Busse/CRK

[harrydog]

With no disrespect to either manufacturer intended, I would like to know if anyone has had experience with both the Chris Reeve fixed blades and the Busse and which one they feel is the better knife.
I've been reading the posts on both boards and both seem to be very highly regarded by their owners. I guess my question is, what makes the Busse better, if in fact the concensus is that it is better. I take it that the INFI is somewhat more indestructable than the A2 used by Reeve but then, how many of you have heard of broken Reeves? Also the question of blade design. Who does the best job here? One thing about the Reeves that I noticed from photos is that the handle design doesn't look particularly comfortable but of course I've never held one so that might not be true.
Bottom line, I want to buy a fixed blade knife with a 4 1/2" to a 6" blade but there are no local dealers I know of where I can actually examine the knives for comparison.
Any help or opinions will be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Cobalt]

Hairydog, I have a chris reeve project 2 and it is definitelly worth the money. Exellent quality. The handle is not as confortable as most micarta slab knives I have held. Since my Busse BM is 3000 miles away from me I can't compare them. I prefer the blade style of the Reeves knife, but the BM appears to be nearly indestructible from what testing is showing.

 

[sevenedges]

I own a Mean Street, Battle Mistress, Basic Five, and have used a project one. The Busses have a better handle. Both knives are tough enough to last forever. The INFI steel really is a good steel as I chopped through two trees 7-8 inches in diameter that were of a hard species. The INFI steel was as perfect as if I had chopped nothing. To compare I did the same with the Cold Steel Trailmaster and found the blade had lost a little of it's inital bite. I also did a little chopping with the project one and you could tell a slight difference with the fingernail test. If I had to rate blade grinds I would say that the Busses would be my favorite for chopping, Chris Reeve for slicing. You stated however that you were looking for a small fixed blade so chopping wont be as big a issue. You might find the Badger Attack has the better handle. However Chris makes nice leather sheaths. I'm sure this has confused you even more.

Later, Jeff

 

[D. Epstein]

I think the CRK wins out on intangibles like beauty and pride of ownership, for whatever that's worth (quite a bit to me, actually). I have a Shadow IV, and while I think it's awesome, I admit the handle takes some getting used to. The Busse Basic #5 is probably a more practical knife, especially in the handle. My Shadow IV is too nice to use, whereas I don't think a Busse Basic would be. It is also cheaper. Both knives would no doubt be great performers, although those Busse's are thick.