ESEE 5P Black Tactical Survival Knife w/ Sheath

Purchased this knife awhile back and after some months of having it I have nothing but positive things to say. Bear in mind that I am new to knives or knife collecting. This was my first big purchase as well as my first fixed blade. After weeks of watching YouTube videos review the esee 5 and it's competitors (usually pitted against the Becker bk2 but also compared to other 5" fixed knives) I decided to throw down the money for this knife. I cannot think of anything I don't like about this knife. This seems like the pinnacle of what a survival nice should be. One video review said it's more of a sharpened pry bar and when held in the hand that 1lb of weight really backs that statement up. It actually feels more like a multi use tool rather than just a knife once held. On to specifics; the blade came razor sharp upon arrival. It was popping hairs from my arm. It's amazing how a 1/4" thick piece of steel comes to a such a fine edge. The canvas micarta scales fit my medium hands nicely. They did have a burnt odor the first few days but it wore off. Just something to note but nothing bad. The glass breaker pommel comes to a fine point that I have since dulled by being stupid and trying to break a mirror that's laying flat on the ground. Even with the pommel dulled I have no worries it wouldn't do the job when needed. The coating on this blade is very very durable. I have batoned, stabbed wood and pryed, made feather sticks, chopped, and the only real degradation of the coating is some smoothing of the texture along the blade and some negligible bits at the tip. It is a very good coating. As stated earlier I am new to knives and am not experienced at using a whet stone so the one time I have sharpened it was with a Blade Medic. It's not as sharp as it once was when it came but getting it sharp again was easy. I've read and heard 1095 is easy to sharpen and this blade shows that's true. 1095 steel will also rust very easily. I learned this when I took it on an overnight trip to lost coast trail in California. It began to rain heavily as the knife was hanging from my hip. I can't remember if I covered it with my shirt but when I pulled it out to use it it was dry. After using it I quickly wiped it down and put it back in the sheath. Later I found rust on it still. So the blade requires care in wet/damp conditions. Keep it coated with some sort of lube and keep it very dry. The sheath just seems like top quality. The kydex is scratch resistant and durable. It has been dragged along dirt and rocks from hiking trips and there's no damage worth noting. The knife clicks into this sheath with authority and holds it in very well. The locking screw makes it difficult to pull out. I find this to be a very important safety feature. Without the lock on there's no risk of this knife falling out. You can shake it upside down it will not come out. I think the lock is a great safety feature in the event someone might try to pull it out of the sheath and steal it or even worse use it on you to take it. I imagine the only thing that might happen is it would pull the whole sheath up pulling on your belt. Which brings me to the clip. The belt clip holds very tight and is even a little hard to get off sometimes but I like this because it means it's secure. The esee 5 was designed as a tool to help downed pilots in South America. That being said this is a survival knife. This is not a bushcraft knife. Understand that if you purchase this knife it will not be the best bushcraft knife. It will not be the best chopper or have the sharpest edge possible on a knife or be the best tactical knife or whatever you can think of. However, this knife will do anything you could ask from a knife well enough to get the job done and not likely break. It is a hard use survival tool. About the warranty; this knife may be expensive but the warranty is so attractive you almost have to buy them. You can deliberately break this knife, send it back, and they will replace it. It can be sold 10 times and the warranty still transfers. A no questions asked warranty? Where else do you find that? This speaks volumes to how much Esee and Randall stands behind their knives. Overall this tank is a knife. I say it that way because this thing is just so robust, sturdy, and dependable. I feel, even as I continue to collect more knives, this knife will always be one I would unquestioningly think of first in any emergency. I trust this knife with my life. Guess that makes me an Esee fan boy now.

So I spent a long time looking at knives. My main purpose for this knife was for disaster survival for a period of up to 1 month. I figure, if help doesn't come in 1 month, then I'm toast anyway. I don't have much experience with knives, nor with surviving in the wilderness, but I did a bunch of reading online - okay roll your eyes now. I received the knife very quickly and am very impressed with it. It seems very well made, with good grips and a great sheath. Sheath also has a nice locking tab, and nice, offset belt-clip. Just slide it in, click, and it's done. No need to fasten straps. No finger choil, but I've got smaller knives I can use for detailed stuff. So obviously there's a ton of recirculated stuff on this subject going around out there. Some say it's too thick. I wanted the thickest knife I could find that was still useful as a knife. Why? I've heard you can use a knife to embed into a tree and use as a step to get to higher branches. This seems possible to me and would be a very useful thing in a survival situation (coyotes around and family needing to spend a night in the woods/up in a tree). In this situation, you want the strongest knife around. 1/4" thickness - check. Also I've heard of someone using a knife to pop open a car door (they were an emergency responder at a car accident site, and it was the only thing they had, and it worked) - again, you would need the strongest blade you have. Obviously a crowbar or something else would suit better, but in a survival situation, you've got to make-do. I do understand these situations are very rare, but it's a survival knife. I also looked around my neighborhood, and it's conceivable I would need to break into a building (for shelter, screams from within, etc.) and it occurs to me this knife's thickness would also be helpful for that. It also has a butt-spike which can break glass more easily. Again, rare situations in most cases. Some say it's too crude to do slicing. It may be, but I also have a Morakniv and a couple of good stainless folders (RAT I and RAT II), so I should be good for the smaller camp-type needs. These blades are also stainless, so this covers the next issue ... Some talk about it rusting. So it can rust fairly easily is what I've read. It seems like a rusted blade doesn't really affect anything you are likely to use this knife for. You probably won't use it to eat, and the rust isn't going to destroy the blade in a short period of time (like in a survival situation of up to a month). I don't plan on living in the wilderness for years with just this knife, so I am not really bothered by the rusting issue. In a survival situation, you may not have your Tuff-Cloth with you, so you would need to just live with this. It's also usable for batoning. I guess I can see the need to baton wood, and as long as this is capable of this, I'm okay. Is it as good as a bowie knife or axe? Probably no, but it's a survival knife. I also considered the Becker BK22, which is a fine choice as well. I wanted a nice sheath, and liked the design of this sheath, and if you factor in the cost of the BK22 and a kydex sheath, then it's about the same. Plus, I don't need to modify the grips on the ESEE. I've read that the BK22 is a better chopper due to the curve on the butt of the grip, but the ESEE 5 is probably okay if you use the lanyard for an additional tethering for a long grip. Again, it's probably not the BEST, but okay for this role. I considered the Fallkniven A1, and it's a superfine knife from the looks of it. I didn't like having to deal with a convex curve to the blade, and for that reason I didn't choose it. It would be nice to have a stainless blade, though. So, those were the main reasons I chose this knife. I am very happy with the choice so far. Again, I've no experience in these things, so take all I've said above with that in mind. If I was using it for camping mostly, then it seems like the ESEE-6 is the better choice for that role due to it being longer and flatter.

