ESEE 4 Mystery Steel Pass Around----all spots taken

So far I give this pass around a 3 out of 10 because:
1. No one has posted a pic of the knives stuck in a target or dart board or ninja. Throwing knives come in threes (at least the cheap ones do). There are three of these. If it walks like a duck and barks like a duck then it's probably throwing knives.

2. I'm disappointed that @shaneadams90 actually shipped the real knives to the first user. I would have shipped three random knives of similar size a week before the real ones. The first tester opens the box and it's a Gerber Bear Grylls knife, a Becker and a semi sharp piece of steel out of the shop with scales screwed to it.

So, I'm going to hold out at 3/10 until someone loses one, gets cut, throws them or tapes them all together at the handle to make Wolverine claws.

Step it up guys.

Also, if @Mountainmistwanderer doesn't watch Goonies before his turn y'all should just skip him. Some things you just can't ignore. I'll totally rage quit and sell a well used Izula for a dollar less than you can buy one new.

 

I thought about posting them for sale here just to see how many forum members aren't actually paying attention lol

 

PM inbound

 

I see that it is on Amazon Prime so I'll make a point of watching it. Just curious if there is something that y'all would do to prepare yourself for watching it? LSD, mushrooms, scotch, riding the white horse or things of that nature?

 

All of the above mmw.

 

Just a quick update. This damn flu epidemic in our house took hold of me. I'll be making time this week to put them through the paces then I'll be shipping them on to the next in line.

 

Ok I'm back from the dead. I'll be putting together a few tests for these today outside. Possibly this evening or tomorrow I'll be doing some indoor testing. I'll have everything wrapped up and shipped by the end of the week.

 

Ok since everyone on this list so far has done some pretty good reviews, I decided to do a backyard Esee decathlon. I really hate calling this a test because honestly unless I could setup a lab with all things truly being equal, I really have a hard time trying to sound like my results matter much at this point. That's said, here it goes.

1. Cross battoning seasoned wood. I took a single piece of hardwood out of my wood pile about 2.5 inches in diameter. Going in order, 1 had difficulty right off the bat. I figured the wood was just too hard but kept at it just to make sure. I stopped counting but it took well over twenty hits to finally get it through. Fast forward ahead, both two and three went through in less than five. Thinking I hit a bad spot I started over on the same piece of wood. Basically the same result. Subjective still, but interesting.



2. Cross battoning living wood. Took all three over to a small walnut tree by my shed. Using a 15" piece of 2x4 I went again in numerical order. Selecting two branches of almost exactly the same diameter. Funny enough, my experience here was similar to the last. Number one took considerably more hits than two and three. About double.



3. Fillet table. I have a plastic folding table that basically serves as a fillet/processing table for fish and game. I took all three knives and ran them tip to choil across the table in a sawing motion twenty times. This is more of a step towards my final test regarding edge retention.



4. Ceramic plate. Same test as above. This time, all three knives ran across a ceramic plate in a sawing motion twenty times. I find this to be hell on an edge. Again, another step towards my final test.



5. Cardboard cutting. Here I took a large piece of an Amazon box and cut strips until the first sign of tearing in place of a clean cut. Knife one made fifteen cuts, knife two made twenty three cuts, and knife three made thirty six cuts.



Final test. Slicing paper. Here's where it gets odd. Knife two preformed the worst in this final test. It tore paper on its second cut. Knife one also tore paper on its second cut, but knife two took several attempts to even get the blade to stick in the paper enough to get cutting. Knife three made five slices with no actual tears. None made super clean slices by any means, but knife three still had a perfectly fine working edge.



So in my flawed testing, knife three gets the nod. I forgot to mention but each knife got touched up before testing on a sharp marker. I can't honestly say I noticed enough difference in how they sharpened to have much to add in this regard. All three seemed to take an edge just fine.

 

Wrapped, shipped and on its way to contestant #7

 

This was a brilliant way to test these new steels out.

 

Nice job @IW17

 

I received these the other day, will test them this week/weekend and have them mailed by Monday. Thanks again for the opportunity.

 

DSC00982.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00981.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00978.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00974.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00971.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00970.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00968.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00963.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
DSC00961.jpg by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
Untitled by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
Untitled by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
Untitled by Delkan Cott, on Flickr
Untitled by Delkan Cott, on Flickr

 

Sorry I'm late to getting this up. In terms of the knives, I believe Jacob got them about a week ago.

As far as evaluation, here's my super basic scorecard. While I didn't get to spend as much time with the knife, it was clear to me that I preferred the steel in either 2 or 3 to the number 1. Given the choice I would take 3 as it cut wood better than 2 and sharpened easier. I don't care if they baton well or not as it's not something I use a knife for a lot. 1 didn't do as well with paper, cardboard or feather sticks, but did better with baling twine. 2 cut paper and cardboard best.

Thank you for the opportunity to evaluate these, I am very curious what steels they are and how that will make me feel about the fancy steel knives I have currently.

 

Hey guys, so I currently have the blades, and basically my plan is to test the blades for patina (not rust) using them for kitchen chores, so some basic bushcrafty stuff followed by cardboard crap to test the edge and basic strength, and then give a general idea of the strengths of each blade before shipping them off.

But I am willing to take any suggestions! Lmk if you have ideas! The knives ability to resharpen easily and strop easily will be a HUGE factor for me.

 

We need updates, or else I'm going to burn this mother down.

 

Hes been updating Instagram.

 

Ok, so quick update- i have been using the knives for kitchen chores and doing corrosion testing.
It might sound odd, but imho there are few ways to test how stainless something is that are better than kitchen time!
Next up (probably tomorrow) will be bushcraftiness, and sharpening. I plan to ship these out mid week, and have the video up soon after.