Over time I have purchased four knives from Spartan Blades - Spartan Harsey, Ares, Enyo, and Phobos. I like their designs, ergonomics, and quality. In my experience, the owners are good people and a pleasure to do business with. They use S30V for their blades which in my opinion is a good all around high quality stainless powder steel. Depending on your sharpening skills, S30V may be a bit tougher to sharpen than the ESEE 1095. But it is tough and won't rust. Many of the Chris Reeve knives have been made with it for quite some time. Though I use most all of my knives, I'll be the first to admit I am a light weight user. I just love knowing about and playing with all sorts of knives. So I'm not really qualified to compare their performance for hard field use - maybe my ramblings are a waste of your time. If you look at their blade designs, the Spartan templates are quite different from the ESEE templates. So I think a good part of your decision would be based on how you plan to use your knives. I like the Enyo and Phobos knives for mostly pocket carry and sometimes neck carry. The Spartan/Harsey is a big solid knife which I'm sure can handle hard field use. The Horkos (spelling?) is similar to the Spartan/Harsey but a bit less in cost because it is not a collaboration knife. You will pay a bit for the Spartan blades but then again, you will for many other similar knives. I have some ESEE knives also and am also looking at the 5 and/or 6. It's hard to go wrong with a knife from ESEE but I think you would be happy with a knife from Spartan Blades if you purchase one with a template you like. Mike
plus I hear the 5 is just Beast
