Battle Grade Questions. Is INFI worth it?

I really like SR-101. I think the higher edge wear resistance is noticeable, and I haven't noticed the strength difference in use (not that I don't believe it exists). Considering the significant price difference, I am all about the Battle Grade offerings.
 
when it comes to INFI vs SR101... the question as to whether you will "see" the difference??.......maybe (depends on what you do with it)
But one thing is for sure...you will "Know" the difference!! you will know that you invested in the best if you opt for INFI...that peace of mind is worth it to most of us :)
 
Robdude said:
when it comes to INFI vs SR101... the question as to whether you will "see" the difference??.......maybe (depends on what you do with it)
But one thing is for sure...you will "Know" the difference!! you will know that you invested in the best if you opt for INFI...that peace of mind is worth it to most of us :)
Click to expand...

Best depends entirely on the context of what you are using as judging criteria, if you mean best compromise... that would be a relatively accurate statement. Infi however is not really the best at anything from what I can tell, just the best across a wide variety of facets of steel performance. Bossman has said about as much I think, not to put words in his mouth.
 
TerryBlinski said:
".....In fact, I'd go one step further and say that I'd feel every bit as confident with an SR-101 blade as I would with a Busse......"Theoretically, one should buy SR-101 every day of the week before they shell out the extra coin on a Busse."
Click to expand...

Infi is not mutually exclusive to Busse. SR101 is not mutually exclusive to Swamp Rat. Both steels are available from both companies. And as of more recently, many designs (and many more to come) from Busse are available with both steels.
 
Maggot Brain said:
Best depends entirely on the context of what you are using as judging criteria, if you mean best compromise... that would be a relatively accurate statement. Infi however is not really the best at anything from what I can tell, just the best across a wide variety of facets of steel performance. Bossman has said about as much I think, not to put words in his mouth.
Click to expand...

Very true, thanks for clarifying... for myself, when I say "best" I specifically see that as the blade that has the least weak points. As you mentioned, infi is not freakishly unmatched at any one thing.. but it doesn't seem to fall short or lack in any category... so to me, infi is the best steel all things considered. ...imho
 
xxwarderxx said:
Infi is not mutually exclusive to Busse. SR101 is not mutually exclusive to Swamp Rat. Both steels are available from both companies. And as of more recently, many designs (and many more to come) from Busse are available with both steels.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I should edit the post to read "INFI" instead of "Busse."
 
Both. The answer should be both.

I have to say, if I was going to be put on a deserted island, and could only choose one type, I'd take the INFI for its rust resistance. Ease of sharpening is secondary.

I have no qualms about Sr101''s strength, edge holding, or general awesomeness.

Also, INFI is awesome. There 's no reason to choose wither/or.

If I were on a tight buget, I'd go Swamprat and scrapyard.

I've owned INFI and SR101. I still have both.
 
How cool would it be to see two identical blades, made of both steels, in the hands of that Noss guy for destruction tests?
 
Well, my initial perception of INFI was not that great, about 6 months ago (yeah, I'm a late arrival on the Busse scene. I thought there was a lot of unfounded hype). I found INFI, in a 'mandu format, more difficult to sharpen, by a gignificant magnitude, than SR-101. I'm not entirely sure I've changed my mind there, still. It's close. Given equal geometry of a blade, I might tend to go with SR-101 over INFI, still. I'm still working on forming a hard opinion based on usage. Given a very small sample size, I have found the INFI in an INFIdu might hold its edge better than the same knife in SR-101. It's a close call, requiring more input. What it comes down to for me is what is the edge geometry, primarily, with the steel selection being a close send factor.
 
rockspyder said:
I found INFI, in a 'mandu format, more difficult to sharpen, by a gignificant magnitude, than SR-101. I'm not entirely sure I've changed my mind there, still. It's close. Given equal geometry of a blade, I might tend to go with SR-101 over INFI, still. .
Click to expand...

What specifically do you mean by this? Difficult to grind? Difficult to get a well formed apex?
 
clampdaddy said:
How cool would it be to see two identical blades, made of both steels, in the hands of that Noss guy for destruction tests?
Click to expand...

