Esee Laser Strike: What is it good for?

mark1airguns said:
I realize this is an old post but I found it interesting & I'd just like to say that I purchased an ESSEE Laser Strike as well, brand new. I took changed the angle of the cutting edge to enable a wider range of uses. In short, IMHO, the knife sux! The association with Randall made me believe that I was making a terrific purchase. Friend of mine is an ESSEE dealer so I got a really good buy. I pretty much hate the knife and deeply regret buying it at all. It's carbon as all of us here know, 1095, but cannot be sharpened with the employ of every rock I own and I've...important to pay close attention here just so everyone knows, NEVER owned even a half decent knife that I couldn't shave with if I chose to do so. All my other knives are that 'scary sharp' that'll reach out and grab you before you know it. My coworkers, Millwright & Nmap employee, used to pay me to sharpen their knives.
I'm sure the person who originally posted with the question here has remedied his situation by now but my fast and direct response to them would be to purchase a TOPS BOB Field craft in 154CM Stainless with a modified Scandi grind. It'll slice better, sharpen well enough to split hairs...so to speak, and will STAY THAT WAY a lot longer. Again just my thoughts based on what he describes as his issues with the ESSEE LS. Again I realize this is an old post/conversation, but perhaps this'll help someone else. As for the coating, and the thickness of the blade, you can save a lot of money, percentage wise, and go with an Ontario Rat3. It's blade thickness is only 1/8" so you won't be using it for a maul but it's pretty tough, rides higher on the hip and is...was, a good knife OKC is out of business at present, having been purchased by Blue Ridge Knives...who, BTW, does plan to keep the Ontario knife designs such as the Randall inspired models, alive. BTW, for that matter you can go with an Ontario 12" machette for the heavy work and something like one of a smaller TOPS product with that same Scandi grind in stainless steel and, like every man on the planet a good pocket knife. The Ontario machette is carbon like your ESSEE, but I found it VERY easy to put a razor edge on mine which, isn't really a desirable modification to dedicated machetes but let's just say mine is slotted for a different dedication and leave it at that. It alto has a rust preventive finish with the look and feel akin to Parkerizing. I'm going to trade my ESSEE for a TOPS that just happens to be in one of the new "Super Steel" grades of stainless. I'll be much happier with no thick blade coating, the Scandi grind, a knife that can be sharpened and will hold its edge a lot longer. Much of the latter is due in great part to the potential fast oxidation of the 1095 carbon of the ESSEE LS. It's just a headache to me. Get her where she feels like she's gonna roll the hair off my arm but just not quite...so, take her to the strop for a few passes and the danged this comes back duller...MUCH more dull than before stropped. I've worked it all the way down to black translucent Ultra Fine Surgical Grade stones. Edge will look perfect, not a semblance of a flat anywhere along the edge when "walked" under a high power light source. You just know it's there, still won't cut hot butter. If I can't trade mine for the tops, I'm throwing down the well.
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Send it here!!🤩
I will even pay for shipping!! 🫣
John 😁
 
mark1airguns said:
I realize this is an old post but I found it interesting & I'd just like to say that I purchased an ESSEE Laser Strike as well, brand new. I took changed the angle of the cutting edge to enable a wider range of uses. In short, IMHO, the knife sux! The association with Randall made me believe that I was making a terrific purchase. Friend of mine is an ESSEE dealer so I got a really good buy. I pretty much hate the knife and deeply regret buying it at all. It's carbon as all of us here know, 1095, but cannot be sharpened with the employ of every rock I own and I've...important to pay close attention here just so everyone knows, NEVER owned even a half decent knife that I couldn't shave with if I chose to do so. All my other knives are that 'scary sharp' that'll reach out and grab you before you know it. My coworkers, Millwright & Nmap employee, used to pay me to sharpen their knives.
I'm sure the person who originally posted with the question here has remedied his situation by now but my fast and direct response to them would be to purchase a TOPS BOB Field craft in 154CM Stainless with a modified Scandi grind. It'll slice better, sharpen well enough to split hairs...so to speak, and will STAY THAT WAY a lot longer. Again just my thoughts based on what he describes as his issues with the ESSEE LS. Again I realize this is an old post/conversation, but perhaps this'll help someone else. As for the coating, and the thickness of the blade, you can save a lot of money, percentage wise, and go with an Ontario Rat3. It's blade thickness is only 1/8" so you won't be using it for a maul but it's pretty tough, rides higher on the hip and is...was, a good knife OKC is out of business at present, having been purchased by Blue Ridge Knives...who, BTW, does plan to keep the Ontario knife designs such as the Randall inspired models, alive. BTW, for that matter you can go with an Ontario 12" machette for the heavy work and something like one of a smaller TOPS product with that same Scandi grind in stainless steel and, like every man on the planet a good pocket knife. The Ontario machette is carbon like your ESSEE, but I found it VERY easy to put a razor edge on mine which, isn't really a desirable modification to dedicated machetes but let's just say mine is slotted for a different dedication and leave it at that. It alto has a rust preventive finish with the look and feel akin to Parkerizing. I'm going to trade my ESSEE for a TOPS that just happens to be in one of the new "Super Steel" grades of stainless. I'll be much happier with no thick blade coating, the Scandi grind, a knife that can be sharpened and will hold its edge a lot longer. Much of the latter is due in great part to the potential fast oxidation of the 1095 carbon of the ESSEE LS. It's just a headache to me. Get her where she feels like she's gonna roll the hair off my arm but just not quite...so, take her to the strop for a few passes and the danged this comes back duller...MUCH more dull than before stropped. I've worked it all the way down to black translucent Ultra Fine Surgical Grade stones. Edge will look perfect, not a semblance of a flat anywhere along the edge when "walked" under a high power light source. You just know it's there, still won't cut hot butter. If I can't trade mine for the tops, I'm throwing down the well.
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……just out of interest….which Randall do you associate it with ?

