ESEE PR4 Fixed Blade Survival Knife –Field Tested, Durable and Reliable Bushcraft Knife with Dark Tan Sheath, Ideal for Survival, Outdoor Use, and EDC

I am by no means a primordial God of the wilderness. That being said, I would honestly say I'm pretty far towards the right side of the bell curve when it comes to outdoors experience. I am also not an ESEE fanboy. I do have an ESEE-5 that has taken some serious beatings on three continents and come back thirsty for more. The ESEE-5 is a massive chunker, and was great for everything from carving holes in mud walls to chopping up shipping crates to cutting straps and prying open doors. It's a great knife that has a purpose, and this review isn't about that knife. It's a classic Kephart design. It doesn't look mean, it doesn't look TACTICAL, it doesn't look like it might kill a man just to watch it die. The 1095 steel is old fashioned, but whatever trade secrets Rowen (the company that does the heat treating for ESEE) is holding makes 1095 blossom into a seriously impressive performer. After recently trying a couple of brands and models, including some marketed towards "bushcraft", I picked up a PR4 fully expecting to hate the handle and being ready to buy one of the aftermarket Micarta sets that a couple makers are offering. That didn't happen. Instead, on its first trip out last year to the family acreage where I like to tool around in the woods, I took it as my only knife and gave it a hard three day evaluation. It was on my hip any time I had pants on, and I used it for everything from food prep to fire prep, debarking and carving a standing dead poplar sapling to make a walking pole for the swamp, and carving notches in timber to repair and extend a lean-to. I didn't do anything crazy, like use it as a piton to repel down a thousand foot rock face, or baton it through an oak with a diameter double the blade length. I did process all my firewood for 3 days using it and a cudgel, including quite a lot of baton work through wrist and calf sized white oak, poplar, smaller hickory, jack pine, and hemlock, all of which it handled without complaint. A couple quick touch ups and it was ready to absolutely breeze through fish, rabbit, and porcupine. The balance is superb. There is exactly enough steel in the blade to make the knife strong enough to do anything you might want to do with it in the woods, aside from perhaps chop through a car door or dig a drainage ditch in rocky soil. The profile of the blade makes it easy to touch up, and also easy to use different parts of the blade distinctly for different tasks. I did some basic leatherwork using various grips including a pinch grip near the tip of the blade and found it comfortable for extremely delicate work. I also didn't find any hot spots with a classic power grip while batoning. The handle is shockingly comfortable even for my large hands with long fingers, and aside from adding a short, fat tassel to the pommel to make it easier to pull out of the deep (and well made) leather sheath, I've done nothing to it but the occasional touch-up on a pocket stone and a small bit of oil before putting it away between trips. Honestly, for what I'm looking for (a woods knife), this one is going to be just about impossible to beat without going full custom. I actually ended up giving away a handful of knives (a Garberg, a Falkniven F-1, and a couple of Bushlores/Mini Bushlores) that I wasn't necessarily displeased with because I just didn't need them anymore, and the older boys at the family camp trip didn't have more than a couple of cheap pocket knives between them.

I’ve had two knives before this PR4 and can’t praise this one enough. The PR4 replaced a Becker BK7 as my field knife because it simply does everything I need a belt knife to do in the mountains & woods, but does it well instead of just adequately. It’s much easier to carry around. The balance is perfect. Its aggressive grip is comfortable for frequent, all-day use. Blade retention is above average for high carbon steel. It’s easy to sharpen in the field. The 90° spine is a welcome feature seasoned bushcrafters want. My only knock is ESEE doesn’t recommend the black oxide coating for food contact, but that’s not what I use it for anyhow. When I make something from wood, the PR4 touches it at some point, if not the entire task. It’ll field dress a whitetail in minutes. This is an outdoorsman’s knife made for outdoor knife tasks. Been using knives for 45 years and this is my favorite.

