock up is tight and early with no play in any direction. I was worried it might be a little too early and tried spine whacking it as safely as possible, leveraging the point against a piece of wood, and just plane ole pushing on it as hard as I could and the blade didn't flinch. No play after that either.

I read all the horror stories about a ~$200 knife (Emersons) having super late to the opposing scale late lock up, blade play, and being grossly off center. I can't seem to find any of that with mine.

The wave feature works like a charm if I consciously pull backwards a bit when drawing the knife. If I just draw straight up like I would with any other the knife the wave doesn't engage one little bit and it's business as usual. I find I need a bit of a chunky lanyard to get a secure grip because without the lanyard I'm only getting solid purchase with my not so solid pointer finger and thumb and maybe a bit of middle finger.
With the lanyard I've got my whole fist around something solid and the wave deploys the blade solid and easy.

The finish is a little rough. The scales are a bit aggressive. The clip in conjunction with the rough scales comes out being pretty dang tight on the draw and in slipping back in the pocket. I prefer all these things with the kind of knife it's supposed to be. To me, it's not bad at all in plain jeans and with un-gloved hands. In my experience though, a lot of the things that make an EDC comfy and easy to use (smooth finish, slick and smooth clip and draw, etc.) make a knife slick in gloves and easy to fall/ pull out if the clip snags a piece of rope, air conditioning grill, tool pouch and so on.
I appreciate the "poor" "rough" finish on this knife because I feel that it aids in retaining the knife in your pocket and in your gloved and/ or calloused hand when conditions are close quarters (attics and crawl spaces for me ) and conditions are slimy, greasy, and wet

If these initial impressions are well received by the Blade Forum community, I will comment further on my experiences with the Emerson CQC-7. I'm not going to abUSE it per se, but I will USE the crap out of it over the next month or so for things I don't want to use my Delica for like skinning large gauge wire, installing HVAC units, cutting muddy gritty whatever, scraping stuck things off of other things basically anything that may take the razor edge off of my Delica or snap it's tip I'll tag in the CQC 7 and we'll see how it goes!

See Y'all later! Tell your Mom'n'em I said hi!
Korean Hog

 

[Murindo]

Enjoy your knife. I've been using CQC-7's since they were Benchmade 970's. They are an acquired taste and not everyone likes them. That they have been around for 25 years means there is more to them than hype and myth.

 

[Korean Hog]

I'd like to add that I'm not necessarily disputing the claims of poor fit and finish, blade play, off center, super late lock up etc.
out of the box that people have reported.
To me it seems that the absolute worst case scenario is that EKI heard the unhappy customers and made improvements accordingly.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Emersons have excellent ergonomics and solid construction, but the chisel grind and the steel don't work for me. I'd prefer a true V-grind and different steel, maybe 12C27 or something similar.

 

[Korean Hog]

CQC 7's first AC install today and first real day of carry and use.
I realize it's a bulky knife to some, but I didn't feel weighed down up and down ladders and crawling around the attic.
Granted, I wear heavy 511 cargo pants and I'm used to carrying at least a tool pouch around on my belt on a daily basis.
I wouldn't recommend this as an EDC for nice slacks like you'd wear to the office.

Fiber glass duct board, foil tape, and nicking the edge on the sheet metal air handlers are made of basically dulls any blade made of whatever steel.
The only real difference I notice is that decent-high end steels 154 CM, VG 10, S35VN, S30V, Hap 40, ZDP 189 and so on all seem to retain a working edge after I finish cutting the duct when the unit is set and sealed.
I appreciate the 154 CM being run a little soft on the heat treat. There are no noticeable chips in the edge like I normally get with super steels run super hard.
On the flip side the super steels retain a much better working edge even with the chips. It should be noted too that when I talk about the super steels like ZDP 189 chipping I'm not talking about huge chucks of steel breaking out of the blade, I'm talking 1/4 of the secondary bevel at maximum (rare if ever) and usually no more of a chip than what would amount to small pieces of the micro-bevel breaking off.
Use super hard super steels for medium-hard use with confidence, the chips get less as you sharpen and get that hand sharpened convex deal going on after a while.

