Bushwacker LE and CG and a few others ...

PeterPHWS

PeterPHWS

Joined
Dec 31, 2005
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I thought I would compare the BWM LE and the BWM CG to my FSH Variant and my NMSFNO respectively .... as overall weight wise these knives are the same. Just to see what the differences were ....

Here are the knives ....

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The BWM LE has had the grips smoothed and the edge convexed .... the FSH has a new convexed adge as well .... and the NMSFNO is fully convexed. For comparison I left the BWM CG in stock form just as received from the factory.

First task was doing some limb sectioning .... my overall test being a simple comparison of using the knives for fire preperation tasks.

I started off with the BWMCG as I was keen to see how this would do and wanted to use it as a bench mark in "factory spec" ....

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It easily breezed through this .... the factory edge was nice and sharp and the only thing I noticed was that the grips did'nt feel as smooth as my grips normally do ... but they were'nt uncomfortable .... the grip design on this knife is infact one of the most comfortable I have used. I will lightly sand down the grips but that is just a personal preference for me .... I like them like that and over prolonged use it is a bonus.

I then did the same thing with the NMSFNO ....

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These knives come in at the same weight but it is interesting how much more substantial the BWM CG feels ... it is quite a blade heavy knife ! The balance point on these is further down the blade just infront of the finger groove than on the BWM LE ... it makes for a good solid blade heavy feel and the NMSFNO feels more evenly balanced with a definate blade heavy tilt to it but very nicely so. The task itself was again easily done by the NMSFNO ... once fully convexed these knives are like little NMFBM's .... the blade depth is similar as is the convex shape .... and chopping is a "forte" as a result.

To be fair light limbing is'nt really a test of these knives "capabilities" .... but this is what they are going to be used for and I was rather more interested in how they felt in standard use rather than just do a chop off. Hence the more multiple task aspect of a camp knife set of chores.

I followed this up with whittling the limbs to remove the dead wet bark ....

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I used a choked grip and light easy pressure strokes .... the type of stroke where it requires no effort and you are just going for speed to get the job done .... as you would if you needed to get a fire ready asap .... the stock factory edge of the BWMCG was easily able to remove the bark but missed out on the level of sharpness where the knife can easily take off that top layer of wet wood and go down to the "white" .... the NMSFNO in fairness is a lot sharper ... like a razor really .... and it managed this no problem. I tried to keep the angles consistant and with a little more force the BWMCG would go down to the white but it was not quite as quick when done like that.

Just a small point and obviously easily remedied with a bit of sharpening .... but the factory edge was still working well .... the main difference I noticed on this task is what a joy the NM rounded spine and choil are on the NMSFNO for choked grip work. So comfortable ... and you get nice easy control on the NMSFNO despite the blade depth being quite deep. The same is true for me when using the NMFBM .... I like this depth on a knife .... they seem a lot more useful on delicate work than the depth of my FBM Satin Flat Grind .... but the BWM is also very similar on depth and it too has the same aspect of control. The thinner stock for the blade though does make for a sharper pressure edge on the finger choil and to a lesser extent is noticed on the spine. When I strip and convex the BWMCG I might take a bit of sand paper to the choil and round off the finger groove .... if I needed to carve a few tent pegs or do some fig4 sticks for snares .... this little aspect to the knife would make a lot of difference on comfort.

Next task was whittling away on the sticks to get some shavings for tinder ...

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Again for a factory edge the BWMCG was able to give some nice tight curls ...
nothing wrong with the standard edge on this one :thumbup:
 
The NMSFNO was able to get longer and thinner shavings with the edge being sharper but both were well up to the task ...

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The main thing as said above is the comfort of the NM treatment for work like this .... makes the job a pleasure .... and the smaller length of the knife gave more control.

Next up was a bit of battoning .....

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I tend not to use a baton so really I should call it "splitting" .... I just bang the sticks with the knife in place on a stone .... you can see the well worn stone breeze block in the pic ... the NMSFNO found this easy and was very able to give a controlled "split and twist" .... even on the finer quartering of sticks to make the most of the dry inner wood .... that is probably down to the sharper edge as it is easy to push cut into the sticks to get started...

The Bushwacker was also in it's element here ....

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The thinner blade makes it ideal for the smaller delicate stuff and once stripped and a bit sharper I think this knife would easily find it's "forte" at this sort of task .... splitting sticks with this knife is something you could do on "piece work" ... it is very fast :thumbup:

So to conclude on these two they are both great knives and well up to this "standard" type of work .... the main difference to me is simply their size .... for me I tend to find I am more comfortable wearing an 8 inch knife on a good thick webbing belt when trekking than I am with a long 10 inch blade. The longer blade tends to flap and bang and gets in the way more if sitting .... for that reason I tend to put these size of blade in or on my rucksack. Aside from this point .... and I find I am often saying this .... the really good designs from Busse are damn hard to split apart on performance.
If I needed a machete function and not just a camp knife function the BWMCG stripped and fully convexed would be my "ideal" .... infact in that role I doubt it could even compare to a similar weighted NMSFNO .... but for all the other general tasks like food prep/skinning/gralloching a carcass the NMSFNO size wise is going to be a better choice.

