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.

The PR4 is a well designed and constructed knife. If you are looking for a great all around performer this is it! Tool tough and a simple design lend itself to a variety of tasks. The knife is shaving sharp out of the box. Although the grip looks aggressive it is comfortably in the hand. The grip is thin but still works well with the knife. The sheath is simple high quality leather that sits well on the belt. It is comfortable even when driving.

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 fourth Esee, I own an Izula (in venom), 3 (in venom) and 4 (tan with micarta). They are all great in their own ways however I do prefer the 4 size and the Izula the most. I decided on the pr4 after going back and forth between it and the rb3. Nothing wrong with the rb3 but decided I wanted the spear point Kephart style more.I was afraid the handle would be too long but it's perfect, I usually wear a medium size glove. The handle isn't too long or narrow, it might be for those with an XL glove hand size but medium to large is fine. Small hands may find the handle longer than needed but it will fit and be comfortable I'm sure.The spine is thinner than a standard Esee 4 but still plenty thick enough and makes for a better slicer, which the 4 does perfectly fine. This is basically an Esse 4 minus the choil and is more of a hunter shape than a tactical. It's a great camp and hunting knife with a really nice and thick leather sheath.It is a fine knife well worth the money and if on the fence, just buy it. It does all the 4 will do but without a drop point style blade. It's a situation of just picking the style you like the looks of better. I prefer the spear point over the drop point, in a camp style/hunting style knife but would readily take either if I had to.Esee knives are just solid tools with one of the best warranties you could eve hope for.

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.