The 154 CM does seem to be better for hard use because of the softer heat treat resulting in a tougher blade. However being a better steel than AUS8 or 8cr13mov or whatever cheap mess, it retains a much better, absolutely functional working edge much longer than cheaper steels. I believe EKI is spot on with their steel choice and HT for the intended use of their knives. If you want super sharp all the time, get super steel, but expect little baby chips in the edge and expect to spend a good little while sharpening after work. I enjoy packing a lip of Copenhagen and sharpening knives while my girlfriend reads and draws so this isn't a problem for me. EKI's 154 CM sharpens right back up without too much trouble, especially if you're used to sharpening harder steels on a daily basis.

As you can see the coating pretty much starts to come right off as soon as you start using it. IMO the blade coating is really more of a showroom finish and isn't really durable enough by today's standards where DLC and cerakote seem to hold up really well. I'm assuming this is that super soft Teflon coating that Cold Steel at least used to use. I personally like the "patina" that black coated blades get when the coating gets all scratched up and worn. So, the tendency for this coating to where off easily is strangely a plus for me.
However, if you're worried about having Tactical Navy SEAL Beret warrior operator delta SOG light discipline for some reason, I'm sure the worn coating would reflect less than a satin finished blade, but be aware that the coating does seem to wear off quite easily. Or if you just like you're coatings to hold up as long as possible be aware that the coating is easily scratched up or just get the stonewashed finish.

All in all the CQC 7 is a major win and I'm loving it. My Spyderco Delica is still my go to for fine work where I want a razor edge and accurate cuts.
For hard use though, the CQC 7 is right on target

 

[Korean Hog]

After about a week this developed if I "wrist flick" or wave open the knife.

I can shut the knife if I hold it like the pic below between my thumb, grip, and pointer finger, but I have to squeeze pretty hard.
I'd venture to say that the half the population of Emerson owners could squeeze it shut if held like shown, and the other half may have to use a flat head screw driver/ chopstick.
Not that I'd necessarily recommend closing it that way, but I want it to be understood that when the knife locks up like this, it is seriously locked up tight.

If I slow roll the knife open (open it like a normal freaking person) the knife goes back to 40%-60% lock up and stays there.
I cycled it 50-100 times plus whatever EDC use to be sure it stayed, and I'm confident it will stay, but any wrist flicking or wave opening and it's back to the
opposing scale and being super hard to close.

I'm on the fence about how I feel about this. My knife knowledge so far leads me to believe this is a bad thing. But the blade doesn't show any problems other than being hard to close.
It should be noted that even when the lock moves way over from hard opening, there is absolutely no blade play or lock rock, even when muscling up on it and really trying to get it to move.
Whacking the spine on a 2x4 repeatedly didn't cause any issues either, and didn't make it any easier or harder to close.
I would think that if you're in a situation where you're opening the knife that hard and fast, it may be a good thing because I don't foresee any accidental closing
of the blade. Especially when you consider how difficult it is to close from this position when you're actual trying to close it.

Again, after the blade is closed, slow rolled/ opened normally in the manner I open any other knife, the lock returns to a generally acceptable position of 40-60% and stays there.
I don't feel the need to send the knife in and I'm not worried about the structural integrity of the lock. I just wanted to mention this in the spirit of keeping my review open and honest,
and in being truthful in my experiences with the knife. I still plan to carry the knife as an EDC especially at work for medium to hard use. I still love the knife, but if I get into a super duper Navy SEAL
tactical situation and survive , I may need a tactical titanium chopstick to close it .
For everyday use (100% of my use) the knife is still butter smooth and good to go and I'm happy

 

[Sigguy]

Using the knife as intended, (wave feature) the liner lock should not do that. I have a cqc-10 that’s been ok other then some serious lock sick, but that went away after the pencil spa treatment. I carried it for a couple months but went back to my regular edc rotation.

I’m interested in your opinions as you go along. Thanks for posting and the pictures

 

[Korean Hog]

Using the knife as intended, (wave feature) the liner lock should not do that. I have a cqc-10 that’s been ok other then some serious lock sick, but that went away after the pencil spa treatment. I carried it for a couple months but went back to my regular edc rotation.

I’m interested in your opinions as you go along. Thanks for posting and the pictures

I reduced the problem by disassembling the knife, wiping away any excess oil (from oiling the knife heavily with thin gun oil), especially from the lock face, and adjusting the pivot tension and dabbing lock tite on all the screws but it still does it every other hard opening at least.

