ESEE Knives ESEE-5PB-002 Fixed Blade Knife vs Ontario Knife Company SP-2

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?!)

The knife is nice. Paint scrapes off, so I had to grind it away; as in the picture. The knife is durable, to the extent I can use it like a hatchet. I do recommend grinding away the paint

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 bumped the rating to 3 stars because the knife should have came sharp, or be sold as a blank or factory second. Why stand in front of a belt sander if not to sharpen the knife? You might me lucky and get the HAIR SPLITTER knife. Have a true sharpener ready to go though

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.

Overall a decent knife for the price. Given the choice between this and the Ontario 499 survival knife I actually prefer the 499. Pros: Blade is exactly what I expected, very similar to the 499. Sheath is pretty good, though I'm not a fan of the vertical stripes on it - just don't see the point

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.

Great weight and balance. Yes you will need to sharpen the knife. The sheath in the picture is homemade.

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

I like this knife. i really like how thick the blade is and especially with 1095 carbon steel. It has the same steel as my USMC Ka-Bar but i'm not comparing this to the superior Ka-bar knife, but its a well made knife. This is an exceptionally well made survival military knife for 26

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)

One of the two I bought had a defect where the handle was molded off center around the tang. The other was fine and I did Amazon exchange for exact same item, they sent me out another one the same day. The second one arrived with no issues. OKC isnt known for precision, fit, and finish

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.

It isn’t, but no biggie as I can easily sharpen it. The sheath and build are good quality, which is more important because those can be harder to fix problems.