ESEE-5 vs ESEE-6

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rainermh12

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Jun 20, 2010
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I'm surprised that there hasnt been a thread on this yet, but this is just for fun anyway so here goes...
I know that the ESEE-5 and -6 are very alike, but in your opinions, which is better and which tasks are they respectively better for?
Thanks guys all opinions are welcome :D
 
For a second I thought you had done some head to head testing..bummer! Would be nice to see them both doing the same tasks...
 
haha sadly, no. I dont own either and one of the reasons i posted this thread was to see which people thought was better so i could find out which one to buy.
 
Well these two knives are not "very alike" as you put it. The ESEE-5 is meant as a downed pilots survival knife/tool, sporting a 1/4" blade, glass breaking pommel and emergency bowdrill divot. It has a saber grind blade and not very adept at slicing tasks, although in a pinch any knife can slice. As far as batoning this one excels, due to the grind and thickness of the blade. The ESEE-6 sports a much thinner blade, with a full flat grind making it more adept for slicing and general camp/everyday tasks. These blades may looks similar in pictures, but are far from it.
 
Going with Lightstryder,
These 2 aren't similar by a long shot. Though I have not used either blade.
The 5 is a "when the shit hits the fan" type of knife. Glassbreaker pommel, bow drill divot, 1/4inch thick. There is a reason why its called a sharpened prybar. I do believe its a good camp knife and there are enough people who will tell you so.
The 6 is knife more geared t'wards regular camp tasks like food prep and wood whittling.
I strongly believe that If you are skilled enough you can use any knife for the task at hand.
 
stackofawesome.jpg


The Junglas, 6, 5, 4....... You can see the thickness here pretty well.

Carving with the 5 is like trying to delicately use a sledgehammer to drive finish nails. It'll do the job, but not in an overly classy way. Now I've used it to baton a vaccuum cleaner in half before, motor and all. Its a tough knife but it has no tact.

The 6 on the other hand is a fantastic slicer, carver, moderate chopper and it can handle most of anything you'd need a knife to do.
 
I don"t have a 5, yet, but I can tell you I love my 6, and I think it is an excellent knife. It is one of my favorites in the line up.
 
Ya know rainermh12 I looked back at my post, and I realized that I may have come off a little offensive. That is not the case, I apologize if you took it that way, I can see how you might. I didn't intend for that. But I do stand behind my comment, they are definitely different knives as you can "see" in shotgunners awesome pic. Anyway they are both excellent knives, I personally have had the pleasure of using the 5 in the field and it certainly is a beast and will handle anything you can throw at it. Cheers and enjoy!
 
Can't comment on the 5, other than the specs and such that have already been posted.
On the other hand, I own and love my 6. It does pretty much everything well. It's a good slicer, decent chopper, the blade length is great, the handle is great, and the choil works great. It's just great, man.
I would definitely recommend it for general camping and outdoor use over the 5. The 5 is wicked cool, though.
 
I have and enjoy both. It's a matter of hot debate in this subforum. Some like Rucker love thier fives. I like it as well, but most times I'm carrying a knife that size I take a six.

The five spends most days as my trunk knife
 
i have the 3,4,5 & 6. i think the rc-6 is the best all around esee knife and its priced right..but thats just my opinion...
 
And I will tell you just as the rest of em' did. I personally think that the 5 is a great all around knife. Yes, it is meant as a SHTF tool- but, in the end that is why I made it my first ESEE purchase... Then, today, I bought an Izula. I would rather be prepared for the worst, and know how to utilize my tools, than to wish I had a more capable tool, and try and figure out how to make the tool I have be SUFFICIENT.

What I am trying to say is, think about why you are purchasing a knife in the first place... survival, whittling, edc... then make a decision. If you think that you are gonna want a hardcore knife that can do it all... choose the 5. You won't regret it... just my .02...
 
rainermh12 said:
I'm surprised that there hasnt been a thread on this yet, but this is just for fun anyway so here goes...
I know that the ESEE-5 and -6 are very alike, but in your opinions, which is better and which tasks are they respectively better for?
Thanks guys all opinions are welcome :D
Click to expand...

These blades are definately not alike-I need not waste the time patrolling the previous posts to be sure that this presumption has been corrected. The RC5 and RC6 both have extremely different ergonomics and overall attitudes, even if on paper their specs seem similar. I asked this question almost a year ago, and since then have handled both extensively. Both are similar in that they share the RAT/ESEE mentality of superior fit, finish and warranty. The RC5 is an acceptable attempt at the best of both worlds-the unfaltering long-term survival beater with the cutting performance, ergonomics and allaround user-friendly capability of a companion blade. The RC6 crosses the line into that of specific high performance-the on-paper specs of light weight, sturdy construction and typical large knife use. Really, you have to handle both to make the decision, but I highly doubt you'd be disappointed with either. I went with the RC5.
 
I've got a 5 coming from KSF as we speak. I plan to use it hard, but I don't plan to baton a vacuum cleaner in half (unless it has fallen over and is blocking my trail)
The BaldingEagle
 
I don't think either knife is "better" than the other. But yes, they are built for different things.
The RC-5 is a very big knife that will handle anything you throw at it (I'd love to see pictures of that poor vaccuum as well). While it wouldn't be the ideal choice for your more tedious blade work, it is more than adequate. Also, if you are used to big blades it isn't a big deal.
The RC-6 is a thinner blade that is very capable of doing the more tedious cutting in an outdoor/survival situation. The handles on the 5 and 6 are exactly the same length. As everyone knows though, you'd have to use both to decide which you are better off with. Also, most of the folks that post on here would never be without a smaller knife (HEST, Izzy, or RC-3) to do the tedious cutting...

I chose the RC5 also, but that is just me. My Izula is always at my side.
 
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