Woot! They are out in the wild. I have two on the way, counting down. TKC will hopefully be sending me them shortly.
At least you finally have the date you wanted. Start planning the trips and uses for it now so you wont run out of things to do with it.
No worries....I wanted to give a detailed response not just for you but for the benefit of everyone....I do my best to answer as many questions as possible BEFORE they are asked when I can....
Now that I'm back from Germany I'm seeing them pop up in the wild....looking forward to getting some feedback....
Mine has arrived. It came with this nifty machete that some sticker company called EXPAT made. It was weird opening the box. Box was smaller than I expected, especially if it has 2 of the Gibson axes and a Sticker company machete in it. Opening the box the axes were well packaged by TKC. I'm a bit underwhelmed. Very well made, Handle is interesting. Holds well. Swings small logs into tinder nicely. The ridges seemed to make hotspots in the hand. Will smooth the handles a little bit likely.... or wait for TKC to make some custom ones. I just... It seems smaller than I was expecting. I would love to see Esee make this about 25% larger and longer. Same thickness, with the same handle. Just make it a bit bigger. Other than the size feeling small to me. I like it overall.
Carving axes are much smaller than normal. It would be cool for them to start making a medium and large axe though.
Overall Length: 10.5" Head Width: 4.5" Thickness: .188" Weight: 20.5 Ounces 1095 High Carbon Steel, 55-57 Rc. Finish: Black Oxide Stone Washed Handles: Sculptured Micarta Sheath: Leather Made in the U.S.A. For other folks wondering about the size here are the specs off the website.
I had seen the specs before, but I was still surprised how small it was in hand. However, it performs much better than the size would suggest and it fits perfectly in my pack, so I am still quite happy with it.