- Joined
- Jul 10, 2009
- Messages
- 3,094
Blade Length - 6.5 inches.
Overall Length - 12 inches.
Weight - 20.7 ounces
Steel - INFI
Sage blade with tan magnum handles.
Initial Impressions -
I've been waiting to buy a Busse for a while now, I have a long history of just destroying knives in daily use and had hoped Busse would be my answer, it seems I was right. I chose the ASH-1 combat grade for my first for a variety of reasons, this will serve as an EDC knife for me. Yes it's heavy, and yes it's big, but I hike daily and do a lot of camping. When I first opened it, I couldn't believe how heavy it felt, I thought there was no way i'd be able to break it. I still feel this way. The grind on the knife was decent, with what seemed to be a very thick vgrind, that was a little rough for my liking.
Use -
With the stock edge, chopping was fairly easy, but as far as choppers are concerned, I feel a convex edge is the way to go. I convexed the edge, starting with 80 grit, moving up to 15 micro all the way up to a .5 micron loaded strop. It now bites DEEPLY into wood. The knife is very heavy in the hand, and honestly if you're doing a lot of chopping, your hand is going to get a little tender. Gloves could fix it. Either way, it's not a huge problem. I then took to batoning, it ate through birch, oak, pine with no problems. I beat it through knots that would have broke weaker knives, and have broken blades of mine in the past. At this point in my initial testing of the knife, I was sold, INFI is amazing steel. I then decided to see where I could take the knife in terms of durability. Having spent a good chunk of change on it, I was not about to try and destroy it, but i'd put it through a little test. I hacked away at a cinder block, and inspected the edge. Much to my surprise, the steel had not rolled or chipped. I tested sharpness pushcutting paper, and while it lost a SMALL amount of it's sharpness after chopping/batoning and concrete, it still push cut the paper. Here it is after the ordeal-
Here it is all cleaned up, there was no sharpening of the knife after using it during the test, it was also used for more chopping and batoning today. I have not touched the edge since using it, no rolls or chips.
This is the thickest, heaviest blade i've ever owned, it truly feels as though it would be impossible to break. The edge retention is nothing short of amazing. Although the initial edge left a little to be desired, it was very easy to reprofile and functions perfectly. As with all Busses, it does not include a sheath, but there are plenty of sheath makers. I'm truly sold, I will never spent a dime on another fixed blade unless it's a Busse, and this is coming from someone who has owned well over 100 good quality knives. I'm already planning on my next 10 Busses. To top it all off, the company has the best warranty in the business. If you somehow manage to break/damage it, it's warrantied for life, for anyone who owns it, just not the original owner. It doesn't matter if you were breaking up concrete or chopping through a very heavy chain (yes someone did this), it's covered.
If you have the money, and the need, I suggest you pick on up. If you don't like it, you can sell it for what you paid. These knives hold their value, even used/abused.
Overall Length - 12 inches.
Weight - 20.7 ounces
Steel - INFI
Sage blade with tan magnum handles.
Initial Impressions -
I've been waiting to buy a Busse for a while now, I have a long history of just destroying knives in daily use and had hoped Busse would be my answer, it seems I was right. I chose the ASH-1 combat grade for my first for a variety of reasons, this will serve as an EDC knife for me. Yes it's heavy, and yes it's big, but I hike daily and do a lot of camping. When I first opened it, I couldn't believe how heavy it felt, I thought there was no way i'd be able to break it. I still feel this way. The grind on the knife was decent, with what seemed to be a very thick vgrind, that was a little rough for my liking.
Use -
With the stock edge, chopping was fairly easy, but as far as choppers are concerned, I feel a convex edge is the way to go. I convexed the edge, starting with 80 grit, moving up to 15 micro all the way up to a .5 micron loaded strop. It now bites DEEPLY into wood. The knife is very heavy in the hand, and honestly if you're doing a lot of chopping, your hand is going to get a little tender. Gloves could fix it. Either way, it's not a huge problem. I then took to batoning, it ate through birch, oak, pine with no problems. I beat it through knots that would have broke weaker knives, and have broken blades of mine in the past. At this point in my initial testing of the knife, I was sold, INFI is amazing steel. I then decided to see where I could take the knife in terms of durability. Having spent a good chunk of change on it, I was not about to try and destroy it, but i'd put it through a little test. I hacked away at a cinder block, and inspected the edge. Much to my surprise, the steel had not rolled or chipped. I tested sharpness pushcutting paper, and while it lost a SMALL amount of it's sharpness after chopping/batoning and concrete, it still push cut the paper. Here it is after the ordeal-
Here it is all cleaned up, there was no sharpening of the knife after using it during the test, it was also used for more chopping and batoning today. I have not touched the edge since using it, no rolls or chips.
This is the thickest, heaviest blade i've ever owned, it truly feels as though it would be impossible to break. The edge retention is nothing short of amazing. Although the initial edge left a little to be desired, it was very easy to reprofile and functions perfectly. As with all Busses, it does not include a sheath, but there are plenty of sheath makers. I'm truly sold, I will never spent a dime on another fixed blade unless it's a Busse, and this is coming from someone who has owned well over 100 good quality knives. I'm already planning on my next 10 Busses. To top it all off, the company has the best warranty in the business. If you somehow manage to break/damage it, it's warrantied for life, for anyone who owns it, just not the original owner. It doesn't matter if you were breaking up concrete or chopping through a very heavy chain (yes someone did this), it's covered.
If you have the money, and the need, I suggest you pick on up. If you don't like it, you can sell it for what you paid. These knives hold their value, even used/abused.
