Busse Bushcraft?

[climbingrocks]

I was thinking about doing something crazy today. How about a custom Busse Bushcraft style blade similar to the woodlore knife like the one Ray Mears uses. I was looking at some of the beautiful custom handles that come out of their (Busse Custom) and couldn't help but imagine one of my own. Maybe one with the blue scales like the pair of custom daggers in a picture thread a while ago.
What do you guys think about a Scandi grind Busse? Will it outperform some of the laminated blades in that group?

 

[Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.]

I don't think the performance of INFI would be with the price for a custom bushcrafter.

INFI is the best steel out there for a chopper but for a small knife it's very average.


If you want an extremely high performance bushcrafter talk to some of the custom makers here and have one made out of a super steel like M390 or S90v.

I'm currently getting a custom made in K390. It should blow away everything I've ever used.

 

[verisharp]

I dream about a busse scandi ground bushcraft knife almost every night.... and the woodlore knife is on my 'buy someday' list. Unfortunately there is a 10 year+ waitlist for the woodlore and the one's on ebay are 1200+... A scrapyard scandi ground in sr101 or D2 would be great; maybe a res-c handle too...

 

[climbingrocks]

Yeah, if didn't cost so much, I would probably be better suited to have Busse make some sort or Golok or Parang for me. Those things were born to chop.

 

[uyotg]

Regrind a Basic 4?

 

[Bigfattyt]

Jerry announced a while ago that there was going to be an InfiII?? higher hardness and better wear resistance. If you start a death chat now, it might gain some traction in the next year or so, and you might see a bushcrafter design in the future.

I use my CABS/MUCK combo in that capacity. A nice sharp (but still sturdy enough) edge on both.

 

[RokJok]

I don't think the performance of INFI would be with the price for a custom bushcrafter.
INFI is the best steel out there for a chopper but for a small knife it's very average.

I agree with KalEl on this issue, given that a woodlore knife is a small, straight, clip-point, slicing knife whose purpose is typically shaving wood. In such a knife, a very fine-grained steel with heat treat to make its edge durable (relatively high Rc) would IMHO be the order of the day. The fine grain would allow a closer approach to the theoretically perfect edge -- two planes meeting so closely there is only one molecule of steel comprising the edge itself.

Also, woodlore knives are usually made from pretty thin stock. In such dimensions where the lateral stress will (hopefully) remain very small, INFI's flexibility and tough matrix don't add a lot to the equation. Jerry has IIRC written in the past about not making extremely thin-stock INFI knives since, in such geometries, INFI's characteristics are not the optimum combination players they are in chopping knives.

Since the Basic 4 was mentioned by Gary, I'm anxious to get my hands on Anorexic Basic 4 to see if and how much the edge will need or benefit from a thinner edge or shoulder. I suppose a lot will depend on the geometry and absolute edge dimension/fineness from the shop. The knife stock's 0.155" thinness makes it an interesting knife in my eyes and a relative rarity among the Wauseon wares.

I will toss out an idea for a small-bladed knife that I don't think most here would usually consider:
a Japanese laminated-steel woodlore blade from the likes of Murray Carter. The very hard (63'ish +/- Rc), fine-grain steel cutting core can be honed to a very fine edge, while the outer laminations of tougher steels will support the cutting core and provide some cushioning/buffering from stresses. I have a laminated-blade paring knife from Murray that I think would make a fine woodcraft knife to pair with a Busse mid- or large-size knife. The two downsides to this paring knife are (1) its handle does not have an indexing notch or other semi-guard at the front end of the handle and (2) I like my outdoor knives to have a lanyard hole at the butt of the handle, which this knife does not yet have.

Otherwise, there are custom makers who frequent Bladeforums that already make bushcraft knives. You could check the custom maker or Great Outdoor sub-forums to find them. If you do choose to have a custom-made knife made, for configuration ideas let's not forget the classic Ragweed Forge site.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

The only thing a scandi grind has going for it is that it is cheap to produce. This is one reason the Moras are so inexpensive.

 

[climbingrocks]

Thank you. It's helpful to have folks who have some experience with the different grinds.
I'm a huge fan of Murray Carter and just finished watching his sharpening DVD's. They are excellent by the way. I just haven't found one of his knife designs that really clicks with me yet.

 

[Super X]

I don't think the performance of INFI would be with the price for a custom bushcrafter.

INFI is the best steel out there for a chopper but for a small knife it's very average.


If you want an extremely high performance bushcrafter talk to some of the custom makers here and have one made out of a super steel like M390 or S90v.

I'm currently getting a custom made in K390. It should blow away everything I've ever used.

Interesting comment. So what average steel/brand are we talking about here? As I have alway's stated, I am in search of the perfect fixed blade skinning knife. If Infi is no better than let's say, Carbon V......... maybe I should have held on to my CS Master Hunter which I liked the design and feel of the knife however, got rid of them thinking the performance of Infi would be the superior choice. I sure hope the Basic 4 is all I expect it to be. I sold a couple HRLM's that I liked also, to get the 2 Basic 4's.
As for as chopper's, Infi is without a doubt, from what I have seen in the destruction test, the steel to have so, why such average rating's in the small knives? I would also say, even if brand X is just as good a steel as Infi in small knives, I still have to consider the design, feel of the knife to be a major factor in choosing what knife I want. I have seen many knives posted on the forum that get great review's however, most of them I don't like the look's of or design of the knife, or have tried them in the past. What other steel's/ design's should I be looking at? It is a small selection when I try and stay with only Busse/Kin. Perhap's my thinking has been in error if Infi is no better than brand X in smaller knives ??????????

