Esee 4 Tan

K

Krissig12

Joined
Sep 11, 2013
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Hey guys, Id like some help with my next purchase. I was gonna buy a contego, but I kinda put that on hold after seeing NGK has the esee 4 in tan selling for 92 bucks with the sheath and molle stuff all included. The cheapest I had found it before was on amazon for 122, so this is a screaming deal. i was about to pull the trigger, but Im just not sure whether I really what a knife with carbon steel.... How quickly will this thing start rusting? I'll obviously oil the edge and what not, but still. Anyone with experience wanna chime in? I live in SoCal btw, so its not really that humid or wet here.
 
First - store it outside the sheath, and oil it on a weekly basis. If you do that, you should be able to prevent rust almost indefinitely. If you don't oil it regularly, the edge will begin surface rusting within a month or two. This won't affect performance significantly, and use will knock the rust off. Deeper rust will take longer, though I haven't allowed it to get bad enough to give you a timescale. Keeping it in an enclosed environment like a sheath will accelerate this process.

This has been my experience with 1095 on my KaBar, at least, and I live in non-coastal SoCal.
 
Store it outside the sheath? Hmm, that sounds kinda counter intutitive, but I guess I get what your saying. A question about the oiling though: doesnt the oil come off when you are using the knife?
 
Yep. Gotta re-oil when you're going to store it after use. If you're really super worried about rust, another option is to store it in an airtight container (a tupperware or something, for example), and throw in some desiccant to lower the humidity. You can find desiccants at most gun shops, or online. It's entirely unnecessary IMO, especially with a coated knife, but it's an option for those who are very OCD about rust.
 
amg137 said:
First - store it outside the sheath, and oil it on a weekly basis. If you do that, you should be able to prevent rust almost indefinitely. If you don't oil it regularly, the edge will begin surface rusting within a month or two. This won't affect performance significantly, and use will knock the rust off. Deeper rust will take longer, though I haven't allowed it to get bad enough to give you a timescale. Keeping it in an enclosed environment like a sheath will accelerate this process.

This has been my experience with 1095 on my KaBar, at least, and I live in non-coastal SoCal.
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I store ESEE knives in their sheaths. Never had a problem with rust. But I take out those knives every 1-2 months and put a fresh layer on them

As for how fast it'll develop rust. About as much as any 1095, really fast in humid environments. The ones of theirs that I use I always force a patina on it. Protects the blade and gives it a more subdued look for their blade billboard. I've never found any of the "red rust" that shows up to stay. You'll get a little staining though.

1095 is a very bad steel if you are OCD about rust or staining
 
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If you use a silicone rig rag to wipe the edge they will never rust. Even in the sheath. I don't store any if my knives out of their sheaths. I don't have the room to, and I have a toddler running around.

A lot of my carbon steel knives have a patina. Almost all of them. But I have never had any knife actually rust to any degree except for one I cut tomatoes with and left out on the counter overnight. It was A2 tool steel. You've got to really neglect them to get them to pit with rust. Just make sure they're dry, then rub your favorite oil/wax/silicone in a thin layer. They'll be fine. Make sure you don't put too much oil. A little is good, but a lot attracts dust, and dust acts like sandpaper.
 
Rust really shouldn't be an issue. Use some mineral oil every once in a while and it'll be fine. Even if you do get some surface rust on the edge, it'll wipe away when you use or strop it. Storing it in its kydex sheath shouldn't really be a problem either as long as you oil it once in a while or give it regular use.
 
I live in Oregon. All but my pocket knives are carbon steel. I don't oil them all that often and I really don't have much of a problem with them. They get some spotting every once and a while but that's really no big deal for me. A quick scrub with some wild plants we have here or some 000 steel wool and it comes right off. All of my knives have had the coating removed too. A lot of people fuss about rust but IME it's really a non issue. If you need to keep your knife pristine(it's an esee not a custom:D) or if you don't want to bother scrubbing your knife before food prep, then yeah don't buy carbon. If you just want to use the thing then don't worry about it.

As far as the sheath goes. Remove the blades if they have LEATHER sheaths because leather can hold moisture. Kydex is plastic and won't hold moisture so storing them in the sheaths is fine. All that said my dad stored his ruger single six in it's leather holster for over 3 decades and not a spot of rust.
 
