Battle Grade Questions. Is INFI worth it?

A

Alacrity

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Hello there BladeForums!

I am returning from a 2 year hiatus to Australia and I have been re-bitten by the bug. There I was thinking I was cured...

Anyways, I noticed in my absence a number of Busse knives in SR101 steel. Namely the TG. Now this is a knife I've wanted for some time.. And I love my Ratmandu in SR101... And the price difference is significant. Now at risk of starting a war, is the INFI worth it? Or is the SR101 model just as good?

On a related vein (I might as well just throw it all out here) I've been debating between the Boss Jack, TG, and Sar 6 for a while. Anyone who has owned the knives who can give a recommendation? I have the Ratmandu so I'm looking for something with a little more heft with some chopping power that doesn't get annoying in hand (my fear with the TG). I think I'm ready to take my step into Busse.. But whether it is dipped in INFI or SR101 is up to ya'll.

Thanks in advance for any comments!

Cheers.
 
INFI is worth it. It's powers of attraction are very compelling and it's performance is second to none. Busse also does a longer heat treat on INFI than SR101. SR101 is still fantastic but INFI is king.

I've chopped a lot with a TGLB and it is surprisingly comfortable. Have no fears. If someone offered me a Boss Jack, TGLB or Sar 6, i'd take the TGLB.

Hope this helps!
 
If you want something to beat on, get the biggest offering you can afford in sr101. Check the exchange. Lots of good battle grade chopper Bussekin should start showing up there soon
 
sidewayyys said:
INFI is worth it. It's powers of attraction are very compelling and it's performance is second to none. Busse also does a longer heat treat on INFI than SR101. SR101 is still fantastic but INFI is king.

I've chopped a lot with a TGLB and it is surprisingly comfortable. Have no fears. If someone offered me a Boss Jack, TGLB or Sar 6, i'd take the TGLB.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

What heat treatment time consuming have anything to do with quality of steel? Any knifemakers can cryo soak their steel for a month and claim that their steel has 30 days heat treatment...

SR101 edge holding is acknowledged better than INFI. I know INFI is known to be one of the toughest steel but I'm sure anything that destroyed SR101 blade will destroy INFI blade too...

The only real practical benefit of INFI over SR101, is corrosion resistance... you can have uncoated blade which cut much better without having to worry about rust...

INFI combat grade is just against the strong point of INFI IMO.
 
shqxk said:
What heat treatment time consuming have anything to do with quality of steel? Any knifemakers can cryo soak their steel for a month and claim that their steel has 30 days heat treatment...
Click to expand...

I didn't state that it has anything to do with the quality of steel i was simply stating facts per the Busse website.

"Heat Treat and Tempering Processes Used


Busse Combat knives are exposed to over 60 hours of heat treating and tempering. It is in this process that the very soul of a blades performance will be born. It can also be the most expensive process involved in the making of a fine blade.

Sadly, the knife buying public has been led to believe that Rockwell Hardness is some sort of gauge by which to determine performance. This is ridiculous. Following standard ASTM heat treating and tempering protocols, a blade made from a standard tool steel can be "properly" heat treated and tempered in less than 1-1/2 hours and brought to a hardness of 57-59 Rc.

But what does that prove? One of our Swamp Rat division blades that has received our proprietary heat treat and tempering protocol of over 40 hours will also test out at 57-59 Rc. This fact is that one of our Swamp Rat transversion wave tempered blades that tests out at 57-59 Rc will greatly outperform a standard heat treated knife blade out of the same material that also has a 57-59 Rc hardness. Now imagine the performance of a Busse Combat blade that has undergone our proprietary heat treat and tempering protocol of over 60 hours that tests out at 58-60 Rc!"

More info found here:

http://www.bussecombat.com/technical-specs/
 
Good quote...but it says something much different than your "longer heat treat" comment.



To the OP:
A commonly quoted statement regarding SR101 vs INFI is that, with SR101, you get 90% of the performance at 60% of the price. Many feel that the SR101 is a better option for smaller blades, in some part due to the improved edge holding; while infi is the way to go for a large chopper (where the extra toughness is more likely to be a factor).
 
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hhmoore said:
Good quote...but it says something much different than your "longer heat treat" comment.
Click to expand...

What does it say that is different to my comment? :confused:

I said "Busse also does a longer heat treat on INFI than SR101".

Busse website states "Busse Combat knives are exposed to over 60 hours of heat treating and tempering" and "One of our Swamp Rat division blades that has received our proprietary heat treat and tempering protocol of over 40 hours".

60 is more than 40. What i said is completely true.

Why are you attacking my comment? Did i lie or do something that deserved to be called out? My original comment had nothing to do with you or anyone else. It was directed to the OP and is 100% true.
 
They are all great Busse designed knives, if you want bullet proof get SR101. Need more ? bomb proof INFI is available :):) with that said grab a battle grade then if you feel you want to step up snag the INFI :-)
 
Both come with lifetime warranty against failure.. That should answer your question.
 
