WATCHMAN W204 Fixed Blade Knife 14C28N Blade Steel Micarta Handle with Kydex Sheaths for Outdoor Activities Camping

This knife obviously draws its inspiration to the ESEE Izula. As a fan of the Izula, that's a good thing. using a 14C28 stainless steel makes it a lite more user friendly for EDC. The Izula is 1095 steel which is super tough stuff for hard use. they also make a S35VN version but its a lot more expensive than this knife. this one comes with micarta scales which cost extra on the ESEE. It also uses a much thinner blade stock which makes it slice much better than the ESEE. I am not saying this knife is better than the ESEE. I have own more than one Izula, they're great. However they are tough hard use knives and this is more of a lighter EDC knife better suited to EDC tasks not hard use.Usually Id be a harsh critic of a knife that is a cheaper copy of more expensive and well known knife or a cheap clone. I really don't think that is the case here though. this knife has a strikingly similar style to the ESEE, but I think there is enough difference between them that I wouldn't call it a knock off or a clone. also if they were looking to make a cheap clone, they wouldn't have used good materials like a Sandvik steel and canvas micarta. This knife is definitely inspired by ESEE but not a copy. Lets face it though, there's lots of great knives on the market that have copied aspects of design from ESEE, when you make a great product people will emulate it. If you want a small fixed blade knife to do weekend projects in the garage or yard, this knife is great, if you need a knife to spend a weekend in the woods, buy the ESEE.

Pleased it was 14C28N as the photo shows, and not D2 as the information states. Good fit and finish, as well as size in the hand. Shaved arm hair with it right out of the box. Only complaint is the sheath rattles a bit. Some heat and some pressure will fix that, still it's mildly disappointing. The knife itself however, good to go. It's going on my belt while bird hunting once I snug the sheath up. May wear it as a necker too.

Fit and finish is OK. The grind is off, but it is decently sharp. The sheath has zero retention, the knife will literally fall out if turned upside down. No click no hold at all. I plan on heating it and putting it in my Kydex sheath press. It’s much cheaper than a ESEE so if you are able to do the work to regrind and tighten the sheath I think it’s worth it. 😎👍

I do like my esee knives, I have 6. This is very close to an esee izula 2. The standard izula fits in the watchman sheath perfectly. The watchman sheath is real kydex, the esee is polymer, functional, but kydex is more durable.This knife takes and holds a shaving sharp edge. I do like the toughness of 1095, but for an all around fishing, hunting, camping knife, 14c28n is a great choice with less maintenance.

The media could not be loaded. This is an awesome knife I recently bought it to add to my edc options and it quickly became my favorite. Super slicey and has retained the edge after I’ve used it cutting things on top of steel surface. So I will be purchasing other items from the company.

The worst part besides it being very dull is the knife doesn't lock into the sheath.

Sheath is loose

Just received this and I am very happy with it. I looked for kidex sheaths for the Izula 2 and had little success finding any. This sheath fits the Izula 2 well and comes with a "free" knife. I have seen some good reviews of the knife so feel it will perform well as a backup knife. It is just a little bigger than the Izula 2 so there is no the greatest cross compatibility with the original Esee sheath, but it is workable.