Next up was the BWM LE ....

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Where to begin on this knife ?? ... well let's just say that I think this knife is probably destined to become my favourite Busse ....:thumbup::cool:

Take everything about the BWMCG and just keep adding superlatives .... the grips now that they are smooth are the most comfortable I have .... even out doing my FSH Variant which I had thought would never be topped on grip comfort. In stock form I have to say I did'nt go for them but now I keep picking this knife up just to feel how "good" it feels in the hand ....

Performance wise on chopping it was in another league given that it had had a carefully done convex edge which is my sharpest "to-date" ....

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Doing shavings or fuzz sticks it is not unusual for the shavings to "stick" to the edge as somewhere or how the edge can split the thin shaving and is sharp enough to "bite" .... this knife now has Kydex rub from the sheath but that is because I keep taking it out just to feel the grip and test the edge ... it has an amazing "grin factor" for me which has me keep reaching for the knife just to "hold it" .... and on another point ... the spine and finger grove have beautifully tapered sides where the flat 90 degree angle should be so for all intents and purposes this knife is every bit as comfortable as the NM Treatment .... but has the added benefit of being able to be taken to a proper flat 90 degree section towards the drop point for use with a fire steel .... man do I love the features on this knife :thumbup::thumbup:

I have a confession here tho' as you can perhaps see from the disjointed pic's compared to those in the earlier part of the review ... I got so "happy" using the knife I forgot to take pic's of what I was doing .... but I will do some more comparisons with this one as it is definately a "special" blade for me.
 
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Here is a pic I took of me holding the FSH in a choked grip .... this was where I was starting to loose the plot .... as I kept picking up the BWM LE and doing some shavings with it .... and then picking up the FSH and wondering why it did'nt feel as comfortable ....

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That was when I realised that the BWM had those tapered side bevels on the finger groove .... if you can get these done "after market" at the custom shop I might well send in my FSH for this to be done ... don't get me wrong ... the FSH is a very comfortable knife to use in the choked grip hold ... the thick spine and thick stock on the finger groove do make for a wide comfortable purchase area ... but you do notice the edges at right angles on the groove and it is remarkable how different the two knives felt on this comparison.

The FSH with it's new edge was a demon at throwing shavings for tinder and was able to do a decent job at a pine cone style fuzz stick ....

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and as you might imagine was able to split the sticks no problem ....

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and I used the FSH third in the comparison .... hence the photo's are there ... but then I picked up the BWM LE and was so "chuffed" with the way it was doing I unfortunately forgot to do some of the main pic's .... I ended up going for a wander with it to chop some more wood as I wanted to see how well it would do on some bigger stuff .... took it to the tree stump from the KZ chop down and it was working like a trojan ... very impressed ... then I decided to remove the stump which had me using it on the roots easily got at .... then for those underneath I decided time was getting short so I sorted them out with my Bennelli ...

I will DO some more comparison pic's for the BWM LE .... but might bring out the FBM Satin Flat grind to compare it to .... as it plain sailed way past the FSH on chopping .... and the FSH is no "mean" performer .... again I might do a proper chop off for the FSH ... BWM LE .... and the FBM Satin Flat Grind just to show you what I mean. The BWM LE though would from memory be able to keep pace with my FBM no problem .... despite the FBM having a fair old weight advantage ....

Anyway .... after returning back from my chopping spree I got the fire going as it was soon going to be dark .... then settled down to enjoying the fire and having a brew ....

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A cup of tea and a nice cigar infront of a warm fire is what it is all about :D
 
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Great reviews and comparison's thus far Peter. The NMSFNO is one of my favorites also, Keep them comming. How do you like the BWMLE compared to the rest of the BM's.
Thanks for sharing, :thumbup:
 
nice photos and comparison.

so you sanded the BWM LE grips yourself?

how long did that take and how did you do it?

would you mind taking some close-ups of the new smooth grips?
 
Here is the set up I use from back when I smoothed the grips on my KZ .... I use a triangular sander and alternate the grit patches then finish by hand using light grit wet and dry .... I do it outside and wear a face mask .... not good to breath in the dust ....



I will do some pics of the BWM grips as soon as I can .... it is'nt a long job ..... half hour to an hour depending on whether you are going to "totally smooth" ....
 
Man Peter, I think you've just about sold me on the BWMLE. Thats one sweet looking knife/Mistress. :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
Very cool. Most of the posts show these knives as show pieces, but rarely in real use. Glad to see you aren't scared to get it dirty & use it like it was intended.
 
Nice to see someone actually using the variants :thumbup: nice comparison as well.
 
No the BWM LE is sabre ground with the edges applied as a V grind .... the BWMCG is said to have a convex blade profile .... the edge though is still applied as a V grind as well .... at least to my "eye" they are ....
 
Both of my BWMLE's have a convex edge. It is not very thin but is definitely convex. :)




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Well... could be it was originally convex .... when they have a fairly obtuse angle done with a tight belt tension it looks like a straight V grind .... it has a distinct high convex curve now though .... :thumbup:
 
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