Esee knives

[Acm]

Does anyone have any experience with Esee knives? After a bit of a general beater, and these look quite tough. Keen to hear owners thoughts.

 

[bowji john]

I have 3 - They are fairly rugged with a micro bevel so easy to sharpen; oh and a life times warranty

They are a fairly practical tool

 

[Cottis]

Yep, I have a little CR2.5 which is a brute for such a small knife. I am no fan of stainless for a tool and prefer carbon steel and these knives have good build quality and thick spines relative to their overall dimensions.

I use mine mostly for rabbit and pigeon breasting duties. Fine for small deer but probably not larger (although we don't have them so no idea) I reprofiled mine as their design is mostly bushcrafty and the bevel was too steep for my liking. It is now very very sharp but still a great enough angle to hold up really well.

I imagine they would be very useful knives out the box for beating on.

 

[Nugs]

I have an Esee 3, great little knife that is a little more 'Bushcrafter' than 'Hunter'.
Have used on Roe occasionally, and as Bowji john says, attains and holds a good edge.

 

[Sierra]

I have an ESEE 3. Good knife and has traveled the world with me, seeing some hard use. I have used it for roe and boar. Holds a good edge for skinning but the belly is a bit wide for initial cuts especially on smaller species.

It's not the best for deer by any stretch but will do the job. I won't be getting rid of mine any time soon and would be pretty p***** if I lost it.

ESEE 4 is also good but way too thick in my opinion. Would be far better & more manageable being half the thickness, but it is purposed as a bushcraft type knife.

 

[Klenchblaize]

They are big in the Bushcraft Community and from the many MCQBUK videos I've seen they may be considred fit for pupose.

Thickness of blade as mentioned above is important in a deerstalking knife as is the profile so make sure you get one in your hand before purchase.

K

 

[TundB]

I use a ESEE 4 on almost everything from butchering a whole deer to splitting woods and i can't complain.
Good looking, quality and more importantly durable knives.

 

[Klenchblaize]

I use a ESEE 4 on almost everything from butchering a whole deer to splitting woods and i can't complain.
Good looking, quality and more importantly durable knives.

Not going to argue with that beyond asserting the depth of that blade can be no friend when undertaking the so-called "tunnelling" work that's a Best Practice driven prerequisite of in-the-field deer evisceration.

Indeed it is this single aspect of evisceration that appears to inform the current design in deerstalking knives.

K

 

[Acm]

I use a cael for most deer work but find myself less inclined to want to do other knife jobs like cutting string, opening bags, bales and sacks and general outdoor work. It’s also quite a specialized shape. When I travel I tend to take a knife with me and want something as a bit of an all rounder for that too. I’m thinking the esee’s look a good bit of kit to have in a rucksack. Could do a deer if needs be but also fine to thrash.
I remember moose hunting in Sweden back in 2017 and one of the guys left camp Early for the day taking his axe. I had a fallkniven f1 with me and managed to prep enough firewood to take with me for the day and ever since have always felt the need to carry a strong knife. Could never get on with the edge geometry of the fallkniven though. Hence looking at esee, thanks for all the input guys

 

[eldon]

It depends on what you actually want it for?

I have an Esee Izula 11 and find its a great size and sheath for use as a neck knife for odd jobbing and the occasional deer.

For more deer focused use however I prefer the Casstrom Safari.

Both knives are excellent quality products at fairly reasonable prices.

 

[TundB]

Not going to argue with that beyond asserting the depth of that blade can be no friend when undertaking the so-called "tunnelling" work that's a Best Practice driven prerequisite of in-the-field deer evisceration.

Indeed it is this single aspect of evisceration that appears to inform the current design in deerstalking knives.

K

Hi Klenchblaize,

Sorry this is my opinion but i wouldn't go any blade lenght shorter than 4 inch outdoors. I've had shorter ones also longer ones over 25 years and i found 4 inch is the best for me. Everyone has their own way to gralloch as long as it's safe and hygienic. I've never needed any gralloching knife with a little bit care or keeping index finger on tip of the knife.
I've got relatives owning a big herd of cattle and sheeps who also slaughter and butcher them by themselves. I've never seen them changing different type of knifes for different processes nor puncturing stomach and intestines nor cutting themselves.

I also see many professional guides using Moras with around 4 inch blade in the field.

I don't like carrying too much stuff with me outdoors so one knife for all for me.

 

[Overlay]

Roe and Muntie I use a little Alan Wood blade, it’s a good all rounder, but I use a little upside down blade / unzipper to ease the gralloch out in one piece with No damage to the inside, Nothing worse than a toooooo bigger blade inside a beast cutting and slashing, for me it takes the shine of a good gralloch if the ribs / straps are damaged, fit the blade for the job