1) Sharp
2) Durable
3) Resiliant
4) feature useful design components
To that end I recently picked up an ESEE with a 6in Blade to try out. I must say, so far I'm quite impressed. I've owned a bunch of "Hard Use" knives which I tried out for a while in the woods and promptly sold because at the end of the day, if a knife is tough as nails but doesn't cut worth a damn I'm not really interested. The two Busse knives I had were that way. Ridiculously tough, and if I needed to stab someone through body armor or a car door they'd be great because the edge would hold up great, but the cutting edge geometry didn't lend itself well to being a very effective cutting tool when it came to butchering a rabbit or a deer.
So far this thing is pretty damn nice. Big saber grind with enough belly to skin in a pinch but enough thickness at the edge that it'll be durable. Reminds me of how Ka Bar grinds their combat knives. I should have gotten the one that didn't have the sharpened back edge so I could more effectively pound on the back of the blade but I could easily pound this thing through saplings with minimal damage.
The fit and finish isn't quite up to par with my Chris Reeve blades but it's really good. Especially since I paid $109 shipped with the sheath which is really good. The handle is micarta and is quite comfy. We'll see if this thing holds up as well as some of my previous stellar beater knives have like the Cold Steel Tanto I packed around the whole time I was on Active Duty. That thing was bloody indestructible.
My cousin is a CS dealer, so I can get stuff fairly inexpensively.
