Continued
What with new "SEAL" knives showing up weekly, I tend to make it a policy of seeing official purchase documentation before I'm convinced. The SEALs do buy and test small lots of many products, so a surprising number of these claims are legit. The Emerson ES1-M falls into this category, and I have read the paperwork that proves it.
While I wasn't able to field-test this a model, Emerson loaned me a sample of the official issue knife for photos.
ES1-C Field Test
I did evaluate the ES1-C, a civilian version of the same knife without the blade catcher or the back of the blade. My first task for the knife was cutting real flesh, slicing venison round for a "jager" stew I found in a German cook book. Along with about three pounds of hindquarter, I sliced several onions and diced four or five large potatoes. The knife worked fine, but then the Japanese have been using this type of edge on their kitchen knives for many centuries.
From the kitchen I moved to the shop and my ever ready coil of manila rope The single bevel edge did a good job of biting into the tough fiber, which is always a good sign. Next I tried the ES1-C against a bluejeans leg stuffed with cardboard. Not too surprisingly, the recurved edge of the Emerson knife easily slashed through this material and deep into the cardboard’s straight thrusts were less effective due to the rather blunt profile of the knife’s point. After some experimenting on the target, I would recommend the COC6 or the newer Emerson Banana model over the ES1-C if a deep thrusting capability is important in your knife. The knife also was used to whittle on green hardwood, where I found the edge bit in a steep angle with title effort on my part.
The Navy seems to have bought an excellent combat/survival knife in the ES1-M that is also an efficient sentry removal tool. I do think the knife would be a better pure fighter if it had a little more acutely pointed blade. I would also like to try the ES1-C in a conventional double bevel edge, as I have a feeling this would make a great general-purpose outdoor knife.2012 Commander, but here is some history... Compiled history of the ES1-M (what became the commader knife) ----- ES1-M - 12 Years Ago or So. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There have been many, many, many so-called "SEAL" knives advertised in the past 15 years, but very few have any genuine connections to Naval Special Warfare. There was a fixed blade chosen for a contract back around '92 or so, of which several were delivered to the Navy. (The maker turned out to be a lying POS who didn't deliver as promised and who had lied extensively about his military background, so the contract was cancelled.) The only other knife that was the subject of a serious contract was a folder - the ES1-M. Now this big, tough folder was first tested out by several guys who were not in regular units. The test pieces were pretty similar to the final design, with a deep 4" recurve blade, chisel ground, full swedge, and blade catcher/wave. But the cool thing was they had a round hole opener. Ernie correctly felt that putting a hole in it made one less thing (a thumb disc) that could go wrong on the knife. But the feedback from the field was too strong to ignore: they preferred a disc. So the final product was the solid bladed, thunb disc version. (I wish I had tried harder to get that hole-opener version from Ernie way back when). The contract was a first, and called for a total of 200 pieces iirc. The first batch was delivered - 100 pieces - with black micarta handles, no bolster, and black ti blades. At least one knife from that batch "fell out of the box" and was delivered to a customer on the East Coast. The second batch of 100 followed about 8 - 9 months later, basically the same except with satin blades. Its a shame, but they were never numbered... That is pretty much all the ones that were made for anyone, until much later. The ES1-C was supposed to be made simultaneously, for delivery to civilian customers, with the difference being they were not going to have a Wave. But that plan - thankfully - was dropped and all ES1s are waved. So you may hear all about this knife or that being a SEAL knife, and there are plenty of knives SEALs may carry, but to this day I believe only the ES1-M can be truthfully called a folder SEAL knife. -------------------- Its been told before, but the short version is that there were 5 test knives made to fill a request from a certain group of HSLD fellows for a SERE type knife. These were 4" bladed recurves, and featured a spydie hole opener. The test group was thoroughly met with approval, except that the testers all prefered a thumb disc to the hole. The 3rd Knife down in the pic is an exercise knife on making that design. You can see the improvements to it in the bottom knife, and the way the design solidified into the other two knives. That design became the ES1, the subject of a 200 piece order from NavSpecWarCom, and when scaled down to 3/4 size, the Commander. In terms of the success and influence of EKI, this may have been the most important model they've ever made. The 3rd one down, though, is really quite special. It was probably never intended to see the light of day outside the garage - it has a slightly unfinished air about it. This is a physical remnant of his still ongoing thought process in making the knife model. Except for the famous "CQC1" design piece, I am unaware