Ernest Emerson

Ernest R. Emerson (born March 7, 1955) is an American custom knifemaker, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry,

Emerson's knives have been featured in films and novels, due to their association with military units. This has furthered their popularity with collectors.

Emerson is an accomplished martial artist who has developed a combatives system, Emerson Combat Systems, which has been taught to police officers, military units, and civilians. While attending high school he displayed athletic ability as a wrestler and baseball player, being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals to play professional baseball at the age of 17 in the Midwest League. Emerson subsequently trained in Gracie Jiu Jitsu for three years at the original Gracie Academy in Torrance, California, under the founders of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu system, Rorion and Royce Gracie. Eventually, Emerson became an instructor in his own right and combined the principles of all these systems. It was in Southern California where he met his wife, Mary, who at the time was one of the world's top female practitioners of Jujutsu.

Early knifemaking alt=A butterfly knife with steel handles and lightening holes.

Although Emerson credits his grandfather's gift of a Barlow knife to him at the age of eight years with starting his interest in knives, it was not until later in life that he turned to making them. Emerson decided he would attempt to make his own instead. Emerson did so and sold these early butterfly knives for just the cost of materials, but he soon raised the price to $50 each, as demand for his knives increased.

Pre-tactical models

Emerson's early folding knives were of the linerlock variety, ground by the stock removal method, and utilized rare materials from the aerospace industry, including titanium, carbon fiber, micarta, and meteorite. He incorporated exotic materials common to knifemakers of the time, including mother-of-pearl, abalone shell, pāua shell, staghorn, and rare hardwoods. Writer Paul Basch reported in 1990 that Emerson refused to use the parts of any animal or plant which was an endangered species, noting Emerson as being an environmentally conscious knifemaker. Once established as a serious and reputable maker, Emerson was soon able to concentrate on making the knives he wanted to make—knives designed for use as opposed to show, specifically folding-knives designed for combat. He continued his use of linen or canvas micarta because of its high tensile strength and superior gripping surface when wet; he decided on black or dark grey for the color instead of the brighter colors used previously.

Emerson ground the blades of these knives from ATS-34 steel with a Rockwell hardness of 57–59 and made them thicker toward the tip, creating a stronger-tipped blade than he had made previously.

Specwar Knives alt=Five tanto-bladed folding knives showing subtle differences in blade geometry. Five variants of the CQC-6; the top knife is a Super Sized version and with the knife below features the Wave.

In 1986 individual Navy SEALs from a West Coast team had been using personally purchased custom fixed-blade knives made by Southern California knifemaker Phill Hartsfield. More accurately, they are zero ground; that is, the edge has no secondary bevel, minimizing drag when used for cutting purposes. Emerson had long been impressed by the cutting ability of the chisel-ground edge and had asked Hartsfield's permission to incorporate it into his own folding knives, which Hartsfield granted. Ownership of a CQC-6 soon became something of a status symbol among members of various elite military units, including Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, German GSG 9, and British SAS. Because of this connection to the Special Warfare community, Emerson changed the name of his custom knife line to "Specwar Knives", and in 1990 this new designation began appearing in the logo on his blades. The knife has the distinction of being the first folding knife that was designed to be ergonomically correct in both forward and reverse grip. Although Emerson has standard models for these custom knives which progress in order to CQC16, each one is made individually by hand.

Popularizing the tactical knife

While not the first knifemaker to build what is known as a tactical folding knife, Emerson was one of several makers who popularized the concept of the handmade tactical folder in the 1980s. Emerson's knives began appearing in the Rogue Warrior series of novels written by the founder of the US Navy's SEAL Team Six, Richard Marcinko, at this time which helped fuel interest among collectors. Although he had been making knives full-time since 1994, Emerson was still manufacturing these knives in his home garage workshop three years later. The knife was originally a custom piece designed for Naval Special Warfare Group One, and this factory version was soon entered in the trials for the Navy SEALs knife in 1995. Although it was not chosen by the Navy, Stephen Dick reported that a number of members of SEAL Team One privately purchased the knife and were disappointed it was not made the official blade.

alt=Two similar tanto bladed fighting knives one a custom the other a factory piece. In 1994 the president of Benchmade Knives, Les DeAsis, approached Emerson to manufacture the CQC-6 on a larger scale as a factory production model. manual or automatic opening, or partially serrated blade.

Despite these changes the knife was true to Emerson's original design, and even though it did not have the craftsmanship of a handmade piece of cutlery it satisfied customers with their own version of Emerson's work at a lower price point and without the five-year wait.

Emerson Knives, Inc.

