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.

Having had this knife long enough now to put it through it's paces, I'm happy to report that it's all it's said to be in the various forums, videos and articles. I think the size of this knife is ideal for bushcrafting and camping tasks such as batoning, making feather sticks and preparing kindling. It has a longer blade than the Esee 5 and weighs less with a 3/16 wide blade as opposed to the Esee 5's brawny 1/4 blade. There is no such thing as "the perfect knife for every task" any more than there's a one perfect rifle for every hunt. The Esee 6 does however fill a size slot that allows it to perform most tasks fairly well. Ideally you would have an axe, a large knife and a small knife with you for a variety of camp chores, but for weight savings on a packing trip or hunt, this one knife can serve well in quite a few capacities. The 1095 steel comes razor sharp out of the bag, and holds an edge well and is still easy to sharpen when needed.This is my first knife with Micarta handles, and as advertised, they get grippier when they get wet! That said, I would prefer a bit more aggressive finish since the majority of the time I'll be using mine with dry hands. I'm planning to take a small round file to the grips on mine and file some cross running grooves to improve on the smooth grips as they come. I also ground off a small section of the blade coating just ahead of the jimping on the blade spine for striking ferrocerium rods or magnesium fire starters. A little gun smith's "cold blue" hides the appearance of the bare steel and offers a small amount of protection against rust. Some people are not fans of the plastic sheath, but I consider it's light weight, ability to shed water along with it's drain hole, and good retention of the knife to be the qualities I want. While leather is unquestionably nicer looking, bad weather conditions bring out it's faults, and a high carbon knife like this ( even with it's coating ) is better off in a polymer sheath. At a current price of about $140 with the sheath, this knife isn't inexpensive, but considering it's performance I'd say it's an excellent value!

Muy buen cuchillo, es grande, viene muy afilado, yo soy zurdo y puedo configurar la funda para traer el cuchillo del lado izquierdo, de excelente calidad todo!

Robust blade. Great care was taken in the construction. Lives up to the reputation.

Gran bel coltello consiglio

Tamaño adecuado. Acero polivalente y bien recubierto. Cachas diseñadas pra ser usadas, no para ser bonitas.En fin. El cuchillo que me llevaría a cualquier lado

Sehr geiles, stabiles und scharfes Messer ... auf jeden fall wieder .. wobei ich wahrscheinlich nie wieder ein neues Brauchen werde