of another unfinished knife design prototype out in public hands. Sui generis. ----------------------------- As popular as the knives are with Naval Special Warfare troops, many people don't realize that neither the Emerson CQC6 or COC7 are actually issued to the SEALS, That doesn't mean Ernest Emerson hasn't had frequent contact and input from active-duty Naval Special Ops personnel. A year or two ago Emerson developed the CQC8 or "Banana" folding fighter based on the Bob Taylor Warrior and the Bill Moran ST-23. Like the Warrior, the Banana is primarily a reverse grip fighter, yet in the saber hold the blade's point remains in line for thrusting. Creating the SSDS Navy personnel liked the CQC8, but they had something a little different in mind, With SEAL assistance, Emerson developed the SSDS model, a slightly larger, hooked (Rhino) blade fighter designed for one purpose: taking out sentries! Unlike most lockbacks, the blade of the SSDS has a serrated, doubled-edged spine for most of its length, The blade folds below the level of the handle scales so the user cannot be cut by this extra edge. I'm told the SSDS worked perfectly for its intended function in "the field" (not on test dummies), but eventually the SEALs decided it was a little too special purpose for their needs, This ocean t really surprise me, as I saw this happen over and over again in Vietnam. A new troop would show up on our Ranger Long Range Patrol team with something like a Fairbairn/Sykes commando knife, only to find after a few missions that what was really needed was a more general-purpose blade. A few of the more aggressive individuals went on to carry both a pure fighter (the Gerber MK-11 was popular) and a general purpose knife. This isn't a bad idea if you can bear the extra weight. During this same period, Emerson was working on a SERE (Survival, Escape, Resistance, and Evasion) folder for troops at Fort Bragg. When officers from Naval Space Warfare saw the SERE folder they felt that with a few small changes it would also better meet their requirements. From evolution was born the ES1-M. ES1-M Details The ATS-34 blade on the Navy ES1-M is 4 inches long, .125 inches thick, Black-T coated, and Rockwelled to 57-59. In shape t is a long, wide clip point with a deeply recurved, chisel ground edge. Liners are titanium, and the handles are G-10, At the request of the Navy, a "bade catcher" was added to the back of the blade spine. For convenient carry, a spring clip is mounted on the side of the handle. Overall, this is a much better design than the SSDS for general-purpose fieldwork like cutting webbing, sharpening stakes and preparing scrounged rations. While not quite as deadly efficient as the SSDS, when used with the special techniques taught to these Spec Ops. Personnel, the ES1-M will also get the job done as a sentry removal tool. I've had a chance to review their sentry takedown training program, and I feel certain the knife will work as long as the user can get close enough. Col. Rex Applegate and I have talked about this particular subject at length, as we both agree the entire problem with sentry removal is crossing that last 25 feet or so. I might add the Navy would prefer I didn't give a lot of details about their silent take down methods, and I see a reason anyone would need them for defensive use. What with new "SEAL" knives showing up weekly, I tend to make it a policy of seeing official purchase documentation before I'm convinced. The SEALs do buy and test small lots of many products, so a surprising number of these claims are legit. The Emerson ES1-M falls into this category, and I have read the paperwork that proves it. While I wasn't able to field-test this a model, Emerson loaned me a sample of the official issue knife for photos. ES1-C Field Test I did evaluate the ES1-C, a civilian version of the same knife without the blade catcher or the back of the blade. My first task for the knife was cutting real flesh, slicing venison round for a "jager" stew I found in a German cook book. Along with about three pounds of hindquarter, I sliced several onions and diced four or five large potatoes. The knife worked fine, but then the Japanese have been using this type of edge on their kitchen knives for many centuries. From the kitchen I moved to the shop and my ever ready coil of manila rope The single bevel edge did a good job of biting into the tough fiber, which is always a good sign. Next I tried the ES1-C against a bluejeans leg stuffed with cardboard. Not too surprisingly, the recurved edge of the Emerson knife easily slashed through this material and deep into the cardboard’s straight thrusts were less effective due to the rather blunt profile of the knife’s point. After some experimenting on the target, I would recommend the COC6 or the newer Emerson Banana model over the ES1-C if a deep thrusting capability is important in your knife. The knife also was used to whittle on green hardwood, where I found the edge bit in a steep angle with title effort on my part. The Navy seems to have bought an excellent combat/survival knife in the ES1-M that is also an efficient sentry removal tool. I do think the knife would be a better pure fighter if it had a little more acutely pointed blade. I would also like to try the ES1-C in a conventional double bevel edge, as I have a feeling this would make a great general-purpose outdoor knife.
From multiple sources on this very subject
