Busse knives really worth the bux ?

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soapboxpreacher said:
Hm...I cant justify 500 for a knife. I have too many. I know the busses can chop thru roots, cinder blocks, etc....but I will at no cost ever do that with any blade I have! EVER! Because you can doesnt me you should or ever will. As for ESEE...yeah it is a common steel but the heat treating is where the magic happens. They make a knife that will do everything you can pretty much do with a busse and if you break it...they will give you a new one and the knives are nearly 3x cheaper! I like busse because they are limited releases and rare. I could careless about the abuse they can take for I would once again never put a knife thru that kind of beating. End of the world you would be stupid to put your blade thru what noss does at knifetest. I do like noss and respect what he does but it is not realistic! In a survival situation being smart is gonna keep you alive and used your knife for something you shouldnt is stupid. Just my 2 cents and once again I am a very big fan but I wouldnt spend the money on one. My falks, ESEE, and Beckers have taken on more than I have asked of them and they are all I need!
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There is a lot of logic here.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Pretty much. They're worth it to some folks but not to me personally. If I ever need to cut through a chain I'll use the folding hacksaw in my pack. I don't have any use for the majority of the Busse/BusseKin models (though there are some that aren't half bad to my eye) and I find that less expensive knives perform more than well enough for my needs so I invest my money into other things.

I do agree that the BusseKin lines are much more attractively priced and they run an admirable business, but the hype and the designs just aren't for me as a whole.
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This is why I value the forums. It is good for me to have a few splashes of cold reality in some of my cutting tool purchases.
 
For me it essentially boils down to the fact that they usually place their primary emphasis on durability rather than cutting performance. As such you end up with knives that often have thicker stock than I usually like, with thicker grinds than I usually like, with more obtuse factory edges than I like, and at a higher price than I usually like.

While the quality is exceptionally high, and the performance is likewise fairly high, the performance-per-dollar ratio is too weak for me to feel like I could buy a Busse and feel justified that I spent my money efficiently. Busses vastly exceed my need for toughness in a knife and do not offer sufficiently increased performance within my use spectrum to justify the expenditure. They're the perfect tool for some folks, but I'm just not one of those folks. :)
 
Have you seen one you think you might like? What would be your intended and possible uses for it?

I have many Busses & Scrapyards and a few Swamp Rats. The ones I've chosen to do many of the activities discussed in this forum category are the Pork Shank, War Dog, and S5LE. I also really like the BWM. These have performed very well for me.

Spend some time on the Busse forum here. Look at all the Busse knives on the exchange. I still haven't figured it out, but let me know if you do. :)
 
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If they are worth it is totally up to you. Are you willing to spend that on the knife? If so, sure, it's worth it. If you are happy with an ESEE, and don't really think it could be that much better, then no. It's all up to the user. It's different for everyone. Some people love them, others hate them.
 
How many rope cuts did a INFI Busse knife make before it went dull?
Jerry needs to bring back the LIVE knife show demo.
 
A lot of folks I've spoken with have indicated that the wear resistance of INFI is "fair" rather than "exceptional".
 
IMO, part of what you're paying for with Busse is the collectability factor and the fact that they retain their value insanely well. I have a hard time saying they're flat out not worth the money because if you get it, use it and dislike it you can probably get back what you paid. If you get it, never use it and wait 2 years you can probably make a decent profit.

That being said, are they worth it from a pure performance standpoint? Probably not quite. Will they perform beautifully? Yup. Will they perform 20 times better than a Mora? Probably not. Their prices are high, but not that much higher than similar blades made from 3V which, to my knowledge, is the most comparable steel to INFI out there. And I actually think Scrap Yard knives are a bit underrated from a cost-performance standpoint.
 
Buuse me suffers from the Cold Steel syndrome. The lame cheesy hype and names of the knives turns me off. Others do too. But Chopping cinder block proves..... you're an idiot. Cutting chain, well, idiot. Everyone pro Busse here say the same thing: I feel secure just knowing I could do it. So carry a set of bolt cutters and a hammer, and save thee money for a true custom work of art in the hand knive for sale. Plus, wtf do you need a sword called a knife for?
 
