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Thread: Fixed blade for edc under $150

  1. #1

    Fixed blade for edc under $150

    I've been carrying a Spyderco Endura with the wave for about 5 years now and have been very happy with it. However, the other day when cutting some straps off bundles of lumber my knife closed on me and almost did some damage to the leading finger. I realize this is mostly user error because my knife was duller than I care to admit and I accidentally slightly pressed the lock while using a sub-par grip. This also made me realize it was time to tighten the little screws for the blade and lock.

    Regardless, this got me thinking about picking up a fixed blade to replace the endura. I looked through the CCW Straight knives thread and the vast majority of those are either strictly for fighting (clinch pick) or way out of my price range to get abused in day to day cutting tasks. With that in mind, I started looking around and stumbled upon the ESEE-3 or the Izula II and decided something along these lines might be a good starting point. My concern is actually carrying a fixed blade of which I don't have any practice doing in public. I don't thing it necessarily needs to be concealed, but I don't want to just hang it on my belt like I would if I were camping, etc. My first thought is to get a sheath to carry horizontally on my belt, but that's a guess at this point.

    Any advice or suggestions are welcomed. Also, I'm not sold on the ESEE knifes, but they are pretty much the first brand I came across that looked like it would be functional and reasonably cost effective

  2. #2
    Site Supporter Irelander's Avatar
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    Apr 2014
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    I like your thinking. IMO you can't go wrong with ESEE for a hard use knife.

    If I had an Izula II again, I'd have Dark Star Gear make me a vertical sheath with their excellent clip.
    Jesus paid a debt he did not owe,
    Because I owed a debt I could not pay.

  3. #3
    For that budget, I'd suggest you take a look at TOPS Knives. They are a bargain. 1095 steel.

    For the money, there's the Lioness Rockies Edition. It's on sale $100. https://www.topsknives.com/knives/ed...ockies-edition
    This one is my second favorite, the Scandi Trekker $145: https://www.topsknives.com/knives/edc/scandi-trekker
    All around favorite $150: https://www.topsknives.com/skinat
    All of the above have a sheath that can be rotated to carry blade up, sideways or downwards.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter dontshakepandas's Avatar
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    Jun 2014
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    Dallas, TX
    I have an ESEE-3 and an Izula II and like both of them.

    For me the ESEE-3 is too long to wear horizontally. The Izula II can work, but it doesn't conceal very well for me. If I was worried about concealing it I'd go with the original Izula and do a cord wrap.

  5. #5
    Site Supporter
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    Aug 2014
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    Northern Virginia
    The Izula is a good choice. I have a Becker BK14, which is a hybrid of the Izula and another Becker knife (partnership with Esee). It was considerably cheaper than the Izula. I cordwrapped mine and carry it in a 710 Sheaths kydex taco sheath. The entire package is thin enough to carry in my pocket, but it also does well IWB with an appropriate belt clip.

    It's my Urban Fixed Blade EDC as well as my "I'm going for a hike, but not hunting" fixed blade knife.

    Chris

  6. #6
    Finding the right sheath may be more of a challenge than finding the right blade. As mentioned, either the Izula I or II are great general purpose EDCs. You can get ESEE factory sheaths for either horizontal or vertical carry and they're functional but I found the big honking tek-lok on the horizontal sheath too big for concealment and the vertical sheath just wasn't comfortable. I really like Blade Rigs for a concealment sheath and there's some other good ones mentioned in this thread as well.

    Long story short, budget for a good sheath as well as the knife.

  7. #7
    As someone who's spent too much on knives, I always go back to an ESEE Izula II. The handle is much better than the original Izula and ESEE stock sheaths are actually really good. That said, I carry mine in an EDC Kydex custom sheath with a small teklok at 3 o'clock canted. I did carry it horizontal at 12, but that was before AIWB. I don't think you can go wrong for the price. There is also the ESEE CR2.5 that a lot of people are raving about, but it's a big smaller and I have no experience with it. Regarding the ESEE 3, as mentioned its too long for horizontal carry. It's much better suited to a belt or rig knife.

  8. #8
    Site Supporter
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    Feb 2016
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    Finding a good knife is easy. Finding a good way to carry it is not as easy. A belt sheath will work under a jacket, sweater, or untucked shirt. A sheath that attaches to a Chris Fry/Raven Pocket Shield works well in a front pocket of dress slacks. A sheath that hangs upside down from an inside pocket works well with a suit or sport jacket.



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  9. #9

  10. #10
    I use my folder for mundane cutting tasks. The fixed blade is just for self defense. Some of the small fixed CRKT’s are decent. You could also get a Spyderco P’kal fixed for around $90.

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