This seems to come up a lot and while anyone can look at the stats, I think visually is the best way to go.

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The ESEE 6 is pretty big and about the maximum size I would consider for a “belt knife”.  I’ve actually found the ESEE 4 (and even the smaller ESEE 3) about optimum for the majority of my cutting tasks.  These aren’t choppers and this is where it’s beneficial to have a folding saw or even a tomahawk or light axe in your pack.  I’ve personally found knives with blade lengths 6-8” about the most useless as general purpose tools.  They’re just too big for me to feasibly carry on my person and just don’t have enough heft, length, or leverage of a larger blade (9+inches) for serious chopping and use.  Well, big knives can be carried on your person, but are poor belt-knives and need a different sheath/carry system.  I really only consider belt knives with blades less than 6” to keep from getting in the way or hard to access in tighter situations.  

ROCK6

I use my izula more than my 6 or F1 (same size as the 3)

6 is just too big. Better for batoning wood or shanking a hog

Yeah, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with the ESEE 6 just yet. I talked myself into it after reading how great it was here and elsewhere. If someone would have posted the pics that I did above while I was knife shopping, I don't believe I would have ordered the 6. It's just too massive and heavy to be of much use. To do chores a knife is supposed to be able to do. To me anyway. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell us how great it is. To be fair, I've only sliced some fruit and vegetables with it and then put a razor edge on it. It's been sitting ever since. My ESEE 4 with TKC grips is so much more useful!

Esee 4 rides on my hip.

Anything larger rides on my pack.

I have belt carried a junglas on several occasions and while not ideal, it can be done.  I was hiking some rough property and didn't want to tote in a hatchet; had a bigger folder for smaller tasks.  The junglas is a fine chopper and makes quick work of firewood.

I'm partial to the Esee 4. Its does everything I need a knife to do without excess size and weight.

I pick up the 4 most often. Both are very nice.

ESEE 4 with TKC grips.

The handles on both of those are beautiful.

My views on knife sizes have changed over the years, mainly due to deployments and a lot of field use.  I won't get rid of them, but most of my knives with blades over 5.5" to about 7.5" are pretty much left in the drawer.  I've just found the overall length of those blades doesn't work for me if carried on my person or kit; they simply are too cumbersome without a specialized carry method.  Having spent a lot of time in theaters where there was a lot of traveling in vehicles/helos/fixed wings and navigating buildings more than open fields, longer blades just got hung up and in the way too often.  

While I can carry up to most of my fixed blades with 5.5" blades relatively easy on my belt or kit, I've found the sweet spot with blades in between 3.5-4" will do 70% of my field cutting tasks.  

I actually now carry a small folding saw do fill in some of the duties most would expect of a larger blade for chopping such as an ESEE 6; I've found saws far more efficient than a mid-sized fixed blade for those typical, light chopping tasks.

I still like and will carry a larger fixed blade (8-12" blades/machetes/axes, etc.), but will often leave them attached to or inside my pack for more serious work.  Those mid-sized fixed blades that try to do everything from cutting to chopping to hammering end up not doing anything very efficiently and just add unnecessary weight to my first/second-line kit.  I do have some "tank" blades in that 5.5" range that would be more optimum for me, but there are very few that can carry well, cut well, and don't weight like most 1/4" slabs of steel.  I will grant that the ESEE 6 is borderline for me as a belt-blade, but ESEE does do a good job of giving it a full-flat grind to reduce weight (unlike their ESEE 5 monster).

ROCK6