Thanks everyone, I think im gonna go for it.
I cant wait to get it. Ive heard nothing but good about the 4. I saw one guy on Youtube a while back who torture tested it. He freakin chopped at a cinder block and the edge didnt chip, stabbed it into a metal sheet dozens of times (twisting and torquing the tip in the metal to try and break it) and nothing happened. Its amazing what this knife can handle. He even stood and bounced on it for a while, before it finally snapped. I cant remember who made the video and I cant seem to find it anymore, but I just remember after seeing it thinking to myself "IM SOLD!" :D
 
Shotgun said:
I live in Oregon. All but my pocket knives are carbon steel. I don't oil them all that often and I really don't have much of a problem with them. They get some spotting every once and a while but that's really no big deal for me. A quick scrub with some wild plants we have here or some 000 steel wool and it comes right off. All of my knives have had the coating removed too. A lot of people fuss about rust but IME it's really a non issue. If you need to keep your knife pristine(it's an esee not a custom:D) or if you don't want to bother scrubbing your knife before food prep, then yeah don't buy carbon. If you just want to use the thing then don't worry about it.

As far as the sheath goes. Remove the blades if they have LEATHER sheaths because leather can hold moisture. Kydex is plastic and won't hold moisture so storing them in the sheaths is fine. All that said my dad stored his ruger single six in it's leather holster for over 3 decades and not a spot of rust.
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Thanks, man. Its not so much that I want to keep the knife pristine. The blade could be rusting all to hell for all I care, so long as the edge doesnt get dull before I even use it because it rusted in storage or something.
 
Shotgun said:
As far as the sheath goes. Remove the blades if they have LEATHER sheaths because leather can hold moisture. Kydex is plastic and won't hold moisture so storing them in the sheaths is fine.
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I know that's what the collective wisdom of this forum says, but my KaBar did get some surface rust when I left it in its kydex sheath (oiled) for a little over a month. Once I started storing it and my BK14 outside of their sheaths, I never had an issue with rust again. Didn't matter much to me anyway though. YMMV.
 
Krissig12 said:
Thanks, man. Its not so much that I want to keep the knife pristine. The blade could be rusting all to hell for all I care, so long as the edge doesnt get dull before I even use it because it rusted in storage or something.
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Oh gotcha. If you need to store it just put a light film of mineral oil on it and it'll be good. In use the edge will actually de-rust itself.
 
Edge retention on Esee knives is really great. I've had mine for about a month and it's done almost nothing but batoning and it only needed a bit of stropping here and there. No edge rolling, no chips of any kind. I live in Southern California so humidity is almost non-existent here; I don't expect my knife to ever show rust since I use it regularly. Here's what it looks like now
22days.jpg
 
I just placed my order. It was the last one they had apparently!

Nice pics ^

I love how esees look
 
BTW, forgot to mention, knives that are used don't rust. Funny phenomenon, but it's true. Good grab on the esee. They are great knives.

n7titan - nice blade! They just get sexier with use!
 
Krissig12 said:
I just placed my order. It was the last one they had apparently!

Nice pics ^

I love how esees look
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Congrats!

You should be fine with rust. I live in NE PA and it is humid as all get out during the summer (like right now!). I have an Izula, 4, 5, 6, & Junglas. Yeah the edge can get a little discolored if you don't use it frequently but nothing serious. Just keep it oiled and you should be fine. I store all mine in the sheathes BTW.

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All these pics are getting me too excited for this knife!

Ive always wanted to pick one up, but every time I had some money to blow, I always had something else that I wanted more (usually a folder). And this took second place because it was a fixed blade and I couldnt use it as much. But now im finally gonna have one! I love the tan color on the one I got too. Nice for a change from all the black
 
Krissig12 said:
All these pics are getting me too excited for this knife!

Ive always wanted to pick one up, but every time I had some money to blow, I always had something else that I wanted more (usually a folder). And this took second place because it was a fixed blade and I couldnt use it as much. But now im finally gonna have one! I love the tan color on the one I got too. Nice for a change from all the black
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I hear you, my Esee4 is also my first and only fixed blade. That's a large reason why I've been batoning every other night for small bonfires since I got it. Gotta love that warranty. :thumbup:
 
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