Photos Finally, a 1999 7A

Frankki

Frankki

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
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1,557
Like the saying goes: "There are many like it, but this one is mine".

It's my third CQC-7 actually, first one was a Benchmade 970S, about ten years ago. Good, solid knife but lacking in handle ergonomics - very blocky. And the chisel-ground tanto blade wasn't my thing. Ended up selling it.

In 2017 I eventually bought a 7A, and a very nice modern piece it was indeed. Great blade style as well. But I didn't manage to really like the standoffs, they just don't fit the square-butt profile of the 7 IMO. Sold that one too.

So now, third time's the charm I guess. This one I really, really like a lot! Has the great 7A blade profile, a proper backspacer and really nice contouring of the handle edges. Also, 1999 was a very good year for me personally, lots of fond memories. So it's both a pleasure and a priviledge to own a knife made back then.

Loving the many subtle and cool differences present in this earlier version of the 7A; the smoother & well rounded G-10, bead-blasted blade finish, domed pivot, bright thumb button with slotted screw. The same slotted screws on the clip as well. And of course the long, deep, dramatic swedge - a nice touch!

Took me a while to find piece like this, but the wait was worth it. So, onto the pictures:

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Very nice find Frankki, congrats indeed. I'm sure you're aware that '99 7's are highly desirable, A or B. I too prefer the A, and my 2000 BTS is one of the last knives I'd willingly part with. As well said, domed hardware, radiused G10, backspacer, and I'll add full titanium liners, single detent, and drilled and tapped for both tip-up and tip-down carry. Emerson appears to have been using a different coating process on their pocketclips back then too, almost seems to be a DLC type of finish. I'm not certain I even noticed the different swedges. Great score, and enjoy that beauty. Here's some shots of my 2000.

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Damn nice, that black blade too! I saw one of those for sale a while ago, just didn't have the cash at hand to purchase it then.

I might add a couple of criticisms on mine, as no knife is perfect: Detent is very soft, blade can be shaken out quite easily. My modern 7A had a very strong detent, nice for peace of mind but made it pretty much impossible to open with gloves on. Got easier when a Monster Thumb Disk was installed. But I would like to see that kind of closed-blade retention on this vintage one as well.

That leads to the second point; for detent-related reasons, and just in general, I would prefer to carry the knife tip-down (hey, I prefer tip-down, don't shoot me!) but it can't really be done, because that very cool domed pivot gets in the way. Simply not enough space. Clip wont sit flush with handles if tip-down. The whole optional drilling and tapping sort of goes to waste. :D

But all in all, no worries, this is pretty much a pure nostalgia piece for me. It'll only be carried and used when I feel like going back to the nineties. :thumbsup:
 
Cool that you remember the year AND appreciate the knife.

I have a 99, but it's not the A model. Mine was a user, and I beat up the handle doing stupid stuff and had the knife customized by Phillip Dobson.

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And after the customization:
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Great score on that 99, Frankki Frankki

best

mqqn
 
Frankki said:
Like the saying goes: "There are many like it, but this one is mine".


It's my third CQC-7 actually, first one was a Benchmade 970S, about ten years ago. Good, solid knife but lacking in handle ergonomics - very blocky. And the chisel-ground tanto blade wasn't my thing. Ended up selling it.


In 2017 I eventually bought a 7A, and a very nice modern piece it was indeed. Great blade style as well. But I didn't manage to really like the standoffs, they just don't fit the square-butt profile of the 7 IMO. Sold that one too.


So now, third time's the charm I guess. This one I really, really like a lot! Has the great 7A blade profile, a proper backspacer and really nice contouring of the handle edges. Also, 1999 was a very good year for me personally, lots of fond memories. So it's both a pleasure and a priviledge to own a knife made back then.


Loving the many subtle and cool differences present in this earlier version of the 7A; the smoother & well rounded G-10, bead-blasted blade finish, domed pivot, bright thumb button with slotted screw. The same slotted screws on the clip as well. And of course the long, deep, dramatic swedge - a nice touch!


Took me a while to find piece like this, but the wait was worth it. So, onto the pictures:
Click to expand...

I agree that the older construction was superior ergonomically. When you mentioned in another recent thread that you didn't like the open construction of the modern CQC-7, I was going to suggest that you try to find an older model with the backspacer. But I know that the early models can be hard to come by, so I left it alone. I'm glad that you found one that you like!


Frankki said:
It might, I have been thinking of acquiring one and giving it a go.
Click to expand...

Officer's Match's offer is a very kind one and I expect it will work. But I wanted to let you know that there's another way to go. Some of the early EKI models had a differently formed clip that minimized the flat space surrounding the screws. This clip fits the domed-pivot CQC-7s perfectly for tip-down carry. I know because that's how I outfitted mine.

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If you can manage to find one of those clips, you won't need to change the pivot assembly.


-Steve
 
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Ooohh, clever! Thanks for the tip Steve, that differently shaped clip is something I've never heard of before. It did seem a little weird that a knife would be drilled and tapped for tip-down but that the clip would simultaneously negate this entirely.
 
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