absolute toughest hardwork knife?

I think that the question "which" Busse is toughest..kinda misses the point. They are ALL tough! For a great knife to bring into the woods and pound on...I like the ASH with mag handles. The best design IMO. Scrapyard and Swamprat are both VERY tough knives as well. As far as your Bravo1..thats still one of my favorite knives overall..infact, later today, I am going out on a hike, and bringing my Bravo1 and my Busse ASH. Both tough knives, but different in thier application. I am also bringing another NEW TO ME knife, a TOPS, HoodsWoods Anaconda to beat on..I like the design and want to know how it performs.
 
gunknifenut said:
I think that the question "which" Busse is toughest..kinda misses the point. They are ALL tough! For a great knife to bring into the woods and pound on...I like the ASH with mag handles. The best design IMO. Scrapyard and Swamprat are both VERY tough knives as well. As far as your Bravo1..thats still one of my favorite knives overall..infact, later today, I am going out on a hike, and bringing my Bravo1 and my Busse ASH. Both tough knives, but different in thier application. I am also bringing another NEW TO ME knife, a TOPS, HoodsWoods Anaconda to beat on..I like the design and want to know how it performs.
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I'd like to know how the TOPS knife performs as well, they don't get much mention on here but I think they are great knives, let us know how you find it !!!:thumbup:
 
I'm just working out a good little nick (~3mm) out of my RC-4. It was abuse - I was peeling off some bark on a branch for my sausage stick, hit a knot and with a bit too much force went through the knot and the momentum caused me to bang my knife blade against one of the rocks forming the fire pit wall. It was a pretty hard slam and I was surprised the damage was as little as it was. (I did definitely chip though - it didn't simply roll the edge).

I've went through 2 series of sharpenings (20 strokes each side) on the medium spyderco sharpmaker stones and the nick is just about out. Having worked with a few other harder steels in the past (I seem to be able to put nicks and chips in anything), I've now come to really appreciate a slightly softer metal like 1095 when it comes to fixing them up. While I like sharpening - i.e. tuning an edge, I really don't get a lot of enjoyment from spending hours trying to fix one up.

So my vote is for 1095 for fixing up and good old fashioned toughness.
 
kgd said:
I'm just working out a good little nick (~3mm) out of my RC-4. It was abuse - I was peeling off some bark on a branch for my sausage stick, hit a knot and with a bit too much force went through the knot and the momentum caused me to bang my knife blade against one of the rocks forming the fire pit wall. It was a pretty hard slam and I was surprised the damage was as little as it was. (I did definitely chip though - it didn't simply roll the edge).

I've went through 2 series of sharpenings (20 strokes each side) on the medium spyderco sharpmaker stones and the nick is just about out. Having worked with a few other harder steels in the past (I seem to be able to put nicks and chips in anything), I've now come to really appreciate a slightly softer metal like 1095 when it comes to fixing them up. While I like sharpening - i.e. tuning an edge, I really don't get a lot of enjoyment from spending hours trying to fix one up.

So my vote is for 1095 for fixing up and good old fashioned toughness.
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KGD,
I agree with the vote for 1095, I did the same thing (almost) with my TOPS tracker..I was trying to shear a sapling at the base and the final chop was to hard..I passed through the sapling and struck a rock..the chip wasnt near as bad as I thought it would be..I really hit hard!! I concur!:D
 
A 5 1/2" 1095HC high carbon steel knife does all I need for it to do. If I need to dig through roots, rock, or pry or break rock or concrete, I have an assortment of steel bars, some sharpened, some not. Of the five I have, none cost over $100. Beware of these bars which are made in China or Pakistan. The steel is usually suspect and can shatter, splinter and many of them are not sufficently hardened to keep them from bending in heavy use. Proper employment of a fulcrum is important when doing heavy prying. It reduces the effort required and also the probibility of bending the steel bar. Here are the main types of bars available:

Tamper Bar: These heavy steel bars are approximately 5' to 6' long with a flattened 2' to 2-1/2' end for tamping down the soil and a pointed, chiseled end for loosening dirt or rocks. They are typically used before switching to another tool, such as a post digger. Very useful for tamping, I find the San Angelo bare generally more useful.

San Angelo Bar: A San Angelo bar is a steel digging bar, approximately 6' long, which adds leverage for clearing rocks and roots from post holes and ditches. Mine has a 1" octagonal cross-section, a rounded spike point on one end and a 2-1/2" wide tapered spade tip on the other.

Pinch Point Bar: Used for levering and demolition jobs, these 5' to 5-1/2' long steel bars add leverage to pry large objects out of the ground. Mine has a 3/4" round handle section and a 1-1/4" square lower section with a chisel point.

Pry Bar: A pry bar is a 5' to 5-1/2' long tool made of steel and is used for loosening or levering rocks or other heavy objects.

These steel bars are heavy (lightest is 8#, heaviest is 18#), so they are not generally considered man-portable over distances. But they will do the job for heavy prying and digging, augmenting the jackhammer for concrete removal, even occasionally replacing the jackhammer for smaller jobs.

