Over the course of the past ten years I’ve enjoyed testing more than my fair share of knives. Some companies make excellent fixed blades. Other companies make great folders. Few do both equally well. As I dug through my gear for last week’s article on Bugout Bags I realized that there are three folders I pretty consistently depend on even if I’m not carrying them every day. They are all three made by Emerson knives. Emerson makes, in my opinion, some of the best folding knives available on the market today. Here are the three I depend on with some of the basic info about them.

The three knives we're going to look at are:

The Commander







The CQC7







and the SpecWar









I've had the Commander since 1999 when I recieved it to be included in an article I was doing on best folding carry knives. The Commander came out at the top of my list. One of the first (if not THE first) folders to incorporate the patented "wave" feature (that little wave looking thing above the thumb stud), the Commander has excellent ergonomics in the handle and the soft belly curve in its blade. The shape and material of the handle make it easy to hang onto as you put any pressure into cuts - that the blade curve amplifies and maximizes as you push. My blade is showing some wear now, nine years later, but it still cuts well and is "tight". Built with common hardware, the Commander can be taken apart, cleaned and rebuilt without much trouble. Not only does this allow you to thoroughly clean it as necessary (thereby keeping rust out of places you normally don't see) but it also lets you keep that wobble out of the knife that so many folders suffer from after time. The wobble can build up between the blade and the handles and causes a lack of stability when you put pressure into any cuts. Since you can easily tighten up the Commander's pivot point, stability is never challenged.

The CQC7 isn't as curvy or "sexy", but it's strong and durable. Mine ended up in my wife's hands shortly after I recieved it and she's spent several years abusing it in the environment of a stock warehouse. It's cut everything from string or cord to tape, cardboard, clothing and more. At one point she did manage to break a very small piece off the tip (because it isn't actually a pry bar) but it was such a small piece that when I sharpened the chisel ground blade you couldn't tell it had been broken. Just like the Commander above it, the CQC7 has a liner lock and the knife is specifically desinged for right or left hand use. You can easily see in the pictures the extra space notched out of the grip slabs and knife liners to allow the thumb easier access to the liner lock. This is one of my favorite features of Emerson knives.

The SpecWar, as can be easily seen, is a mild mix of the two basic designs. That's my observation - not something that comes from Emerson. Check out the SpecWar grips. They are more ergonomically shaped than those of the CQC7 but not quite s hand-friendly as the grips of the Commander. The blade's tanto design keeps it strong and promotes penetrating thrusts without the curve of the Commander's blade that adds in that cutting power.

All three of these knives are excellent workers. Here are a couple of quick excerpts from an '03 review I did with some specifications about each blade:

• The Commander: Winner of the 1999 Overall Knife of the Year aware from Blade Magazine, the Commander is my favorite daily-carry locking folder. With a published weight of 5.53 ounces (little more than ¼ pound), its size is more noticeable than its weight. Measuring 5 inches closed and 8.75 inches open (3.75" blade), the Commander is small enough to carry conveniently but large enough to handle more serious cutting chores than just opening envelopes or cutting open packing tape on boxes. With the pocket clip mounted at the tip-end, the knife is specifically designed for pocket carry as opposed to knives with the pocket clip at the pivot-pin end, which indicates an acceptability for waistband carry. The Commander's blade is made of 154CM steel finished to a hardness of 57-59 RC. The blade is .125" thick and maintains that thickness to within ¼" of the tip. The grips of the knife are made of G-10 epoxy/glass laminate and they are mounted on titanium liners.
• The CQC7: The CQC-7 has several material and specification similarities to the Commander. The blade material, hardness and thickness are all the same. The grips and liners are also made of the same materials as those of the Commander. The differences are size and blade style. Slightly smaller than the Commander, the CQC-7 handle is 4.65 inches long; the blade 3.3 inches long, and the overall length open is an even 8.0 inches.
• The SpecWar: Almost a perfect middle ground knife between the Commander and the CQC-7, the SPECWAR incorporates the same grip materials, liner material, blade thickness and hardness of its two brothers. The SPECWAR handles are shaped more like the Commander while the SPECWAR blade is a Tanto-style chisel ground like the CQC-7. The noticeable difference on mine is the Satin Finish blade, which is brushed so as to not be overly reflective (like a polished blade would be), but still a little more aesthetically appealing to the eye. The handle length of the SPECWAR is 5.0 inches and the blade length is 3.5 inches. Given the peculiarities of folding knife design, the knife has an overall open length of 8.625 inches. Even though it is so similar in size to the Commander, the SPECWAR weighs 4.71 ounces, almost a full ounce less than its Commander brother.

If you're looking for a great folder to put in your pocket, put these three at the top of your list to check out!

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