I'm cool with it as long as it doesn't start doing it when I slow roll/normal open the knife. I'm going to carry it for a good month or 2, but if more issues develop or it just plain ole starts to suck I'll let y'all know.

 

[Korean Hog]

As you can see the coating wears off pretty quick with medium-heavy use.
The edge from the factory is okay, but a freshly hand sharpened edge on diamond stones makes this guy real sharp.
I'm enjoying the 154CM steel. It holds a decent edge throughout the work day, doesn't chip out crazy with light prying/ scraping and it's easy to sharpen.
154CM is a nice change up from steels like HAP40 and ZDP 189.

 

[Daniel L]

I really like the Emerson designs in general. I'm just not a tanto guy as I find a regular spear / clip works much better - but your use cases, a strong tanto point might make a lot of sense.

If you didn't want lock problems, but still wanted to a tanto, you could get any of the Cold Steel folders. Not quite as iconic as the CQC-7 but you're never going to have liner lock issues... because CS uses their Triad Lock (improved mid-lock).

 

[ofelas]

The CQC-6 I retired to a drawer years back remains one of my favorite folders.

I do prefer flat ground spear points though.

 

[Ironkid883]

Thanks for the review I'm stuck between an emerson or a zt for hard use folder this review was a bug help but I'm still stuck lol

 

[Dirk75]

I bought a pair of the Benchmade like the 3rd from the top carrying them for 23 years so far. I sent back a broken one in 2006 and due in part I believe to my APO return address I received a NIB back along with my sharpened original. I have a drawer full of issued knives but would not carry anything else but this style tanto. Emerson got it right.

 

[Murindo]

Lots of hard waving and wrist flicking will eventually wear the lock surface on the lock bar but more importantly will wear the stop pin. One fix is to rotate the stop pin 180 degrees.

The best fix is to send the knife into Emerson. They will repair it for no cost other than the shipping into them.

 

[Pr3inar]

After about a week this developed if I "wrist flick" or wave open the knife.

I can shut the knife if I hold it like the pic below between my thumb, grip, and pointer finger, but I have to squeeze pretty hard.
I'd venture to say that the half the population of Emerson owners could squeeze it shut if held like shown, and the other half may have to use a flat head screw driver/ chopstick.
Not that I'd necessarily recommend closing it that way, but I want it to be understood that when the knife locks up like this, it is seriously locked up tight.

If I slow roll the knife open (open it like a normal freaking person) the knife goes back to 40%-60% lock up and stays there.
I cycled it 50-100 times plus whatever EDC use to be sure it stayed, and I'm confident it will stay, but any wrist flicking or wave opening and it's back to the
opposing scale and being super hard to close.

I'm on the fence about how I feel about this. My knife knowledge so far leads me to believe this is a bad thing. But the blade doesn't show any problems other than being hard to close.
It should be noted that even when the lock moves way over from hard opening, there is absolutely no blade play or lock rock, even when muscling up on it and really trying to get it to move.
Whacking the spine on a 2x4 repeatedly didn't cause any issues either, and didn't make it any easier or harder to close.
I would think that if you're in a situation where you're opening the knife that hard and fast, it may be a good thing because I don't foresee any accidental closing
of the blade. Especially when you consider how difficult it is to close from this position when you're actual trying to close it.

Again, after the blade is closed, slow rolled/ opened normally in the manner I open any other knife, the lock returns to a generally acceptable position of 40-60% and stays there.
I don't feel the need to send the knife in and I'm not worried about the structural integrity of the lock. I just wanted to mention this in the spirit of keeping my review open and honest,
and in being truthful in my experiences with the knife. I still plan to carry the knife as an EDC especially at work for medium to hard use. I still love the knife, but if I get into a super duper Navy SEAL
tactical situation and survive , I may need a tactical titanium chopstick to close it .
For everyday use (100% of my use) the knife is still butter smooth and good to go and I'm happy

Does the liner travel during use? As an example, does it move against the opposite liner if you open the knife carefully, so that the liner ends up at 40-60%, and you do a hard cut through wood or a thick plastic strip?

