Knife Bleg Update: Initial impressions of the Emerson Commander
After mulling my options, I went with the Emerson Commander. It’s a quality knife. The blade is very well made and feels less, I dunno, Samurai-swordy than the Spyderco. It opens smoothly either by using the Wave or with the thumb. A few pros:
Good weight for a knife that large.
I like that it’s constructed with Phillips head screws instead of those little torx/alan types that, when they are small enough for knife construction, tend to strip.
About the only con I have with the knife is that the body is not tapped for screws so that one can move the carry clip for left pocket carry.
October 16th, 2018 at 4:56 pm
I’ curious what the head has to do with stripping threads. Stripping comes from the thread shape and material strength. Well, unless you think of Philips heads in their original torque limiting sense… If the screw strips its threads, one solution is to replace it by a grade 8 screw.
October 16th, 2018 at 6:45 pm
pkoning, I think he is referring to the head of the fastener deforming while applying torque, rendering it unusable.
Or in other words, the cheese grade screws are only good for assembling it the first time and if you try to tighten them you’ll just wallow out the head.
October 16th, 2018 at 7:17 pm
What Ratus said.
October 16th, 2018 at 10:15 pm
“About the only con I have with the knife is that the body is not tapped for screws so that one can move the carry clip for left pocket carry.”
I don’t even have the clip on my Benchmade anymore, I removed it about a month after I got the knife back in 1998. A co-worker bought a Benchmade at the same time I did. He carried his knife attached to his pocket by the clip. A month later while we were walking a fireline at night checking for hot spots, a 2 mile stretch, his knife fell out. There was no chance of finding it, a $120 knife. After that I removed the clip and carry my Benchmade in a belt case, it’s much more secure that way.
October 16th, 2018 at 11:10 pm
I’m not real familiar with the Emerson’s, but that seems like a fine choice. For the last 10 or 11 years I have carried a Benchmade 940 Osborne. For 20 years before that I would replace my pocket knife every year or sooner. Not cheap knives either. Not as spendy as the Benchade, but not low dollar. When I replace this one, it will be another Benchmade. Good service. Broke the clip once and they replaced for free. Even sent new screws. Which is nice. They will resharpen for free also, but I can handle that task.
October 16th, 2018 at 11:13 pm
As for left pocket carry, which it is tapped for, I am ambidextrous. But only with my right hand.
October 17th, 2018 at 1:24 pm
Am I the only person who likes clip-point or sheepsfoot blades?
Wavey or tanto blades are farkin’ #@$! to sharpen.
October 17th, 2018 at 2:13 pm
Sigivald, I don’t like the odd blade shapes either.
October 17th, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Uncle,
my Benchmade wasn’t set up with opposite screw holes either, so I did my own. I took the metal liners and laid them against each other and marked them for drilling through the existing holes. Did the same with the grips. Couple minutes with drill and tap and job done. Oh, and I swapped out the original screws for better ones, which I blue loctite, since they come loose otherwise.
October 17th, 2018 at 2:34 pm
BTW,
I used allen drive buttonhead screws, as they seem to be stronger than the torx in that size.
Also, if you ever send it in for service, take off the clip, as they will toss your screws and put the crappy ones back on. I had to shorten mine for internal clearance, which was the only annoying thing required for my knife. Had to grind/file off a thread.