Why are esee knives so expensive?

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No, I don't believe this was a troll thread intentionally. The OP may well have sort of been overwhelmed by the negative reaction to his comment about it being cheap steel and "value". I have had my ears pinned back a few times on the forums. It happens. Time passes, you learn, and you continue to participate.

On warranties... A couple of years ago I purchased a fairly nice digital SLR camera at Best Buy. I did purchase their extended warranty which in this case was a couple hundred $. I commented on the price of the warranty to the sales person and she said... wait a month or so and call in and tell them that the battery failed. They'll send you another, no questions, and you can have two thus reducing the cost of the warranty that most never use. Well, I didn't do this and in fact purchased several batteries for this camera. I just won't "use" a warranty to my advantage. The same goes with knives. If I do something stupid or careless with a knife, I'd never ask for a replacement regardless of any warranty.
 
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I own an ROWAN 6 and an ESEE 3MIL.

I think you could consider them overpriced, but you'd be hard pressed to find similar quality of workmanship and peripherals.

I've not used their warranty but I'll defer to those here who have.

Aside from the quality and warranty, I think the sheath system is second to none, which to me is important!

The sheath I got with my RTAK II was pathetic and I paid 60 bucks for a MOLLE compatible kydex rig, which made the RTAK package just as expensive as the Junglas.

You get the whole package with ROWAN/ESEE and for those like myself who prefer to buy the package rather than piecemeal it all together, so I'll stick with them; irrespective of the Nutnfancy feud.
 
sdjay78 said:
I own an ROWAN 6 and an ESEE 3MIL.

I think you could consider them overpriced, but you'd be hard pressed to find similar quality of workmanship and peripherals.

I've not used their warranty but I'll defer to those here who have.

Aside from the quality and warranty, I think the sheath system is second to none, which to me is important!

The sheath I got with my RTAK II was pathetic and I paid 60 bucks for a MOLLE compatible kydex rig, which made the RTAK package just as expensive as the Junglas.

You get the whole package with ROWAN/ESEE and for those like myself who prefer to buy the package rather than piecemeal it all together, so I'll stick with them; irrespective of the Nutnfancy feud.
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What feud? That thing from two years ago where he was rude to the ESEE folks (or wasn't rude, after action reports differ)? I'm genuinely curious. I didn't know that was still going on.
 
Some knives cost more, some knives cost less.
My Junglas was the best price of all...free.
My wife bought it for me. :)
 
BigBert said:
Dillon Precision is the only company I have come across that offers a true "No BS Lifetime Warranty" and also warrants against normal wear and tear. If you think ESEE has a great warranty and great customer service, buy a Dillon.
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The original purchaser of a Dillon press pays dearly for that warranty. That's why I bought my Dillon SDB used for 100 bucks 15-20 years ago. I've used the warranty but did not have to pay for it.


james terrio said:
I see your point. I doubt many people are field-dressing dirty animals, digging holes and chopping/splitting knotty kindling with a reloading rig or super-precise powder scale ;)
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Load ~10,000 .45 ACP cartridges a year on an old Dillon SDB for a few years straight, and you'll put an incredible amount of wear on it and break pieces you'd have thought would never break. I know.

There's a reason unlimited lifetime warranties add a premium to the purchase of any new product, knife or reloading press or any other manufactured product. The company covers the resulting losses via the original purchase price.
 
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Oh no, don't make fun of someone intentionally being an idiot. ESEE knives are for the thicker skin crowd
 
Karda said:
Not entirely true. ESEE knives warranty does not cover normal wear-and-tear or usage as a throwing knife.
I suspect that acts of stupidity will only be covered on a case by case basis and only once.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ty-issue-that-is-unbelievable?highlight=idiot
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Those posts by Jeff Randall are one of the major turn-offs for me regarding ESEE knives. He wants to offer this "no questions asked warranty" and then publicly berate people that take advantage of it. Arguably, their biggest selling point is their warranty...but they go out of their way to post examples of times it wont be fulfilled? The guy writes him to say "your warranty is great and so are your knives" and his response was "don't buy any more of our knives". I felt it was unprofessional to say the least, but I'm sure many will disagree. I honestly couldn't imagine Ethan Becker doing that though....
 
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Quiet said:
What feud? That thing from two years ago where he was rude to the ESEE folks (or wasn't rude, after action reports differ)? I'm genuinely curious. I didn't know that was still going on.
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In the last year, he's addressed it in a couple of his vids sans actually saying the name of the company, so its likely the issue still exists to an extent.
 
As far as Jeff Randall is concerned, we all have our bad days and sometimes we say things that appear to be a turnoff. I have met Jeff and he is very proud of his ESEE line.
 