Knife designs are very personal and some people LOVE the LS and some don’t. Like blondes and redheads….never heard of well HTed 1095 that wont take an edge though.
 
I wonder how much of the "issues" with this specific knife are at least partly due to the overall size, I find this size of knife to be too big for many things and too small for the rest. I never liked the look of the handle on that model so I never considered buying it, but I very much like the ESEE6 and 3 for comfort, utility and edge retention is just fine but they are both larger or smaller than the LS.
 
Too thick stock with obtuse grind. Those are made for batoning and survival stuff, not so much cutting.
 
Space Monkey said:
.

I've had an Esee Laser Strike as my principal fixed blade knife for about two years now.
I've used it for a lot of different tasks, from preparing food to pruning trees, and I've come to a conclusion that it doesn't do any of those things well. I can't say it's a bad knife, it is just impractical for everything.
I've also never managed to sharpen it to my satisfaction. I can get a razor edge on the Benchmade (154CM) using the Sharpmaker, but Laser Strike feels dull even when it easily cuts paper.

I have some other pet peeves about the jimping and uneven scales, but I won't bore you with that.
My question for those who use this knife is what exactly do you do with it, and find it useful?
What other knives would you recommend it that price bracket?

ToB2BK1l.jpg


Cheers.
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I took have an ESSEE Laser Strike that happens to be identical to yours, same Micarta scales and all. I thought it would be a great knife due to the design, balance and the direct affiliation with Randall knives lineage so to speak. It's 1095 carbon steel tempered between the optimal 1075 level of hardness and the lower max hardness number for 1095 so it's not likely to break or chip. They have what is unquestionably the best warranty of any knife maker out there today. Now, that said, I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE ;!-;!!! KNIFE! I knew upon first handling the knife that it had superb balance and...to me, is cut more like a fighting knife with "bine-breaker" blade thickness. I don't beat on knives, it's just unnecessary and a bunch of dumb hype. That's what they make camo axes and hatchets for, machetes, etc. Anywho, I've NEVER had ANY problem sharpening any knife. In fact, I won't keep a knife that won't shave the arm with scary sharp effort. I cannot sharpen it to consistently shave hair cleanly; and, I say "consistently" only because...nor will it hold an edge well AT ALL! By that I mean I can get it as sharp as I can...shave a few hairs in its path at best, ever, place it in its sheath that hangs inverted from a gun rack corner next to my bed, take it out of the sheath in a week and it's even more dull. Mirror edge finishing with a translucent Arkansas then a black ultra fine stone, then a strip. I've tried various methods including my ken onion 3/4" sharpwork 2, and it's all the same. I have a number of knives, ranging from 440 to a couple newer "super steels," and they'll all shave you baby butt smooth with scary ease. I don't like the light colored Micarta worth a dang. Sharpen it, heck, just take it out of the sheath and put it back say five times and it looks like crap. Takes on ALL oils it comes into contact with and ends up splotchy and ugly. G10 is MUCH, MUCH better. I'll probably burn this one up with a torch, to 100% slag...but, on the unlikely event that I keep it, maybe to decorate the wall? 🙄, I'll dye those scales charcoal grey with a little added AF-grade charcoal to get them as black as possible. But yeah, I'm with you 110% on your opinion of the Laser Strike. I'll never buy another ESSEE period. TOPS B.O.B. hollow ground super steel for me. No more over rated ESSE's here. I'm done.
 
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