Here is a knife I’ve been wanting to make for a long time.

You know it’s funny how things work. I am a knifemaker, I am a knife designer, and I own a knife company. You’d think I would make any and every knife I would ever want. Yet, that’s not always the case. I remember when I was working with Les Baer on designing the Emerson CQC-45, 1911 pistol. I wanted a stripped down, plain Jane working man’s pistol, no frills and only what was absolutely necessary for that gun to do its job. In the middle of all this Les tells me, “Ernest this is the gun that I’ve always wanted to build.” It’s something I’ve carried around in my head for years but it just never came into clear focus. It’s finally happening.”

Well it’s the same with me and this knife, the Emerson EX100. I’ve carried this design rolling around in my head for years. It was something I could just never put my finger on. It just never seemed to come into focus. I truly believe it is the result of my past, my experience with knives since I was a little boy growing up on the farm in the woods of Northern Wisconsin. Maybe it goes back to the knives that my Grandpa, my Dad or one of my Uncles had. Maybe it goes back to knives that either I or some of my friends carried around as teenagers. Farm work, tools, hunting, fishing, there was always a need for a good working knife.

I remember Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones saying once that the riff for the song “Satisfaction” came to him in a dream. It was simple, plain, yet raw and powerful enough to become one of the greatest, iconic Rock songs of all times. Maybe this knife came to me in a dream. Maybe it was all of the above. But now, it’s finally happening.

As you can tell, I really like this knife. It’s the knife I wanted to build for a long, long time. It’s plain, raw and yet powerful enough to do any job, anytime, anywhere.

One of my friends once told me, “Ernie the ultimate expression of evolution is simplicity.” I truly believe that statement. And this knife, the EX100 is, after over 40 years of designing and building knives, my expression of that evolutionary simplicity. It’s all about work and functionality. Compared to the rest of the flock currently roaming around in the field, it’s not fancy or beautiful, but to me, it’s the knife I’ve always wanted and to you, I believe it’s all the knife you’ll ever need.