ESEE-4 Fixed Blade Knife Review.

Click on any of the photos for a full sized version

I purchased an ESEE-4 almost a year ago and I have used it for everything from food prep to cleaning fish to field dressing a feral hog. The following is a short review of my thoughts on this knife.

When I was in the market for a medium fixed blade knife, I (like always) read review after review before I make a purchase. One knife brand that kept coming up was ESEE (Formerly RAT Cutlery). There were several positive reviews of their knives and their warranty service so I thought I'd give them a try.  Next, I had to decide which size because ESEE offers everything from it's miniature but very capable Izula (named after a South American Ant) to it's Zombie slaughtering Junglas. For my purposes I was looking for something in a size I could carry comfortably without scaring little old ladies while out hiking. I wanted something I could use for food prep, game prep. and general purpose cutting tasks. Lastly, the main argument for fixed blades, I wanted something tough enough to take a beating. Based upon the reviews I had read and the size I was looking for, I purchased the ESSE-4.

The ESEE-4 has an overall length of 9 inches. The blade length is 4.5 inches but due to the choil, the cutting area is around 4 inches. ESEE sends out their knives with a survival card, a kydex sheath and some molle attachments. When I first opened the package containing the knife, my first thoughts where, "man, this is a nice knife for the money."

BLADE

The ESEE-4 blade is made out of 1095 steel. This steel is a common steel in many tools. It is classified as a high carbon steel and thus can rust if not taken care of. 1095 and other high carbon steel materials are generally the best for extremely hard use knives. 1095 is a bit more brittle than some of the other high carbon steels such as 1050, 1058 or even cold steel's very own 1055. That being said, in shorter lengths such as the ESEE 3, 4 or 5, the brittleness shouldn't be an issue.

Many knife companies including ESEE combat the high carbon rust issue by coating the majority of the blade with various types of powder coats or epoxy resins. ESEE knives have done a very good job in this regard because after a year of use, the coating on my blade has yet to come off. I admittedly do not care for my hard use fixed blades as good as I should and my ESEE-4 has shown a few spots of rust. Fortunately, it's easy to remove and probably easier to prevent with Tuf-Cloth.
When I received my ESEE-4, it came sharp enough to shave the hair off my arm. In use, it retains it's sharpness fairly well but with hardness of 57RC it (like many high carbon blades) dulls with use rather quickly in comparison to steels such as D2. Fortunately this also makes them easier to sharpen. 

The blade thickness on the ESEE-4 is substantial at 3/16" of an inch. It is evident that it is built for hard use. When you pick this knife up, you will know; it will take pretty much anything you can throw at it.

They offer their blades in three colors, OD Green (like mine), Desert Tan or Flat Black. You can also get plain edge or serrated.

HANDLE MATERIAL

The handle on my ESEE-4 is made from Orange G-10 but ESEE also offers them in Linen Micarta or Canvas Micarta. The handle size comparatively is well balanced against the blade. It handles very well, fills the hand well and makes a good chopper and does not overly wear on the hand like some handles if used for long periods of time. The screws holding the G-10 material in place are hex head counter sunk flush into the handle. The steel portion of the knife also protrudes  past the handle leaving an area for a lanyard hole. While I don't use lanyard holes on my folding knives, On a fixed blade, I consider it a huge plus.

KYDEX SHEATH

The Kydex sheath that comes with the knife is a well thought out and locks the knife into place just like it should. Nothing special but it does the job like it is supposed to. The Molle attachments are a plus because you can attach it to all of the tactical ninja gear you can find. I used it to attach it to my Camelbak. It works great. 

IN USE

I have carried my ESEE-4 on duty, while hiking and kayaking. It carries well and is not too heavy. Surprisingly, it has served me very well in food prep.

As mentioned before, make sure when you use it for this purpose, you clean it and dry it off so the exposed (non-coated) edge doesn't rust. A wipe down with Tuf-Cloth would help in the regard as well.

Once while working out in the brush, I needed to climb into a tree for a better view but the tree had no low branches. I simply drove the ESSE-4 into the tree and used it for a step. It worked great and I'm 6'1" 230.

WARRANTY:

One of the great things about ESEE knives is their NO QUESTIONS ASKED warranty. If you break it, they'll replace it. How could anyone expect anything more from a company? While I've never had the need to use this service, I've read many accounts of people that have dealt with the company and I've not heard any complaints. A Good American made product and a company that stands behind what they sell; a rarity these days. Well done ESEE! Warranty Link

CONCLUSION:

If you are looking for a hard use fixed blade knife that will not drain your bank account. The ESEE line of knives are well worth looking into. They work just as advertised. Many of my co-workers that have seen this knife ended up buying one and in many cases, several; that says allot. When I'm toting a fixed blade, this is it.

