Esparcia survival knife ?

R

ryan f

Joined
Jul 28, 2002
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I am new to this forum and am intrested in buying an esparcia survival knife from worldknifes.com.I would like to know a little bit more about the site(world knifes)and if the knife is a good buy.Does the cross bow work? and does the 440 stainless steel hold a good edge? thanx.:)
 
Welcome to the forums Ryan,
If this is the knife you are asking about: http://worldknives.com/product.asp?produid=15&manuid=3,than I have never seen one, but it dose look like something that would have intersested me when I was first getting "into" knives.
Now, if I had the same to spend (about $90) for a knife for real survival, I would look for something more simple, like the BK&T Combat/Utility (about $50 on the net): http://www.camillusknives.com/pr-bkt7.htm this would leave me with enough money for a 16 or 18 in. Barteaux Deluxe machete (about $20 on the net): http://www.machete.com/BarteauxMachetepg3.html and a Swiss army knife with a saw like the Hiker (about $20):
http://swissarmy.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=277&CATID=4&PartNumber=53831
 
Welcome to the forums Ryan.

I have had the pleasure of handling one of these. The crossbow is about as effective as a kid's party favor (a rubberband and a paper clip would be an improvement). You can do much better with your $90 on something else.

$90 would buy a solid camp knife like the Camillus Becker BK-7, and still leave enough money left over for a good Swiss Army Knife(Which fits nicely in the BK-7 sheath's pocket), and a softdrink.

n2s
 
From the picture, it seems the blade stock is rather thin. If you're really in a survival situation, with the 440A (usually when they say 440 without specifying the steel, it's 440A) and a thin stock, you won't be doing any chopping with that.
With a hollow handle like that, it would seem that the blade won't have a serious amount of tang and could possibly fall off because of a joint failure.
Take our word for it, get something else other than that. A becker would do fine, and the scales can be taken apart and it does have a small cavity that you could put some things in.
 
The Becker is still much better at a much cheaper price.
 
Hi there and welcome. The Esparcia brand is top notch stuff from Spain. This is a well established and highly reputable knife maker in Spain, the home of knives. This company is older than all the others already mentioned, put together. It looks like a cool knife. Of course everybody is willing to give you their opinion. I could also say buy this brand or that just because I have one etc. I personally have another Spanish brand, Aitor (Bucanero), as a survival knife. There is nothing wrong with Esparcia brand. The 440 Stainless Steel used on Spanish knives is a lot harder than standard 440 SS. It is also good to sharpen easily which is a crucial factor in the wilderness. Let's face it, I don't care what knife one buys, you just aint going to fell a big tree with it no matter what the brand. One would have a wire saw or something similar for a larger sawing job. It's good enough for regular daily chopping and cutting etc.

Good luck.....:D
 
I can vouch for the Spainish cutlerers being of good working quality. I did much research before purchasing a holow handled survival knife, mainly because they get a bad rap when compared to the stronger full-tanged blade...I didnt want to end up with one that would bust in half as I am told they are prone to doing. The Esparcia caught my eye right off...not just the crossbow, but the blade had a bit of wickedness to the shape.

It did not pass my final inspection for 2 reasons:

1) I could not find a physical example of it to examine (wich is very important to me, I have a good eye for quality but the hands tell me much more)

2)The crossbow seemed cool (if not a bit gimick-ish) but not as practical as say a slingshot for it requires speacial ammo that is particularly easy to lose in a vegetated environment.

There were also a couple of shots that were unflattering of it on the internet. But to hold one is important before you buy. I finally decided on the Aitor Jungle King 2 but when I found it in person it felt like it was made of plastic, then the shopkeeper thrust the Jungle king 1 into my hand, and whoa! felt like I could cut the world in half with it. Ended up waiting to save an extra 100 bucks and got the JK1. Same thing happed when I was looking for a kick-around fixed blade. I had KABAR in in one hand, feeling the weight n balace and the guy put a Muela Mirage in my other hand (a knife wouldnt have even asked to see just because the look didnt catch me) and it was twice the knife the KABAR was and was the same price, bout 50 bucks. Muela is also a Spainish brand and it is a great knife, espeacially for the price.
 
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