The knife I use for cutting, slicing, light chopping tasks traditionally the jobs for knives.:D

Codger

PS- Does Busse make a 6' San Angelo bar from infi? :D
 
Excellent thread. I'm looking at getting some RAT Cutlery, Ranger Knives for the hard work.
 
MacHete said:
Busse people frighten me.
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Be very afraid.



From this month's issue of Field & Stream:

P1020083.jpg


P1020084.jpg
 
Of all the SAK's I certainly wouldn't have chosen the Champ. It would be an alox version at the very least.
 
kgd said:
Of all the SAK's I certainly wouldn't have chosen the Champ. It would be an alox version at the very least.
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Come on, don't you know that Field & Stream is the ultimate authority on knives?

The Champ is the BEST! :rolleyes:
 
Codger_64 said:
A 5 1/2" 1095HC high carbon steel knife does all I need for it to do. If I need to dig through roots, rock, or pry or break rock or concrete, I have an assortment of steel bars, some sharpened, some not. Of the five I have, none cost over $100. Beware of these bars which are made in China or Pakistan. The steel is usually suspect and can shatter, splinter and many of them are not sufficently hardened to keep them from bending in heavy use. Proper employment of a fulcrum is important when doing heavy prying. It reduces the effort required and also the probibility of bending the steel bar. Here are the main types of bars available:

Tamper Bar: These heavy steel bars are approximately 5' to 6' long with a flattened 2' to 2-1/2' end for tamping down the soil and a pointed, chiseled end for loosening dirt or rocks. They are typically used before switching to another tool, such as a post digger. Very useful for tamping, I find the San Angelo bare generally more useful.

San Angelo Bar: A San Angelo bar is a steel digging bar, approximately 6' long, which adds leverage for clearing rocks and roots from post holes and ditches. Mine has a 1" octagonal cross-section, a rounded spike point on one end and a 2-1/2" wide tapered spade tip on the other.

Pinch Point Bar: Used for levering and demolition jobs, these 5' to 5-1/2' long steel bars add leverage to pry large objects out of the ground. Mine has a 3/4" round handle section and a 1-1/4" square lower section with a chisel point.

Pry Bar: A pry bar is a 5' to 5-1/2' long tool made of steel and is used for loosening or levering rocks or other heavy objects.

These steel bars are heavy (lightest is 8#, heaviest is 18#), so they are not generally considered man-portable over distances. But they will do the job for heavy prying and digging, augmenting the jackhammer for concrete removal, even occasionally replacing the jackhammer for smaller jobs.

The knife I use for cutting, slicing, light chopping tasks traditionally the jobs for knives.:D

Codger

PS- Does Busse make a 6' San Angelo bar from infi? :D
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NOPE, but they make a knife that can shorten that 6' bar to 3'.:D
 
gunknifenut said:
NOPE, but they make a knife that can shorten that 6' bar to 3'.:D
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I have the bar. Send me the knife and I'll film the test for yewtoob and post pictures of the results here. I'll even do it in my machine shop in front of the county Sheriff and judge as witnesses.:D
 
Codger_64 said:
I have the bar. Send me the knife and I'll film the test for yewtoob and post pictures of the results here. I'll even do it in my machine shop in front of the county Sheriff and judge as witnesses.:D
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LMAO!:D:thumbup:
No..back when I was digging alot we refered to that particular bar as our "PetBAr"..it took constant abuse....I'm with you guys, not against. A knife is for cutting...I have some Busses and they work great, and they are tough. I dont need approval to own them, I like them just fine...personally, I dont care what any of you guys carry..I am all set!:D:thumbup:
 
pitdog said:
I'd like to know how the TOPS knife performs as well, they don't get much mention on here but I think they are great knives, let us know how you find it !!!:thumbup:
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Pit,
I took out the knife and used it once..it looked good, but I forgot my camera, and was really into making a fire bow with some other knives..I also had a SAK Trekker, ASH, and Wright woodslore. I was able to construct all the parts in about 25 minutes..and they worked great, my hole was too deep I think, and another try was cut short..I had to meet a guy about selling a motor home..I need to really work on identifiying trees..I couldnt tell you what I used, sorry. I had lots of smoke and kinda big hairs in the coal, but no ember?? Gene
 
pitdog said:
I'd like to know how the TOPS knife performs as well, they don't get much mention on here but I think they are great knives, let us know how you find it !!!:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I think that is probably because you can get a better knife for the money. A lot of the bevels are too thin and the stock too thick. The black crap coating doesn't do it for a lot of people. They charge quite a price for 1095 and micarta. Some may like the designs they crank out, but you could get a custom for the same price.

I had a little Ferret that was 1/8" thick. It was a good little knife. A couple of the larger ones I had in 3/16" just had horribly shallow bevels.
 
rat knives???
I'm sure they're great knives but they're far from what (looks like ) "bomb proof."
I think a scrapyard would be the best choice, (and they do have the same Busse warranty) as they are just as tough as busses. (scrapyards deform and chip easier, but can take just as much abuse)
and if not maybe look into rangers.
:D
 
i have the brown bear by knives of alaska, it is one tough knife, very usefull for a hunter, with the smaller cub bear it is a great combo, i owuld vote for the brown bear.

alex
 
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