Ergonomics: 8/10
Looks: 9/10
Materials: 8/10 (still waiting on the stainless version)
Camp Use: 10/10
EDC Use: 8/10 (a little big and it stands out; might scare sheeple)
Food Prep: 7/10 (a little thick but it works)
Skinning/Game Prep: 8/10 (excellent for this purpose but not quite curved enough for a great skinner)
Warranty: 10/10 (as good as it gets)
Zombie Usefulness: 8/10 (While you distract them with it's orange color, take the head shot and go home safe)

As you can see below, I never take a chance when it comes to cow zombies. You can never trust them. They could be playing dead and the next thing you know the hamburger scenario is turned around.  Pffft...Cow zombies.......

Web Link to ESEE  Knives

Rick Hinderer 3.5" XM-18 Review

NOTE: Click on any of the photos to view them at their intended size. 

Back several months ago, I purchased a knife I had seen rave reviews for all over the net. So when I purchased Rick Hinderer's highly touted XM-18, my expectations were admittedly pretty high. Rick started as a farrier (Horse Shoes) when he made his first knife. He was later a firefighter / EMT for several years as his primary job but continued producing knives on the side. He does not have a regular production schedule and does "runs" of his various knives at different points through out the year. So back in March after a couple of months of waiting for a production run, I finally bought a 3.5" XM-18. When it arrived at my house, it came in a plain, no frills white box and a small ziplock baggie. Apparently Rick doesn't make a big production on his boxes which I guess most get thrown away anyway. He allows the knives to speak for themselves. (Article about Rick here)

Upon opening the box and taking out the knife, it became very apparent, this was a knife made for hard use.

Materials:
The frame of the XM-18 is 6AL4V titanium and despite the extremely thick lock side of the frame, it's fairly light for it's size. Rick allows you some choices on how you would like your titanium frame to look such as tumbled or sand blasted. The knife blade itself (on mine) is made from CTS-XHP (lightly stamped on the blade). CTS-XHP, also known as carpenter steel by some, starts life as a powdered metal. In blade form it has the corrosion resistance of 440C and the a RC hardness of 64; almost that of D2. This combination makes for a very nice blade in my opinion. The scale on the non-lock side are made of various colors of G-10 (or an optional carbon fiber). The one sided G-10 scale makes for a perfect grip in less than ideal situations.

Fit and Finish:
My initial impressions of the Fit and Finish of the XM-18 were VERY good but that has been my impression with several knives out of the box so I reserved my review until after a few months of use. After having this knife now for several months, I can honestly say, Rick's close tolerances and eye for detail have created a knife that has no rival in the Fit and Finish department. It becomes very apparent in use that Rick actually uses the knives he develops and the small details show it. The open back design allows for easy cleaning. The stand off's (the spacers between the two sides of the knife handle) are made for the apocalypse. All of the screws are counter sunk and flush with the handle of the knife. I can say that after months of use, none of them have backed out like they have on several of my other knives. The pivot screw which is an essential part of any hard use knife is a beast. I beleive Rick developed his own pivot screw and is one of the things immediately recognizable on an XM-18 (pictured below).

His pivot screw is more substantial than the pivot on my strider and much smoother.

Lock up:
Like I stated earlier, the lock side is made of titanium and very thick titanium at that. It is a frame lock style lock with Rick's very own Lock Bar Stabilizer.

Lockup is ROCK solid, quite honestly the most solid lock up of any frame lock I have ever owned. A co-worker / knife nut that I let use the knife for a day described it as "fixed blade-like solid". It locks in with the knife tang at approximately 50%. Even after months of use, I still find zero blade play; impressive to say the least.

Blade:
Ricks standard grind is another Rick Hinderer exclusive known as the spanto grind. I think it comes from a combination of Spear point and Tanto blade; hence "Spanto". I am no fan of tanto blades and I even emailed Rick to ask if there were any other options to which he replied there were not (NOTE: I've heard they are going to offer a slicer grind for the next run). When I received the knife and began using it, I discovered the genius behind the "Spanto" grind. It allows for a very thick end but yet still has characteristics of a good slicer. In every day use, it proves itself very well.

Rick also has two types of opening options on his blades, a flipper and a standard thumb stud. For my first Hinderer, I chose a thumb stud. The flipper has a thumb stud as well in case you choose to use it that way. This blade has worked very well for every cutting task I have thrown it's way. I guess I could be called a "Spanto convert".

Ergonomics:
While Ergonomics is a personal preference, I have found the ergos of the Hinderer very intuitive. If you look at photos of the Hinderer XM-18, you'll notice a slight angle not seen on other knives. This like the Spanto concerned me before I handled the knife. Having owned and used the knife now for several months, I can say this too is another indication of Ricks actual use of his knives that has translated into his design. In short, IT WORKS.

