ESEE Knives

[vivi]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

[kennethsime]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

Hey Vivi,

I've always wanted to pickup a model 6 and a model 4 together. The new (to me) HM models look really cool, but I think I really prefer a choil, especially on the larger model 6. What do you think? Do you ever miss the choil on the 6HM?

Also, what multi-tool is that in your picture?

[vivi]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

Hey Vivi,

I've always wanted to pickup a model 6 and a model 4 together. The new (to me) HM models look really cool, but I think I really prefer a choil, especially on the larger model 6. What do you think? Do you ever miss the choil on the 6HM?

Also, what multi-tool is that in your picture?

That's a Leatherman Rebar. Pretty light for such a feature packed multi, nice for camping trips.

I never miss the choil. The HM handle lets me get just as close as I could with a choil, but gives me more room to move my hand around. It's nice being able to adjust my grip a little bit in either direction instead of being limited to two main grips; in the choil or behind it.

[Evil D]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

You don't find the edge to be on the thick side? I've looked at a few of their larger folders, and granted I'm sure they are indestructible, they also don't seem like they're good for much more than chopping unless you thin them out.

[vivi]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

You don't find the edge to be on the thick side? I've looked at a few of their larger folders, and granted I'm sure they are indestructible, they also don't seem like they're good for much more than chopping unless you thin them out.

ESEE's stock edges are too thick, but so are the edges from pretty much any other company.



Both knives shipped with edges that were plain bad, but with the edges I gave them they cut nicely.

That thick factory edge was garbage for chopping actually. Wanted to bounce more than bite. With a thin, sharp edge, the 6HM is surprisingly close to my hatchet in terms of chopping efficiency, while being small and light enough to not feel overly cumbersome for slicing.

[Pancake]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

Viviiiiiii! I got a question for you. Do you have any idea how thick could Esee 4 HM is behind the edge?
I like this knife, but I also like knives that are max 0.025 BTE.

Was thinking about Winkler belt knife....then I saw one post that it is around 0.05 BTE.....that is thiccccck boy

[ThomC]

Brought my ESEE 6 with me for an overnighter in some wooded wilderness.



I've been carrying my Street Bowie instead the past few trips. Forgot how good the handle on the 6HM feels!

Viviiiiiii! I got a question for you. Do you have any idea how thick could Esee 4 HM is behind the edge?
I like this knife, but I also like knives that are max 0.025 BTE.

Was thinking about Winkler belt knife....then I saw one post that it is around 0.05 BTE.....that is thiccccck boy

I have pretty much the same question. I just bought a Ka-Bar Turok, but it is relatively large and I have a 4HM on hold from a very nice seller. The stock is thick but I was hoping the edge was thinner that the standard model.

[vivi]

I don't have calipers. Every ESEE I've purchased, including the 6, came with an edge that was too thick for my preferences.

But the same can be said for all my Spyderco fixed blades to be fair.

The worst offender for me were my Landi fixed blades. Incredible value for the money, but the edges were bad enough I lost interest in buying them. All of mine shipped dull and THICK, at least 25 degrees per side. The steel is A2 at 61 RC, which was a lot tougher to grind than the soft 1095 in ESEE's.

It's a problem with most any knife, but especially fixed blades, since they're supposed to be burly tough guy knives. My beloved Street Beat had a bad edge too. It was sharp and could cut, but boy was it thick for a pocket sized fixed blade.

The 6HM cuts really well with a reprofiled edge. It's a good all around knife. Enough heft to do some minor chopping to clear up overgrown trails and baton to your hearts content, but light enough you'll still carry it. Can handle food prep and wood carving easily, especially if you choke up on the handle as much as you can.

One of these days I'll get around to shooting a new video so you can compare edge performance to the video I did with a stock edge.

The HM series is really good as long as you don't mind putting your own edge on it. The soft 1095 grinds fast.

