Emerson's knives in popular culture

Emerson's knives have appeared onscreen in films and television shows. In Night of the Running Man, Scott Glenn's character carried a white-handled, one-of-a-kind Emerson CQC6. Ravens, neck knives, and the Commander knife were featured in the short-lived UPN television series Soldier of Fortune, Inc. A Commander knife was used by the character of Zak in the 1998 movie The Placebo Effect; Emerson Knives is thanked in the film credits for the knife.

Ridley Scott's 2001 film Black Hawk Down portrayed soldiers carrying Emerson folding knives in the hangar scene, and in Tears of the Sun the Kandahar model appeared on Bruce Willis' character's web gear, and other actors were seen with Emerson Police Utility Knives. Frank Castle used an Emerson Karambit to kill an opponent in one of the final scenes in The Punisher. The Transporter 2 briefly featured an Emerson fixed-blade Kandahar knife in the trunk of Jason Statham's car along with other weapons.

Future projects mentioned in the Emerson Collector's Association Newsletter indicate that the CQC-T Tomahawk and Emerson knives are to be used in the upcoming movies John Rambo and Alien Vs Predator 2.

The main character "Naked Snake" of the Playstation tactical espionage game Metal Gear Solid 3 uses an Emerson-style knife referred to as a "CQC Knife" throughout the game. Screenshots show the knife to strongly resemble an Emerson fixed-blade tanto.

Emerson's knives are featured in mystery, spy, military, action, and adventure novels. At least seven of Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior novels (Red Cell, Green Team, Task Force Blue, Detachment Bravo, SEAL Force Alpha, Violence of Action and Holy Terror) prominently feature Emerson's knives (CQC6 or CQC7) as a regularly carried piece of equipment. The protagonist, Marcinko, uses an Emerson CQC6 or CQC7 on various occasions. On page 175 of Task Force Blue, Marcinko remarks that his CQC6 was a "personal gift from Ernie Emerson, himself".

New York Times bestselling author David Morrell's novel The Protector not only has the main character, a former Delta Force operator named Cavanaugh, using an Emerson CQC7 knife, but the cover art itself is a photograph of a blood-stained Production Emerson CQC7. Cavanaugh uses the knife in combat as well as in many rigorous cutting chores. The author acknowledges Emerson as "the best manufacturer of tactical knives" as well as a "top level blade instructor for elite military and law-enforcement units". In an interview with British E-Zine Shots : The Crime and Mystery Ezine, Morrell indicated that he injured his collarbone during an Emerson knife-fighting course while performing research for the novel.

Three of Marcus Wynne's novels (Warrior in the Shadows, No Other Option, Brothers in Arms) also feature use of Emerson's knives by the main characters. The CQC7, Commander, and La Griffe are favored by the main characters and are used as defensive weapons throughout the books. Barry Eisler's fictional hired killer John Rain uses an Emerson Comrade CQC-12, a folding knife based on the AK-47 bayonet, in The Last Assassin. The characters of S.M. Gunn's novels based on Naval Special Warfare, Navy SEALs, and submarines routinely carry Emerson's knives. One of the main characters carries an Emerson custom MV-1 Viper knife in the book SEALs SubStrike.

Retired Navy SEAL and SEAL Team 6 Plankholder Dennis Chalker routinely puts Emerson's knives (CQC-7s and Commanders) into the hands of the heroes of his Home Team novels based on the exploits of former Naval Special Warfare Operators.