"First folding tanto with liner lock and G-10" -Emerson. In February 1996, Emerson and his wife, Mary, founded Emerson Knives, Inc. (abbreviated as EKI) in Torrance, California to manufacture knives on a larger scale than he was then capable of. Four years after starting this venture, Emerson sold an entire year's worth of production in four hours at the SHOT (Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show in January 2000.

Emerson continued to collaborate with other companies on knife-related projects as his own company grew. In some cases these collaborators had become his competition, such as Gerber Knives. In 2002 Emerson collaborated with Gerber Knives to create both companies' first automatic opening knife, the Gerber-Emerson Alliance. In that same year, Emerson collaborated with SureFire Flashlights by making an exclusive CQC-8 (Banana Knife) numbered and marked with the SureFire logo and sold with an identically numbered Emerson-marked Centurion C2 CombatLight. In 2007, Emerson announced a collaboration with custom knifemaker and knife thrower Bobby Branton. The collaboration piece is a fixed-blade knife designed primarily for knife throwing dubbed the BETT: Branton-Emerson Tactical Thrower. "CQC-6 is the most collectible knife in the world" -Emerson The Commander has a hook on the spine of the blade (originally designed as a blade catcher) which, when snagged on the edge of the pocket or sheath, causes the knife blade to open as it is drawn. Since another knife and tool company, Leatherman, had trademarked the name "Wave," in March 1999 Emerson changed its name to the "wave-shaped opening feature". Emerson's Wave made its way onto most of the knives in both the production and custom lines, with the exception of the Viper models. It is a required feature on all knives that Emerson supplies to military units, search and rescue units, and law enforcement agencies.

After a disastrous helicopter crash in 1999 resulting in the deaths of six Marines and one sailor, the US Navy performed an assessment of their equipment and decided among other things that they needed a new search and rescue knife. The KA-BAR knives issued to the SBUs (Special Boat Units) had catastrophically failed to cut the Marines free from their webbing. In 2005, the Navy changed the requirements on the SARK to incorporate a guthook on the back of the blade for use as a line-cutter.

In 1999, NASA contracted Emerson to build a knife for use on Space Shuttle missions and the International Space Station. The knife is not available for purchase outside of NASA.

On July 1, 2000, Emerson announced his semi-retirement from custom knifemaking in order to concentrate on this new production company and to fill the thousands of outstanding orders for his custom work. He still makes custom knives available for sale at knife shows, but takes no orders for new custom work. Since 1995 the only way to get a new custom knife from Emerson himself is through a lottery held at knife shows where he is present. His first guitar debuted at Blade Magazines Blade Show in Atlanta in June 2007. In 2008, Emerson opened a clothing company called "Emerson Brand Apparel" specializing in MMA and casual clothing. In 2009 at the annual NRA Convention, Emerson announced a collaboration with custom pistol manufacturer Les Baer to produce a custom M1911 pistol built to Emerson's specifications with a semi-custom (handground blade) folding knife named the "CQC-45"(out of sequence from the CQC series as the number relates to the caliber of the pistol). In late 2009, Emerson announced a collaboration with Spike's Tactical to produce an M4 Carbine based upon his specifications for training, chambered in .22 long rifle and in 5.56 NATO; with a matching folding knife designated the "CQC-22" (out of sequence from the CQC series as the number relates to the caliber of the rifle).

In September 2010, Emerson announced a collaboration with Pro-Tech Knives to produce an automatic opening version of the CQC-7. In November 2010, Emerson's Roadhouse Knife won Knives Illustrateds American Made Knife of 2010–2011 Award at the Spirit of Steel Show in Knoxville, TN. According to Emerson, the knife will be used as a prop on the Sons of Anarchy Television Show.

In January 2011, at the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show in Las Vegas, NV, Emerson debuted a new knife model designed in collaboration with Kelly McCann known as the Canis.

Emerson Combat Systems

Emerson has developed a combatives system drawn upon his experience known as Emerson Combat Systems, which has been taught to hundreds of law enforcement agencies, members of the U.S. military, and civilians. Emerson maintains he does not teach a "martial art" encumbered by ritual or sporting aspects but a combatives system where the goal is more than simple self-defense.

As an author, Emerson has written over 30 articles on hand-to-hand combat, knife fighting, history, and knifemaking for publications including Human Events, Blade Magazine, American Cop Magazine, Martial Arts Experts, Journal of Modern Combatives, Inside Kung-Fu, Black Belt Magazine, Police Magazine, and American Handgunner.

In 2014, Emerson was inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame as "Self-Defense Instructor of the Year".