I normally prefer the smaller offerings. I don't chop. So SR101 is normally the better option for me. I'd probably end up selling the infi and using and abusing and loving the SR101
 
I came here for the INFI,

I don't go to a steakhouse to get a burger ,,, I want the Porterhouse.

I love some SR101, but INFI is king.
 
Good thing I have an immediate family member who's a chemical engineer:

He says that at some point additional heat treatment time results in diminishing returns compared to the additional time spent. However, the steel's structural integrity is ABSOLUTELY correlated with the amount of time spent allowing the content particles to arrange and further solidify without compromising its integrity.

As for SR-101 vs INFI ----- the differences are not normally detectable by the average enthusiast. However, if you want to see the legitimate differences --- just type in your search bar 52100 vs S7 ---- anyone who claims there's no difference is probably not doing much researching.
 
S7 is a shock steel and likely "tougher"( more likely to deform than break) than 52100 or infi.

That said the lower hardness s7 is usually ran at will show deformation before higher hardness steels.
Rob_Mob said:
Good thing I have an immediate family member who's a chemical engineer:

He says that at some point additional heat treatment time results in diminishing returns compared to the additional time spent. However, the steel's structural integrity is ABSOLUTELY correlated with the amount of time spent allowing the content particles to arrange and further solidify without compromising its integrity.

As for SR-101 vs INFI ----- the differences are not normally detectable by the average enthusiast. However, if you want to see the legitimate differences --- just type in your search bar 52100 vs S7 ---- anyone who claims there's no difference is probably not doing much researching.
Click to expand...
 
S7??? Tough but not so great at edge retention. I've sold all my s7.

Not a whole lot of difference in INFI and SR101. Corrosion resistance being the main difference.

Fact is, if you are on this forum you WILL end up with both. The curiosity will kill ya if you don't!


Both are fantastic and will take whatever abuse you throw at them. Then they will laugh at you if you aren't named Noss. ;)

Get both, have fun and enjoy the ride.

.
 
Honestly I have quite a few Busse / Kin now and while I don't do real scientific tests and I don't like in the woods, I can't really see the difference between the two. My 3V, 10V and S90V knives are a world better performance wise than my way too thick infi or SR101. I think the busse appeal is more based on really good steel (not mythical), great designs and really fun marketing.

Don't forget Busse and Kin normally have great handles.
 
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I was just making the point about toughness, probably should have picked something else --- irregardless --- INFI is definitely superior and more well rounded for Knife application. The point is that there are legitimate differences between the edge behavior of SR-101 and INFI. One example is chopping. The average enthusiast won't notice it because for most applications it doesn't make much of a difference. However, for heavy chopping applications and with repeated use --- the edge on the INFI knife often holds up better (e.g chipping, rolling, etc.). I've noticed the amount of re grinding, re sharpening to restore the edge on SR-101 to be more work than for INFI.
 
Rob_Mob said:
Good thing I have an immediate family member who's a chemical engineer:

He says that at some point additional heat treatment time results in diminishing returns compared to the additional time spent. However, the steel's structural integrity is ABSOLUTELY correlated with the amount of time spent allowing the content particles to arrange and further solidify without compromising its integrity.

As for SR-101 vs INFI ----- the differences are not normally detectable by the average enthusiast. However, if you want to see the legitimate differences --- just type in your search bar 52100 vs S7 ---- anyone who claims there's no difference is probably not doing much researching.
Click to expand...

To said additional heat treatment time result in diminishing return is not true at all... excessively heat treat not only wasting source and time but it may even ruin the quality of steel... The most delicious steak is not the one that cook the longest but the one that cook with precise and proper temperature/timing...

Over stress relieving is just a waste of electricity.
Austenitizing too long and the grain will overgrowth..
Excessively cryogenic soaking will get you nothing but unnecessary internal stress...
Tempering cycle take you less than 3 hours each and the even the Molecular Labs would barely see any difference between 3 times tempering vs 30 times tempering... but you will find so much difference on you electric bill.
This is not my opinion, it is a fact of metallurgy.

I do believe Busse really take good amount of time and technology on their HT procedure and I understand why they need to publicize it in the past...

But nowadays the information media are much more advance than before... Too said XXX steel is good because it take XXX time to heat treat might lead to misunderstanding and is not good way of advertising these day I guess.
 
LukeTheSpook said:
Honestly I have quite a few Busse / Kin now and while I don't do real scientific tests and I don't like in the woods, I can't really see the difference between the two. My 3V, 10V and S90V knives are a world better performance wise than my way too thick infi or SR101. I think the busse appeal is more based on really good steel (not mythical), great designs and really fun marketing.
Click to expand...

Aw man... you had to bring three more steels into the debate didn't ya! :D

All good steel, no doubt but as has been discussed ad-nauseam all steel is a compromise. I feel pretty well covered with INFI or SR101 as they are a great blend of toughness and edge retention.

Maybe you should try some thinner bussekin??? There is lots of it out there.

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