Update - the ESEE-5 is the better buy than the Becker BK-2, IF you plan to level the playing field by getting the Becker Micarta scales, and modifying the Becker (at least old version) Kydex sheath, by adding a Tek-Lok and getting rid of the ridiculous huge floppy nylon belt loop. Out of the box, the ESEE-5 provides the better experience and simply handles with more agility than the BK-2. Keep in mind I am talking about using the knife as a knife -- not as a pry bar, nor as a hammering wedge to split wood (batoning), although no doubt both knives could perform this dubiously appropriate task with similar results. Bottom line, ESEE 5 is a solid, satisfying knife that provides a great out-of-the box experience with no upgrades or tweaks required. If you are OK with the basic Grivory/plastic scales on the BK2 and the sheath limitations, then go that route if price alone is your only concern. Compared to the similar Becker BK-2, the experience in hand with the ESEE 5 is significantly better. Better balance, handling, and better OEM canvas Micarta scales. Superior handling to the BK-2 with the Becker after-market Micarta scales. Pluses for the ESEE 5: Better grip and handling, slightly better sheath, jimping on blade that BK-2 does not have (this is a significant difference). Pluses for BK-2: Cheaper. Default plastic/Kydex sheath is fully acceptable once the nylon belt loop is cut off and replaced with a Tek-Lok. Bottom line: The ESEE-5 is the better knife. Buy the BK-2 if price is your only consideration. That is not to suggest the BK-2 is an inferior knife; the ESEE-5 is just better, although you get what you pay for.

Trasuda qualità! Ero un pò scettico sull'acciaio usato, ma devo dire che il trattamento termico è veramente fatto bene e la ritenuta del filo è molto buona. L'unica pecca, se vogliamo chiamarla così, è che pesa parecchio ma a conti fatti con questa bestia ci si può anche abbattere un albero. La lama ha una costruzione full tang con uno spessore impressionante; inizialmente credevo che proprio per lo spessore non avesse una punta "usabile" ma tutto sommato il disegno gli rende onore e compie il suo dovere egregiamente. Dulcis in fundo, il fodero in kydex è fatto a regola d'arte. Il braccio che regge la clip invece è in plastica non proprio robustissima, motivo per cui credo che lo sostituirò a breve con qualcosa di artigianale. Le placche del manico in micarta sono letteralmente perfette, simmetriche e non hanno nessun gap nell'accostamento al dorso della lama. consigliatissimissimo! occhio solo al peso...

Tolles Outdoormesser, was schon lange auf meiner Wunschliste war. Es ist grundsolide jedoch durch die 6,5mm dicke Klinge recht schwer und eher für große Hände geeignet. Ich bin 100% zufrieden. Was man auf jeden Fall wissen muss ist, dass man anders als auf dem Produktbild ein Esee 5 bekommt auf dem das Esee-Logo (wie auf den Griffschalen) und nicht das Logo mit den gekreuzten Klingen und dem Totenkopf auf der Klinge eingelasert ist. Die Griffschalen haben kein Logo. Für mich überhaupt nicht schlimm aber für manch anderen ja vielleicht doch von Belang.

L’ESEE 5, c’est du costaud : solide, fiable, tranchant et pensé pour durer. Je l’utilise pour tout, sans jamais faillir. C’est le genre de couteau qu’on garde toute sa vie… et même après. Un compagnon indestructible et indispensable !

This thing is a beast. The first thing that stands out is the weight, makes my SRK feel like a pocket knife lol. Feels great in the hand, no hot spots. Haven't tried battoning yet but I'm sure the quarter inch blade will go through wood like a champ. I really like the sheath too, fits perfectly. If this is the kind of knife you're looking for, you won't be disappointed. Awesome.

Comme le titre l'indique si bien ! Pour celui qui veut le couteau ultime, fiable, et sans compromis, c'est le parfait outil. C'est le couteau de survie, et avec: Etui Kydex, Made USA. À ça la garantie Esee: Sans contre partie, à vie, c'est le gage de confiance. Ça sera le parfait compagnon sur lequel on peut compter dans toutes situations. Pour ceux qui sont connaisseurs, lame plate semelle, acier 1095 (le 1095 demande un peu d'entretien), mais c'est l'un des meilleurs compromis en acier. Et comme à son habitude, les lames Esee sortie de boite sont rasoir. Mon Esee 5 est accompagné du Esee Izula 2 qui me sert de petit couteau pour les petites taches d'appoints. Un couteau Esee est un choix qui nous accompagne pour la vie. En tout cas je suis vraiment content de mon choix.