PR4 Fixed Blade Survival Knife –Field Tested, Durable and Reliable Bushcraft Knife with Dark Tan Sheath, Ideal for Survival, Outdoor Use, and EDC

I am by no means a primordial God of the wilderness. That being said, I would honestly say I'm pretty far towards the right side of the bell curve when it comes to outdoors experience. I am also not an ESEE fanboy. I do have an ESEE-5 that has taken some serious beatings on three continents and come back thirsty for more. The ESEE-5 is a massive chunker, and was great for everything from carving holes in mud walls to chopping up shipping crates to cutting straps and prying open doors. It's a great knife that has a purpose, and this review isn't about that knife. It's a classic Kephart design. It doesn't look mean, it doesn't look TACTICAL, it doesn't look like it might kill a man just to watch it die. The 1095 steel is old fashioned, but whatever trade secrets Rowen (the company that does the heat treating for ESEE) is holding makes 1095 blossom into a seriously impressive performer. After recently trying a couple of brands and models, including some marketed towards "bushcraft", I picked up a PR4 fully expecting to hate the handle and being ready to buy one of the aftermarket Micarta sets that a couple makers are offering. That didn't happen. Instead, on its first trip out last year to the family acreage where I like to tool around in the woods, I took it as my only knife and gave it a hard three day evaluation. It was on my hip any time I had pants on, and I used it for everything from food prep to fire prep, debarking and carving a standing dead poplar sapling to make a walking pole for the swamp, and carving notches in timber to repair and extend a lean-to. I didn't do anything crazy, like use it as a piton to repel down a thousand foot rock face, or baton it through an oak with a diameter double the blade length. I did process all my firewood for 3 days using it and a cudgel, including quite a lot of baton work through wrist and calf sized white oak, poplar, smaller hickory, jack pine, and hemlock, all of which it handled without complaint. A couple quick touch ups and it was ready to absolutely breeze through fish, rabbit, and porcupine. The balance is superb. There is exactly enough steel in the blade to make the knife strong enough to do anything you might want to do with it in the woods, aside from perhaps chop through a car door or dig a drainage ditch in rocky soil. The profile of the blade makes it easy to touch up, and also easy to use different parts of the blade distinctly for different tasks. I did some basic leatherwork using various grips including a pinch grip near the tip of the blade and found it comfortable for extremely delicate work. I also didn't find any hot spots with a classic power grip while batoning. The handle is shockingly comfortable even for my large hands with long fingers, and aside from adding a short, fat tassel to the pommel to make it easier to pull out of the deep (and well made) leather sheath, I've done nothing to it but the occasional touch-up on a pocket stone and a small bit of oil before putting it away between trips. Honestly, for what I'm looking for (a woods knife), this one is going to be just about impossible to beat without going full custom. I actually ended up giving away a handful of knives (a Garberg, a Falkniven F-1, and a couple of Bushlores/Mini Bushlores) that I wasn't necessarily displeased with because I just didn't need them anymore, and the older boys at the family camp trip didn't have more than a couple of cheap pocket knives between them.

The PR4 is a well designed and constructed knife. If you are looking for a great all around performer this is it! Tool tough and a simple design lend itself to a variety of tasks. The knife is shaving sharp out of the box. Although the grip looks aggressive it is comfortably in the hand. The grip is thin but still works well with the knife. The sheath is simple high quality leather that sits well on the belt. It is comfortable even when driving.

I’ve had two knives before this PR4 and can’t praise this one enough. The PR4 replaced a Becker BK7 as my field knife because it simply does everything I need a belt knife to do in the mountains & woods, but does it well instead of just adequately. It’s much easier to carry around. The balance is perfect. Its aggressive grip is comfortable for frequent, all-day use. Blade retention is above average for high carbon steel. It’s easy to sharpen in the field. The 90° spine is a welcome feature seasoned bushcrafters want. My only knock is ESEE doesn’t recommend the black oxide coating for food contact, but that’s not what I use it for anyhow. When I make something from wood, the PR4 touches it at some point, if not the entire task. It’ll field dress a whitetail in minutes. This is an outdoorsman’s knife made for outdoor knife tasks. Been using knives for 45 years and this is my favorite.

