I've seen there has been interest and questions about the C/U 6, so rather than keep redirecting links to the shootout, why not put it here in John's subforum for everyone to see. I'm sure John won't mind a repost. This was a fun shootout, I enjoyed John's knife so much I placed an order for my very own. 
He's even putting my intials on it, opposite side of his makers mark.
Been working hard on another shootout for you fellas, this time around, Chute knives. I'm no parachutist but I've always loved this style. Sharpened top edges when used correctly can help perform certain tasks, be used for nastier cutting jobs that you don't wanna dull your main edge on, etc.
Let's check out the specs and my initial impressions of these knives then we'll get to the testing.
The three contenders in this shoot out are: ESEE 6 w/sharpened top edge, *JK Handmade Knives C/U 6(Combat Utility 6" blade), and the Aitor Shark Tec.
*In the interest of full disclosure, this knife was sent to me by John of JK Knives for testing. I purchased the other two.
Specs:
ESEE 6 - 6.5" Overall length blade/5.75" cutting edge. 3/16" thick, 1095 steel with powder coating. Full tang with micarta handle scales.
JK C/U 6 - 6" blade length, 3/16" thick, O1 tool steel. Micarta on test knife(your choice of materials and colors when ordering).
Aitor Shark Tec - 5 7/8" blade length, appears to be around 3/16" thick, made of unknown stainless steel(step up from 440 according to the manufacturer, lol who knows). Rubber/plastic handle with a hammer pommel.
Initial Impressions:
ESEE 6 - Light in the hand with a rear balance. Handle is comfortable but kinda skinny and tall, so not the best, not a deal breaker either. Not a real "hefty" feeling knife, but you can tell it's quality. Don't like the black blade finish.
C/U 6 - Very "hefty & beefy" knife, it screams quality. The handle is very comfortable, grind lines are great especially considering it's a handmade knife. It has a bit of rear balance, right at the front pin. The rounded spine will probably be easier on my thumb while carving than squared spines.
Shark Tec - Rear balance, light in the hands. The rubber and plastic handles are comfortable, hoping they hold up to use. I like the hammer pommel on it, neat feature. The only knife in the shootout with serrations, at the base of the blade and on the top edge.
Sheaths:
ESEE 6 - Kydex with belt clip. Came with a midget sized leg tie. Optional pouches and attachment accessories can be purchased. Very versatile sheath. I like this one a lot due to the versatility of it.
C/U 6 - Standard leather sheath. Good quality, made by John. Kydex, pouches and other options available when you order. The leather sheath is a good one, but I would go with a pancake style kydex if I purchased one.
Shark Tec - Hard plastic. Has storage area for 4 rifle rounds behind the knife(could also put other survival/fire starting gear). I like the "different" thumb break and belt loop on this knife, don't see this often. Comes with a sharpening stone on the back of the sheath with cordage wrapped around it. I like this sheath a lot, I'm a sucker for survival stuff.
Onto the testing.
As always, carving is first. Made the standard small try stick and troll.
ESEE 6 - Best slicer by a thin margin. Spine digs into my thumb a little bit while carving, the handle is comfortable, but not as much as the others, too tall and thin. I do like the choil in the blade, choke up on it nicely. Lightest feeling knife in the hand.
C/U 6 - Great slicer, not quite as good as the ESEE. The handle and rounded spine were very comfortable during use, gave me no hot spots or problems. Doesn't feel super light in the hand but the rear balance helps.
Shark Tec - Fine slicer, light and comfortable in he hand. Busy on the top though, not much area to press with your thumb and the serrations can get in the way a little while carving.
Overall - I think the C/U 6 is the best overall carver. Doesn't cut/slice quite as well as the ESEE 6 but it's no slouch. Performance of all the knives was very close, so this test came down to comfort, the rounded spine and handle of the C/U 6 are great. The ESEE 6 would be the second best, it's a great carver. Shark Tec is last but that doesn't mean it's a lousy carver, the spine is just a bit too busy and the serrations might get in the way for fine detail work.
Cont...
Chopping/Cross grain batonning
ESEE 6 - Chopped fine for it's size. No handle discomfort, choking down helped.
C/U 6 - Also a good chopper for it's size and choking down helped as well. Handle shape is good for choking down and keeping a good grip on the knife.
Shark Tec - This knife has too light of a blade are rear balance to be of any count for chopping. I had to baton it through the wood, it did fine for this.
Overall - C/U 6 and ESEE 6 are both good choppers for their size, they both completed the task fine. I would choose either one for chopping. Shark Tec a distant third, not good for chopping but at least I could get through it by batonning.
Up next we have everyone's favorite, firewood processing.
For this task I batonned some fairly hard, dry wood. Very hard and brittle stuff, I think it's dogwood. All the knives did fine for this task. The sharpened upper edges makes processing smaller pieces of kindling a breeze. The two knives in this shootout I would feel most comfortable beating on are the ESEE 6 and the C/U 6, they could take the most punishment if need be. The winner of this task came down to comfort yet again, the C/U 6 is the best in this department. It's tough and it's comfortable, so I would want it if I were stuck processing firewood with only one of these tools.
A test I really enjoy doing is making gig type spears. The gig can be very helpful in getting critters like frogs, they are also very easy to make.
All 3 knives made gigs fine, the ESEE and Shark Tec did the best due to their thinner grinds no doubt. The Shark Tec's blade is smaller so it was easier to sharpen the tines. This one belongs to the Shark Tec, it did well.
Cont...
Onto the last test, rope and paracord cutting. These are Chute knives afterall, so let's see how well the top edges cut rope and paracord.
These are the supplies for the test. Cheap 3/8" rope from wal mart and standard 7 strand paracord.
I used the chest lever grip and cut layers of cordage until the knife wouldn't cut through more than I was trying to. All 3 knives cut cordage fine but the Shark Tec was a little better, this was due to the serrations on the top cutting edge. I anticipated these results, makes sense that serrations cut fibrous materials better.
ESEE - 1.5 layers of rope. 6 layers of paracord.
C/U 6 - 1 layer of rope. 5 layers of paracord.
Shark Tec- 1.75 layers of rope. 8 layers of paracord.
Conclusion: After everything is said and done, these are 3 good knives. If I had to pick only one of these three to keep and use for all outdoors tasks, I would go with the C/U 6. It has the best combination of comfort and performance. The ESEE 6 would be second on my list, it's a great performer and the price is right, but the comfort just isn't there, If I keep this knife I'll be fattening up the handles some. The Aitor Shark Tec is a good performer and has comfort to boot, but it didn't dominate all the tasks as the C/U 6 and ESEE 6 did.
As always I hope you fellas enjoy reading this shootout as much as I enjoyed doing it. Thanks to John Kiedaisch of JK Handmade Knives for sending me this awesome knife to play with.
He's even putting my intials on it, opposite side of his makers mark.Been working hard on another shootout for you fellas, this time around, Chute knives. I'm no parachutist but I've always loved this style. Sharpened top edges when used correctly can help perform certain tasks, be used for nastier cutting jobs that you don't wanna dull your main edge on, etc.
Let's check out the specs and my initial impressions of these knives then we'll get to the testing.
The three contenders in this shoot out are: ESEE 6 w/sharpened top edge, *JK Handmade Knives C/U 6(Combat Utility 6" blade), and the Aitor Shark Tec.
*In the interest of full disclosure, this knife was sent to me by John of JK Knives for testing. I purchased the other two.
Specs:
ESEE 6 - 6.5" Overall length blade/5.75" cutting edge. 3/16" thick, 1095 steel with powder coating. Full tang with micarta handle scales.
JK C/U 6 - 6" blade length, 3/16" thick, O1 tool steel. Micarta on test knife(your choice of materials and colors when ordering).
Aitor Shark Tec - 5 7/8" blade length, appears to be around 3/16" thick, made of unknown stainless steel(step up from 440 according to the manufacturer, lol who knows). Rubber/plastic handle with a hammer pommel.
Initial Impressions:
ESEE 6 - Light in the hand with a rear balance. Handle is comfortable but kinda skinny and tall, so not the best, not a deal breaker either. Not a real "hefty" feeling knife, but you can tell it's quality. Don't like the black blade finish.
C/U 6 - Very "hefty & beefy" knife, it screams quality. The handle is very comfortable, grind lines are great especially considering it's a handmade knife. It has a bit of rear balance, right at the front pin. The rounded spine will probably be easier on my thumb while carving than squared spines.
Shark Tec - Rear balance, light in the hands. The rubber and plastic handles are comfortable, hoping they hold up to use. I like the hammer pommel on it, neat feature. The only knife in the shootout with serrations, at the base of the blade and on the top edge.
Sheaths:
ESEE 6 - Kydex with belt clip. Came with a midget sized leg tie. Optional pouches and attachment accessories can be purchased. Very versatile sheath. I like this one a lot due to the versatility of it.
C/U 6 - Standard leather sheath. Good quality, made by John. Kydex, pouches and other options available when you order. The leather sheath is a good one, but I would go with a pancake style kydex if I purchased one.
Shark Tec - Hard plastic. Has storage area for 4 rifle rounds behind the knife(could also put other survival/fire starting gear). I like the "different" thumb break and belt loop on this knife, don't see this often. Comes with a sharpening stone on the back of the sheath with cordage wrapped around it. I like this sheath a lot, I'm a sucker for survival stuff.
Onto the testing.
As always, carving is first. Made the standard small try stick and troll.
ESEE 6 - Best slicer by a thin margin. Spine digs into my thumb a little bit while carving, the handle is comfortable, but not as much as the others, too tall and thin. I do like the choil in the blade, choke up on it nicely. Lightest feeling knife in the hand.
C/U 6 - Great slicer, not quite as good as the ESEE. The handle and rounded spine were very comfortable during use, gave me no hot spots or problems. Doesn't feel super light in the hand but the rear balance helps.
Shark Tec - Fine slicer, light and comfortable in he hand. Busy on the top though, not much area to press with your thumb and the serrations can get in the way a little while carving.
Overall - I think the C/U 6 is the best overall carver. Doesn't cut/slice quite as well as the ESEE 6 but it's no slouch. Performance of all the knives was very close, so this test came down to comfort, the rounded spine and handle of the C/U 6 are great. The ESEE 6 would be the second best, it's a great carver. Shark Tec is last but that doesn't mean it's a lousy carver, the spine is just a bit too busy and the serrations might get in the way for fine detail work.
Cont...
Chopping/Cross grain batonning
ESEE 6 - Chopped fine for it's size. No handle discomfort, choking down helped.
C/U 6 - Also a good chopper for it's size and choking down helped as well. Handle shape is good for choking down and keeping a good grip on the knife.
Shark Tec - This knife has too light of a blade are rear balance to be of any count for chopping. I had to baton it through the wood, it did fine for this.
Overall - C/U 6 and ESEE 6 are both good choppers for their size, they both completed the task fine. I would choose either one for chopping. Shark Tec a distant third, not good for chopping but at least I could get through it by batonning.
Up next we have everyone's favorite, firewood processing.
For this task I batonned some fairly hard, dry wood. Very hard and brittle stuff, I think it's dogwood. All the knives did fine for this task. The sharpened upper edges makes processing smaller pieces of kindling a breeze. The two knives in this shootout I would feel most comfortable beating on are the ESEE 6 and the C/U 6, they could take the most punishment if need be. The winner of this task came down to comfort yet again, the C/U 6 is the best in this department. It's tough and it's comfortable, so I would want it if I were stuck processing firewood with only one of these tools.
A test I really enjoy doing is making gig type spears. The gig can be very helpful in getting critters like frogs, they are also very easy to make.
All 3 knives made gigs fine, the ESEE and Shark Tec did the best due to their thinner grinds no doubt. The Shark Tec's blade is smaller so it was easier to sharpen the tines. This one belongs to the Shark Tec, it did well.
Cont...
Onto the last test, rope and paracord cutting. These are Chute knives afterall, so let's see how well the top edges cut rope and paracord.
These are the supplies for the test. Cheap 3/8" rope from wal mart and standard 7 strand paracord.
I used the chest lever grip and cut layers of cordage until the knife wouldn't cut through more than I was trying to. All 3 knives cut cordage fine but the Shark Tec was a little better, this was due to the serrations on the top cutting edge. I anticipated these results, makes sense that serrations cut fibrous materials better.
ESEE - 1.5 layers of rope. 6 layers of paracord.
C/U 6 - 1 layer of rope. 5 layers of paracord.
Shark Tec- 1.75 layers of rope. 8 layers of paracord.
Conclusion: After everything is said and done, these are 3 good knives. If I had to pick only one of these three to keep and use for all outdoors tasks, I would go with the C/U 6. It has the best combination of comfort and performance. The ESEE 6 would be second on my list, it's a great performer and the price is right, but the comfort just isn't there, If I keep this knife I'll be fattening up the handles some. The Aitor Shark Tec is a good performer and has comfort to boot, but it didn't dominate all the tasks as the C/U 6 and ESEE 6 did.
As always I hope you fellas enjoy reading this shootout as much as I enjoyed doing it. Thanks to John Kiedaisch of JK Handmade Knives for sending me this awesome knife to play with.
