After enjoying my Esee 6 at my off-grid cabin for the last year or two, I bought a Lionsteel M7. These blades have a very similar sizes and form factors and so I thought to test them in a side by side comparison.
I have the esee 6 and tons of other 1095 knives. I keep them coated with mineral oil because i live in a humid area. I like that the lionsteel M7 is a bit more rust resistant than 1095. Eventually, ill be adding the M7 to my collection. Thanks for the review.
Hi and thanks for the comment. Neither the esee 6 nor the m7 are optimized for “slicy” fine work but both are excellent in making the smallest kindling out of a nice pine or fir. The M7 has become my resident blade for my cabin as part of my wood stove equipment. This replaced the esee 6 that now lives in my work truck. This was primarily due to the amount of maintenance require. Not only does the M7 not suffer from rust, but the steel is so much more resilient to abuse. With the esee 6 I would touch up the blade at the cabin, but would need to take home to put a proper edge on it. I can’t remember the last time I sharpened the M7 and it is still paper cutting sharp. I think both are due to a oxide coating that tends to harden the outer layer of steel and resists rust. The more you use the esee, the more the polymer coating is lost. I’d really like to try out their esee 3 in sv30. Cheers
Nice comparison and details, thanks. For me, it’s not about which one is better but rather where on the cost scale fits your use best. There are plenty of more expensive offerings, ex Chris Reeve etc. Coatings on blades are not permanent. The edge of a carbon steel blade will need oil right from the start. The Lionsteel blade grind looks fabulous in stainless steel. As you mentioned, it’s an upscale survival knife. I’m looking to buy an ESEE or two. Sharpening carbon steel is much faster. Besides producing knives, ESEE is a survival training school. Their knives meet all the requirements for this use. Upscale features would add to the cost, so are left to other brands. They stay in their well defined lane where they excel. It’s great to have choices. You did a great job highlighting and demonstrating the differences. Thanks.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Getting the black oxide coating was something different for me. I took advantage of a great deal at Chicago knife and had the option of also getting it in raw stainless finish with green micarta. I went with this because, I’ve been impressed with some of SOG’s recent offerings with either oxide or ti-nitride. Not only do they hold up well, but they can actually increase the exterior hardness of the metal. I have a few different blades with polymer coatings like cerakote, and they all have significant wear with just a bit of batoning. The coating on the esee is much thicker than the average polymer and is holding up pretty well. The oxide on the Lionsteel is showing zero wear after a 5 or 6 days of heavy use. I’ll be curious to see how it looks after a whole season of camping. I think there is about a $60 difference (based on my sale prices) and I definitely think the difference in design, materials and features is worth it. Maybe not so much at the $100 difference. I did recently get a izulla 2 and really love it’s size and how well it Carrie’s. It does rust more than other blades and see why esee is starting to make stainless versions of their knives out of S30V. These are more expensive in the range of a Joker or Lionsteel. I do like how their heart, esee is a company that really gets their products for use rather than looks or collect ability. Benchmade makes wonderful bushcraft blades and then put them in substandard sheathes. Anyway, I’m starting to ramble. Thanks again for the comment
"Sharpening carbon steel is much faster." only if you're using crappy 10$ stones. it's actually arguably faster to sharpen a harder steel because deburring is waaay faster than the sticky, floppy, irritating burr you got on softer shit steels like 1095 on the flipside, for you folks in the USA, Esee has a great warranty and that alone is worth a decent chunk of the price difference
Cool comparison. Two very similar blades. I wonder how many would naturally give the nod to ESEE for being made in the US? Being up here in Canada, though, the handle on the Lionsteel would seem warmer to me when it's really cold. And Mr. Does it get cold up here! Great video. Enjoyed it.
Yes, I noticed that too. You can feel the cold through a glove in the fingers with the Esee. Last time I leave the knife overnight on the wood pile. I now clip it on the kindling bucket by the stove.