Bush.Hacker said:
Oh no, don't make fun of someone intentionally being an idiot. ESEE knives are for the thicker skin crowd
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Or be a bigger man and not make fun of your customers. If you talk the "no questions asked" talk, then walk the walk.

Additionally, I don't find throwing knives to instantly make you an idiot. My JK's have never broken from such idiocy - we tend to call it FUN.

I do like the knives, the Izula is an awesome knife.

best

mqqn
 
mqqn said:
Or be a bigger man and not make fun of your customers. If you talk the "no questions asked" talk, then walk the walk.

Additionally, I don't find throwing knives to instantly make you an idiot. My JK's have never broken from such idiocy - we tend to call it FUN.

I do like the knives, the Izula is an awesome knife.

best

mqqn
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Agreed. Don't offer the warranty and then publicly cry when people use it. But I digress....I really just hate their handles.
 
On the ESEE page:

ESEE KNIVES ARE NOT THROWING KNIVES! They are hardened to a higher Rockwell than throwing knives and will most likely break if thrown, possibly harming the user. So, do yourself and your ESEE knife a favor and DO NOT throw it. Using any knife not meant to be thrown as a throwing knife is idiotic! We would rather idiots not buy our knives.
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ESEE knives are 1095 spring steel hardened to 55-57 Rc.

Swamp Rat Rodent 9, 'SR101' ball-bearing steel hardened to 60 Rc:

[video=youtube;iCphmLgvaV4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCphmLgvaV4[/video]

Survive! Knives GSO-5.1, CPM-3V hardened to 60 Rc:

[video=youtube;QyBhMK5zlxU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyBhMK5zlxU[/video]

Neither knife broke despite the above assertion that knives hardened above 55 Rc will "most likely break if thrown"... He didn't say when it would break during throwing, so perhaps these knives will fail after another few hundred or thousand... or his assertion is mistaken. *shrug*

I am glad that folks keep mentioning the sheath set-up, as this is a MAJOR selling point in my mind, with similar sheaths priced $40-50 aftermarket. I also think that ROWEN makes good knives for ESEE. But i prefer other designs, even when the cost is higher.
 
ESEE isn't just about the knives. It's a way of life. Up until lately, Jeff and ESEE crew were giving FREE training classes from navigation, survival, first aid and various others to anyone who wanted to take them. some of this took place on his farm and he even traveled around the country to give these classes. Training was top notch and once again, FREE! Hell, you can get on the jungletraining forums and speak with him personally there. ESEE gives back to the community in more ways than most will ever see. I think Jeff and ESEE crew are good, honest, hard working people who know where they come from.

As for the knives being expensive, I feel they are priced just right. Rowan has the best heat treat for 1095 in the business! No frills, simple designs, meant to be used hard.
 
Rowan has the best heat treat for 1095 in the business!
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I hear this over and over. What makes it better than any other? What process is used that no other company uses. What is known about the heat treat process of Rowan or the other companies. I'm curious as I've heard this for some time know but so far have seen nothing but opinions with no facts.

I have a close to couple dozen 1095 knives going back decades from I'm guessing 10-15 companies including Rowan and I don't see anything best about it. It's well built and pretty but that in no way proves anything about quality of heat treat. Pretty much with few exceptions they all are good and perform as 1095 should.
 
BigBert said:
Agreed. Don't offer the warranty and then publicly cry when people use it. But I digress....I really just hate their handles.
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BigBert, you and MQQN are missing the point of a warranty, as well as the responsibility of both sides of the transaction. With a warranty, the seller warrants that what he sold is as represented. There is an implicit understanding that the product should be used as represented, if one is to expect a warranty to be honored. The "no questions asked" warranty is designed to protect those who RELY on the product to do work for them and need to trust that the product will always deliver. It presumes good intention on the part of the purchaser. Once that good intention is shown to be false, the purchaser has broken their side of the deal; and with honest people, that really should not have to be put into writing.

There is ongoing debate as to what a knife "should" or "should not" be able to do. I have heard "throwing" called improper for a knife hardened as a cutter by more people than just Jeff Randall; and their explanations as to why that is so are a little more substantive than "my friends and I throw our knives all the time" anecdotal evidence. The simple fact that you or others have gotten away with it with your knives is testament that the knife is a quality product, and not some "proof" that throwing a knife is a good idea, or not.

Jeff Randall presumes that at least some of his customers will depend upon his products for their lives and survival. His warranty is encouragement for people to use his knives hard....as KNIVES......so that they can gain the confidence in his product. It is not "practically begging people to break his knives". Deliberately doing non-knife tasks can provide a data point, as some folks who deliberately test knives to destruction have shown; but the old adage that "anything can be broken" means that the owner should be prepared to eat the cost if he goes beyond the warranted use.
 
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