I couldn’t stand it anymore and at $31.50, the item was well within reasonable discretionary spending.  My curiosity about the quality of Kershaw (KAI Cutlery) and Ernest Emerson’s love-child production folding knife from China got the better of me and my MasterCard.  Order placed.

A week later, the diminutive Kershaw-made/Emerson-designed CQC-2K was dropped into my mailbox.  The packaging was discarded upon arrival at home from work.  My first reaction was, “Solid little knife!”

The CQC-2K has a 2 3/4″ blade of 8Cr14MoV that is black-oxide coated.  Sporting a modified clip point, the blade is recurved.  The look of it is tactically smart.  Atop the blade is a thumb disk and Emerson’s Wave-Shaped Opening Feature.

A frame lock, the left side wears a black G-10 scale, while the right side is 410 stainless steel that is likewise black-oxide coated.  The lock-up of my knife was mechanically perfect.  A 2/3rds rear spacer leaves the interior of the handle accessible for cleaning.  The pocket clip is tip-up reversible and is Emerson skulled.

The specs say the knife weighs 2.8 ounces, but I thought it felt heavier in my hand.  A quick check on the scale showed it at 2.92 ounces.  In any event, the CQC-2K possesses the kind of quality build you expect from either Kershaw or Emerson Knives, inc.

For my money, the CQC-2K is a good knife.  Its blade steel held a good edge when I stressed it on some pesky cardboard boxes.  Lock-up is secure.  The Wave-Shaped Feature enables the knife right from the pocket without any additional manipulations.

I will gripe that the detent ball is a bit aggressive on my knife and it needs a little more thumb pressure than I would like to disk open the blade, but this is a minor issue on a gentleman’s folder.  And if the ninjas end up storming my jimusho, the CQC-2K can be deployed via the wave.

I am certain that this knife is representative of the Kershaw-Emerson line.  Curiosity satisfied.

by Wilson