- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
- Messages
- 11,601
Sorry, no pictures 'til page 2...skip ahead if you like
This probably is not all that interesting to anyone, but I figured I would share anyway because it is an "outsiders" perspective.
My "outsider" I mean that I have never owned or even handled an ESEE product before...(or RAT, for that matter). My expectations are based on my experiences which are basically a compilation of what I read here and all my previous knife purchases.
So I got the 5 on Wednesday morning. Yeah!, before Thanksgiving...so I can get out and play with it in the daylight on Thursday (every other day I got to work with the headlights on and return the same way this time of year...and I work days).
Initial observations:
1. Damn, this thing is thick...I knew it was a 1/4 inch, but I did not realize that 1/4 inch was this thick I guess.
2. The OD green blade coating is different...I guess I like it, but honestly, I hope to have it nearly completely scratched off by spring.
3. What is the deal with the 1/2 inch portion of unsharpened/unground blade near the plunge?
4. The rest of the edge is pretty coarse...but I am not concerned because this is a hard use knife and I do not need to be whittling hairs with it.
More on #3. I wish I had taken a photo, because now that I am back to my PC I see that in the website, the images of the 5s have a blade sharpened/ground all the way from the tip to the plunge. Mine did not, so I cried a river and got out my diamond file and my diamond stones and fixed it...but only after I used the knife and determined that the need/desire was there.
In hand and use. As I said the knife is thick, but the weight seems less than the pound that is claimed. Additionally, the balance is good so weight really is not a problem (I think).
Did I mention that it rained like hell here for the past 3-4 days and then the temperature dropped leaving my day a frozen wet mess? Well, I was determined to get a fire going regardless, but I was also cooking the turkey, so I would have to do this testing in my backyard. I live in the city limits of a small town but the vacant lot behind me has some fallen timber on it. I found an 8-10 inch log that was punky and wet on the outer 1 inch, but hopefully dry in the middle. It was also 12 foot long and frozen to the ground. I envisioned batoning a log into fire sticks, but that is not so easy on a long horizontal tree trunk.
I improvised by chopping part way in in two places and then batoning out fire sticks between the two chopping sites (about 18 inches apart). The knife worked perfectly for this.
By the time I was done with this portion of the test, it started raining (freezing rain) again. Getting a fire started would be a real PITA. That has little to do with the 5 so I will forgo discussion of that effort. Other than to say I felt like my fuzz sticks were a little thick for these conditions.
Upon closer inspection in warmer quarters, I decided to blame my tool for my troubles building the fire (always the mark of a great mechanic..."blaming tools"). Anyway, I feel justified in doing so, the edge is very thick and also not as sharp as I am accustomed. I think the result was my shavings were created very thick as I used the bullish knife to process the wood.
So I went back outside with the knife again and tried to improve my technique to make better shavings. I just COULD NOT do it. The edge would either gouge out 1/16 inch thick shavings, or glance out of the cut and fail to make a curly.
I slid WAY out to the tip and worked very slowly with two hands on the knife and managed some decent curlies, and succeeded to get flames a few times...thus proving that the wet conditions were not totally to blame, but my technique combined with this blade WERE.
So I went back inside and improved the edge.
Next observation:
Wow! This steel is EASY to work.
As I mentioned earlier, I needed to grind an edge on the 1/2 inch portion of blade near the plunge. This took about 2 minutes!
I also noticed a significant recurve in the blade just in front of the unsharpened area at the plunge....Again, let me stress that my experiences with knives are formed from dealing with custom blades, smaller fixed blades (like the Spyderco Mule), and somewhat pricey folders. Suffice to say that I tend to receive knives that will easily shave/pop hair with any portion of the edge...and after I get around to sharpening them the first time, they will whittle hair.
The 5 did not arrive with an edge on par with what I expect for the other types of knives I mentioned. I really did not expect it to either. It is in a different use category all together. But I did hope the edge would work well for making shavings...and it let me down slightly in this respect. I will report back on this, perhaps I can develop a technique to get success (and stop blaming my tools LOL).