I got two of these. I have been an Esee fan for years and also a fan of Horace Kephart's writing. This knife is based on his knife of choice and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with it! Fit and finish are great and I love the handle scale color! The sheath is a beautifully crafted leather that is rugged and swallows the knife leaving about 2" of grip exposed. Super secure!now the con: I am not so much a fan of the way they sculpted the grip as it gave a hot spot when I carved with it. I endured it for a short while but it really started to hurt the hand. Luckily this blade (which is EDC for me) rides next to my Leatherman Wave so a few passes with a file over the offending knob in the handle and the knife is great! As for the blade it is of a proven 1095 steel and it came quite sharp and for most folks would be perfect. I spent about 5 mins with my stones and the blade was easily brought up to my overly nitpicky standards. This knife is a great design and you should DEFINITELY buy one. Photo shows the PR4 with the ESEE4 and a few other exceptional outdoor knives

I haven't even used this thing yet and I can tell you, bite your tongue and spend the money on this knife. Here are a couple reasons: 1) 1095 high carbon steel, 2) made in the USA, 3) awesome leather sheath, 4) modeled after Horace Kephart's sheath knife, 5) a no BS warranty from Esee on all of their knives. Sure you can buy a Mora for about 1/5th the price, and they last a good amount of time. The only reasons I've found against them is the use of a steel blade and the grind angle. The only comparative Mora to the PR4 is the Garberg carbon/Carbon black. You can easily compare the Garberg with the PR4 with some good keyword searches or just comparing the specs on sites. Now I know the handle seems off-putting, but you need to put it in your hand. Gripping it, your four fingers line up with the cuts in the handle and the micarta is very nice. The addition of an uncoated spine helps with throwing sparks on a ferro rod and getting good scrapes off kindling. If you know someone with this knife or can go to a store with one, check it out if you're on the fence. I plan to do a lot more outdoor activities coming up and this knife will not leave my hip. This is meant to be a do all knife, supplemented with a good axe and saw. For the hunters as well, this can be a great field dressing knife, the sheath has a drainage hole. Hope this helps on your decision a bit and I will update this as I get more use out of the knife.

I really think this might be the best knife I’ve ever had. It’s sturdy and of high quality. I hunt and harvest deer every year and I’ve gutted and skinned a half dozen in the past couple years with this knife. (I do all the processing for my dad and nephew as well) I’ve had a couple esee knives over the years and they’re all well made. This specific knife I can gut and skin a whole deer before needing to sharpen. It’s the perfect size for both and the knife is so sharp that it cuts like it’s going through butter. I bought 2 so if I lose one I got one for backup. I highly recommend this.

This is my second esee , my first is the esee 6. I love this knife , I read a lot of reviews talking about the thin handles and I don’t find that at all . I think this is a perfect knife for me and camp chores . Really glad I got this knife

Después de mucho investigar y ver opiniones por todas las redes sociales me decidí por este cuchillo para mis hijas (una de 17 años y otra de 11) porque de forma continua salimos de trekking o a acampar y estaban necesitando un buen cuchillo de supervivencia para lo que pueda surgir. Que me gustó primero que la marca es muy respetada en temas de supervivencia, segundo es full tang, tercero el acero es con alto carbono 1095, cuarto el filo es plano lo cual lo hace duradero y fácil de afilar en campo a comparación de un convexo por ejemplo, quinto el mango es de polímero lo cual lo hace más confiable que los materiales naturales para el uso rudo, sexto no se ve táctico sino que visualmente se ve de explorador por lo cual es menos amenazante, séptimo la punta en lanza es genial para poder barrenar madera pero también es una excelente arma defensiva, octavo tiene garantía de por vida. Ahora que no me gusto, puedo decir que solo la funda ya que pese a que está muy bien echa y de cuero auténtico requiere cuidados que no siempre es posible darle cuando haces salidas.

Liiiiebe dieses Messer!!! Es sieht nicht nur toll aus, sondern ist auch super in seiner Funktion!

Un cuchillo de calidad para salir al monte. El tratamiento químico al metal del cuchillo lo hacen resistente a la oxidación. El mango se siente bien al trabajar detalles en madera. Yo lo use para tallar roble y su filo sigue tan afilado como cuando nuevo

First time buying that company knife, and I am a fan of good steel. The edge was ok, but far from what you can achieve with this quality of steel. You can cut the top layer of a paper sheet to remove the ink without going through the paper after a good sharpening. A bit thick to my taste for everyday use, but I totally love the balance of it in your hand.