ESEEKnives 6P Fixed Blade Knife w/Molded Polymer Sheath

If you've read my other reviews on camping knives, you know well that I don't know much about them.For me, a camping knife needs to be just sharp enough to do camping chores and be able to baton/split wood, and maybe do some occasional hacking and maybe just enough chopping so that I can snap a branch by stepping on it. Other than that, I don't know or care much about the type of steel used, how well it holds an edge, etc. etc. Most camping knives fit that bill......so if you're looking for a blade review about steel quality, holding an edge, combat, stop here, this review won't help.Other things I can talk about regarding camping knives since I've been heading out regularly, and things that have evolved for me over time include:- Full tine. I get it now...full tine is a must.- No serrated portion to the knife. A lot of hard core campers will disagree with me, and that's okay. I'm sure they're right and I'm wrong. But for me, serrated edges are much more trouble to maintain than they're worth for the very basic chores I do.- No weird notches. I've had two blades now with funky notches along the non-blade side of a single sided blade knife (e.g. belt cutting, etc.) this creates a weak point along the blade, and...it snaps. I kid you not...it really snaps....crazy, I know.- 3/16" is plenty thick enough for my uses, even splitting wood.- solid finger guard to prevent slippage to the blade. Yeah, this is a biggy. For backpacking, anything I can do to avoid any injury is a big deal because even a small injury can become very dangerous very quickly. And when you're 10 miles from your car and 20 miles from the nearest building that might have a first aid kit, even little injuries aren't worth it. Every blade I take into the woods must have some kind of perpendicular guard or shape to prevent fingers sliding forward to the blade.- removable handles. I have had only one situation where I wanted to attach a knife to a long stick, so I admit that this is a rare need, and you can tie a knife to a stick without taking the handles off. But being able to do so, splitting the end of a straight'ish branch a little, and inserting the thinner blade with handles removed and tying it all together....well...the difference in stability is noticeable.- A good sheath....you know, even the cheapest plastic and canvas sheaths with a drain hole work just fine. I attach mine as close to a drop leg setup as possible, but it really doesn't matter, they all work well.The Esee 6 meets all these criteria, and then some.But, the real reason I love this knife?Drum roll please.The micarta handles.I don't know much about handles, but I do know that the hard Glock plastic material, and some other plastics get slippery when wet. Again...injury = bad.The micarta handles do not slip even when wet.They feel like a very fine grain. almost like a surface made with sand, but not as abrasive and skin tearing. Somehow, this knife is reasonably smooth to the touch, but just rough enough that it doesn't slip....It's really rather incredible.But just as importantly, micarta is lighter than I would have expected. Much lighter.The other reason i like the Esee 6 is that, for my uses, I just recently discovered that 6 is the perfect blade length. I have a 9, 7, and 5, and all are great, but all have little disadvantages. The 6" blade with the simple, abuse bearing lines along the blade and the back edge, means I can beat the crap out of this knife and it'll keep on ticking.One last interesting note. The sheath comes in two parts, the belt clip portion and the actual sheath. You can attach the belt clip portion to either side, but it screws on, so just note that once it's on, you won't want to switch the side while out in the field, so think about the rest of your setup and where you want your knife to be before attaching the clip to the sheath.Of all the knives I've purchased as I continue to learn about backpacking, the Esee 6 is by far the most perfect fit.Rock on Esee, I'm impressed.

Ok, for starters this knife deserves more than five stars. It is perfect in every way possible. I am one of those people that just cant usually leave well enough alone and want to personalize/improve on everything i get. Not with this one. The only thing i felt i needed to do was very gently dull the corner of the blade where it meets the choil, because i love to choke up on my blades and the razor sharp edge runs into the choil, which seemed like a good way to get cut.First impression upon opening- the knife itself is larger and lighter somehow than i had imagined. Not in a bad way at all, but i own some five inch fixed blades and this seemed a lot longer (i believe its about 6.5 inch blade length from tip to handle).....the blade itself is .187 at the spine, but this thicness ends about a half inch or so from the handle and drops to more like .125 for the length of the blade to the tip. The tip itself tapers to a very thin point (from a top view), and although it may not apear to be strong i have a feeling really is. I was only able to find one account of a broken tip on the internet thru exhaustive research, but the manufactures warranty is unbelievable.......The warranty basically states that for as long as the blade is in existence (not just the original buyer) if it ever breaks it will be replaced, no questions asked, no reciepts, anything. So fifty years from now my great grandchildren could drive a tank over it and esee will replace it. Amazing.The handle feels incredible, there is no way to describe the perfection of it without holding it yourself. It just feels like an exstension of my body, not something im holding onto, the micarta has an amazing texture, that will only grip better when wet.As far as the seller (knife country usa), i had gotten a little nervous after finding some bad reviews on them, after some digging though it looked to me as if overall they are very good, but had a very busy xmas and due to being overburdened made some mistakes. I had no problems with them at all, and i ordered on a friday, recieved knife 7 days later. It felt a little long to me, but then again i have also been spoiled by amazon prime, im used to placing an order and it shipping hours later. I did send a message to the seller on tue, and they did respond that day, to tell me that mh package shipped. It was sent two day priority usps, which is my least favorite method(usps tracking has a lag and sucks), but it worked out fine.With all that being said, i do believe i have found a knife company that is above all others, top notch. Sure, there are plenty of decent knives and companies out there (even a little more cost effecitve).......but i can promise you this, once you put an esee in your hand, no other knives seem the same anymore. It is a work of art, and perfection at its finest. Worth every penny, and i would trust my life to. There arent too many knives you can say that about with certainty. Next up ill be getting an esee 5, the slightly shorter more badass thicker tank of an esee knife....

AND BUY THIS KNIFE. So I don’t even know where to start as to why I bought this knife... long and short, I mostly wanted a “budget” knife that I could feel ok about working over at camp or in the wild some where. FAILED. I did not want to spend this amount of money for a knife to beat up in the field, but I did and I am SO NOT SORRY. If I had the money right now, I would buy the whole ESEE knife line—all of them for no reason but to just have. I fell in love with this knife immediately... it’s hella sharp and just tears through wood and processes it all with ease. It not only looks cool but it feels really good in the hand—makes you feel like it’s going to work very hard and very well for you. It’s light enough to not get tired using it and heavy enough to get work done. I am a rookie at “survival”/bush craft (I have to call it camping to these city folks out here who think I am crazy) and I was able to manage basic tasks with just the one knife and with confidence that I could handle the blade. PLEASE just spend the money on one high quality knife and you will not be sorry. I’m already eyeballing the PR-4 so I can round off both sides of survival and bushcraft and keep it in the same line of knives. Also, because I watch a few to many YouTube vids, I did a thing...see the pics. The carbon fiber sheath matches the handles! Yeeeeah I am that person. Look why not survive with style?! Plus, I can attach my fire kit to the Titan Survival Cord and feel confident that I can always make fire. Like so..see last pic. Naturally, I am changing the pouch to black, again, style points! Upgraded sheath or not... JUST BUY THIS BLADE.