Great review and comparison! Thanks for sharing! Having owned multiple examples of knives from both ESEE and Lionsteel, I can attest to the fact that both companies do a great job of producing quality, well thought-out products that will last a lifetime when used as designed and with an understanding of their limitations. Let me first state that I view a 'survival knife' as my primary means of staying alive in adverse and/or catastrophic situations. It may well be my primary means of building shelter, making a fire, obtaining food, and multiple other needs, including protection & preservation of life. I personally do not regard 'batoning' large logs as a relevant test of such a knife's capabilities. In decades of outdoor activity, including multiple-week deer camps in remote areas, I have never needed to baton a large piece of timber to make a fire. Smaller logs for tender? Sure! But a 10" log? That is why they make Axes! The chances of anyone having to use a typical bushcraft, hunting or survival knife for such an activity is extremely unlikely. And, in a true survival situation where your life may depend upon maintaining your one knife in good working condition, only an idiot would risk destroying it by using it as an Axe or a Crowbar. Yes, emergency situations can and do occur- Maybe you need to pry open a stuck car door to rescue someone from a burning vehicle. But that isn't really a legitimate assessment category for survival knives. Both the ESEE 6 and the Lionsteel M7 are quality knives that will serve you well for a lifetime IF they are used as intended and not abused. The ESEE has the better warranty, but in truth, that should never come into play unless you intend to abuse the knife. The Lionsteel is more 'refined' and as a rule, a more comfortable knife to use without needing modifications. Both should serve you well and it really comes down to personal preference. For me personally, I have an ESEE 6 for my more serious activities, and I suppose I would classify it as my 'Survival' knife if I had to choose only one. But, I also have an Lionsteel M3 for 'Bushcrafting/Camping', along with a Benchmade Mini Auto Presidio II that rides in my pocket. However, I would not hesitate for a moment to reverse that and rely instead on the Lionsteel M7 and an ESEE 3.
Hey, thank you for the thoughtful reply. I would point out a couple of thoughts. The whole point of a survival knife is a "one tool" that can kind of do it all including chopping, hammering, crushing, carving, splitting, etc.. They may not excel at any one task, but should be generally capable of many tasks. I mostly use mine at my off grid place for making fires, clearing brush, producing stakes when trail building, etc. so it is pretty hard use. Yeah, I could take an axe, machete, saw, shovel, etc. but I usually just carry a 6" knife, silky saw and and a fire crew hoe along with my water, pack, gloves, and lunch. I carry everything in and don't really have the space for the heavier amenities (axe, polasky, bow saw). I will admit to occasionally packing in my Makita Electric Saw but that's because I'm lazy or only have a couple of hours to work. I like the knife for batoning so much, I now use it over my hatchet for making kindling for my wood stove with pine and fir. I still use the hatchet for the Oak and knotty pieces of wood. For purposes of direct comparison of the two knives, the most stressful activity that is consistent and quantifiable is batoning. Here you quickly see how the steel quality and blade geometry hold up under the typical type of abuse one would see. This is very different from the more bushcrafty/camp activities where a knife is more of a slicing, drilling or carving tool rather than a chopping tool. Even for a bush crafter, batoning is still a great indicator of how well a blade will hold up, just with smaller pieces of wood. As far as axes go, they certainly have their place and uses but they are certainly a heavy weight option. Most of my wood is either under 4" or pre split with a maul, so a 6" knife works pretty well. I do use axes more for cutting roots while trail building or as a lite maul when car camping. Anyway, I'm ramping now so thank you for watching and looking forward to your future comments. Cheers
I thought the same way and found the lion steel is a substantial upgrade to the esee. Before, the Esee was my kindling knife for my off grid place and it has now been replaced. I think it will go live in my camping box for now.
The best finsih on a low alloy (Carbon) steel knife blade, is a mirror polish finish. Coatings, as you can see, do not provide much rust protection, they are there to make the knife look cooler and thus the company sells the knife for more money, making them earn more. Mirror finish not only will provide rust protection but also the knife will work better,simply because you minimize the friction, that the coatings by the way, maximize,and thus minimize the slicing through performance of the knife. When it comes to knives, usually the more simple the design is, the better. Esee, is more focused to proper materials for a field knife,targeting more the customers that are users.Where the Lionsteel, targets more the collectors community, that's why they don't care that much about their heat treatment or the bevel geometries, (that are both in poor level,especialy their bevel geometries, in most of their knives). That's a shame, because their designs, are even better than Esee,or msot other companies. As also their handles, are the best I've tried. Keep am sharp and stay safe!!
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Not all coatings are created equal. The oxide coatings are done in a vacuum deposition chamber. Not only do they coat the blade but they also bind with the blade material at a molecular level hardening it. Definitely a step above DLC or other polymer coatings. Cheers
There’s one other thing to consider. Sharpening. A lot of people will not be able to sharpen the lionsteel knife in the field, where most people will be able to at least get a working edge on the Essee. I’m not downing the lion Steele knife, it’s a nice knife.
