@Patrick Rollins and I met up with @Mike Perrin outside of Knoxville yesterday and toured Mike's personal shop where many of our sewn goods begin life in the prototype phase....We got to see a LOT of history, prototypes from the early days, and projects that never made it to production...Over the next few days I will be posting more pics and stories of our beginnings...I'm also posting on social media and welcome you to share your ESEE Roots as well.. Maybe Jeff and Mike will chime in as well.. Roots-the basic cause, source, or origin of something. Over the next few days we will be posting a series of pics that tell you more about our origin as a company. Our roots. The knife you are looking at belonged to. A member of the Peruvian Army that taught jungle survival for many years. This knife was one of our first production blades and it spent many years in the jungle before we were finally about to trade him a new one for it. It’s been sharpened on cinder blocks, river stones, and anything he could find. It’s speaks volumes to our design philosophy, Steel choice, and Rowen. It is an original #beateresee More walks down memory lane over the next few days.
Feel free to share your ESEE Roots as well....tell us where your walk with ESEE began and pics are encouraged... I'll go first....I've spent a lot of time outside doing things from Endurance MTB rides, Adventure Racing, and basic backpacking. I also got into Competitive shooting for a while and took numerous classes (mostly defensive pistol/carbine classes). My first class at RAT was in 2014 and it was a Parent/Child class...I brought my sons and some another buddy and he brought his kids as well..it was a great way to meet the ESEE/RAT cadres and a good time.....after that class I knew I had found a new training home. After this course I get a little confused on the Timeline but I took Land Navigation, Protective Ops and finally Field Survival. Patrick also came to my bike shop and we put together a Mountain Bike Survival Class for some of my customers that focus on LONG SOLO trips into back woods on 2 wheels...it was an awesome class. As a former teacher and business owner I was always drawn the the humility and knowledge of the cadre and their willingness to teach AND LEARN....this is a sentiment I have an even deeper appreciation for now as I have personally witnessed the continued evolution and constant studying that @Patrick Rollins , @Jeff Randall , and @Mike Perrin put in.... Having gone thru Field Survival on both sides of the equation both as student and Cadre....I'm still not sure which is harder....lol.. These are my ESEE/RAT roots.....Let's hear yours.
My roots go back a couple of years with ESEE. As I started to get more serious about hunting and camping I very quickly realized I needed a knife that could be trusted. After pouring through the internet I found ESEE and this forum. It was the no BS warranty and the seriousness that training was key that drew me closer to them. I signed up and started to get active on the old forum. After awhile of taking advice and testing myself I felt I was ready to take a field survival. It was miserable but amazing all at the same time. I finally met the ESEE team and felt immediately at home with them. There was a professionalism to the training and a very tangible sense that these guys have been there. As many will tell you that one ESEE class leads to many more and many more knives as well. At some point in all of that Jeff, Patrick, Hugh and Shane became family to me. We talk and help each other out. So when Jeff asked me if I would be a moderator I told him yes. What I expected was to help out Jeff and make his vision clear. We talked about what he was wanting with the moderators and soon we put the plan in place. Many of you know when we changed the rules it was an adjustment. Trust me it wasn't easy for anyone. The goal to make a professional forum that didn't have the drama that plagues so many places is not an easy task. Weve certainly made mistakes and no one is perfect. What we all want is clear in our minds. A place where a student can come and get a start in ropes work or survival skills. A place where ideas can be generated. A place where the like minded can call home. Its far from perfect but we are very pleased with what has happened on here. The moderators that I work very close with all have the same vision and that is difficult to find. In all honesty, I would have no roots in the forum if it wasn't for moderators like Andy and DJ. Both have been a huge part in making this place what it is. Both work tirelessly behind the scenes. Thats my ESEE story.
Awesome @Strigidae .. Thanks for what you and the rest of the MOD team does here for us....Lots of work going on behind the scenes that NO ONE ever sees or knows that goes on.... Thanks for sharing your #eseeroots !!! Who's next.
My ESEE Roots, While I was stationed in Kodiak AK I had a Kershaw Rescue that was issued at my first unit (great knife, still have it). But that wouldnt suffice for Cold Weather Survival School. So I went into town and walked into Mac's Sporting good and started to browse the knife selection. Mostly "grandpa" knives and some overly tactical velcro underwear knives. I wasnt digging it and almost gave up until I saw it. A six inch, coated, black blade, grey (at the time) handles, with red liners. As soon as it was placed into my hands there was a flash of light, probably a car in the parking lot or something, but I knew this was it. A month later I was in survival school, cold, soaked up to my nuts, standing on a snow covered beach, holding a zip lock bag full of random crap but at least I had my knife. Spent the week building a shelter and a fire. Ate sushi and a few snails. Overall, great hotel. Fast forward to 2 years later I was in Savannah GA, about as opposite of Alaska as you can get, I got ahold of a 5 and then a Junglas. About this time FB knife trading groups were really taking off. So of course I looked up ESEE Knives and joined that rag tag bunch of heathens. Been there ever since. Ive met great people on that page and killed lots of whiners. In Savannah I learned alot about SE coastal living, camping, stealth camping, evading DOI agents, you know ESEE stuff. But thats really where i got to love ESEE. Over the years I've continued to GO OUTSIDE every chance i get, hone skills, learn skills, pass on skills and just generally enjoy the outdoors. Ive helped Douglas Mauro, Daniel Cano, and Jeff Reed admin the FB ESEE KNIVE Group.
