DeadboxHero
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2014
- Messages
- 5,434
Sup Guys,
Long story short, my coworker let me borrow this knife to check it out.
There is a definite mystic surrounding this knife. Busse knives have a legendary reputation that is sealed away in pages and pages on these forums.
I know a decent amount about knives but sadly I know nothing about these knives they have there own proprietary steels that are highly acclaimed.
He brought knife in for me to check out today.
First impressions.
When I first saw the knife I was turned off.
It looked like "tacticool" hype
It reminded me of a more refined Becker BK-2
It looks indestructible but dull.
Things started to change when I placed my hand on the handle.
The ridges on the micarta are smooth and doesn't destroy my hands with sharp edges.
The knife was dull( won't shave hair or cut regular paper)
I expected this as most survival knives are.
My buddy didn't sharpen it, but said it came screaming sharp when new, but looking at the knife I felt highly skeptical of what he thought sharp was.
There was a small chip in the blade which showed hope for edge holding if sharp.
When I got home from work, it was time to sharpen it up and see is the steel was any good.
There are some bold claims on the forums of busses superiority to other steels. I had to blast the hype.
I admit, I dreaded sharpening this knife. Most survival knives are a pain to sharpen requiring a ton of passes on extra course stones to fix chipped or regrind extremely dull edges and yes, this knife was dull.
I was feeling lazy and only did a few passes on a DMT extra coarse diamond stone followed by a few honing passes on 600 grit aluminum oxide stone. Just to warm up for the next 30 minutes of labor intensive repair.
I felt the edge with my thumb pad...
What!? It was actually sharp!
It could actually cut paper from just a few moments ago being super dull.
Wow, I was blown away. I sharpen a lot of knives for friends, family and coworkers.
This was a first
I felt giddy as I began through my procedure to refine the edge to a mirror polish using my other stones up to 6k, followed by stroping with green compound on leather and then news paper.
One the easiest knives I've ever sharpened. No effort.
Time for a quick test!
The sheath it came with is decent, its quality and it works nuff said.
Feels good in hand, a thumb can be placed over the front guard i f need be.
Choking up on the knife with the finger choil feels great but can be different due to full guard.
Another view from the otherside.
Shiny edge
The black coating has some wear from batoning by my buddy.
The handle looks rough and uncomfortable. But is smooth and feels great.
In the sheath
Some light batoning for kindling.
One media "whack"
This is my favorite technique, try it some time, I use the stick as leverage to twist the blade and POP! The wood splits clean and quick. Much faster then hitting all the way and save the edge from hitting the dirt.
Wow, this knife carves great.
Very clean, thin feathers with minimal effort.
Even finer feathers for catching sparks.
My mind is blown by this performance.
Bites in wood deep!
Time for a shave
Popped the hairs off with incredible ease with the audible raking sound of a razor edge.
True love never compares, but here is it lined up with the edge of my A1.
I wish the handle was thicker on the swamprat like the A1. Without a doubt it looks way cooler and still feels nice.
Good looking blades
My A1 didn't carve as good but wasn't a sharp it could use a touch up for sure. I'm thinking about removing the factory micro bevel. To zero grind it.
These feathers took more effort and are much rougher and thicker.
Direct comparison.
In conclusion, i m ashamed to have written the knife off as just a prybar. Its a razor sharp pry bar. xD
I'm a huge a swamp rat fan now.
The hardest part now is giving the knife back to my buddy xD
Long story short, my coworker let me borrow this knife to check it out.
There is a definite mystic surrounding this knife. Busse knives have a legendary reputation that is sealed away in pages and pages on these forums.
I know a decent amount about knives but sadly I know nothing about these knives they have there own proprietary steels that are highly acclaimed.
He brought knife in for me to check out today.
First impressions.
When I first saw the knife I was turned off.
It looked like "tacticool" hype
It reminded me of a more refined Becker BK-2
It looks indestructible but dull.
Things started to change when I placed my hand on the handle.
The ridges on the micarta are smooth and doesn't destroy my hands with sharp edges.
The knife was dull( won't shave hair or cut regular paper)
I expected this as most survival knives are.
My buddy didn't sharpen it, but said it came screaming sharp when new, but looking at the knife I felt highly skeptical of what he thought sharp was.
There was a small chip in the blade which showed hope for edge holding if sharp.
When I got home from work, it was time to sharpen it up and see is the steel was any good.
There are some bold claims on the forums of busses superiority to other steels. I had to blast the hype.
I admit, I dreaded sharpening this knife. Most survival knives are a pain to sharpen requiring a ton of passes on extra course stones to fix chipped or regrind extremely dull edges and yes, this knife was dull.
I was feeling lazy and only did a few passes on a DMT extra coarse diamond stone followed by a few honing passes on 600 grit aluminum oxide stone. Just to warm up for the next 30 minutes of labor intensive repair.
I felt the edge with my thumb pad...
What!? It was actually sharp!
It could actually cut paper from just a few moments ago being super dull.
Wow, I was blown away. I sharpen a lot of knives for friends, family and coworkers.
This was a first
I felt giddy as I began through my procedure to refine the edge to a mirror polish using my other stones up to 6k, followed by stroping with green compound on leather and then news paper.
One the easiest knives I've ever sharpened. No effort.
Time for a quick test!
The sheath it came with is decent, its quality and it works nuff said.
Feels good in hand, a thumb can be placed over the front guard i f need be.
Choking up on the knife with the finger choil feels great but can be different due to full guard.
Another view from the otherside.
Shiny edge
The black coating has some wear from batoning by my buddy.
The handle looks rough and uncomfortable. But is smooth and feels great.
In the sheath
Some light batoning for kindling.
One media "whack"
This is my favorite technique, try it some time, I use the stick as leverage to twist the blade and POP! The wood splits clean and quick. Much faster then hitting all the way and save the edge from hitting the dirt.
Wow, this knife carves great.
Very clean, thin feathers with minimal effort.
Even finer feathers for catching sparks.
My mind is blown by this performance.
Bites in wood deep!
Time for a shave
Popped the hairs off with incredible ease with the audible raking sound of a razor edge.
True love never compares, but here is it lined up with the edge of my A1.
I wish the handle was thicker on the swamprat like the A1. Without a doubt it looks way cooler and still feels nice.
Good looking blades
My A1 didn't carve as good but wasn't a sharp it could use a touch up for sure. I'm thinking about removing the factory micro bevel. To zero grind it.
These feathers took more effort and are much rougher and thicker.
Direct comparison.
In conclusion, i m ashamed to have written the knife off as just a prybar. Its a razor sharp pry bar. xD
I'm a huge a swamp rat fan now.
The hardest part now is giving the knife back to my buddy xD