Yes, good point. Part of the idea of the survival knife is the ability to field sharpen. The question is how? If it’s a rock, the best that you’ll get is a rudimentary job unless you carry a sharpening stone or rod of some type. For my purposes, it is better to have a higher Rockwell hardens and scary a small ceramic rod to touch up the blade.
never had a problem sharpening my m7 in the field with my pocket diamond/ceramik stone. Aslong as you dont try to split a rock and totaly beat up the edge you only need to touch it up now an then anyway. But i agree it will be easier on the esee for sure
They make a thing called an axe for splitting fire wood. Personally I like to beat a Scottish Claymore through my kindling with a 10 pound sledgehammer 😅
Ok. Axes and hatchers definitely have their place. I just prefer a fixed blade for making kindling. I don’t carry a hatchet backpacking, too heavy. I also prefer the more controlled nature of a fixed blade indoors, next to the stove. Finally, I can make much finer kindling than with a hatchet. Thanks for the comment
The Esee puts your hand closer to the cutting edge for more leverage. Also, the Esee is a better cutter and carver because the blade is thinner without giving up toughness. Lionsteel is unnecessarily thick. Esee is so easy to field sharpen too. BTW, batoning is not what knives are for. Cutting man, cutting.
Yes, that generous finger choil is nice allowing one to use the knife for more dexterous activities. More functionality is good, but I usually use a smaller pocket folder for this. I got to disagree about the toughness. Using the Esee a lot, I've also been sharpening it a lot. I rotated the Lionsteel into my rotation and it just stands up far longer plus no oil is required. Granted it is a pain to sharpen it compared to the ESEE requiring that I use my edge pro vs a simple pocket sharpener. Sure, a hatchet is a more effective tool, but I'm not going to use one inside my cabin. You not only get dust and splinters all over the place but it is not nearly as precise. I keep the lion steel in my kindling bucket and simply make small fir squares to fire up my wood stove. I'm an old school Boy Scout and still get that buzz with the one match fire, so no blow torch for me. I used to keep my hatchet there by the wood stove and that has now moved out to the chopping block with the half axe. I just like to use batoning as a simple side by side comparison for edge retention and strength. Cheers and thanks for watching.
At least we know how it would fare vs an autobot. :-). I did take a look at some deconstruction videos of the Lionsteel and although not full tang like the ease. It ain’t breaking.
Esse or Lion 🦁??? I don't care,, I am not Knife adventurer, I will take either and use them until there's no edge left to sharpen..You just need one or two knives in your lifetime + one folding..Buy once,Buy for life...
Ok, like picking the right tool for the job, picking the right knife for your selected activity is often a challenge. The more the activities, the more knives you might need.
Take those “canoe” micarta scales off of that Lionsteel and I about guarantee the tang is small and much weaker than the ESEE 6. The Lionsteel M5 has a very small tang that they hide quite well with those canoe micarta scales. After seeing their small tangs they hide you couldn’t give me a Lionsteel knife.
Ok, I’ve got a lion steel M5 for yah. Want it? Just kidding. Having used both for quite awhile, the Esee might have a thicker tang but I need to resharpen it every time after a weekend making kindling. Little minor pits on the blade edge. Sure, it is usually a quick effort with a ceramic rod although I’ve had to take down metal twice for bigger knicks. I have yet to have to sharpen the M5. The steel is that much better for my applications. Maybe it might break more readily at the handle but it doesn’t flex or shown any indication of weakness.
You're never going to get into a situation where that Lion Steel tang is a point of failure that will screw you over. You're making a pedantic argument with that.
@@scottiemcgee3838 no I’m making a factual statement. The Lionsteel ones are not true full tangs. They are skeletonized and extremely thin. A lot of people say that about the classic KaBar as well with their small rat tail tang and I’ve seen many of them break from pretty light batoning. Also the Lionsteel knife I saw break the tang didn’t even fully reach the pommel. I’ve seen plenty of videos of Lionsteel knives breaking.
@@scottiemcgee3838 if you like Lionsteel knives and obviously you own some you do you. Everybody has their preferences and my preferance is a true full tang knife. True full tangs are stronger and there’s no argument to be made against that fact.
Materially and craftsmanship, I agree. Cost benefit is part of the equation. When I made the video you could get a B40 under $100. Now they are like $150! So Lionsteel has come come up in the market and deserves to. Looking at comparable prices today, I think I’d have to shift a little more in ESEE’s direction. Plus, ESEE is starting to make their classic knives in better steels like S 30v. Lionsteel has also offered models in better steel also. The whole question might deserve a second look.
