While I do generally like the B11 and B10LE, they leave something to be desired for me. I fit into that very small percentage of people who don't always believe that more is always better. After having been through a few dozen Bussekin knives in the past year, I just can't really love a blade that is over 3/16" thick.
As much as I *liked* the choilless B10LE, I just couldn't love it and ended up trading it away. Same story with the B11, I know both of these are on the thinner side for big Busse blades but they are still too thick for me to be 100% happy with.
Truly, I think the 1311 has been closest to what I am looking for in a big blade but I've been through a few of them and just couldn't love them either. I just emailed norcablacktail about having a 1311 fully convexed and satin'd, but at $175 would cost almost as much as they retailed for and I'm hesitant to go this route just yet.
I'm hoping that one day Busse will release something that scratches this itch for me, but it just doesn't exist yet.
My criteria would be.....
- 12" satin blade of INFI steel
- Blade no more than 1.5" wide
- .170-.187" thickness
- Res-c Basic handle
- Unsharpened swedged spine of roughly 6" for penetration.
- Muted Scymitar blade shape similar to Tramontina machetes
- Weigh no more than roughly 17-18 oz.
- Shallow full convex grind with zero edge
Not really sure if all of these qualities can be fit into the parameters of a single design, but something as close to this as possible would suit my needs to a "T". Probably would be the last piece of INFI I ever buy and I would definitely buy a few of these for spares. Oh, and also a Choilless Pork Shank with a 5.5" blade and full convex grind @ .140" thickness......
Rant off.......
