I just had a heads-ups from a customer that there is a defect in the recent batch of EMT shears that shipped from early December. Fortunately, only a small number of the faulty items have been sold and a recall notice has been sent out. However, I am sure that I am not the only seller of these shears so it is worth checking that you do not have a similar problem.
The fault concerns only the yellow ones, as pictured below:
The problem is that the serrated edge has been incorrectly cut leaving a blunt edge (show below as the upper image, compared with correctly formed blade below). The result is that they won’t cut a few sheets of paper, never mind rope. You can detect this quite easily if you gently feel the edge. If it doesn’t catch and feel rough, it is likely to be faulty. If I supplied them, as the email you should have received says, you can either have a refund or wait a couple of weeks until replacement stock arrives.
As a general word of warning: Do not use your EMT scissors or any emergency cutter for day to day use. This will blunt them, especially if they are designed to be disposable like EMT shears. The last thing you want is to find you can’t cut your way out of trouble when you need to.