Ernie Emerson Custom SEAL Team CQC-8

The CQC8 is unusual among all Emerson custom folders because Ernie made several variations of it when he first started building them.  All of the very first 8s (made in 1994) had black titanium nitrate coatings - it's a smokey black color that has a matte finish - and thick black micarta handles that have very pronounced finger grips carved into them. The coating caused him to laser engrave the logo on the blades. 

By the time he'd made the 10th one of these knives, he had already begun using much less deeply cut handles and switched to a Black T coating which has a slightly shiny finish.  

But it is those first 10, with the chisel ground blades, signature large integral finger guard, and mostly split pivot hardware that are the rarest, most highly sought after and identified with SEAL team ownership.  

But even among the first 10, they were not all alike!  Ernie made at least two with a parachute cord-cutting notch (erroneously referred to as "Guthook 8s"); he made at least one with a screwdriver tip (recently discovered) that at least one had a hybrid handle butt profile that combines elements of the two predecessor knives in the CQC series - the CQC6 and CQC7... 

The CQC-8 has a boattail butt, like the 6's, except that it is turned down more as if giving a nod to the turn-down handles in the Viper 5. 

To find a Garage 8 by Ernie is rare as it gets!

(The above was paraphrased from a previous Emerson history lesson by JBravo on the USN (Emerson Knives Historian and Leading Authority) 
 

• The Black Titanium Nitrate Coatings with it's Smokey Black Color and Matte Finish has SPIDERED PERFECTLY (even better than a 1985 Rolex Submariner Dial)

• Great Action, Bank Vault Lock-up, & Easy Lock Release

• Specs: 3 7/8" Blade; 5 3/16" Closed; 9 1/8" OAL; 5.00 Ounces

• Condition: Near Mint Condition