Size and Weight:
If you are looking for a small knife, then you may want to look at a Hinderer 3" or look elsewhere. The 3.5" Hinderer is a REAL knife. Real in that it fills the hand, inspires confidence in it's durability and commands space in your pocket. That being said, I can still comfortably remove my keys from my pocket with the 3.5" Hinderer clipped in. I could not say the same for my Zero Tolerance 0301 (a beast of a knife in it's own right). The weight of the 3.5" XM-18 is a comfortable 5.6 ounces. Rick minimizes the impact of that weight by it's ergonomics. I ended up selling my ZT 0301 and rarely carry my Strider due to the weight issues and them being pocket hogs. The Hinderer while a substantial knife pulls off the weight and size issue as best as any knife of this size could do. In short, I carry it often hiking, working and doing my photography thing. That alone should say allot.

A Trio of Titanium frame locks from left to right: Spyderco Sage 2 , the Hinderer XM-18 and the Zero Tolerance 0550 (second generation)

Smoothness of opening:
I don't often see this mentioned in reviews but to me it's an important factor. I have several knives that open smoothly but very few I would classify as buttery smooth. This Hinderer opens buttery smooth I would put in the class of a Sebenza smooth. The Sebenza lacks one thing however; "Flickability" While the Sebenza opens buttery smooth, it's more of a gentleman folder and doesn't "flick" open as well as some knives. My Spyderco knives are the epitome of flickers and the Hinderer falls somewhere in between. It doesn't flick open as fast as the Spyderco Delica , Endura, Sage 1, Sage 2 or Native but it can definitely be flicked open with authority. Keep in mind, I am speaking of the thumb stud only model. I will post my thoughts on the "flipper" model when I get one. All in all, it has the buttery smoothness of a Sebenza and close to the "flickability" of a Spyderco; VERY nice.

Uses:
If you are in the military or Law Enforcement, look no further if you want the ultimate hard use knife. As a federal Law Enforcement officer of almost 18 years and a firearms instructor (I think this might qualify me as a gadget nerd), I have carried knives from just about every major company and even a few customs. While my main carry knives at work are a Spyderco Endura, Delica and Dragonfly . I do so because of their utility, cost and I would not spend hours walking through tall brush looking in despair if I lost one; I'd buy another. This being said, I love carrying my Hinderer occasionally at work and almost every day during my other pursuits off duty. I have used this knife (hard in some instances) and it works just as it was designed for. It works equally well slicing foods as I've used it for food prep and even helped dress out a feral hog. It is made to be used.


Customer Service:
Rick and his front man Rob Orlando have earned a well deserved reputation amongst knife nuts as good folks. They interact on forums such as http://www.bladeforums.com/ and answer questions quickly either by email or forum posts. They respond quickly to the very rare problems and generally just take care of their customers.This being said, they specifically state on their website that if you "pimp" your knife in any way, it voids their warranty.

Conclusion:
As stated before, I have owned knives from several major companies such as Spyderco , Benchmade , Zero Tolerance , Kershaw , Gerber , Buck , Cold Steel, Columbia River Knife and Tool , Chris Reeve, Strider, et al. I can honestly say with out reservation, the hype behind Rick Hinderer's knives is very well deserved. If I were choosing between a Strider, Hinderer and Sebenza my choice would fall to the use I had planned on using the knife for. If I needed a gentleman's folder, the Sebenza or Hinderer would fit the bill. If I needed a sharpened prybar, I'd go with either the Strider or Hinderer. If I needed a good all around working knife that was a good slicer, up for hard use in a tactical (military or Law Enforcement) environment, I'd personally go with the Hinderer. The Hinderer is a beast of a knife; a highly refined, smoooth opening beast of a knife with fit and finish with very few rivals in the knife world. My Hinderer XM-18 is my favorite knife in my collection; a knife I will hand down to my son someday. Did I mention I REALLY like this knife?

Some photos of my 3.5" non-flipper XM-18:

UPDATE: As of Feb. 2014, I have added the pictured Orange flipper style, slicer grind Hinderer to the collection. I REALLY like these knives.

The new flipper with the orange scales are a thing of beauty...

Ergonomics: 10/10 (Senor Hinderer really thought this knife through)

Looks: 10/10
Materials: 10/10
Fit and Finish: 10/10 (Great!..Hinderers are like lays potato chips, one won't do, you'll want more)
Camp Use: 10/10
Hard/Military/Police Use: 10/10
EDC Use: 9/10 (might scare some sheeple)
Food Prep: 9/10 (a slicer grind would get a 10)
Skinning/Game Prep: 8/10 (worked good for me, not enough belly for a great skinner)
Warranty: 9/10 (great warranty but only if you leave it in stock form - see above)
Zombie Usefulness: 9/10 (only fixed blades get a 10, but Zombie's fear Hinderers)


Hinderer Knives Website