Thanks for that @BackwooodsNomad !! For those that do NOT know he is one of our excellent team of Mods on our Official ESEE Knives FB Group... Lot's of good stuff going on there as well.
Cr2.5 w yhck sheath #1 by Jacob Peterson posted Jan 14, 2018 at 8:38 PM My Esee Roots- I had used various brands of knives since being a kid. The first knife I ever bought with my own $ was an American made Cold Steel True Flight Thrower that I got an original bladetech kydex sheath down the road from me in like... 98? Anyways fast forward through my time in the military, a combat deployment, then getting out of the military and getting married... I used a lot of brands, and came to enjoy some, and hate many. One thing that I always came back to is "why are "Bushcraft tasks" done with a 4-5" blade when a 2" blade would work for 99% of them..." Then the Cr2.5 came out. I knew about Esee, but had never really used one, all I knew was that I had Beckers, and the Esee guys always talked about how much better Esee's were for reasons I couldn't see, but when the Cr2.5 came out, I jumped right on it, it made too much sense. Once I started carrying it, I fell in love with it, and realized that Esee, to my surprise, actually made more knives than just the Izula, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Junglas. Interesting! I enjoyed the Cr2.5 for quite some time (I still do) through all manner of adventures and shooting classes, etc, using the blade as my edc, when the Pr4 and J2 came out. Man, I was hot for both! I got them, and that's where things got... interesting. Esee J2 vs pine tree by Jacob Peterson posted Jan 15, 2018 at 3:32 PM Esee J2 vs pine tree 2 by Jacob Peterson posted Jan 15, 2018 at 3:34 PM Esee j2 & pr4 feathersticks by Jacob Peterson posted Jan 15, 2018 at 1:03 PM I was getting ready to do my review on the J2, and I started batoning some firewood like I always do... but this time things were different. This wasn't your normal firewood that everybody enjoys to split, this was the stuff that those annoying people online always tend to talk about. The "you couldn't do that with the wood round here" type folks. This was fantasy, epic grade stuff. I pounded on a single piece of it with a massive baton for 4 hours one night without splitting it. I was sure it could be done... But I needed to call in some help. The next day, my buddy Justin Vititoe came over to give me a hand, undoubtedly thinking I was a pus. We were determined to get it through this piece of wood, and our efforts got a little more ridiculous about every 10 minutes. Two full grown, 200lbs veterans stumped by a... stump. It was at this point that Justin and I threw in the rag, and decided to pull the knife out. We took bets on what the knife would do- I said it would pop back true like nothing had ever happened, he said it was definitely broken. He was right. Other than this tear in the edge though, the ole girl was true, and it was still SHARP. I contacted Shane Adams and kinda told him the situation. Although I AM totally at fault for what happened, it wasn't my intention. Justin and I are stubborn people, and things just... spiraled out of control. Shane's response was exactly what I wanted to hear. "Just keep using it, how far can it go before it breaks the rest of the way, you can't just stop surviving if your knife breaks" (paraphrasing) So... then Justin and I got more ridiculous. Much more ridiculous. We hung from the knife, we beat it directly into trees, we batoned, we chopped... the knife was ALREADY BROKEN, and we couldn't kill it! It still did feather sticks, had a great edge, etc etc etc. I am not happy with my next decision. We ended up murdering the knife by driving it directly into a stump, then smashing down a massive rock on top of it... it worked the third try. The knife still didn't break from the original tear. Esee became legendary to me when I saw what it would take in a survival situation to kill one. I want my reviews and my IG to remain... unbranded, un influenced, and honest. I feel self conscious with how much Esee content I put out, how many pictures I post, how every video has an Esee in it, but its not because I can be bought, its because I like them THAT much. I carry Esee every day now, and after all this time I have not been let down. The rest is history- I did the Adv Bushcraft at RAT, and I want to do more classes. I have found a community of people either brought together by the same thing that brought me to Esee, or by RAT. Ill leave impressions of other brands out of this thread, but I like Esee because they offer this level of performance, incredible manufacture support, and a culture all of their own, and as an added benefit, they listen to their fan base and are responsive, and today we get to enjoy an Esee brand with diversity that is growing daily. Yup, I went from years of knife use with a favorite brand here and there, and never owning an Esee, to buying 1 Esee, and having my entire outlook changed. First Junglas II Review- Junglas II Batoning Destruction- Esee Junglas II- How long will this broken knife last!?-
