Whiskey, often regarded as one of America's most iconic spirits, has a rich and storied history that dates back to the early days of the United States. The roots of American whiskey can be traced back to the late 18th century when European immigrants, particularly Scots and Irish settlers, brought their distillation traditions to the New World. These early pioneers adapted their Old-World knowledge to the available resources and local grains, leading to the emergence of distinctly American styles of whiskey. In the late 18th century, the American whiskey industry began to take shape in re ..read more

The Emerson wave, a unique feature that accompanies many knives in the Emerson lineup, is itself accompanied by quite the story. For those who may not know, the wave feature is integral on a select number of Emerson Knives in order to allow the user to open a knife in the fastest, smoothest, safest way possible. This affords the user ample time to engage in self-defense or an emergency without the delay of manually opening a knife. What’s the backstory on the “wave?” In Emerson’s own words; The way the wave was developed was while I was working with a special group within the SEAL t ..read more

Blind Allegiance Always Leads to Blind Obedience In the world of critical thinking and principled action, there exists an unwavering truth: blind allegiance inevitably begets blind obedience. This realization is not born of rebellion but rather of a deep-seated commitment to the preservation of individual autonomy. Those who truly understand the concept of unwavering loyalty recognize that it should be a choice guided by a clear moral compass, not a mindless surrender to authority. Within the realm of the uncommon, questioning authority is not an act of insubordination but rather an exe ..read more

NASA Knife In 1999, NASA contracted Emerson to build a knife for use on Space Shuttle missions and the International Space Station. Rather than design a new model from scratch, NASA chose an existing model which already met their specifications, with one additional design requirement. The model is a folding version of the Specwar knife that Emerson had designed for Timberline with the addition of a gut hook cut into the tantō point of the blade with which astronauts could open their freeze dried food packages. The knife is not available for purchase outside of NASA ..read more

Emerson's St. Patrick's Irish Knives We bring to you our annual offering of custom, limited edition, handcrafted, Emerson Lucky Irish St. Patrick's Day Knives collection, available only while supplies last.  The Festival of St. Patrick's Day on March 17th is celebrated the world over by both Irish and non-Irish alike and it has always been said that everyone is Irish on St. Patty's Day. In fact, due to historical upheavals and disasters over the centuries in Ireland and the resulting emigrations, there are more Irish scattered around the world than in Ireland itself. I am sure t ..read more

Why do some love it and some not so much? I'll give you my best analysis of what I've come to understand about it over the years. The first and most obvious thing people would mention when they saw a CQC-7 for the first time was, “Wow, that's different.” Well, it's well known that most people are resistant to change. Change upsets the apple cart. It's not the way things are done, it's not what I've always been taught, it's not the knife my grandpa or my dad used, it's just not right! Well, you know what? I've got it. That's just human nature, but it's not my nature. I may have been doing so ..read more

In the last installment we discussed the Design Concepts behind the design of the CQC-7 Model. So now let’s get on with the mechanics of the CQC-7 Knife Blade Design. One of the requirements of the blade was that it needed to penetrate Kevlar and soft body armor. Being quite familiar with the characteristics of Kevlar and how and why it works, we knew it can stop a bullet, but it can't stop an ice pick. The larger the cross-sectional mass of the striking object, the greater the dissipation or spreading out of the force from the stripe due to the way Kevlar is constructed. Also, we all know ..read more

Why it is the way it is. Well, let's start with this. First off, the CQC-7 is a knife, nothing more. Simply, it had to do everything a knife must do. It has to cut, slice, chop, and stab. It had to be a size that will fit in your kit, gear, or pocket, so you will have it with you all of the time, just like a concealed carry firearm. If it's too big or bulky to have on you, it's not going to do you any good if it's sitting in a safe. It had to be able to deploy quickly and easily in a time of immediate need with one-hand operation. The grip had to be comfortable and secure in the hand – in ..read more

It all started like this. First there was the CQC-6, and then there was the CQC-7. In fact, if I had not developed the CQC-6 model, there would never have been the CQC-7. And I'm not just talking about the numerical sequence. I had developed the CQC-6 knife at the request of NAVSPECWAR back at a time when most people did not know that SEAL Team 6 even existed. By then of course, they were known as DEVGRU or Naval Special Warfare Development Group. And the story of the CQC-6 is a long tail to tell all by itself. Perhaps, for the next time we're sitting around the campfire. Anyway, somet ..read more

It all started like this. First there was the CQC-6, and then there was the CQC-7. In fact, if I had not developed the CQC-6 model, there would never have been the CQC-7. And I'm not just talking about the numerical sequence. I had developed the CQC-6 knife at the request of NAVSPECWAR back at a time when most people did not know that SEAL Team 6 even existed. By then of course, they were known as DEVGRU or Naval Special Warfare Development Group. And the story of the CQC-6 is a long tail to tell all by itself. Perhaps, for the next time we're sitting around the campfire. Anyway, somet ..read more