For a backyard survival Youtube and instagram artist like myself, a good fixed blade is
essential.
That way an internet man can reconnect with nature like the primitive man, as I drink
beer and break down tree garbage for my chimnea like cavebros used to do.
I mean first you have to assemble your chimnea.
But at least you got the knife for the cardboard.
So when Esee released the PR4 back in September- I was like that's the perfect knife to get
the clicks.
Ok maybe not since my last two Esee reviews are sitting under 3k views.
Maybe its the sarcasm like friend of the channel Dan Cornet said on my Junglas II review.
So let's look at the dimensions like the overall length and weight.
With and without dat sheath.
The blade size and cutting edge.
The handle size and grip area.
Spine thickness and handle thickness, and how about the tallness, just two add a few
extra seconds The ESSE camplore series PR4 is a new made
in the USA fixed blade knife from Esee... the PR in PR4 stands for Patrick Rollins the
designer of the knife I assume, and the 4 being the age he was dropped into a snake
pit in the middle of a jungle and told to survive.
Ok 4 just means its in the 4 inch blade length range.
The blade is a spear point style, with a midish to high flat grind.
It uses the easy to sharpen but oxidization friendly 1095 carbon steel with a tumbled
black oxide finish.
The oxide finish is a very thin coat with friction but not texture- like the typical
esee powdercoat.
It hides scratches well.
It was razor sharp out of the box, but after 20-30 minutes of cutting heavy cardboard and
wood it needed a sharpen.
The handle.
The handle has 2 redish brownish polished and scalloped micarta scales, that provide
traction.
Its a tad slicker than regular micarta you know because of the word polished, but the
scallops keep it in your hand.
And plus its still not super smooth either, mostly shiner.
Which is a good way to improve lots of things.
The handle isnt as bulbous as your used to on an esee, its kind of thin overall.
I think I would prefer a smoother more rounded, and thicker handle overall.
Then you might ask why did you buy this knife is a thin scalloped handle, ok because it
was new and looked cool- and It was in 4 inch range.
At the back theres a lanyard hole, for your outdoor bead sculpture.
The spine is a hard 90 degree angle with no coating, so its good for your fire starting
bark shavings, and striking a ferro rod.
if you didnt bring coleman camp fuel, That means there could be a hot spot on that depending
on how you play with your knife.
I dont mind it because it gives you friction when rolling your blade with your thumb from
right to left.
The sheath.
The sheath is a nice leather sheath.
I prefer leather sheaths some people like kydex, and theres nothing wrong with that.
This one is made from two pieces of thick smooth on the face rough on the back leather.
Its a drop sheath, and holds the knife in place well.
Its a big belt loop, so it allows the knife to move if you sit down.
The PR4 is said to be based on the classic Kephart sheath knife, which is similar in
its spear point blade shape but that original knife has a smoother wood handle looking kind
of thin like this one.
So lets compare I to some of my other fixed blades.
For size lets look at the Izula, which is tiny.
My smallest esee.
To its credit the PR4 has about the same overall handle thickness and a subtly thinner blade
stock.
Next is the Esee 6 HM, which I reviewed a while back, It has a blade stock about as
thick as the Izula, which means both have thicker spines than the PR4 it doesnt mean
the PR4 is thin or has flex, it just means why have a thicker blade stock when you dont
need it.
I dont think they improve the stoutness of the knife greatly.
The 6Hm is their quillion free knife, which is why as a user the PR4 works better for
me because on the 6HM it tends to touch the blade edge when doing dumb backyard stuff.
Now the vangedal rover which several people criticized in the original review for looking
not cool or like a steak knife, or it looks too useful.
This so far is my favorite fixed blade high quality leather sheath with a retention loop
and stud that keeps it locked in the sheath when you need it.
A more bulbous handle, 90 degree spine for ferro rod striking maybe the handle could
have a more pronounced quillion and be a tad longer but it has a reasonable size spine
thickness and a clip point for game dressing if it comes to that.
Then the ultra light and thin bladed mora kansbol.
I like a slightly thicked blade for batoning small pieces of fire wood, and for no real
good reason except its plastic and rubber, a like wooded handles better because ummm
really theres nothing wrong with the handle, its bulbous and has traction and stays in
the hand well plus its super light.
Ok some dumb stuff.
So a 4 inch blade is generally too small for big wood beating, at least in my opinion.
But that wont stop me while I express some knife emotions.
The PR4 has a pretty stout as it really needs to be blade, it maintains a good thickness
to the tip, so unless youre really doing some stuff you dont need to it should be able to
do some light wood prying and digging a hole in the wood- two very essential survival skills.
At this point in the review I had used the blade for tasks where I didnt have the camera
rolling.
Mainly breaking down card board for recycling- I mean burnin.
So while it has a nice working edge it wasnt up for fine easy wood shaving tests.
10 minutes on the Spyderco Sharpmaker and I was able to shave arm air again.
I used the 40 degree angle and it worked well.
Then I was able to do some fine shaving, not enough for a good fire, but I got some flames
going so now I smell like smoke and BO.
Natures perfume.
I reckon the PR4 is generally made for food prep, and light duty stuff.
Bring an axe if you want to chop something.
That is unless your Youtubing, then feel free to do whatever irritates the real outdoorsmen.
The PR4 has held up well, and I didnt really have hot spots or blisters, although the handle
again could be a little more comfortable.
The little quillion nub up front kept my hand from touching the blade.
Anyway, if you like this review subscribe to my channel, watch some of these other reviews
that will pop up at the end give the video a thumbs up, comment, and try not to catch
your yard on fire.
Thanks for watching.