nucknfutz-
A month ago I was exactly where you are!!! The dilemma was enough to drive me nucknfutz. (ahh... see what I did there?)
I knew I wanted a drop point/spear point so it was down to the BK16 or the LS. ended up buying the ESEE LS on Amazon for $106.00. I now see they're up to $115 on amazon.
I justified the extra expense over the BK16 because if I wanted Micarta scales, plus a kydex sheath, I'd spent another $50 over the cost of the BK16, which would make the Becker more investment than the ESEE. Buy once cry once and all that, so I got the LS.
I loved the look, loved the feel of the materials, the sheath, etc... I thought the knife was the bees knees. I took it out for an initial test and it performed admirably. But a week later when i really wrung it out, I realized there was a very significant issue for me. The scales on that handle make it very very boxy. It became very uncomfortable to hold. Not because of the funny index finger position, that didn't bother me. It just had to do with how square the handle was. I wasn't about to take a new knife that was expensive (for me) and start grinding down scales and reshaping handles and all that.
I ended up selling it to a friend, and bought the BK16. Right from the get-go, the BK16 fit my hand like a glove. I've taken it to the woods and it is conformable for extended use, cuts like crazy, and is more than up to the task to deal with anything I'd realistically do with a knife. I don't plan to upgrade to micarta scales just yet, as the givory/zytel ones are just fine for now. As for the sheath, I'm tooling up to make my own kydex sheaths so that'll also happen, but the stock one is just fine for now. I have no doubt at all that the BK16 will be every bit as durable as the ESEE would have been.
Now, would I say anything bad about the ESEE? No. I think of it like a girl who I went on a couple of dates with who was a lovely person, we just didn't mesh romantically. I would not say anything bad about the girl, and if my friend wanted to date her i'd encourage it and tell him how wonderful she is. That's how the ESEE is to me. A fantastic, very very well made knife that will do ANYTHING a knife could reasonably do and do it for a lifetime's worth of use. I have nothing bad to say about it at all. It just didn't fit my hand with those boxy slab scales. Many other people don't have a problem with that, and many comparable knives (Ontario SK5 For example) have the same setup. I just happen to prefer the more svelte, curved feel of my BK16.
For a more direct comparison of the blades, I don't think the difference in the degree of the drop point is all that significant, at least I didn't find either way to be superior in my testing. The LS has a slightly longer blade, but it's not like you'll really notice a difference in how well they chop or anything since neither is a chopper. They both have more than enough blade to cut stuff, which is why we have knives in the first place. Both will make a nice pile of wood shavings. Both will baton approximately equal sized logs, if that's your thing (I don't do it so i don't care, but it matters to some).
One possible advantage of the BK16 is that the tang extends slightly past the handle scales, so if you need to whack the back of the knife or use the back of the tang to hit tent stakes or something, you're not going to hit and potentially damage the scales themselves. Not a big deal and not a big advantage at all, as I'd rather use a chunk of wood to do those things than the back of my knife anyway.
All in all, get the one you like. I like them both, but find the BK16 to be more comfortable to use.
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