I have an abundance of knives: little ones, big ones, shiny ones, dark ones, pokey ones, and choppy ones. This is my first ESEE, and I must say I'm impressed.
The ESEE-6 is one of those knives that just looks good and feels good in your hand. It's kind of difficult to explain, but if you're a regular knife user, no explanation is really needed. It comes sharp and ready to go. And go it does.
I don't usually make a habit of "abusing" knives, but I received the ESEE before a weekend camping trip and decided to abuse it maybe just a little bit, so I spent the weekend with the ESEE making big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood (something I don't usually do with knives ... I use an axe), randomly digging holes like a kid on a beach, and cutting through chicken bones (barbeque chicken over a fire is good). I even used the ESEE to open a few metal cans, although doing so made me cringe as I was half convinced I was going to bend the tip of the blade (the blade did not bend). The ESEE handled everything in my little unscientific weekend experiment without any problem whatsoever.