There would be no comparison there. SR101 could never match INFI's toughness. Having said that INFI is tougher than most would ever need, thus, SR101 will do everything needed and no one would know the difference. Busse no longer differentially HT's their knives ,and there must be a reason for that. Really, the one place where SR101 takes a huge back seat is in corrosion resistance. SR101/52100 is a steel that does rust fairly easily. But if you take care of your equipment, there should be no problem. For the money, I don't think you can beat SR101. INFI is expensive. INFI's heat treat is longer but that is probably because it's chemical composition requires more to it. SR101 being a simpler steel probably requires less of a heat treat. This does not mean that it is any less of an HT.
 
Maggot Brain said:
What specifically do you mean by this? Difficult to grind? Difficult to get a well formed apex?
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'm specifically meaning knocking the shoulders down on the INFImandu I bought from you. It was a far greater pain to do than knocking the shoulders down on the SR-101 Ratmandu that I already had.

To me, the steel feels very different on a stone. The only way I can describe it is the INFI feels almost lubricated, wet, almost, compared to SR-101. I have read it has some cobalt in it, but I thought it wasn't that much. But it has the same feel of several other knives that I have that have differing amounts of cobalt in them. Dunno.

It is also, IMO, more difficult to properly remove the burr at the apex. I attribute that more to my inexperience at sharpening it than a fault of the steel. I will say that once I knocked the shoulders back on that INFImandu, its abilities in my limited experience have been pretty impressive. But, to be honest, so have the abilities of my Ratmandu in SR-101.

Thus my indecision. I think, other than corrosion resistance, the differences between practically identical blades, like the 'mandus, are going to be so subtle that it is going to take a lot of work with both to tease the performance differences out. And the results could be entirely different for a different knife size. And perhaps even geometry.

I wish I had nabbed a SHe now, since I did order a BGFSH. I would have liked to compare the two of those.
 
rockspyder said:
Interesting. I'm specifically meaning knocking the shoulders down on the INFImandu I bought from you. It was a far greater pain to do than knocking the shoulders down on the SR-101 Ratmandu that I already had.

To me, the steel feels very different on a stone. The only way I can describe it is the INFI feels almost lubricated, wet, almost, compared to SR-101. I have read it has some cobalt in it, but I thought it wasn't that much. But it has the same feel of several other knives that I have that have differing amounts of cobalt in them. Dunno.

It is also, IMO, more difficult to properly remove the burr at the apex. I attribute that more to my inexperience at sharpening it than a fault of the steel. I will say that once I knocked the shoulders back on that INFImandu, its abilities in my limited experience have been pretty impressive. But, to be honest, so have the abilities of my Ratmandu in SR-101.

Thus my indecision. I think, other than corrosion resistance, the differences between practically identical blades, like the 'mandus, are going to be so subtle that it is going to take a lot of work with both to tease the performance differences out. And the results could be entirely different for a different knife size. And perhaps even geometry.

I wish I had nabbed a SHe now, since I did order a BGFSH. I would have liked to compare the two of those.
Click to expand...

I have had generally the same experience comparing an INFI Anniversary Mean Street and SR-101 RMD. Different blade sizes and geometries aside, knocking the shoulders off was easier with the SR-101, but I can consistently get a shaving edge on the INFI that I haven't been able to replicate with the SR-101.

I blame my own amateur skill, of course, but still, I find that an amateur's skill is better served by INFI than by SR-101.

I will always get INFI if I can afford it. Haven't used enough other fixed blade steels (other than 1095) to make many good comparisons in any other aspect though. Still just scratching the surface over here...
 
I'm fairly new to Busse & the forum, so consider the source. That being said, I think you have to decide whether or not it's worth it to you. For example; when I saw the Mean Street Ergo LE I was so excited to see a satin finish EDC blade I couldn't order it fast enough. That was worth it to me. In all the offerings since August (when I became "Busse aware") I've ordered what I liked, some INFI, some SR101, some not at all depending on style & price. I guess what I'm saying is sometimes technical aspects get tossed to the wind when the wow factor gets us. Again, just a humble opinion from a newbie.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top