I think this is a great general purpose camp knife. Classic spear point and an innovative handle texture combine to make a knife that is a real pleasure to use. The sheath is US made and of pretty good quality. It could have benenefitted from double-stitching, but still is nice. The knife comes shaving sharp. Not kidding. The spine is a sharp-edged 90 deg. and perfect for striking ferrocerium rods. The carbon steel stays sharp and is easy to resharpen. Remember, the very best professional chef knives are carbon steel. Now, for just a few slight negatives: 1. The scales are really nice but too narrow! My hands are exactly medium. Even 1/16" -1/8" would make a great difference. There are a nuber of aftermarket scales for this knife. But if I were the manufacturer, I would want to make it right so there was no need for an aftermarket part. Yes I know materials come in standard thicknesses so why not injection mold them? 2. Keep the blade oiled. Carbon steel arguably makes a better knife but it needs attention or you will be disappointed. 3. The blade is so sharp that it slices into the sheath when you insert it. The sheath is of good quality but the molding is not perfect. Summary: All things considered, I would absolutely buy this knife again. Nevertheless, I am a little aggrivated that the handle is too narrow and I am going to have to add spacers. This is especially annoying when the manufacturer is well aware of this defect. This is the only reason I am rating it 4 stars instead of 5.

I got two of these. I have been an Esee fan for years and also a fan of Horace Kephart's writing. This knife is based on his knife of choice and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with it! Fit and finish are great and I love the handle scale color! The sheath is a beautifully crafted leather that is rugged and swallows the knife leaving about 2" of grip exposed. Super secure!now the con: I am not so much a fan of the way they sculpted the grip as it gave a hot spot when I carved with it. I endured it for a short while but it really started to hurt the hand. Luckily this blade (which is EDC for me) rides next to my Leatherman Wave so a few passes with a file over the offending knob in the handle and the knife is great! As for the blade it is of a proven 1095 steel and it came quite sharp and for most folks would be perfect. I spent about 5 mins with my stones and the blade was easily brought up to my overly nitpicky standards. This knife is a great design and you should DEFINITELY buy one. Photo shows the PR4 with the ESEE4 and a few other exceptional outdoor knives

This is my second esee , my first is the esee 6. I love this knife , I read a lot of reviews talking about the thin handles and I don’t find that at all . I think this is a perfect knife for me and camp chores . Really glad I got this knife

Después de mucho investigar y ver opiniones por todas las redes sociales me decidí por este cuchillo para mis hijas (una de 17 años y otra de 11) porque de forma continua salimos de trekking o a acampar y estaban necesitando un buen cuchillo de supervivencia para lo que pueda surgir. Que me gustó primero que la marca es muy respetada en temas de supervivencia, segundo es full tang, tercero el acero es con alto carbono 1095, cuarto el filo es plano lo cual lo hace duradero y fácil de afilar en campo a comparación de un convexo por ejemplo, quinto el mango es de polímero lo cual lo hace más confiable que los materiales naturales para el uso rudo, sexto no se ve táctico sino que visualmente se ve de explorador por lo cual es menos amenazante, séptimo la punta en lanza es genial para poder barrenar madera pero también es una excelente arma defensiva, octavo tiene garantía de por vida. Ahora que no me gusto, puedo decir que solo la funda ya que pese a que está muy bien echa y de cuero auténtico requiere cuidados que no siempre es posible darle cuando haces salidas.

Liiiiebe dieses Messer!!! Es sieht nicht nur toll aus, sondern ist auch super in seiner Funktion!

Un cuchillo de calidad para salir al monte. El tratamiento químico al metal del cuchillo lo hacen resistente a la oxidación. El mango se siente bien al trabajar detalles en madera. Yo lo use para tallar roble y su filo sigue tan afilado como cuando nuevo

First time buying that company knife, and I am a fan of good steel. The edge was ok, but far from what you can achieve with this quality of steel. You can cut the top layer of a paper sheet to remove the ink without going through the paper after a good sharpening. A bit thick to my taste for everyday use, but I totally love the balance of it in your hand.