I've joined the ESEE family, Junglas arrived - color me impressed.

HWG

Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
27
As a practitioner of Nami-Ryu ( an Aikido / Heiho martial school ) I've spent a fair amount of time behind edged tools and blades. If there's one thing I appreciate out of a blade, it's length, reach, and thickness. ESEE's Junglas finds a great medium between all three - for a knife! I'm also an amateur bushcraftman, having just gotten into it within the last year after finding it to be a passion. So, for a late Christmas gift I bought myself a few knives, my first being a USMC KA-BAR, second being a custom knife from Frank Gonzales that won't be here till the middle of the month, third being an Espada XL from Cold Steel, and finally, on impulse - I bought a Junglas from ESEE Knives. Honestly, I had only heard good things, but I was not entirely sure what to expect.

Then it arrived...

I picked up the Junglas with the sheath for $125, which in my mind was a great deal. I was at first enamored by the sheer size of the blade, which really factors into my love for big blades - giving it a special place in my heart. I took a few pictures of it, but the next day took it out for a workout. I was a little scared to run it through a few logs as a baton, and chop through a dead 6" limb, but after a few minutes of work - I had completely forgotten about my anxiety of doing damage to the edge, because it held up like a tank. Not to mention, ESEE backs their products with a lifetime warranty... so if something should ever happen, I know they have my back.

What a chopper. Now, I've chopped with everything from small hunting knives to Khukuris, and the Junglas really stands high in the midst of cornucopia of large survival knives. It bites through wood with a ferocious tenacity to remove CHUNKS of chips with each blow. It's not a Khukuri, but man does it come close - scary close. After about 45 minutes of chopping, and batoning I had a small controlled fire going thanks to my ( bugle call ) Gobspark FireSteel. The Junglas made it effortless... keep in mind that's in the snowy / moist southern Ohio valley!

The only thing that startled me was a few off color spots on the blade, but there's no way it could've been rust. My guess is on the trees imparting some resin on the edge, as it cleaned up ( for the most part ). Powder coating can take a beating, no sign of wear and tear on it even after a LOT of batons.

ESEE, you have a lifetime repeat customer here... all it took was a few good chops and thumps through wood to prove your product. You stand by it too, which is a real way to settle my anxious heart about damaging a blade... even if I've never done any irreparable damage to any blade I own ( well except that cheapo Meijer knife... we're not gonna talk about that though. )

And now ... for some eye candy. Careful, they're sharp!

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Full size can be found at...

http://www.heavyweaponsguy.com/images/knives/junglas/
 
It's a pretty good tropical style bush blade, as it was designed. Not sure about self-defense uses but I would figure it'd do ok. I've always said machetes have probably killed more people in Third World than bullets ever have, and the Junglas is nothing more than a glorified machete.

Appreciate the post! Thanks for being here.
 
It's a pretty good tropical style bush blade, as it was designed. Not sure about self-defense uses but I would figure it'd do ok. I've always said machetes have probably killed more people in Third World than bullets ever have, and the Junglas is nothing more than a glorified machete.

Appreciate the post! Thanks for being here.

Well I definitely wouldn't want to use this in a self-defense scenario! Would prefer something a bit smaller in any case, but it sure would do in a pinch! This is a tool, not a weapon, in my eye.
 
Congrats!

I didnt realise how big that espada really is until now! Wow, that thing is huuge!

Fits in my pocket quite well. Before anyone asks, the sword is from Bugei Trading company. It was forged for me back in 2008. It's been through a few hundred tatami mats, and still looks like new. the tsuka-ito wrap is starting to show it's wear, but it's still tight as it was on the first day. Quality fit and finish :D
 
Nice review, glad to hear you love your Junglas as much as the rest of us do ours!
 
Nice pair you got, have fun with the Junglas.
Another Japanese sword practitioner, I'm practicing Katori Shinto Ryu since 3 years.
Would you mind spilling some detail pics of the sword too?
 
Nice pair you got, have fun with the Junglas.
Another Japanese sword practitioner, I'm practicing Katori Shinto Ryu since 3 years.
Would you mind spilling some detail pics of the sword too?

Sure thing. Give me a few minutes.
 
Espada means Sword in Portuguese, so I would expect it to be a fairly large knife.
 
Very nice sword. Love the Tsuba, specialy the side with the writing, Though i have no clue
what it says.
Thanks for sharing.
Looking to either get a new sword or keep and "upgrade" my current cheap John Lee with new tsuba, Fuchi-kashirae and menuki.
 
If anyone can guess how I lost the eye, I'll personally ship you a gift. Let the guessing begin!
 
If anyone can guess how I lost the eye, I'll personally ship you a gift. Let the guessing begin!

Lets hope you did not make some bad experiences with a knife or a stick in the younger years? :D
 
Lets hope you did not make some bad experiences with a knife or a stick in the younger years? :D

Heh, nope... something far more sinister and far less messy.

I was, presumably, born with Retinoblastoma - cancer. At 6 months of age, they discovered it and the only option was to remove the eye completely... I'm still a perfectly sane individual... for the most part.

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You'll notice my left eye is slightly off center of where I'm looking. My left eye is in fact a prosthetic.

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More sinister? Been captured by aliens and they failed to insert you a camera to infiltrate us?

Since you seem to have no problem with it and can do some jokes about this, I feel more comfortable talking about it and not just "sorry" for you like I did after I realised its a real replacement... At what age did it happen?

€dit because of your edit: I like the second picture man :D You got my full respect living your life with this attitude ;) For sure, the younger the better but still :thumbup:
 
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