 

[cricketdave]

I think the basic 4 is going to be a good woodcraft and skinning knife. In my experience so far infi holds an edge longer than my other knives in 1095 and s30v and s35v. So I'm pretty impressed with it. I don't have a small busse blade yet but i have used my hell razor and team gemini to skin out a couple of animals and cut things up for stews and other things and the edge remained very sharp much longer than my other knives. Feather sticks and sparking a fire steel is very easy to do as well.

cricket

 

[l2lku2]

In the current Busse line I think the CABSLE comes closest but it is not scandi if that is specifically what you are looking for.

For me the Skookum Bushtool in 3V is the best in that size / style. I have yet to find anything that cuts like it. The Spyderco Bushcrafter has a superb handle but the Skookum is a better cutter.

I think part of the secret of the Skookum's cutting power, in addition to being a true scandi with no secondary bevel, super sharp, is the continuous curve of the cutting edge, just like the Fallkniven H1, another very good cutter despite being fairly thick. (3, 4 & 5th from left below)

Perhaps Busse could do a scandi-vex. I have a Liten Bror in 3V, it is scandi-vex and is also a wicked little cutter.

 

[Mike-The-Knife]

"Regrind a Basic 4?"

I think just buying a HACK or War Dog would be a better idea than grinding down a Basic 4 .


................................................
HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS !

 

[Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.]

Interesting comment. So what average steel/brand are we talking about here? As I have alway's stated, I am in search of the perfect fixed blade skinning knife. If Infi is no better than let's say, Carbon V......... maybe I should have held on to my CS Master Hunter which I liked the design and feel of the knife however, got rid of them thinking the performance of Infi would be the superior choice. I sure hope the Basic 4 is all I expect it to be. I sold a couple HRLM's that I liked also, to get the 2 Basic 4's.
As for as chopper's, Infi is without a doubt, from what I have seen in the destruction test, the steel to have so, why such average rating's in the small knives? I would also say, even if brand X is just as good a steel as Infi in small knives, I still have to consider the design, feel of the knife to be a major factor in choosing what knife I want. I have seen many knives posted on the forum that get great review's however, most of them I don't like the look's of or design of the knife, or have tried them in the past. What other steel's/ design's should I be looking at? It is a small selection when I try and stay with only Busse/Kin. Perhap's my thinking has been in error if Infi is no better than brand X in smaller knives ??????????

INFI is a good performer in small knives when compared to traditional steels like O1 and 1095. In fact it's alot better in my experience. But the problem is INFI is very expensive and is really designed to shine in a hard use knife that is going to be taking impacts and lateral stress.

For a chopper, INFI is amazing because it's characteristics of high toughness, relatively high hardness, and resistance to chipping are characteristics that make a great chopping blade.

But for a small knife that's not going to be taking impacts and is primarily going to be pushed through wood, high toughness and lower wear resistance is not going to make am ideal bushcrafter.

INFI still performs very well in a small knife, I'm happy with it but compared to the new powered steels INFI can't match their performance.

Take a steel like M390 run at 62 and it will blow INFI out of the water in a small blade because it is a high hardness, high wear resistance steel that is meant for repeated cutting and slicing, not taking a beating like INFI.

If you are going to get a custom bushcrafter made I'd get a steel that has properties that will lend to the task.

INFI is very good, but m4, m390. S90v etc are on a different level.

 

[sar5]

"Regrind a Basic 4?"

I think just buying a HACK or War Dog would be a better idea than grinding down a Basic 4 .

Mike the war dog is just so thick. I think the busse cabsle is the closest o a defined bushcraft knife.

The war dog is still one of my fa orite edc knives though.

So let's just think of it as a reason we need o buy another knife!




................................................
HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS !

Now finish what your doing, your beer is getting warm my friend!

 

[sar5]

In the current Busse line I think the CABSLE comes closest but it is not scandi if that is specifically what you are looking for.

For me the Skookum Bushtool in 3V is the best in that size / style. I have yet to find anything that cuts like it. The Spyderco Bushcrafter has a superb handle but the Skookum is a better cutter.

I think part of the secret of the Skookum's cutting power, in addition to being a true scandi with no secondary bevel, super sharp, is the continuous curve of the cutting edge, just like the Fallkniven H1, another very good cutter despite being fairly thick. (3, 4 & 5th from left below)

Perhaps Busse could do a scandi-vex. I have a Liten Bror in 3V, it is scandi-vex and is also a wicked little cutter.

Your collection never ceases to amaze me! Which model of the Solomon do you prefer, the a or 3 v.

Thanks

 

[l2lku2]

Your collection never ceases to amaze me! Which model of the Solomon do you prefer, the a or 3 v.

Thanks

Thanks. I am ashamed to admit that I don't know. I have never really done any comparisons of them and more often than not I did not even know which one I was using. I just grabbed one without looking and used it. But except for a few very prominent characteristics of specific steels, as of yet I am still quite ignorant about the nuances of the different steels due to lack of sharpening skills and not having placed much focus on observation of the finer nuances yet.

Rod Garcia's (the maker) impressions of each of the steels can be found on his website. He will be infinitely more knowledgeable than I.

 

[David Brown]

How about a Swamp Rat Hairy Carry ? They are 154cm and harder I think they would be great ?

 

[parbajtor]

If you can find one, Spyderco did a limited edition in collaboration with Woodcraft.It's called the Woodcraft Mule in CPM S30V.
Here's a pic of one made by a fellow member here, Samid. I borrowed his photo.

The bonus with the skookum is that in a pinch you can use the butt to hammer in tent pegs.

 

[Jerry Busse]

Good stuff. . .

We have some cool stuff in the works with INFI NQ

Should make a HUGE difference in pure slicing. . .

Jerry