3 Week Self Imposed 3 Knife Challenge,

Lately, I have been all over the place on knives.
Big knives, small knives, Finnish, Swedish, American,
The same with grinds, Scandi, Flat, Saber, you name it.

Yesterday, I decided to take a different path for a while.
I grabbed 3 ESEE knives.
1. CR2.5
2. 3HM
3. 6HM

I just wanted to see what I could accomplish with just these three blades. Size wise they cover a pretty broad spectrum. I picked these three because I'm pretty sure they can accomplish most if not all of what I need to do.

Honestly, it was a tough choice. I really wanted to include the RB3. I really like that knife. But I wanted to give the Cr2.5 some field time.

Here they are all lined up for comparison,


This could be fun, with some bushcraft tasks,


We did a quick fire, just some small rounds placed vertically.
The 6HM did the honors of making kindling & tinder


Some could be boring ranch type work.

Like the 3HM making quick work of some hose repair.


We may even have some beers together.


***Others are welcome to join in if they so desire.

I have been wanting to try a JG5 and Gibson Axe, as well as acquiring another PR4. (I miss mine)
So if this goes well, I may do it again with a group like that.

This whole experiment is to prove to myself it is the Indian, not the arrow.

Personally, I think the 3HM will see the most use out of this group.
I just got a bunch of meat back from the butcher, so I'm sure there will be some food work.
Maybe some Tarp work, who knows.

***Mods,
If there is a better place for this, please feel free to move it.

We will see how it goes,
LV,

 

Once I had the group assembled, some things became very obvious.

First off, they are all very well finished.
Grinds are pretty even, handles mate well to the spines, they are all grippy.

Next to the 2.5 and the 3HM, the 6HM seems like a really big knife.
But, next to the 6HM and the 3HM, the 2.5 seems like a really small knife.
That leaves the 3HM as the middle ground. No surprise there.

Perspective is a funny thing.
With both at 1/8" (.125") the 3HM seems thin, while the 2.5 seems thick.
If I can find my Caliper, I'll gauge them both.

 

Last night for dinner we had Cube Steak.
I'm typically not a fan of cube steak.
Mostly because the store bought ones arrive like dried out shoe leather and go downhill from there.

These however were different. Fresh off the cow and done by a local butcher who truly cares about his craft.
No photos, but here is how we cooked them.
https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/cubed-steak-with-onion-gravy/

They turned out great, I would highly recommend this recipe.
The 3HM did the slicing.

But more to the point.
This morning for breakfast, the bride took some biscuits, topped them with the left over gravy, and topped that with two over easy eggs. I can't tell you how good this was!

The CR2.5 handled breakfast duty,


Great way to start the day!

 

These 3 knives are good for a lifetime

 

Yesterday's Lunch,

The 3Hm slicing up some cheap prepackaged Liverwurst, greatly enhanced by decent Provolone cheese, and good mustard. All tastefully assembled on a store bought Artisan Roll.


Not finding much Liverwurst in California.

 

Some backyard fire prep with the 3HM,


I have been on a pretty long 0ne strike roll lately. Fluffed jute twine catches well.


Off to the races,


Poser shot of the 6HM.


The 3 did all the work. The 6 was just there for moral support.

And finally, the 2.5 getting ready to divi up some Pork Butt Steaks for dinner.


Pork Butt Steak Recipe for those interested,
https://www.food.com/recipe/wegmans-pork-butt-steaks-212492
Real simple, Montreal Steak Seasoning, and lots of garlic.

Turned out great!
But I really need to order myself some of that "Red Eyed Hog" stuff.

 

Out of the three knives, I find myself reaching for the 3Hm the most.

I started to refill the kindling box for our wood stove, so the 6 got some use there.
Mostly straight grained pine. No issues.

Although, I do need to find/build myself a new baton.
It seems the old one found its way into the fire.
But no one is fessing up.

 

Excellent!
I'm pretty much a 3 knives guy myself too with only using the 3,4 and 6 as solid fixed blades and an occasional SAK or Leatherman.

