# ESEE knives?



## boomchakabowwow (May 17, 2013)

i like 1095 carbon steel. i am thinking of buying the ESEE 4 for myself. 

debating partial serrations or not. i would be using this as my camp tool. butchering deer and whatnots.

any knowledge about this? most guys get all glazey eyed when they see a "Tactical" type blade...hard to find a good review that doenst talk about how tough it looks.


----------



## stereo.pete (May 17, 2013)

I've heard good things about the company now for quite some time. I am not a survival knife expert but do spend a fair share amount of time reading blade forums. I would also take a look at Survive Knives https://www.surviveknives.com, they consistently get great reviews and I like the small business approach that the owner is taking. I just pre-ordered their GSO-10 for outdoor gardening tasks... irate1:


----------



## mkmk (May 17, 2013)

They're not bad knives, but you're paying more for the name and some dubious tactical aesthetics than you probably need to. I think you can get a lot better knife for around the same price. Go to Knives Ship Free or another major stocking dealer, and look at Bark River knives. You'll find a LOT of options -- nearly all of which use better steel, in more thoughtful designs, with lots of aesthetic options.

I would never buy a partially serrated knife for anything other than a dedicated seatbelt cutter.


----------



## stereo.pete (May 17, 2013)

mkmk said:


> They're not bad knives, but you're paying more for the name and some dubious tactical aesthetics than you probably need to. I think you can get a lot better knife for around the same price. Go to Knives Ship Free or another major stocking dealer, and look at Bark River knives. You'll find a LOT of options -- nearly all of which use better steel, in more thoughtful designs, with lots of aesthetic options.
> 
> I would never buy a partially serrated knife for anything other than a dedicated seatbelt cutter.



Ditto, Bark River makes some nice stuff as well.


----------



## mkmk (May 17, 2013)

My favorite Bark River in a similar 4"-ish size is the Canadian Special -- handy for lots of uses, enough belly to skin a deer, stout enough for any reasonable work you might do, and looks great, too. You might also be interested in one of the Bravos (more of a military-style knife), or a Fox River. BR's basic knife steel is A2, which outperforms 1095 by most metrics. They've also increasingly been using CPM-3V, which is amazingly tough stuff.

The thing that is most distinctive about Bark River in comparison to other semi-custom and smaller builders is their convex edge design. They've really got it dialed in, and using one will pretty powerfully change the way you think about blade geometry and sharpening. Good stuff.


----------



## boomchakabowwow (May 17, 2013)

mkmk said:


> My favorite Bark River in a similar 4"-ish size is the Canadian Special -- handy for lots of uses, enough belly to skin a deer, stout enough for any reasonable work you might do, and looks great, too. You might also be interested in one of the Bravos (more of a military-style knife), or a Fox River. BR's basic knife steel is A2, which outperforms 1095 by most metrics. They've also increasingly been using CPM-3V, which is amazingly tough stuff.
> 
> The thing that is most distinctive about Bark River in comparison to other semi-custom and smaller builders is their convex edge design. They've really got it dialed in, and using one will pretty powerfully change the way you think about blade geometry and sharpening. Good stuff.




thank you for this!! i dont have all my metallugy stuff down yet. i love 1095..my Mora has it and it is my easiest knife for me to get razor sharp. like leg shaving sharp. thanks for the Bark River recommendation everyone!!..that was actually my second choice. thanks friend!!


----------



## xuz (May 17, 2013)

Out of curiosity, what are you going to use the knife for?


----------



## bikehunter (May 17, 2013)

mkmk said:


> I would never buy a partially serrated knife for anything other than a dedicated seatbelt cutter.



+1


----------



## franzb69 (May 17, 2013)

all those knives that were mentioned are great knives. the owner of esee is pretty close with ethan becker of becker knives (made by ka bar at the moment, used to be camillus and before that there was another).....

becker knives uses a similar bladesteel, 1095 cro-van. which is better? i dunno. 

if esee is too high expensive, a cheaper honorable mention is ethan beckers stuff. ka bar beckers are great bang for the buck stuff. micarta and wood handles (aftermarket) are also available so that gives you great options for handles. kydex sheaths are also available on ebay and on bladeforums.

surviveknives are awesome stuff. continually improving on stuff, using great materials and listens to the customer.

esee is great too. 

=D

i learned of bark river from virtuovice on youtube. a great proponent of the stuff.


----------



## boomchakabowwow (May 17, 2013)

xuz said:


> Out of curiosity, what are you going to use the knife for?



camping and hunting.


----------



## xuz (May 17, 2013)

I see. I always like to enablize folks into getting more gears,
but just from camping perspective I found these knives to be a bit awkward.
They are pretty unruly to use for food.
They are too small to hack bushes or handle firewood effectively.
Some smaller/lighter variety are decent with utility functions, 
like cutting cordage or wood carving.
But you already have Mora for that.
Mora is lighter, more portable, more disposable, and scandi/convex grind is pretty useful in field.
If you can prepare for a camping trip, then I'd have much more comfortable time,
carrying a Mora, a small Diaface diamond strip, and a hatchet.

On the other hand, if I could only take one cutting knife only into a survival situation,
then I think I will pick a sturdy camping knife like ESEE or RAT or Becker.
They don't do any one thing very well, but they can do pretty much everything in a pinch.


----------



## franzb69 (May 17, 2013)

i would bring a mora for back up, a bk11, bk9, and a survive 4.1 or a bk22/bk16, or an esee 4

just to cover all the bases

lol


----------



## sachem allison (May 18, 2013)

boomchakabowwow said:


> i like 1095 carbon steel. i am thinking of buying the ESEE 4 for myself.
> 
> debating partial serrations or not. i would be using this as my camp tool. butchering deer and whatnots.
> 
> any knowledge about this? most guys get all glazey eyed when they see a "Tactical" type blade...hard to find a good review that doenst talk about how tough it looks.



I find his work pretty intriguing http://helmforge.blogspot.com/


----------