[bearfacedkiller]

This entire category of knives is based on being grenade proof. They have soft steel, thick edges and obtuse 40 degree bevels. You cannot expect a knife to be a slicer when the company pretty much challenges you to break it. You can drop the edge to 30 degrees and that will help a little but that is not gonna change the rest of the geometry. Edge thickness and edge bevel angle are often conflated for reasons that I still don’t understand.

I am more of a fan of the Becker lineup than Esee but in many ways they are very similar. I just put a 30 degree on them and use them hard, like they were designed to be used. If you want a slicer look elsewhere. :)

[vivi]

This entire category of knives is based on being grenade proof. They have soft steel, thick edges and obtuse 40 degree bevels. You cannot expect a knife to be a slicer when the company pretty much challenges you to break it. You can drop the edge to 30 degrees and that will help a little but that is not gonna change the rest of the geometry. Edge thickness and edge bevel angle are often conflated for reasons that I still don’t understand.

I am more of a fan of the Becker lineup than Esee but in many ways they are very similar. I just put a 30 degree on them and use them hard, like they were designed to be used. If you want a slicer look elsewhere. :)

This is true, an ESEE will never be the slicer an L T Wright will be. But a 6HM with a vivified edge is a good all arounder. It can dice a potato, peel an apple, baton a log, chop through small branches and even be thrown into old tree stumps.

Want a dedicated slicer? Get something thinner in harder steel. Dedicated chopper? Get an axe. But if you want a tool that can do a pretty good job of both those tools, you could do a lot worse :)

[bearfacedkiller]

I agree which is why I own a pile of KaBar/Becker blades. They are good tools but they are what they are. The 6HM is on my wish list if I don’t end up with BHK Highlander. Of course the Highlander costs twice as much.

[Pancake]

Thank guys for the info.

Not sure if I am going to the Esee 4 HM route...I think I am going to order custom one from made maker.

[benben]

Thank guys for the info.

Not sure if I am going to the Esee 4 HM route...I think I am going to order custom one from made maker.

The overall dimensions, handle/scales, and blade profile of a 4HM with 3V, M4, or Cru-wear would probably be my perfect fixed blade!

[PeaceInOurTime]

[kennethsime]

Thank guys for the info.

Not sure if I am going to the Esee 4 HM route...I think I am going to order custom one from made maker.

The overall dimensions, handle/scales, and blade profile of a 4HM with 3V, M4, or Cru-wear would probably be my perfect fixed blade!

Sal has brought up the idea of a Cruwear Proficient with Micarta scales. I'm waiting on this before I pickup a 4HM or 6HM.

[ladybug93]

i'd really like the new xancudo. i love the budget-friendly zancudo folder. it's really a comfortable knife in hand. a fixed blade version would make a great neck knife for camp chores.

[SpyderGrill]

i'd really like the new xancudo. i love the budget-friendly zancudo folder. it's really a comfortable knife in hand. a fixed blade version would make a great neck knife for camp chores.

I like the Zancudo folder also. I also have the larger Avispa. My only complaint on it is the pocket clip rests on the frame lock in tip up, right carry.

[ladybug93]

i'd really like the new xancudo. i love the budget-friendly zancudo folder. it's really a comfortable knife in hand. a fixed blade version would make a great neck knife for camp chores.

I like the Zancudo folder also. I also have the larger Avispa. My only complaint on it is the pocket clip rests on the frame lock in tip up, right carry.

i have two zancudos and an avispa. i’ve found that you can push the clip over onto the frame and hold it there while tightening the screws down and it will stay off the lock bar. they are really amazing budget knives. they make me question spending so much on other brands. shh...

[Sumdumguy]

I have an ESEE 3, I bought YEARS ago. I personally think it's one of the worst knives I've ever owned. It holds an edge for seconds and then it's a butterknife. Bleh!

It lives in the glovebox, just incase I need to dig a hole, or pry something. Haha. It's great, as long as you don't need to cut anything.

[Naperville]

What Spyderco should make is a 4V, Esee Junglass.