The 6 looks awesome, a modern day Leuku in my eyes. Most def my next knife, as I am deep in love with the HM ergonomics. If I can have only 3 blades there will be the 3/4/6 HM, with a spare of each model

 

Nice to see your knife choices and chores!

The 3 and 6 are a very versatile combo.
I'd combine it with an Izula or a folder of some kind probably as a third knife with the collection I have here. The CR2.5 looks like an excellent addition.

But when going out on my trips a folding saw is super useful and often replaces a big knife for me.

 

The 6HM pulls Saturday morning kitchen duty.

Chopped and sliced peppers and onions, chopped up a piece of frozen peppercorn bacon to add to the taters. Sliced up some of that left over pork butt streak.


You may begin to notice, much of our food consists of repurposed leftovers. Other than spending money on sharps. I/we live a pretty frugal lifestyle. Besides that, often times leftovers are better than the original meal.

We throw away next to nothing, it all gets used somewhere.
The spuds are left over boiled potatoes from dinner a few nights ago.
They will get bacon, peppers, onion and garlic added to them.

The 6HM did better in the kitchen that I would have thought. It slices well enough. The belly up front allows some rocking action.

The high handle in relation to the blade edge, makes it cutting board friendly. The slight drop point makes it a good scraper when inverted. So moving stuff from the board to the pan a piece of cake.

I think it would be better without the coating for kitchen work, but it works well enough.

 

Eggs over easy, sourdough toast, pork butt steak, souped up home fries.

Life is good!

 

Repurposing leftovers is the way to do it! No need to throw away perfectly good food with so many hungry people around the world.
And you are 100% correct that many times they actually taste better than the original meal.

 

Mining some pine pitch with the 3HM,

 

Last night,
We cooked a Beef Cross Rib Roast fresh from the butcher.
The 3HM sliced onions, celery, potatoes, garlic, & carrots.
Here is the recipe we used;
https://www.themeatsource.com/crossribroast.html

The 6HM got meat slicing duty.


The bride made gravy out of the juices.
It was awesome.

Sorry no photos of dinner.
But both knives performed admirably.

What got me to posting this was not dinner, but this morning's breakfast.

I have become a huge fan of eggs with brown gravy.

So I took large slice of "The Rustic Oven Grains and Seeds' bread.
Toasted it up nicely, Spooned some heated gravy and thinly sliced roast over the toast, and topped with two over easy eggs.

This has become one of my favorite breakfast meals. Sorry for the poor photo, my camera is on its last legs. But you get the idea. The CR2.5 makes an excellent table knife.

 

I'm about two and a half weeks into this. I haven't done anything crazy yet, and may not.

But I have been very pleased with my choices. From big to small, the three knives have done everything asked of them. A lot of it was just everyday boring knife stuff that just needs doing.

One thing that surprised me is how well and how much these three overlap.
Certainly the 6HM is the baton king. but the 3HM can do it too.

Even the wee CR2.5 is capable if the wood isn't too large in diameter.

I find the 3HM to be the Goldilocks on the bunch.Not too small, not too big,
Just right for most chores. I'd say I can accomplish 90% of what I have needed to do with the 3HM.

The 6 comes into play when I needed to break down big wood. But also rips out feathers and curls just fine. And for slicing roasts, it works wonders. The skinny 3 is a vegetable slicing machine, even with the coating still on.

I find the wee 2.5 to be a great security blanket. I tucks nicely in the pocket of my Empire Canvas Grey Fox, and just disappears until needed. I think if pressed the CR2.5 could handle a myriad of outdoor/survival chores. You obviously aren't going to baton 8" rounds, but do you really need to?

It is a good size for critter work. It is stout enough to handle mid size tasks with no problem.

With these three blades for me at least, it wasn't so much I chose the knife because of its size for the job. It was more let's try the less than obvious choice and see how it does.

I was quite surprised at how well each one has been handling the tasks tossed its way.

 

You should have seen and smelled it in real life.
The oniony aroma coupled with the toasted bread was killer.

One pleasant surprise from my time here in California has been the quality of available bread.