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actively parsing hurf durf
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- Nov 28, 2006
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I just wanted to give a big thumbs up for the newer renditions of older handle designs :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
There have been three handles that I consider to be upgrades of previous handle designs, that appear to have fixed all of the problems I found with the previous handles. Specifically:
3rd gen becomes BOSS street/jack
fusion becomes BWM
ergo becomes TTKZ
In my experience the 3rd gen handles suffered from 3 things. The index finger position wasn't tall enough compared to the middle finger to pinky positions. This meant that the front of the knife felt like it was kind of dangling in your hand, to me the knife felt like it constantly wanted to fall back in my hand, like I my hand was slipping towards the blade. The second problem was that the slope from the index finger to the center of the gaurd was to obtuse, it extended the length between your index finger and edge needlessly and didn't give you a 'locked in' feeling when holding it in a tight grip. If you stabbed something hard, the combination of a not-tall-enough index finger position and the wide curve up to the gaurd allowed the hand to shift forward more then was comfortable. The third thing was that it was a uniform thickness all the way across, this isn't really a problem except that it didn't help the lack of security caused by the first to problems, a little palm swell would have given the handle something more to grip.
The BOSS street/jack handle fixes all of that. It's index finger position is made a little taller, it's middle to pinky position is made slightly less tall, the curve up to the guard is made more accute giving you a secure locked in feeling, and the handle has just enough thickness variation to give you more grip.
This is resinguys image, it's the best example I could find of the two handles side by side. I can remove the link if necessary.
The Fusion handle suffered from three issues again. The Pinky position was very small compared to the index finger position. That made it feel like the knife wanted slop around on the back end while chopping, it also made it feel like the knife wanted to slip forward in the hand, putting the weight and vibration on your pinky as you chopped. Because there wasn't enough pinky material to get a solid grip on, you wanted to grip harder with the front of your hand which would wear your grip endurance out prematurely. The second problem was the height and curvature o the palm and finger swells. They created an almost circular swell - too severe for my palm or fingers, I felt like I had a hard piece of metal pushing against my metacarpals when I gripped down hard on it. I've got decent muscle padding on my hand, but not enough to reduce the shock going to my hand bones with such a severe swell. The third problem was an exacerbation of the palm/finger swell by having the center of the scales flare out in a round fashion. It made the knife feel like you were holding a hard ball in your hand from every angle. The combined effect was a knife that felt sloppy in the hand, it wanted to rotate as you swung like you were doing a wrist snap (even when you wanted a solid hand/arm swing without a snap) and it felt like it was mashing against your hand and finger bones more then it needed to.
I have no handled or owned a BWM yet, but from the images I've seen it appears to fix every one of those issues. The pinky finger position is made to be taller so that it is more in line with the index finger position and the palm and finger swells have been lengthen in their curvature so there is not as much of a "round ball" appearance. The curvature leading up to the gaurd has also been reduced giving it the possibility of a much more locked in feel.
I don't know whose image this is
The Ergo handles had three issues as well. The index position was again too short compared to middle to pinky positions - you were left wanting more grip in the finger that best controls the knife. The pinky position was HUGE, much taller then it needed to be for most people except those with huge hands. The scales were boxy which put corners in your palm and fingers as you chopped, and the scales were flat, they had no variation in thickness. Because the handles were so tall and flat, it gave you a feeling of good control against torqueing and it gave you a good index for the position of the blade when you had to grab it blind making the badger attack one of the better combat knives busse has ever made (stout, indexable while working blind, excellent control over torque), but for chopping it hurt and didn't feel quite right.
The TTKZ fixes all of that. In spades. It is the most secure feeling chopper handle of any busse I've handled, of any knife in general. It is made to be solidly in your hand. The index finger position to pinky position height ratio is close to 1:1 and the palm swell is nice and wide so it just sinks into the natural curvature of the hand without jabbing into the bones. T scales are curved in a way that makes them feel round but tall/flat enough that you maintain control over torsional forces. It is an amazing handle.
All in all these are pretty stellar upgrades that fix every major problem I experienced with the older handles, creating, for my hands, handles that are without major issue. They feel solid and comfortable in the hand, perfectly suited for the given size and tasks. Now if I could just get a nmfbm with a BWM or TTKZ handle that would be awesome.
