I would like this knife to do everything from going on a camping trip with the kids where I cut up a fish or put peanut butter on a sandwich for them. I would like it to make firewood and fuzz sticks, make a spoon and make a shelter if I have too. I want it to skin a deer/moose whatever and debone it if I have to pack it out. Basically I want this knife to do it all if it HAS to....
Basically one all around knife if there is such a thing.
i've never heard of someon making an F1 fail. sure, the tang is a little skinnier under the handle than a full tang knife like most of the BRKTs or ESEEs, but i don't think that's going to make a HUGE difference. i have seen some pics of failed KaBars, but they have a very skinny stick tang.
ESEE-4 is that the old RC-4? There is also RAT-4? I find that all very confusing but the knife looks good and has a good sheath as well.
Rat Cutlery changed their name to ESEE about a year ago... in part because "rat" was overused in the industry.
Onatrio still makes many of the old designs, so the RAT-4 will probably be the Ontario version. the handle is slightly shorter, i've heard complaints about the finish of the grinds and heat treat problems on some knives.
the Rat cutlery / ESEE knives will have what most people consider beter sheaths, better grinds and better heat treat. perhaps some of that is subjective. dunno, i haven't used all of them. but ESEE has an absolutely great no BS warranty, and BRKT also gets a lot of praise for their warranty.
i haven't heard any complaints about the BRKT CEO, but i haven't gone looking for them. that's probably out in the general discussion area and i don't go out there often.
as for reviews bitching about *whatever* you'll find that on any topic you do some research on. vehicles, knives, computers, televisions, firearms, knives, clothes, whatever... even blondes, brunettes and redheads. sometimes you need to take it with a grain of salt.
however, i have heard some complaints about BRKT's heat treat, seen some broken knives and some rolled or chipped edges. not sure what it took to cause those problems tho.
if it's really a concern, carry a backup knife. sometimes stuff can fail when you push it to extremes. better stuff is less likely to suffer a catastrophic failure, but it still can happen.