Bushwacker vs. Machete

richstag said:
Let's just call it the BWBM :)
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Yeah. We wouldn't want folks to know that we paid $300+ for a machete. :D
But here's what the designer and maker of the knife says about it:

"The Bushwacker is the thinnest of ALL Battle Mistresses making it the best Mistress of all time for clearing brush and other duties where "light and fast" are the order of the day. It is destined to stand out in the long lineage of the acclaimed Battle Mistress series as it features our new "Battle Rattle" handle design with a very user-friendly, tree bark texture. This new grip pattern offers a secure grip without being too aggressive under heavy use. . . The rounded butt rolls easily in the hand when chopping, and at a scant, near 3/16" thickness, the Combat Grade Bushwacker flies like the wind!!!. . . Very Cool ! ! ! "

Cool, indeed. :D
 
Horn Dog said:
If I had the money, I'd buy several of them. For me, this new Mistress is special. I have been hoping for a thinner, lighter big Busse for some time. From what I read on the forum, I'm not alone in this. I can't wait to wear the Tanker gray coating off of this one! :thumbup::D
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+1. OTOH, we're not going to wear off the coating, it will get the ghetto satin treatment. (well...mine will...your satin work is much better)
 
I would prefer a Bushwacker to a machete any day. I'm not going to use the thing to cut my lawn. I'm talking about utility in the Jungle. I, for one, have never seen a machete that is not flexible and I've been trompsing through tropical forests for decades. If you need to clear a large swath of bush - hire a guy with a machete. If you want to travel through the forest and camp - use a Bushwacker! This is a subjective thing. By the way it's not $300 - it's $350, plus at least $60 for a sheath. But it IS INFI.
 
I can show you a pile of non-flexible machetes from Martindale, Ontario, Becker, Collins (the short model #18), and others, but it is obvious that to some, only the long flexible machetes are real machetes. Fine with me. I have spent nearly 50 years tromping subtropical "jungles" myself. And some of those were every bit as thick as the jungles I walked in Southeast Asia. And when I have serious machete work to do, I use a 22" Tramontina. But there are many times, like tromping through the Altamaha delta hunting hogs, or just getting to a deer stand, when a light handy big knife is just the ticket. They are all machetes to me, but we can call them bushwackers or bush knives or whatever. Whether I will carry a long one or a short one depends on where I'm going and what I will be doing. If I am going to the Amazon, I'm carrying what the locals carrry, a long one.
 
I am thinking of getting one of these. I am not into safe queens however. Can anyone tell me what they think some of the main uses of the bush whacker would be?
 
bcornelis said:
I am thinking of getting one of these. I am not into safe queens however. Can anyone tell me what they think some of the main uses of the bush whacker would be?
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Chopping saplings to make shelters, clearing a campsite, chopping and splitting firewood, cutting shooting lanes for hunting, trimming your hedges, slicing water melons, scaring your neighbors....the list is endless. :D
 
=MAX= said:
Will this new Mistress be ok for batoning logs being 3/16 thick?
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I have successfully batoned through 4" to 6" logs with a 1/8" thick Ontario Camp Machete with no problems. I am quite certain that 3/16" INFI is tougher.
 
=MAX= said:
Will this new Mistress be ok for batoning logs being 3/16 thick?
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I don't think Busse has ever made a knife that wouldn't stand up to batoning. And if it did break, you'd get a replacement.


Beat the crap out of that Mistress!
 
chickenplucker said:
The way I see it this mistress is the perfect thickness and all others were oversized!!!!!!
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Amen to that brother.


Now queue the macho men to tell me I must be a little weakling to not be able to handle their big masculine knives that in no way are a sign of overcompensating for something :rolleyes:
 
Can't you all just let both sides of that go and understand it will always be "different strokes for different folks"? Personally, I think both are pretty cool and I would have meaningful uses for thin and thick that would differentiate one versus the other.
 
I raise my hand to take the oath:

1 I will no longer call the Bushwacker a machete.

2 I will not berate those manly men who like really thick, heavy knives and can swing them around like Conan the Barbarian.

3 I will not insult weaklings who prefer a the 3/16" thick Bushwaker Mistress.

There, that should do it.
 
I'm definitely going to be interested in seeing how well it chops. If it chops well then hopefully I will have found the all purpose backpacking blade I've been looking for.
 
I will take mine out back and beat it good. I have a bunch of Red Bay trees that have died or are dying. I have to chop them down anyway. I'll bring along my DFLE, M9CG, and M9LE to compare. I bet it chops just fine. I'll also test it out slashing standing grasses and palmettos. It will be fun. It's what I do. :D
 
I grew up using a thicker non flexible machete.

I really wish I had some scratch, and I know I will be kicking my self later on when these are no longer available.
 
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