Kershaw 6031 Brown Emerson CQc-11K Folder Knife Review

There really is nothing like a Kershaw. From the award-winning technologies and advanced materials to the solid sound of the blade lockup, when you choose to carry a Kershaw, you know that you chose to carry the real thing. So what is the real thing? The real thing means value and plenty of it. With Kershaw, you get incredible bang for the money that you work hard for. Even their inexpensive models are impressive. In fact, everything about a Kershaw is solid, crafted, and reliable. That’s why Kershaw chooses to back each of their knives for the life of its original owner against nay defects in materials and construction with their famous Limited Lifetime Warranty. I think sometimes when people hear that, they think, “Well, yeah, because no one owns a knife for a lifetime.” But that’s not true. People do own their Kershaw knives for a lifetime all the time. That’s how quality they are.

If you are searching for an everyday carry knife, you know that you can look directly to Kershaw. But not only that, you can look to them for sporting knives, hunting knives, fishing knives, watersports, and even just an outdoors knife. When you look to a Kershaw, you are looking to a knife that won’t let you down—whether that is an EDC knife, an adventure knife, a work knife, or even a tactical knife.

Kershaw was founded in 1974 with a mission to design and manufacture tools that knife users would be proud to own, carry, and use. This has meant that every Kershaw knife must be of the highest quality. Whether it’s a hardworking pocketknife, a hunting knife, or a special collectors’ edition, Kershaw always chooses appropriate, high-quality materials and is dedicated to intensive craftsmanship. Along with their extremely tight tolerances and state of the art manufacturing techniques, this ensures that Kershaw knives provide a lifetime of performance.

Kershaw has a commitment to innovation. They have pioneered the use of many of the technologies and advanced materials that are today standard in the knife industry. They introduced a SpeedSafe assisted opening knives, which now many knife companies produce. But, the Kershaw was the first-to-market. They also introduced the concept of knives with interchangeable blades in their Blade Traders. And lastly, they have recently released their Composite Blade technology, which works to combine two steels into one blade, which gives the knife users the best of both worlds by enabling them to use steel known for edge retention on the edge and steel known for strength on the spine. And they will keep on innovating, bringing new and better technologies and materials to today’s knife making industry and knife-using public.

Kershaw Knives is a brand of Kai USA Ltd, a member of the Kai Group. For over 100 years, Kai has been Japan’s premier blade producer. Kai takes an innovative approach to product development based on the close coordination of research and development, production, marketing, and distribution functions. While many of Kershaw’s quality products are made in their 55,000 sq. ft. facility in Tualatin, Oregon, they also draw on Kai’s resources to provide the very best for the customer.

In traditional confident Kershaw manner, they say, “If this is your first Kershaw, be prepared. You just may be back for more. If it’s not your first Kershaw, welcome back. We’ve got some cool new blades to show you—along with a wide selection of your factories. For design, innovation, quality, and genuine pride of ownership, Kershaw is the one.”

Today, we will be going over the Kershaw Brown Emerson CQC-11K folder knife with a stonewashed blade.

 

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of 8Cr14MoV stainless steel. This steel is a Chinese produced steel that has recently started showing up in many knives. In the series of steel, 9Cr steel is the top end of the series and is considered better than AUS-8. Type 8Cr, which is the more common formulation, is worse than AUS-8, a little more corrosion-prone, and not quite as hard. This steel is very cheap though, which is one of the best attributes of it. This is a popular budget brand of knife steel, and at its low cost it does demonstrate very worthy characteristics of cutting. With a suitable heat treatment of steel, the products made of this steel do retain their edge sharpness for a long time. This steel is hardened to 56-59 HRC. Knives that have been made out of this steel do keep sharpening well and at the same time they are very easy to sharpen. This steel is well balanced with regard to strength, cutting, and anti-corrosion properties.

This hunting and survival knife has been finished with a stonewash finish. The stonewash finish gives you a rugged look, which is perfect for what this knife can do and what it represents. This finish is manly and tough. The stonewash finish is created by rolling the steel around with pebbles and then smoothed and polished. This finish hides scratches, smudges, and fingerprints very well, which preserves the look of the knife. This is a low maintenance blade finish because of how it looks textured and how it does hide those flaws in the steel that are earned through use.