I wanted to bring this up though, because potential users need to realize that a knife this thick and big is going to handle differently than many other knives being pushed as "survival blades". I suspect that the learning curve is a little steeper than one afternoon on a knife like this (at least for the delicate/finer work).
Cripes! I did not intend to write a book here...
Oh well, I put a blazing sharp edge on the knife, and I really do not expect the knife to retain a HIGH level of sharpness through chopping and batoning, but my hopes are that the belly and tip of the blade will...I will see.
A long summary:
This knife is literally laughing at me. I chopped, batoned, stabbed and picked frozen wood out of that log...and the knife kept laughing. The thread asking if anyone has broken one of these humors me on a deeper level at this point. I can not imagine what tasks the person who breaks one will have performed to manage such a task. The knife is a beast...if you have not handled one, I challenge you do do so without getting a hint of a smirk and thinking, "damn, that is one seriously over built knife!"
The factory edge is good for the tasks this knife was suited for. I gauged mine at 34-38 degrees inclusive (depending on where you measure). It was sharp enough to roughly shave arm hair, but not pop hair. This edge proved to be JUST FINE for processing cold, wet/frozen hardwood (oak). BUT it may take some skill/technique/learning for some users to use this knife for lighter/finer tasks. After several hours of such chopping and batoning, the edge could liberate a hair or two from my arm if I pressed hard enough...I would hesitate to call it even rough shaving...but still plenty sharp to cut rope had I needed to.
Handle ergos? I have really large hands...and I was wearing gloves, so I can not really review this aspect. I intend to report back on this (and other aspects) if you guys are interested. Other knives I have used resulted in blisters and hot spots...but they required a lot more effort on my part also because they did not have the MASS that this knife carries. So far I am thinking I will not need to modify or shape these handles slabs...I will keep you posted though.
Glass breaker? I bet it would, but honestly I do not think I will use this feature for that function often. I may at some point?
Bow Divot? It was WAY too wet to try any bow drilling for fire making yesterday...and I have no need for drilling holes right now, so I will test that some other time. I can not imagine this divot NOT working as advertised...it is not a particularly specialized task...the handle just needs to have a round depression and not burn too easily, so I think it will pass, but can not comment on that just yet. The ergos of the knife/handle seem decent in that position though (I did assess that).
Tip strength, and blade strength? LOL, I think they are robust. No point in discussing this further.
Coating? Man, I am going to have to EARN the worn look! I got some nice rubs and smudges, but nothing I could call a scratch. It will take many many outings to get through this coating I think.
Kydex Sheath? Fantastic. Works well, with solid retention even on the lowest setting.
Wow! what a jumbled mess this "review" is...Oh well, I am just streaming my thoughts out here, and that seems appropriate in some odd way. This knife seems like a very solid survival blade that will keep up with you through nearly any conceivable heavy task you throw at it. The knife seems to have a gritty, no nonsense, no fluff, attitude and appearance. It is not pretty, it does not have a perfect edge or grind and I don't think it really wants a fancy sit down table top review with big words and beautiful grammar. If you want that sort of review, I doubt you will like this knife LOL.
I now have a beautiful and very sharp edge on this knife, but that came only after darkness fell and I went in to survey the situation. The knife needed to be touched up...but it had no compressions, rolls, or chips in the blade. My fire steel dulled it considerably where it contacted the cutting edge, but other than that the edge held up VERY well all things considered.
I look forward to my next opportunity to test the edge holding (not that the edge is polished). Once we become more familiar with one another (and hopefully I like the relationship), I will take it out and use it after dark.
I will report back.
If you are still reading, just go ahead and buy the 5!...You know you want to. It sucks at first for fine tasks, but if you put your mind to it, you will probably be able to learn how to do them well enough...of just carry a small back up blade for these small tasks.
have a nice day.
