I've never taken any of the RAT training classes but would like to one of these days. For those of you that have taken any of the survival/bushcraft classes, do most of the participants bring ESEE knives to the class, and which knives are the most common? Have you seen any knives perform well that surprised you, or have you seen any fail that you thought would do well?
Ive taken a couple classes and have not seen any failures. Ive seen some folks that regretted their choices but nothing destructive.
Any common themes with the ones who regretted their choices, like too big, too small, too thick/thin, etc...?
Thats exactly it. All those. Its buying what you think will be perfect but when it comes to using it for a certain purpose you see its drawbacks. Ive got several knives i like for specific tasks. Also, when learning woods craft you got to get out there and use everyones knife to find that one true perfect fit.
I’ve seen a variety of different knifes at every class I’ve been to. Not just ESEE. They don’t judge you if you bring another brand. (I used a mora for most of the survival class.) I did see one knife break in half when batoned but I don’t remember what it was. I want to say it was a Bear Grylls, but not sure. If I had to do the survival class again I would definitely bring an ESEE 3 or 4. In my opinion it would have been a solid performer for the tasks I remember doing.
If you are going the ESEE route then, in my opinion, the PR4 is hard to beat for a campcraft class. About anything in the lineup 3+” is a solid performer. The 5 is probably the poorest performer in current Campcraft trends.
If/when I take a class I would probably bring and ESEE 6, but possibly a 4hm. Those are the only ESEE's I have, and also the only knives I'd consider out of my current collection. Thanks for the replies.