Hey Tim (& Family)....we hope you are all healthy and doing well....we appreciate the coverage of the Zancudo and think it is a great little blade. I wanted to mention that we hardened these knives to CPMs recommendation of HRC60 and it has our same lifetime warranty. While it will hold and edge quite a bit longer than our 1095 it is more brittle as you acknowledged in the video.....however, with that said, it's no creme puff either and it will stand up to some use. We listened to our customers' requests for a stainless knife with better edge retention and this is the result. WE are expanding our S35vn offerings in 2020-1 to include the Xancudo Fixed, ESEE-AGK, CR3.0, Izula, and ESEE 4. I don't have delivery dates as we have ALL been Covided (
I have the Xancudo it's a great little fixed blade. If ESEE sees this a good option would be scout carry clip option. I wanted to carry mine scout style so had my local gunshop make me a nice kydex fir horizontal carry. It is more discrete as I work for the Tylenol people and the company couldn't be any more LEFT in the political spectrum. ESEE and Rowen make really great hard use survival knives. This is a handy yet strong small folder. It is the same size as my TOPS msf 4.0 mini scandi folding knife. I prefer the S35VN but I am not unhappy with the N690Co on the folder. But damn 60 hrc ESEE that is some really hard stuff and it does not seem to be brittle. Another great quality American knife. Keep it up ESEE. Muy buen trabajo señores.
Really great knife and a nice review! I’m still waiting for the release of the ESEE CR 3.0 in S35VN since three years now. Maybe there is a little bit hope after the pandemic is over Greetings from Germany
Great review as usual! Best review out there on this blade. I just ordered one. I like the Izula and Izula II a lot but I like the design of this one a lot. I like the smaller fixed blades they offer. Great review!
In some ways this makes more sense for urban edc than the izula, which seems to be a common edc blade. The stainless with good edge retention (although they make an izula in S35VN now) but the thinner blade stock works better for lots of daily slicing tasks. I just dont get why the izula seems to get soooooo much more attention than this.
Great looking knife Tim. I like the smaller fixed blades. It looked like you could rotate the sheath 90 degrees on the belt clip and carry it horizontally.
This or an esee 3 s35vn makes a great conpanion knife to a bk9 or esee junglas , it covers the small tasks that are dumb to even try with the bigger blades. This paring could honestly cover all tasks for a 1 day hike or trek, if you plan on spending the night add a saw into the mix
I love my Esee 6 and Xancudo folder (it’s my EDC knife). I really like that it’s stainless steel, it will be a great knife for fishing, kayaking or anytime on the water.
90* spines are funny......they run about 50/50 on who wants them so we always seem to disappoint roughly 1/2 our audience. These knives have to spend a LOT of time in the tumbler to achieve this finish, which in turns, rounds corners. Putting a 90* spine back on it would add quite a bit of shop time and cost back into the blade....so we opted out on this one.
I use the cutting edge to scrape natural material, and I use the striker that comes with my Exotac firesteel to strike sparks. If I were to use the knife to strike sparks, I would resort to using the very back portion of the cutting edge. But I love my Xancudo....... It's my EDC and rides in a leather pocket sheath that has a clip on the outside. It literally looks like a standard pocket knife with just the tail end of the put of the handle sticking out of my pocket. This allows for a good grip to draw, but it's low profile. Concealing a fixed blade in my area is a big no no.......... But you can carry a fixed blade as long as it is not "furtively" carried........
You mentioned the ESEE 5 and the 6, this would be a good double sheath knife combined with one of those larger blades. Like the combo sets Knives of Alaska does for example.
Why can't esee make the Zancudo folding knife in the usa with s35vn and axis lock. The Zancudo's biggest weaknesses was the locking mechanism which rocked back and forth due to wear.
I really love Xancudo,...as well. I got the Izula in s35vn and another Izula in 1095. Can't go wrong with ESEE!!! I've got many Spyderco's including the Pars 3 and Manix 2xl as well.many other high end high rated knives. Thet said I only EDC. my ESEE Knives in fixed blade pocket carry with Ulticlip attached. If you're going to.povket carry get yourselves an Ukticlip at BHQ,..Knife Center,..DLT Trading Post,...Knife Connection or any good knife shop. As well Knife Connection has gorgeous scales for any ESEE made of every color in g10 as well as mcarta!! Great show BTW coveting the ESEE Xancudo,....killer knife!!!! That means awesome in New England FYI,....LOL 🗡🗡🗡
honestly it's bc 1/2 the folks that use a knife do so with their thumb on the spine. We see it in our classes. While we prefer a monkey grip many people disapprove....there is a cost factor involved in this model as well.
Cool blade I wish it had AEB-L or cpm154 for stainless steel options but we all have our favorites and people love that s35vn and don’t get me wrong it’s a great steel I just prefer a steel in the middle easy to sharpen holds a good edge instead of harder to sharpen and holds a great edge I don’t mind spending 10 minutes by the fire with a stone to make my blade razor sharp again every 2 to three days depending on use it’s meditation like carving and I love the thinner flat grinds like this I could even go a hair thinner especially with something tougher and less chippy like 3V cru wear A-2 80crv2 0-1 M4 but if u really want stainless cpm154 is pretty tuff.
Thinking about pulling the trigger on this one for a neck knife which would also come in handy for a "firecraft" knife as well. Kind of a toss up between this and White River. any thoughts??
I got the ESEE 3 in S35VN and it’s amazing..I’m considering getting one of these as well..I got my ESEE 3 as soon as I could find one available,I first found them available on New Graham Knives and ended up getting serial number 0047
The thing with this knife is that it can be carried almost everywhere because the blade is just 3" long, where is the Esee 3 blade is approximately 3.8" long.
Made such a great point at the end there. Lots of folks think that S35VN being a more premium steel must be better in all applications but just because its tougher than S30V, that doesn't mean its gonna take the kind of abuse that 1095 can. Good review. Thank you.
This will be a great backpacking knife due to the small size and the low 3.8oz weight. It's half the weight of my ESEE 4 and only slightly heavier than the Izula. The 3" blade I find is allot more useful then the 2ish blade on the Izula.
I am in need of a small to medium size outdoors knife, something that can do a lot of camp chores and maybe some hunting tasks and I’m willing to spend up to $150. any suggestions?
