Modern-Day Patriot

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Emerson Knives Sets The Standard
When It Comes To Tactical Blades.

It’s hard to fathom, but many of our young service members weren’t even born when the modern tactical knife movement took root in the early 1990’s. The first Gulf War turned the cutlery world on its collective head and it hasn’t been the same since.

In those first few months of the war, a handful of custom knifemakers abandoned the frilly world of gent’s folders — which ruled the roost — to make knives for American warriors bound for Iraq. Instead, they made knives capable of serving in battle to protect American freedom. Among them was a young but already well-known and respected custom knifemaker named Ernest “Ernie” Emerson.

Emerson’s early combat knives, along with a few contemporaries, set the tone for the explosive tactical cutlery market. His CQC (Close Quarters Combat) combat folders propelled him to new heights to the point they were nearly impossible to get on the open market. The demand for Ernie’s knives forced him and his wife Mary to make a radical business decision.

“Mary and I decided to start our own production knife company after we saw the worldwide demand for the Emerson CQC-7 knife,” he tells us. “We founded Emerson Knives in March 1997; today we have a major factory in Los Angeles where we employ 30 people.”

Patriot

A Family Affair

Emerson Knives is and always has been a family affair. “My wife Mary runs the financial end of things and is the VP,” he informs. “She’s also the president of Emerson Brands and completely runs the apparel and accessory business — a multimillion dollar business of its own. My oldest daughter Megan Emerson-Gomez is the marketing and sales director, and my other daughter Rachael Emerson was promoted to operations director for all manufacturing when she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2013. All I do is design and build custom knives (all by hand) and design and build all prototypes for the company.”

Despite becoming global, Ernest Emerson is a red, white and blue-blooded American patriot at heart. “Over the years we’ve been approached by many different entities to lure us offshore and even have had a number of industry advisors try to convince us to do so,” Emerson said. “But we’ve declined all offers and we make every part right here in the USA — using only materials made here. We’re the only major knife company which can honestly say we’re 100 percent made in the USA.”

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Unparalleled Knowledge

One important ingredient Emerson has always brought to the table is his extensive background in martial arts, which in turn has added deep insight into his knife designs and continues today.

“As an instructor I’ve given numerous lectures and seminars on counter-terrorism and authored scores of papers and articles on security, tactical training, counterterrorist training, hand-to-hand combat training, personal security and warrior mindset to professional, government and civilian entities worldwide.” In 2012 he was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame and currently owns and operates a state-of-the-art fighting school in Los Angeles, the Black Shamrock Combat Academy.

Ernie’s combat savvy isn’t just limited to knives either. “I’m also a California POST-certified instructor and have taught in almost all the major gun fighting schools from Blackwater to Gunsite in the Crucible and from Scotland Yard to any alphabet agency in the US government and several foreign allies. I’m also an expert witness for the Los Angeles prosecuting attorney’s office, dealing with issues of deadly force and deadly crimes in which edge weapons were used to commit murder.

“We were the first knife company to offer edged weapons training to our customers, years before all the other knife companies offered their training. When I design a tactical knife, I actually know what a knife can, should and will do in combat and tactical environments.”

Commander

CQC-15

Enter The Patriot

Emerson’s CQC series knives have been the mainstay of his stable since day one and make up a large part of his now burgeoning line of over 20 models. Outside the CQC line are a diverse group of designs such as the Commander, ETAK and Bulldog models shown here.

The most recent addition to the Emerson folder line is the Patriot. Large at just over 9″ in overall length, the Patriot embodies the curvaceous yet sensible design Ernie has brought to many of his knives over the years. The standard model comes with optional Stonewashed or Black finish to the folder’s deep ground re-curved 154CM (stainless steel) clip-point blade; either available with a plain or partially serrated edge. The handles are textured Black G-10 and house a liner-lock mechanism between the liners and an ample pocket-clip on the backside.

The Patriot goes upscale with a Limited Edition George Washington Wood version — the story behind it is guaranteed to warm the cockles of any true American. According to Ernie, “The Patriot Knife came about when a good friend of mine, Mike Peccione, editor of Guns and Gear of The Daily Caller, told me he was heading out to his cabin on the Potomac in Virginia to cut up a tree which had been blown down by a storm the previous weekend.

“He said, ‘It’s a real shame, my place is on George Washington’s original farm and this old Virginia Oak was almost 350 years old. It was around during the Revolutionary War and when George Washington was president. It’s a shame to cut it into the firewood.’ I replied, ‘Wait a minute … it was alive when? Mike, you gotta get me this wood.’”

Ernie even has copies of the original map drawn by George Washington himself, originally being employed as a surveyor, showing exactly where the tree was located on the original farm — just over a quarter-mile from Mount Vernon. Ernie got the wood in fireplace-ready logs, quarter sawing them and ripping into strips before sending them off to be fully stabilized.

“When I got them back, they were then squared and turned up into individual handle pieces. This is when you start to see the true beauty of the wood,” he relays.

The result is the beautiful folder you see here: replete with a custom die struck coin and beautifully finished in Gun Metal Copper set into the wood, along with a copy of the survey map drawn by George Washington — showing the location of the tree on the first president’s original farm.

ETAK

Left: CQC, Right: Bulldog

The Kershaw Connection

In late 2013, Emerson entered into an agreement with Kershaw Knives to produce a budget line of the knifemaker’s designs and these are now available to the public. Emerson’s American-made production knives average in the $200-250 range, which is slightly on the higher end of factory knives.

Eight of Ernie’s hot CQC designs are included in the Kershaw Emerson lineup at a wallet-friendly retail range of $49 to $59. These are produced offshore to keep prices affordable, so you won’t find the same upscale materials (such as blade steel) found in Emerson Knives’ domestic-made knives — but the price is right and opens the door for a whole new wave of fans to have an Emerson in their hand!
By Pat Covert
Photos By Chuck Pittman, Inc.
For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/index or Ph: (310) 539-5633.