I never liked the wave much, when I used Emerson blades it also mainly got in the way. (and then most of their locks failed so I stopped using them)
I prefer a controlled and possibly slower one handed opening that won't fail if the movement is interrupted, which a Spydiehole usually will do better than most. (I'm not a big fan of flippers for the same reason)
My knives are usually used a lot for every day tasks from cutting wood to food prep and I mainly carry it as a tool, not necessarily for self defence but for self defence I would also very much look for reliability (including reliable muscle memory from a lot of regular use) instead of a little extra speed.
I also believe that a plastic disposable lighter is still best for opening beer bottles instead of all those gimmicky openers.
(btw have also tried the Endura and Delica with wave, not just Emersons)
So the "wave". Spyderco and Emerson are my 2 favorite knife makers. i own about a dozen emerson knives. heres my take:
1. The wave is the fastest way to deploy a knife that I've experienced. If I've got my hand on my emerson and you've got your hand on a fixed blade knife in pressure sheath, i can draw my knife and have it ready just as fast as you. Faster than i can pull out and thumb flick my PM2, faster than pulling an automatic out and pushing a button.
I would only caution that failure to deploy can/will happen occasionally if you don't practice a little, i have found a slight flick of the wrist will remedy this, haven't launched one into space yet, but i get peoples point about the possibility. i can successfully wave my knife out under pressure 7 out of 10 times. standing still 10 for 10.
2. Reverse grip draw with a wave is awesome. Ive found this works better the smaller the knife, my large emersons don't reverse wave as well as the small ones (i.e. a cqc 8 compared to a mini roadhouse). but in general i think i will agree with others that reverse draw is more reliable and a hair faster than standard draw. and for self defense i prefer a reverse grip so it saves me from having to change grips after drawing the knife.
if you're going to use reverse draw, lanyards are not your friend, they will get in the way. Standard draw, lanyards are awesome.
3. convenient and cool. OK. now that we've got drawing under pressure out of the way, in low stress environments if you've only got one hand free the wave is an easy way to open your knife quickly with economy of motion, and it looks cool, it gets peoples attention, and it makes a great bottle opener if you don't mind scratches on your wave.
conclusion:
for me the only downside to the wave is it sticks out a little in the pocket. the rest is all upside. It's fast, it's cool, it's useful. And if you dont want to wave it open, theres still the thumb hole for regular opening.
one more thing: emerson refers to the wave as an emergency opening feature. And the root of that statement or rather the point is this,
Waving open a knife at high speed puts a lot of pressure on the lock. If you wang the thing open as hard as you can all day everyday you will eventually wear the lock out. There is a difference between what i would call casual and full force waving. Be gentle and it will last for years, go full force all day everyday it will last for A year. i speak from experience there.
I'm a fan of the wave too and have Emerson knives and the Delica.
I find the Spyderco version is much more positive. It has a larger hook and the back lock engages with the same forks regardless of the speed of the draw. I will very often slow draw the Delica so a big dynamic gestures.
Love my Delicas and planned on getting one with a wave. I've owned Emersons since before the wave and have a few with it. The Delica I tried did not seem to catch as well as my Emersons. This in turn led to the arm-waving to inertia open it as mentioned above. So in the end I didn't get one.
Sad knife-nut that I am I still find myself wanting to get one though :)