There have been three handles that I consider to be upgrades of previous handle designs, that appear to have fixed all of the problems I found with the previous handles. Specifically:
3rd gen becomes BOSS street/jack
fusion becomes BWM
ergo becomes TTKZ
In my experience the 3rd gen handles suffered from 3 things. The index finger position wasn't tall enough compared to the middle finger to pinky positions. This meant that the front of the knife felt like it was kind of dangling in your hand, to me the knife felt like it constantly wanted to fall back in my hand, like I my hand was slipping towards the blade. The second problem was that the slope from the index finger to the center of the gaurd was to obtuse, it extended the length between your index finger and edge needlessly and didn't give you a 'locked in' feeling when holding it in a tight grip. If you stabbed something hard, the combination of a not-tall-enough index finger position and the wide curve up to the gaurd allowed the hand to shift forward more then was comfortable. The third thing was that it was a uniform thickness all the way across, this isn't really a problem except that it didn't help the lack of security caused by the first to problems, a little palm swell would have given the handle something more to grip.
The BOSS street/jack handle fixes all of that. It's index finger position is made a little taller, it's middle to pinky position is made slightly less tall, the curve up to the guard is made more accute giving you a secure locked in feeling, and the handle has just enough thickness variation to give you more grip.
This is resinguys image, it's the best example I could find of the two handles side by side. I can remove the link if necessary.
The Fusion handle suffered from three issues again. The Pinky position was very small compared to the index finger position. That made it feel like the knife wanted slop around on the back end while chopping, it also made it feel like the knife wanted to slip forward in the hand, putting the weight and vibration on your pinky as you chopped. Because there wasn't enough pinky material to get a solid grip on, you wanted to grip harder with the front of your hand which would wear your grip endurance out prematurely. The second problem was the height and curvature o the palm and finger swells. They created an almost circular swell - too severe for my palm or fingers, I felt like I had a hard piece of metal pushing against my metacarpals when I gripped down hard on it. I've got decent muscle padding on my hand, but not enough to reduce the shock going to my hand bones with such a severe swell. The third problem was an exacerbation of the palm/finger swell by having the center of the scales flare out in a round fashion. It made the knife feel like you were holding a hard ball in your hand from every angle. The combined effect was a knife that felt sloppy in the hand, it wanted to rotate as you swung like you were doing a wrist snap (even when you wanted a solid hand/arm swing without a snap) and it felt like it was mashing against your hand and finger bones more then it needed to.
I have no handled or owned a BWM yet, but from the images I've seen it appears to fix every one of those issues. The pinky finger position is made to be taller so that it is more in line with the index finger position and the palm and finger swells have been lengthen in their curvature so there is not as much of a "round ball" appearance. The curvature leading up to the gaurd has also been reduced giving it the possibility of a much more locked in feel.
I don't know whose image this is
The Ergo handles had three issues as well. The index position was again too short compared to middle to pinky positions - you were left wanting more grip in the finger that best controls the knife. The pinky position was HUGE, much taller then it needed to be for most people except those with huge hands. The scales were boxy which put corners in your palm and fingers as you chopped, and the scales were flat, they had no variation in thickness. Because the handles were so tall and flat, it gave you a feeling of good control against torqueing and it gave you a good index for the position of the blade when you had to grab it blind making the badger attack one of the better combat knives busse has ever made (stout, indexable while working blind, excellent control over torque), but for chopping it hurt and didn't feel quite right.
The TTKZ fixes all of that. In spades. It is the most secure feeling chopper handle of any busse I've handled, of any knife in general. It is made to be solidly in your hand. The index finger position to pinky position height ratio is close to 1:1 and the palm swell is nice and wide so it just sinks into the natural curvature of the hand without jabbing into the bones. T scales are curved in a way that makes them feel round but tall/flat enough that you maintain control over torsional forces. It is an amazing handle.
All in all these are pretty stellar upgrades that fix every major problem I experienced with the older handles, creating, for my hands, handles that are without major issue. They feel solid and comfortable in the hand, perfectly suited for the given size and tasks. Now if I could just get a nmfbm with a BWM or TTKZ handle that would be awesome.
Just as long as they mold it after the handle thickness on yours or the original TTKZ run as the pumpkin ones are a bit thicker for some reason and don't feel quite the same. Heck, I wouldn't mind if that was done with INFI or with diff tempered SR101 as a KhukRat. 
