I first came across the Wave Commander in 2001 when a friend of mine challenged me to a knife drawing contest. He was confident he could deploy his folder faster than I could and wanted to show me why.
I accepted the challenge and promptly lost the race. My friend is named Joe Hawes, a former Navy Seal and a helluva great guy. Joe was right, the Emerson Wave Commander was lightening fast to deploy, I had never seen anything like it.
The lightning fast opening is a design feature that back in the early 2000′s wasn’t found on any competing folding knife , it was truly revolutionary.

When I first witnessed this in action I couldn’t see what was happening because it happened so quickly. Even at 1/2 speed it’s nearly impossible to detect what is going on. Once you try it a few times and get the hang of it though, the deployment becomes instinctual and darn near fool proof. It’s also addicting which can lead to worn out stitching on your pockets. If you don’t wish to deploy the blade with the wave, the knife features a small thumb wheel recessed into the blade just in front of the hook which is held in place by a small screw.

The blade features a chisel ground edge which some in the knife community frown upon. The chisel grind is popular among chiefs but in pocket knives it’s a bit of a rarity. Emerson claims that extensive testing by the U.S. government/military has proven the chisel grind to be effective for cutting and the simplicity is something Emerson prefers.

What is a chisel grind you may ask? In essence the blade is sharpened from only one side, in this case the left hand side.
When looking at the blade from the right hand side it looks as though the knife has no edge on it at all.

Emerson chose the left hand side for the grind so that the operator would have a visual cue, which works great for right handed users — it’s not so great for lefties. My knife also features serrations on the blade but the Commander can be had with or without them.

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The one thing that I don’t like about my knife is the large flat head screw that holds the blade to the handle. Emerson designed the knife so that the operator could quickly and easily “field strip” it should the need arise. What I’ve found is that I must tighten this screw fairly frequently to maintain the proper tension. I’ve never had the screw back completely out but it does loosen over time which then allows the blade to wobble from side to side in the grip. One solution is to use Loctite but I prefer not to.

I’ve become accustom to checking the screw regularly and adjusting the tension with a thumb nail. I hear Emerson has since corrected this issue on more recently manufactured knives.

I’ve been so impressed with this knife that I’ve happily carried it for over a decade. I’ve tried other knives but for me the Wave Commander is the perfect knife and it’s not something I’m willing to give up. This is one of the major reasons why I don’t do regular knife reviews. To do an honest review I would have to carry a knife for months and use it frequently to get a feel for it. I don’t want to leave the house without my Emerson!