This probably is not all that interesting to anyone, but I figured I would share anyway because it is an "outsiders" perspective.
My "outsider" I mean that I have never owned or even handled an ESEE product before...(or RAT, for that matter). My expectations are based on my experiences which are basically a compilation of what I read here and all my previous knife purchases.
So I got the 5 on Wednesday morning. Yeah!, before Thanksgiving...so I can get out and play with it in the daylight on Thursday (every other day I got to work with the headlights on and return the same way this time of year...and I work days).
Initial observations:
1. Damn, this thing is thick...I knew it was a 1/4 inch, but I did not realize that 1/4 inch was this thick I guess.
2. The OD green blade coating is different...I guess I like it, but honestly, I hope to have it nearly completely scratched off by spring.
3. What is the deal with the 1/2 inch portion of unsharpened/unground blade near the plunge?
4. The rest of the edge is pretty coarse...but I am not concerned because this is a hard use knife and I do not need to be whittling hairs with it.
More on #3. I wish I had taken a photo, because now that I am back to my PC I see that in the website, the images of the 5s have a blade sharpened/ground all the way from the tip to the plunge. Mine did not, so I cried a river and got out my diamond file and my diamond stones and fixed it...but only after I used the knife and determined that the need/desire was there.
In hand and use. As I said the knife is thick, but the weight seems less than the pound that is claimed. Additionally, the balance is good so weight really is not a problem (I think).
Did I mention that it rained like hell here for the past 3-4 days and then the temperature dropped leaving my day a frozen wet mess? Well, I was determined to get a fire going regardless, but I was also cooking the turkey, so I would have to do this testing in my backyard. I live in the city limits of a small town but the vacant lot behind me has some fallen timber on it. I found an 8-10 inch log that was punky and wet on the outer 1 inch, but hopefully dry in the middle. It was also 12 foot long and frozen to the ground. I envisioned batoning a log into fire sticks, but that is not so easy on a long horizontal tree trunk.
I improvised by chopping part way in in two places and then batoning out fire sticks between the two chopping sites (about 18 inches apart). The knife worked perfectly for this.
By the time I was done with this portion of the test, it started raining (freezing rain) again. Getting a fire started would be a real PITA. That has little to do with the 5 so I will forgo discussion of that effort. Other than to say I felt like my fuzz sticks were a little thick for these conditions.
Upon closer inspection in warmer quarters, I decided to blame my tool for my troubles building the fire (always the mark of a great mechanic..."blaming tools"). Anyway, I feel justified in doing so, the edge is very thick and also not as sharp as I am accustomed. I think the result was my shavings were created very thick as I used the bullish knife to process the wood.
So I went back outside with the knife again and tried to improve my technique to make better shavings. I just COULD NOT do it. The edge would either gouge out 1/16 inch thick shavings, or glance out of the cut and fail to make a curly.
I slid WAY out to the tip and worked very slowly with two hands on the knife and managed some decent curlies, and succeeded to get flames a few times...thus proving that the wet conditions were not totally to blame, but my technique combined with this blade WERE.
So I went back inside and improved the edge.
Next observation:
Wow! This steel is EASY to work.
As I mentioned earlier, I needed to grind an edge on the 1/2 inch portion of blade near the plunge. This took about 2 minutes!
I also noticed a significant recurve in the blade just in front of the unsharpened area at the plunge....Again, let me stress that my experiences with knives are formed from dealing with custom blades, smaller fixed blades (like the Spyderco Mule), and somewhat pricey folders. Suffice to say that I tend to receive knives that will easily shave/pop hair with any portion of the edge...and after I get around to sharpening them the first time, they will whittle hair.
The 5 did not arrive with an edge on par with what I expect for the other types of knives I mentioned. I really did not expect it to either. It is in a different use category all together. But I did hope the edge would work well for making shavings...and it let me down slightly in this respect. I will report back on this, perhaps I can develop a technique to get success (and stop blaming my tools LOL).