The blade has been carved into an upswept clip point style blade. The clip point, along with a drop point style blade, are the two most popular blade shapes that are in use today. The clip point blade shape is formed by having the back edge of the knife run straight from the handle and then stop about halfway up the knife. At this point, because it is an upset clip point, it turns up and continues to the point of the knife. One of the reasons that this upswept blade shape is going to make such a good hunting and survival knife, when a normal clip point blade wouldn’t, is because the tip is broad, like a drop point blade. This tip is still sharp and will easily be able to stab, but is not thin, so it won’t be as prone to snapping off. And, because this is an upswept blade instead of the usual lowered point, the belly on this blade is massive. It is this belly that is going to help you excel at your slices. And you need a tool that is going to excel at slicing when you are out in the field, dressing your game. And because the tip is still sharp enough to stab, but not so thin as to being prone to snapping, you are going to be able to use this blade for some of the tougher survival tasks. This broad blade is going to be your new favorite hunting buddy, because it will not fail you when you need it most.

 

The Handle:

The handle has been made out of two different handle scales. The front handle scale is made out of G-10, and the back handle scale is made out of stainless steel.

G-10 is a grade of Garolite that is a laminate composite that has been made out of fiberglass. This material does have similar characteristics to carbon fiber, except that because it is slightly inferior it can be made for a lot cheaper. And although it is cheaper to produce than carbon fiber, it still has to be cut and machined into shape which is not as economical as the injection molding process that is used when making FRN handles—which is definitely cheaper. To make G-10, the manufacturer takes layers of fiberglass cloth and soaks them in resin, then the layers are compressed and baked under pressure. The material that comes out of this process is very tough, hard, strong, but still lightweight. This material is actually so tough that it is considered the toughest of all the fiberglass resin laminates and it is even stronger than Micarta, although because it is stronger, it is also more brittle.  One of the benefits about G-10 is that checkering and other patterns add at texture to the handle, which makes for a solid, comfortable grip. Tactical folders and survival knives alike benefit from the qualities of G-10 because it is so durable and lightweight, yet still very non-porous. Because it is non-porous, it makes for a phenomenal hunting knife handle, because you do not want the handle to be soaking in all of the blood and guts. A small checkering pattern has bene added to this entire handle blade, which helps you keep your grip, even when you are in the messiest of situations.

The back handle scale has been made out of stainless steel. Stainless steel does help provide excellent durability and resistance to corrosion, but it is not lightweight. Because this Kershaw knife only has one of the handle scales made out of stainless steel, it will add enough weight to your knife that you feel like you have the proper amount of heftiness behind it, but it still won’t weigh you down too much. You won’t have to feel like you are lugging it around. This back handle scale has also been stonewashed to match the blade.

To help with control, there is jimping on the spine of the handle, near the butt of the handle, and even in the deep finger groove. All of these sections of jimping will significantly boost your control on this knife no matter what situation you are using it in.

On the butt of the handle, there has been a lanyard hole carved into it. This lanyard hole lets you keep this knife close by, without the knife getting in the way.

 

The Pocket Clip:

The pocket clip has been designed only for tip up carry, but it is a reversible pocket clip, meaning that you can carry it for lefties or righties. The pocket clip is black, and held in place by three black screws, which match the rest of the hardware on this knife.

 

The Mechanism:

This is a folding knife that can be opened by the double-sided thumb disk or the Emerson Wave opening feature. The thumb disk allows you to open this knife simply, and with a manual opening. This knife was designed by Emerson, but produced by Kershaw, which is why it sports the wave shaped opening feature. With this feature, you can actually open the knife while it is being withdrawn from the pocket. You hook the hook over your pocket and pull up, which simultaneously draws your knife out of the pocket and flips the blade open before locking it into place.

This knife does sport a frame lock, which is where a portion of the handle (the knife frame) moves behind the blade to lock it into position during use. This is a safety feature of the knife.

 

The Specs:

The blade on this rugged knife measures in at 3.5 inches long. The handle on this knife measures in at 5 inches long, with the overall length of the knife being 8.5 inches long when it is opened. This knife does weigh in at 5.8 ounces, which is slightly heavier than you are probably used to, but it is also more durable and strong than your typical knife.

 

Conclusion:

The Kershaw and Emerson family introduces 2 new models this year–this one based upon the Emerson Rendezvous that was originally designed as a hunting knife but is also capable of survival, camping and bush crafting activities. Each frame lock designed model features a belly-heavy blade style that is ideal for skinning and slicing and can be opened with the double-sided thumb disk or the Emerson Wave opening feature. This patented mechanism allows you to fully open the blade by catching the “hook” on a pocket as you draw the knife out. This model, the CQC-11K, features a brown G-10 front handle scale, a stainless steel back handle scale, an upswept clip point style blade in a stonewash finish and the pocket clip is designed for tip up carry only but is eligible for a left or right hand carry option. Pick up this hunting knife today at BladeOps.