ESEE Knives ESEE-5PB-002 Fixed Blade Knife vs Morakniv Bushcraft Fixed Blade Knife Black

25 inches long, and is a full quarter-inch thick; the blade is a black powder coat that I haven’t been able to test yet, but I’m interested to know how durable it will be over years of use. This thing is heavy. It will cut down small trees and is a little more than I was anticipating. I’m thinking I should have went with the ESEE-4, but won’t be returning it (why return it when I can have both?!)

Mine does not have good retention, its functional, but thats about it. Furthermore, the handle has a rubberized coating, which is comfortable and grippy, but mine is allready wearing simply from pulling the knife out of the sheath. Because of this, my sheath will eventually cease to retain my knife at all, I'm sure. I would have been happy without the rubber coating all together, even if I had to wrap grip tape on the plastic handle

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

I'll keep this as a back up to the Schrade, but only because I already bought it. If I was looking for a back up to the Schrade, I just would've bought another Schrade as this is a few bucks more. Morakniv makes decent blades, then insists on sticking them in terribly made plastic handles and sheaths. This is their downfall, in my mind

This knife is pretty big it's a little too much for every day carry but for camping trips or other outdoor excursions I find it to be perfect size. Just the other day I was gutting some fish and when I went to cut the head off the handle of my kitchen knife snapped right off, I pulled out this knife and it worked like a champ. Yeah the $140 price is up their for just a knife but considering this thing will last longer than me it's worth the money.

If the Black had a reasonably nice leather sheath I'd give it 5 stars. Even without a leather sheath, I don't I should have to pay another 20 or more for the upgraded sheath with ferro rod. Guess I am having a case of buyers remorse and want to help you avoid it.

It's only drawback is that it's a bit heavy. I'll maybe provide an update when I've had the chance to beat the bejeepers out of it.

- It is no thicker than it needs to be in order to retain stiffness. Any thicker than about 3mm, and it's just useless weight. So many knives today are way too thick, probably because people think they need the thing to split logs because they haven't learned the technique of quickly fashioning simple wooden wedges for the job. 3mm is perfect in my opinion

The Rowen powder coat is phenomenally durable. A great deal of batoning has beaten the coat off the spine of my ESEE 3, but there is merely moderate wear along the side of the blade. Be ye not deceived; this is remarkably little wear in light of the abuse the ESEE 3 has taken. While I have been respectful of the cutting edge, I have otherwise been deliberately brutal so that I could report just how tough it is

The steel is 1095 High Carbon with a protective finish (guess what color). The finish is slick and smooth as glass (not thick textured paint and not powder-coat).

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)

My only hangup is the sheath. The sheath body seems to cover more of the handle than necessary, making it a little awkward to unsheathe, with pinky and ring finger first to expose more handle and ultimately the proper grip. The thumb ridges on the sheath is not in the right place for this motion either, so I guess we’re meant to adjust our grip after unsheathing? Also, the rubber is so grippy against the sheath that pushing on the thumb ridges is too much friction. The sheath’s locking action relies on the softer rubber of the handle at the hilt - it wears there almost like a pencil eraser with visible damage to it already on mine

SOLID LOCK! The sheath also has plenty features for teclocks, molle, and paracord. By far, this is one of my favorite fixed blades I use for every hike and camp trips.

That knife is bulletproof and comes with a very well-designed sheath that folds out into a sharpening platform and holds a ferro-rod. The ergonomics are better on this knife but the BG beats it in durability and sheath features.