Chances are you probably don't follow me on Instagram, I wouldn't follow me either...
but a cool bro over there named headin was like hey I got a few knives laying around-
want them?
Maybe he doesn't follow me here- and likes to keep his viewing of knife reviews to single
pictures with no talking and the Ludwig filter.
A short story long One of them was an esse Izula the 1st or 1 or whatever you call not
the 2, which is the original izula and now that I've wasted an entire minute on an introduction
that adds nothing to the review, let's look at the dimensions like the overall length
and weight.
With and without the sheath with the belt clip applied.
The blade length and cutting edge.
The handle size and grip area.
Spine thickness and handle thickness.
The Esee Izula is a small fixed blade knife made for Esee by Rowan manufacturing, right
here in the good ol USA.
You can get the knife neked with no handles or nothing, or the kit like I have, and the
separately purchased micarta handle scales.
The Izula which is a type of ant that drinks all your beer, and gives you thumbs down on
your youtube videos, is also a knife that comes in a few finishes.
I want to say mine is the desert tan version but it may not be.
It features a drop point flat ground blade, like found on a lot of esees, and this one
is made from powder coated 1095 Carbon steel.
The powder coat has been applied to keep it from rusting, and to blend into desert surroundings,
so you have to buy another one when you lose it.
I'm onto you esee.
It's still fairly sharp, so maybe this was just an instagram knife before hand, although
it does seem like it has seen a little use because of some light surface rust, and a
chip or two in the finish.
The powdercoat is a medium thickness, and not really teflony- If you've owned an esee
before you know what's up.
The handle is a skeletonized design with a hole in the back for tying some paracord to,
and wearing it to church- as a neck knife.
You can choose to buy optional scales, like whoever bought this did or go nekked, and
take off the scales.
I tend to like my knives not hung around my neck and with scales, but you can do whatever
the hell you want.
The scales add some girth to the knife, and since it's tiny, the girth really helps...
you get a good grip on it.
There's some jimping up top, it's sort of widely spaced, I prefer jimping to be a bit
more tightly spaced... but since this knife is small, my thumb doesn't rest in that area
to often anyway- so it doesn't matter.
The sheath.
Now I said earlier that the sheath is an optional accessory.
Mine came with a mounting clip, which makes more sense to myself because I don't wear
knives around my neck like a savage or a youtube survivalist.
The clip works best in a pocket of your jeans, because if you wear it on your belt it rides
too high for comfort.
The knife clicks into the plastic sheath with firction really, and you pop it off like this.
It holds pretty well especially if you don't use it often.
Ok... so what do I think of the izula.
It's very well made and light, but it's a little small for my main outdoor fixed blade.
I like a bit longer of a handle and an uncoated blade.
But for just a small food prep camp knife it works fine.
Not every fixed blade has to be a junglas.
But it really comes down to your hand size and how big of a handle you need.
Maybe blade size too.
For an outdoor knife I like a 3-4 inch blade size as a good general purpose knife.
The Esee 3 seems like it would be a good starting size for me.
But the knife is well made.
Here let's compare it to the Mora Eldris for a second.
The blade on the Eldris is a bit smaller, and the handle is a tad more bulbous, and
rubbery.
I like the blade size of the Izula a little more- but the Izula take up a bit more space
overall.
While ideally the Izula is a bit more of a robust deisgn, in theory because it's full
tang... what the hell are you going to be doing with a 2 and a half inch blade anyway.
Well I guess that's none of my business.
Also the Eldris is a bit better for striking ferro rods, and it's lighter too.
Anyway if you like this review subscribe, like, comment, and go play with your knives-
while your toddler is taking a nap.
Also stay tuned for my Junglas IIand PR4 knife reviews coming soon.
Thanks for watching.