On my 15th birthday my sister gave me An Esee Izula 2, and I still use it on nearly a daily basis 3 years later. A lot of Youtube reviews of the knife have basic cord cutting, batoning, and paper cut tests but honestly, I feel like many of those reviews don't do the knife justice. The video is usually taken with the knife right out of the box and is biased by the excitement of a new knife. I wanted to share some thoughts on the knife after having it and using it for nearly 3 years.
I am an avid outdoors man and I take the knife with me hunting, fishing, kayaking, and camping. Personally, I don't like the term survival knife. I feel as if a knife is only good for playing in the woods, then the knife isn't as 'versatile' as reviewers claim. This first picture is of a deer (button buck unfortunately. thought i was shooting a doe) that I killed last fall. I used the Izula 2 to field dress then process the deer. The small blade was easy to handle and easily cut through muscle and tendons. The removable handle scales made cleaning the blood and hair off the knife very easy. A knife with a bit more sweep would have made the job a bit easier, but the slight clip point was definitely good enough to get the job done.
As an avid kayaker, I'm always on the water and in need of a good knife. I can get away with carrying my Dragonfly salt 2 for cutting fishing line and cleaning fish, but I like carrying the Izula for the extra beef for rope, tent stakes, and such. The knife is easily attachable to waders or a belt with cord or leather, and the plastic molded sheath keeps the knife secure when I'm in the water wading or when I flip. Some might say that you need a stainless steel for a good water knife, but if you maintain your knives and clean them after each trip, 1095 does just fine. The Izula was the only knife on me during my last kayak camping trip, and it busted down kindling, made feather sticks, and busted open my can of tuna just fine!
You can see the Izula on my right shoulder strap in the second picture.
The knife also carves well. The handle allows for plenty of purchase on the knife, and the ffg and not overly aggressive coating allows for the knife to bite into the wood. My factory edge is long gone, but Esee's 1095 is easy enough to sharpen with a stone or rod. I ground down the spine slightly for the knife to easily throw sparks from a ferro rod and filed grooves in the handle... pretty much for the hell of it.
I caught a cat in this trap. oops. fortunately the noose barely had ahold of its paw and i let it go.
Over all, I love the knife. Its simple. Its small enough to always have on or near you. Its easily maintained. Great warranty. It's a basic knife that didn't need elaborate tests to prove itself. I hope its okay I didn't include many pictures of the knife carving and what not, but I was hoping to make this review a bit more practical that your usual out of the box torture tests. And if you made it this far down the post, thanks for reading!
I am an avid outdoors man and I take the knife with me hunting, fishing, kayaking, and camping. Personally, I don't like the term survival knife. I feel as if a knife is only good for playing in the woods, then the knife isn't as 'versatile' as reviewers claim. This first picture is of a deer (button buck unfortunately. thought i was shooting a doe) that I killed last fall. I used the Izula 2 to field dress then process the deer. The small blade was easy to handle and easily cut through muscle and tendons. The removable handle scales made cleaning the blood and hair off the knife very easy. A knife with a bit more sweep would have made the job a bit easier, but the slight clip point was definitely good enough to get the job done.
As an avid kayaker, I'm always on the water and in need of a good knife. I can get away with carrying my Dragonfly salt 2 for cutting fishing line and cleaning fish, but I like carrying the Izula for the extra beef for rope, tent stakes, and such. The knife is easily attachable to waders or a belt with cord or leather, and the plastic molded sheath keeps the knife secure when I'm in the water wading or when I flip. Some might say that you need a stainless steel for a good water knife, but if you maintain your knives and clean them after each trip, 1095 does just fine. The Izula was the only knife on me during my last kayak camping trip, and it busted down kindling, made feather sticks, and busted open my can of tuna just fine!
You can see the Izula on my right shoulder strap in the second picture.
The knife also carves well. The handle allows for plenty of purchase on the knife, and the ffg and not overly aggressive coating allows for the knife to bite into the wood. My factory edge is long gone, but Esee's 1095 is easy enough to sharpen with a stone or rod. I ground down the spine slightly for the knife to easily throw sparks from a ferro rod and filed grooves in the handle... pretty much for the hell of it.
I caught a cat in this trap. oops. fortunately the noose barely had ahold of its paw and i let it go.
Over all, I love the knife. Its simple. Its small enough to always have on or near you. Its easily maintained. Great warranty. It's a basic knife that didn't need elaborate tests to prove itself. I hope its okay I didn't include many pictures of the knife carving and what not, but I was hoping to make this review a bit more practical that your usual out of the box torture tests. And if you made it this far down the post, thanks for reading!