I've got 3 Busses, 4 Swamprats, and 3 Scrapyards. I've beat on the Busses & a couple of the Swamprats. The others were bought for collection. Specifically, I've beat on my combat grade fusion battle mistress, basic 11, (both Busse) my Ratmandu, & my Rodent Solution (both Swamprats). Out of the ones I've used for outdoors/camping, the basic 11 (11" blade) is an outstanding choice for a lightweight woods chopper with a choil for finer detail. The Ratmandu & the Rodent solution (5.5" & 3.5" blades respectfully) edge retention is top notch! Take either on a week long bush trip & you won't need to touch up the blade on them while you're out. All 3 knives are 3/16"ish thick. The Basic 11 & the Solution have a distal taper, while the ratmandu does not. However any of the above can handle just about anything a user can throw at them in the bush (I'm not referring to chain cuts, cinder blocks etc, that ain't why I buy a knife.) None of these come with a sheath, but can be had between $120-$320ish. The rats end up about $160ish-$200ish with a quality kydex sheath & the basic, while harder to find ends up about $400 with a good kydex sheath. While none are cheap, they're not up there with a custom & are damn fine woods knives any user would be happy with. I'm no fanboy, but I do like what works. Sorry for the long winded post, it's not my usual style.
 
I think Busse-Kin blades are definitely a slight step up from ESEE blades, however , I think the Swamprat line hits the edge of diminishing returns ! The SR101 steel really is the dogs ding-dongs, it takes an awesome edge and holds it almost forever. It hits that perfect balance between toughness and hardness. I often find when reading various posts that even hardened Busse collectors talk of having Swamprats ( especially Chopweilers and Ratmandu's ) as their main users. Busse INFI might be very slightly less prone to chipping than the SR101 and is definitely a little more rust resistant but as an out and out user it gives little in performance over SR101. IMO Busse's are great knives to collect but for a real user their cost isn't validated compared to the Swamprat line.
 
Bowman1911 said:
I've got 3 Busses, 4 Swamprats, and 3 Scrapyards. I've beat on the Busses & a couple of the Swamprats. The others were bought for collection. Specifically, I've beat on my combat grade fusion battle mistress, basic 11, (both Busse) my Ratmandu, & my Rodent Solution (both Swamprats). Out of the ones I've used for outdoors/camping, the basic 11 (11" blade) is an outstanding choice for a lightweight woods chopper with a choil for finer detail. The Ratmandu & the Rodent solution (5.5" & 3.5" blades respectfully) edge retention is top notch! Take either on a week long bush trip & you won't need to touch up the blade on them while you're out. All 3 knives are 3/16"ish thick. The Basic 11 & the Solution have a distal taper, while the ratmandu does not. However any of the above can handle just about anything a user can throw at them in the bush (I'm not referring to chain cuts, cinder blocks etc, that ain't why I buy a knife.) None of these come with a sheath, but can be had between $120-$320ish. The rats end up about $160ish-$200ish with a quality kydex sheath & the basic, while harder to find ends up about $400 with a good kydex sheath. While none are cheap, they're not up there with a custom & are damn fine woods knives any user would be happy with. I'm no fanboy, but I do like what works. Sorry for the long winded post, it's not my usual style.
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This isn't a criticism, as I live by the motto of "use what works for you" but I find an inexpensive, quality machete like an Imacasa or Tramontina can ALSO handle just about anything you throw at it in the woods. If you spend a little more and get a Condor it'll even come with a sheath. :p

That's the performance-per-dollar competition it's up against for folks like me.
 
I won't knock a Condor! I've beat a 17" parang like it owed me money & all it asked for was to be resharpened afterwards! Best $40 blade I've had the pleasure of abusing!
 
They're worth it if you want one badly enough.
If you don't, then they totally aren't.
I don't think it's really about performance at all.
 
Consider this. You buy a Busse knife and use it. You beat the hell out of it and a few years later you decide that you want something else. It is very likely that you can sell your Busse
for what you paid for it and probably much more. In the unlikely event that you damage the Busse through neglect and/or abuse, Busse will fix it or replace it.

There are very few knives that you can say that about. What will your Esee be worth after you use it?

If you are happy with a cheap knife, gun, binocular, car, whatever, more power to you. A lot of folks like to own the best that they can afford.
 
Yup! That's one of the nice things about a Busse--as long as you can afford to buy one in the first place it's almost guaranteed you can sell if for what you paid for it if you find it's not for you. :):thumbup:

And UffDa--remember: there's a huge difference between cheap and inexpensive. :D
 
And there's alot of folks (like almost everyone other than us) who would consider a $200 knife to be insanely expensive.
I have a friend who makes far more than me, who LOVES my Junglas, but won't spend that kind of cash on a knife.
"Why would I spend $200 on a knife when I could get another gun?"
 
Over the past two decades or so collecting knives and guns, I've come to this conclusion. I prefer quality over quantity, so I have sold most of my collections and kept the best of the best. In the case of blades, this means Busse and kin as well as a few customs. I personally get a lot more pleasure using the items from my smaller collections than I did when they were 10x bigger and it's freed up quite a bit of space as a side benefit! YMMV
 
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