Bush ranger

Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
9
I have a chance to buy a new in the box colssteele bushranger from a friend I would like to hear your views on this knife:confused:
 
It's a really good knife. Very light, you would not notice carrying it. The blade is thin and is a breeze to sharpen.
 
Have had a stainless one for a few years. Used semi regularly. Makes a great makeshift machete because of it's lightness and thin blade. Handle is not noticeably worn. I tend to choose it for kayak based trips in river/easturine environments because of it's lightness, rust resistance and aforementioned machete duties. I never have to seriously chop wood where I go and it's in that department it would probably suffer compared to say a BK7.

One endorsement that comes to mind is that I've kept an eye out for something to replace it and haven't found anything yet (remembering that Busse's and swamprats etc are too pricey for me with the OZ$ the way it is)
 
This is my favorite of the bigger cold steel knives, In my opinion the trailmaster and srk are way to thick. The bushranger is a lightweight large sheath knife that cuts very well.
IF you are going to get one, buy a 2nd, they are cheaper, and you wont be able to tell the difference if you are going to use it. Except for the 2 stamped on the butt.
Kyle Fuglesten
 
I have seen several folks here praise the the Cold Steel Bush Ranger, and then characterize it as lightweight and thin bladed. Just how thin is the blade? Any distal taper?
 
I think it is 3/16 of an inch thick, same as the SRK. However, it has a wider blade than the SRK and a full flat grind, as opposed to the saber grind of the SRK, so it should be a much better slicer. I don't know about the distal taper, when mine arrives, I'll let you know.
 
Thanks, Swede. 3/16 is plenty, combined with a reasonably wide blade and a full flat grind, one would expect a fine slicer. I think that the relation ship between blade width and thickness is often over looked. Of two blades with identical profiles, both flat ground, the one with the thicker blade will have a slightly more obtuse bevel. In my opinion this is why so many "tactical" knives are not such good slicers. The blades are thickened to the point that the bevels start to get thick. Likewise a saber grind gives a thicker bevel, by in effect reducing the width of the blade (bevel) in relation to the thickness.
 
Fox Creek,

You are absolutely right. I just received this knife, and it might be the best $40 knife (factory second) that I have.

It is about 3/16 thick. I don't have a mic, but it looks a hair under 0.2 inches on my plastic ruler (accidentally cut the ruler, too), and the distal taper starts about 3.5 inches back from the tip, and it is 1.5 inches wide at the widest.

This thing is razor sharp, the only defect that I can see so far is the stamping on the side of the blade. The choil (ricasso?) is a little too small for my preference, but that will be fixed with a file/dremel tool. There is a LOT of distal taper, and the handle is very comfortable, at least in my hands. I wish that the clip point was straight rather than concave, but that's strictly aesthetics. It is slightly forward weighted, but not too much.

I think this knife is a winner. This is the knife for people who don't like thick knives, looks like a great slicer and camp knife. I really like it, and I like thick knives also, although for different purposes. It has the balance to be a self defense knife in a pinch, although that's not why I purchased it. It is very light in my hands.

Two thumbs up!!
 
I'd like to find a knife like this, except with about a 4 inch blade. I wouldn't even have to have the same point. I'd like to find a carbon steel, 4" fixed blade, with a thin flat ground blade.

Any suggestions?

--Matt
 
Cold Steel's Master Hunter has a fairly thin flat ground 4.5" blade, and is offered in Carbon V.:)
 
Just found out that the Bush Ranger, along with the Recon Scout, and the Stockmans are all being discontinued. What's going on at Cold Steel?
 
Back
Top