ESSE dilema

T

thantos1858

Joined
Jul 3, 2009
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390
Hey everyone, I am active duty USAF security forces and a fan of esse knives. Recently I attached an izula to my molle flak vest and wear it on duty. I like it alot but my question to all of the esse folks here is should I keep the old izula or switch to another one. I have been looking at the HEST, RC3mil, and the new izula2. I need a smaller knife with alot of carry options.The izula is fine but I feel the izula2 would be better fitted to me, but the hest has alot of useful features on it, and the RC3 is great as well and seems to be very popular. Does anyone have experience with these and care to make some suggestions please? Thanks
 
I'll give you the down and dirty truth. That old Izula will most likely serve your purpose just fine. I see no need to switch to the Izula 2.
If you want a reason to get a new ESSE, well, the RC-3 would look very nice attached to a flak vest:)
 
Thantos,

I just got in my Izula II today (I already have a regular Izy w/ custom slabs.) As you likely already know, there is nothing different blade wise on the two, same exact thing. The handle is .5" longer and comes with full scales, nothing big. But the difference in hand is quite amazing. The HEST is a great knife with some dandy features. No experience with the 3.

Which to switch to? Can you tell us what you plan on doing with it? It may be you have the perfect tool in hand. It may be that one of those 3 options would be perfect. It might be that none of those mentioned are right for the job.

God bless,
Adam
 
The size and weight of the Izula sure is nice to have on you, it's easy to forget it is there. I do have a 3MIL though and love it!
 
Go for the Izula-II, you won't regret it.

At a glance, the differences appear small, but the extra half inch of grip and full scales make a huge difference over the regular Izula in my opinion. Makes an already great knife even easier to use without sacrificing a lot in terms of still being a small knife.

The regular Izula is a great knife and I do like mine a lot. But for me, I love my Izula-II and there's just no going back.
 
I have all of the knives you describe above and I love them all! I use my IzulaII as my new EDC. My ESEE-3 is a great all around knife but I carry my HEST while running EMS and Rescue calls. Although the it would seem to someone in EMS/Rescue that a glass breaker on the 3 would be more useful than the pry bar on the HEST, I feel it is the exact opposite. I use that little pry bar far more than the knife itself. If color is one of your considerations, the 3 comes in far more options. In the end, as a cutting too any of the knives above will perform exceptionally well and the rest will come down to preference.
 
Magus said:
Go for the Izula-II, you won't regret it.

At a glance, the differences appear small, but the extra half inch of grip and full scales make a huge difference over the regular Izula in my opinion. Makes an already great knife even easier to use without sacrificing a lot in terms of still being a small knife.

The regular Izula is a great knife and I do like mine a lot. But for me, I love my Izula-II and there's just no going back.
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I liked the II so much I sold my (Two) Original Izula's after I got the II. I know that sounds crazy.
 
i might be able to help as i am deplyed at the moment and carry a host of knives, but i only keep one on my survival vest due to size and useability. i have a pair of 3's and the little izzy to, i keep one 3 in my boot one on my vest and the izzy stays on my aid bag, i am a flight medic. The 3 sits nicley on my vest upside down and has beed there for 9 months so far. it is small enough to not ge in the way, but has enough blade that i can use if for survival if need be, but not so heavy that i know that its there. hope all this helps and that you ge the righ knife for the job that you ask of it.
matt
 
Brutane said:
Although the it would seem to someone in EMS/Rescue that a glass breaker on the 3 would be more useful than the pry bar on the HEST, I feel it is the exact opposite. I use that little pry bar far more than the knife itself.
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Well, don't keep everyone in suspense, what do you use it for? :D

That little protrusion of metal has probably been one of the most controversial topics in this forum over time.
 
Don Rearic said:
Well, don't keep everyone in suspense, what do you use it for? :D

That little protrusion of metal has probably been one of the most controversial topics in this forum over time.
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I use it in combination with the knife to open packages of new supplies especially if the boxes have those huge packing staples, to activate the door latches on the inside of the back of our one ambulance that has a tendancy to stick at the most inopportune times, to straighten or pry open the carabiner type connections for quick clips on the backboard straps that seem to always get bent under the force of a heavy patient, and so many other little miscellaneous type prying jobs that prior to having the HEST I probably would have incorrectly used the tip of my knife to accomplish. Like, just the other day, the little clip that holds the battery in our portable suction unit got pushed in somehow during a cardiac arrest call and I couldn't get the dead battery out to change it out--HEST prybar to the rescue!

So nothing sexy like prying open the door of a vehicle just in time to extract the patient before the whole vehicle became engulfed in flames. We carry the ESEE-5 on the truck for that in the event that the HURST tools (jaws of life) would ever fail :D
 
My vote would be the HEST or the 3. I prefer the HEST because of the thicker blade and actually do use the prybar quite often.
 
Hmm all this talk of rescue makes me think i should keep my knew hest in my bunker pants at the fire house
 
The Izula will be fine... but this is a good excuse to buy another ESEE :). With a flak vest I think the HEST will look great attached to it. Thats also on my to-buy list, that list keeps growing the more time I spend on this forum though... oh well :)
 
I've got the Izula and Hest... completely different knives.
IMHO, the HEST does not feel like a small knife, it feels much more substantial (not mass, just how it is) in-hand.

The Izula does everything I need to day in and day out, HEST is my HD bush knife and RC5 is my Zombieapocalypse blade.
 
I really have nothing useful to add as far as the choice of knife since everyone else has pretty much covered it.

All I want to add is my thanks for your service. :thumbup:
 
IUKE12 said:
I'll give you the down and dirty truth. That old Izula will most likely serve your purpose just fine. I see no need to switch to the Izula 2.
If you want a reason to get a new ESSE, well, the RC-3 would look very nice attached to a flak vest:)
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I second this! Best common sense right there.
 
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