 

[d762nato]

I had a 7 and had the same issues. I traded it off. The knifes not bad the blades a little stubby for its size. I had a custom 8 with the thick liner, now that's a nice knife but really expensive. Maybe have someone customize it for you some how with a different liner or just send it into Emerson.

 

[Korean Hog]

Does the liner travel during use? As an example, does it move against the opposite liner if you open the knife carefully, so that the liner ends up at 40-60%, and you do a hard cut through wood or a thick plastic strip?

Yes, it's gotten to that point. I wanted to see just how far I could take things with an Emerson (CQC 7) and I got my answer.
If you straight up abuse this knife expect problems.
If you wave open or wrist flick an Emerson hard often, especially when new, the lock will get stuck and eventually wear out.
Getting heavy amounts of oil on the lock face will further the lock problems.
My EKI Kwaiken does the same thing, but I'm using it more like a knife than a pry bar like I did with the CQC 7 to give EKI a fair chance under normal to moderately heavy use

So far the Kwaiken is holding up well and it's butter smooth. I open it normally "slow roll" style
I've chipped the edge and broke the very tippy tip off of it a couple times and it isn't hard to get the edge or tip back.
The blade also holds an edge for a respectable amount of time through fibrous materials like strapping, rope, insulation, rubber with liners, and various plastics.

 

[Korean Hog]

I had a 7 and had the same issues. I traded it off. The knifes not bad the blades a little stubby for its size. I had a custom 8 with the thick liner, now that's a nice knife but really expensive. Maybe have someone customize it for you some how with a different liner or just send it into Emerson.

Nahh the plan was always pretty much to see how much abuse it could take before I lost confidence in the lock or ground away too much
metal from repairing serious damage. The knife still works for scraping and cutting where you don't need a razor edge.
It's just that I don't like to play probably with my fingers and I prefer my knives razor sharp.

Emerson makes a good knife. Their cool guy tactical Navy SEAL Spaceman Ranger marketing may lead some to believe that they could withstand anything.
I was never mislead, I've played and worked with knives all my knife and had realistic expectations, but it's fun to screw around and see what they can take.
It's also nice having a knife that won't just plain ole snap on you like a cheaper or thinner knife when you're jammed in an attic/ crawl space and don't care you just need to finish business and leave.
They can withstand anything that any other folding knife with a standard titanium liner lock/ g10 scales could withstand.

After using two EKI blades for Electrical, Air Conditioning, fishing, mechanical work on my Xterra, home maintenance etc. etc. I'd say they are very good work knives
but it's best to keep a smaller, lighter, sharper, knife around as well.
Emerson CQC7 and Spyderco Delica is one example of what I believe to be an ultimate tradesman's EDC combo

 

[Therom]

As you can see the coating wears off pretty quick with medium-heavy use.
.

I am surprised to see the coating wearing off so quickly
What have you been using the knife for?

i had a CQC8 that i have only use for basic (light) EDC tasks and it never had any marks
Last year I have abused a DLC PM2 for construction work and the DLC haven’t wear off as much

 

[Pr3inar]

Yes, it's gotten to that point. I wanted to see just how far I could take things with an Emerson (CQC 7) and I got my answer.
If you straight up abuse this knife expect problems.
If you wave open or wrist flick an Emerson hard often, especially when new, the lock will get stuck and eventually wear out.
Getting heavy amounts of oil on the lock face will further the lock problems.
My EKI Kwaiken does the same thing, but I'm using it more like a knife than a pry bar like I did with the CQC 7 to give EKI a fair chance under normal to moderately heavy use

So far the Kwaiken is holding up well and it's butter smooth. I open it normally "slow roll" style
I've chipped the edge and broke the very tippy tip off of it a couple times and it isn't hard to get the edge or tip back.
The blade also holds an edge for a respectable amount of time through fibrous materials like strapping, rope, insulation, rubber with liners, and various plastics.

Out of the 4 I own, one was like this when new (Commander), another became like this after 1 week of regular use, (7v) the third is showing signs of it, but not much (mini 7). The last one, Horseman, is the one I have used the most. It is working just fine, but if I cut some wood or do anorher hard cut, he liner moves a little against the opposite side, and it’s harder to close. I haven’t pried or stabbed or anything like that, just cutting with the edge.