I wanted to bring this up though, because potential users need to realize that a knife this thick and big is going to handle differently than many other knives being pushed as "survival blades". I suspect that the learning curve is a little steeper than one afternoon on a knife like this (at least for the delicate/finer work).
Cripes! I did not intend to write a book here...
Oh well, I put a blazing sharp edge on the knife, and I really do not expect the knife to retain a HIGH level of sharpness through chopping and batoning, but my hopes are that the belly and tip of the blade will...I will see.
A long summary:
This knife is literally laughing at me. I chopped, batoned, stabbed and picked frozen wood out of that log...and the knife kept laughing. The thread asking if anyone has broken one of these humors me on a deeper level at this point. I can not imagine what tasks the person who breaks one will have performed to manage such a task. The knife is a beast...if you have not handled one, I challenge you do do so without getting a hint of a smirk and thinking, "damn, that is one seriously over built knife!"
The factory edge is good for the tasks this knife was suited for. I gauged mine at 34-38 degrees inclusive (depending on where you measure). It was sharp enough to roughly shave arm hair, but not pop hair. This edge proved to be JUST FINE for processing cold, wet/frozen hardwood (oak). BUT it may take some skill/technique/learning for some users to use this knife for lighter/finer tasks. After several hours of such chopping and batoning, the edge could liberate a hair or two from my arm if I pressed hard enough...I would hesitate to call it even rough shaving...but still plenty sharp to cut rope had I needed to.
Handle ergos? I have really large hands...and I was wearing gloves, so I can not really review this aspect. I intend to report back on this (and other aspects) if you guys are interested. Other knives I have used resulted in blisters and hot spots...but they required a lot more effort on my part also because they did not have the MASS that this knife carries. So far I am thinking I will not need to modify or shape these handles slabs...I will keep you posted though.
Glass breaker? I bet it would, but honestly I do not think I will use this feature for that function often. I may at some point?
Bow Divot? It was WAY too wet to try any bow drilling for fire making yesterday...and I have no need for drilling holes right now, so I will test that some other time. I can not imagine this divot NOT working as advertised...it is not a particularly specialized task...the handle just needs to have a round depression and not burn too easily, so I think it will pass, but can not comment on that just yet. The ergos of the knife/handle seem decent in that position though (I did assess that).
Tip strength, and blade strength? LOL, I think they are robust. No point in discussing this further.
Coating? Man, I am going to have to EARN the worn look! I got some nice rubs and smudges, but nothing I could call a scratch. It will take many many outings to get through this coating I think.
Kydex Sheath? Fantastic. Works well, with solid retention even on the lowest setting.
Wow! what a jumbled mess this "review" is...Oh well, I am just streaming my thoughts out here, and that seems appropriate in some odd way. This knife seems like a very solid survival blade that will keep up with you through nearly any conceivable heavy task you throw at it. The knife seems to have a gritty, no nonsense, no fluff, attitude and appearance. It is not pretty, it does not have a perfect edge or grind and I don't think it really wants a fancy sit down table top review with big words and beautiful grammar. If you want that sort of review, I doubt you will like this knife LOL.
I now have a beautiful and very sharp edge on this knife, but that came only after darkness fell and I went in to survey the situation. The knife needed to be touched up...but it had no compressions, rolls, or chips in the blade. My fire steel dulled it considerably where it contacted the cutting edge, but other than that the edge held up VERY well all things considered.
I look forward to my next opportunity to test the edge holding (not that the edge is polished). Once we become more familiar with one another (and hopefully I like the relationship), I will take it out and use it after dark.
I will report back.
If you are still reading, just go ahead and buy the 5!...You know you want to. It sucks at first for fine tasks, but if you put your mind to it, you will probably be able to learn how to do them well enough...of just carry a small back up blade for these small tasks.
have a nice day.
Last edited:
