Enzo Necker 70 & ESEE Izula Compared?

M

mountainranger

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Mar 25, 2010
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How do the Enzo Necker 70 Full Flat Grind 12c27 and ESEE Izula compare?

Which is more comfortable to use without scales?

Are the spines of both squared for striking a ferro rod?

Do the kydex/plastic sheaths of both retain tightly for neck carry?

Thanks!
 
I don't own the Enzo, but have been considering picking one up. I have a couple Enzo Birks and they are excellent so I would imagine the Necker would be a quality tool.

I do own a Esee Izula 2 with micarta scales that are removable with quality hardware. It fits my large size hand very well, has a nice blade shape with belly, and the sheath is very good with great retention. It has a metal clip that makes it easy to wear vertical or horizontal, or can be removed and used as a neck hanger or slip in the pocket. It's a well thought out package. The spine will need to be filed to remove the coating for use with a ferro rod. The warranty is also excellent.

Maybe my only nitpick is that the 1095 is a little soft and requires sharpening a little more often. I understand that this is due to increase the ability for the blade to be more forgiving if pressed into hard use. But in my uses I would not baton this small knife and use it more often for finer work like whittling or animal dressing. I would have preferred a higher hardness for this small knife. It's still a great design and sharpens extremely easily.

I hope I could help, now I'm off to look to see if I should get the Enzo!
 
MolokaiRider said:
I hope I could help, now I'm off to look to see if I should get the Enzo!
Click to expand...

Get the Enzo! The first one I got floored me at the quality /price. Only rub for me was it came with a Kydex sheath. (not a fan). About 6 months later, a couple came up at a blind auction both with leather sheaths, and I bid on both figuring I would score one of them. So naturally I won both. I gave one of the leather sheath ones to my son as he did not have a fixed blade knife. We are both happy with them.
I have yet to own a Esee, so I am worthless from a comparison point of view.
 
mountainranger said:
How do the Enzo Necker 70 Full Flat Grind 12c27 and ESEE Izula compare?

Which is more comfortable to use without scales?

Are the spines of both squared for striking a ferro rod?

Do the kydex/plastic sheaths of both retain tightly for neck carry?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have both a Enzo Necker (with my scales and kydex) and my partner have a Izula (with factory scales and sheath).

The Enzo Necker with FFG is much thinner behind the edge then the Izula, much more of a cutter IMO, but if the intended use was more poking/prying the Izula is probably better.

Without scales I think the Izula wins out, the Enzo is kind of sharp around all edges as far as I can remember. Then again, it wouldn't be too hard to bevel the edges some. Striking a ferro rod shouldn't be a problem with the Enzo, I haven't tried it with the Izula, but the painted blade might make it harder.

About the sheaths I can't say anything about the factory sheath for the Necker as I haven't tried it, but I suspect is needs scales to hold onto the knife, don't think it'll work with just a bare blade. But if you have a heat gun you can always modify it as you want it.
Izula definetly holds on to the knife, almost to the point that it's hard to extract, I think this sheath works equally good with a bare blade.

Another thing, if you're serious about neck carry, don't put G10 handles on it, it raises the weight considerably. If Enzo had the Necker with a different blade steel, I would probably get another one and put thin scales from a light material (maybe carbon fiber) on it.
 
I’ve had both, sold the izula. Preferred the Enzo in FFG. I had handles on both.

I really liked the kydex sheath for the Enzo, the inside of mine had some sort of fabric to keep it from getting scrathed up, and it had good retention. Enzo is thinner than the Izula (for me this is a good thing on small knives, you may disagree). It’s also really easy to get a tree topping scalpel edge on it!

For such a knife, I also liked that it was stainless (Sandvik steel).
 
I only have the Necker blank and haven't really used it yet, (intend to make my own scales and sheath for it, but it's been on the back burner). The Izula is much stouter and can be beat on, pried with, etc... The Enzo has a beautifully thin edge on the ffg blank I bought, much better slicer.

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I have both. The Izula is kind of an overbuilt tiny knife with bad blade geometry. I spent a lot of time thinning mine down to a useful edge. The FFG Enzo is definitely a sharp little beast and high quality. The spine on mine will spark a ferro rod. However, the factory sheath for the Enzo kind of sucks. It’s well made, but too big (leather). The synthetic izula sheath does work right from the box.
 
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