foxyrick
British Pork
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2006
- Messages
- 2,254
I haven't read all the thread, but I've skimmed it and I don't think anyone has mentioned my main reason for choosing a Busse.
Executive Summary: It's the most comfortable to use big knife that I've handled.
A good few years ago I was searching for the 'ultimate' big knife. To me, that meant one big enough for efficient chopping but not so big that I couldn't use it for other things too. So that you know, I have always had an issue getting knives to fit my hands well, just like the problem I have with my feet and boots.
In the search I got my hands on candidates from Fallkniven, Fehrman, Nexus, Busse and a few less expensive alternatives.
The Busse was an HH-FSH (Fusion Steel Heart, Heavy Heart version (thicker stock)) with magnum scales.
The HHFSH beat everything else for comfort in the hand, in a variety of grips, and both comfort and efficiency in extended wood chopping. The handle shape and size, weight, balance and blade design simply worked for me. It really is as close to perfect for the type of knife I was looking for as I can imagine.
The Fallknivens (which I still have for cold winter use) were comfortable enough to hold, but I found them less efficient for heavy chopping. My Nexus handle dug into my hand enough to cause pain quite quickly when chopping. The Ferhman knife was a gorgeous design and as much as I wanted it to work for me, it simply was nowhere near as good in my hand as the HHFSH. I perhaps found it a smidgeon better in the hand for non-chopping tasks than the Busse, but not enough to make a difference really. Nothing else came close to the Busse.
I did not really compare edge holding or anything else; all the main knives I tried had good steels and good reputations and would likely meet my needs in that respect.
So, the Busse won, by a big margin. To answer the original question, yes, Busse knives are definitely worth the cost - if they work for you as well as they do for me. If you have the cash spare, and don't desperately need it for more important survival stuff, go for it.
Recently, I had a few days with some friends in a forest in Brecon, Wales. The weather had been horribly wet for weeks and every bit of wood available was soaked almost to the core. So, a lot of battoning as well as chopping of hard and wet wood was the order of the day. The HHFSH is my go-to knife for any trip like this.
We kept a fairly large fire going for four days and nights, about half of the wood (a lot!) being supplied by me and the HHFSH. I don't wear gloves but the knife gave me no problems with blisters or the like, even with the tooling on the micarta. At the end of the trip, the knife would still shave arm hairs easily.
It did receive a little damage though. I managed to deeply roll about quarter of an inch of the belly, due to trying to batton through a rock that the log I was splitting was leaning against. Tip: Don't batton in the dark, after half a bottle of Jack Daniel's. No worries, a bit of effort on the stones fixed it right up. The lump of sandstone had a much deeper gouge in it than the knife. Had I noticed before trying to hammer through the rock thinking I had just found a knot, I might have got away with just steeling out the roll.
I think my Fallknivens would have chipped badly if subjected to that (admittedly stupid) abuse. I did chip the tip of a Fallkniven quite easily when it contacted some embedded grit once in driftwood. I was a bit surprised and dismayed at that.
On a final note, I have over the last year or so sold most of my Busse (and other) knives due to poor financial circumstances. I have got my money back on the Busses, with a small loss on some balanced by profits on others. That is in the UK where we have to pay about 30% more than you in the US for the knives, and that basically comes out of the 'investment' that Busse knives are seen as. So, still being able to get my money back after having the pleasure of owning the knives for a few years is remarkable.
I still have my HHFSH of course; that will be buried with me, just in case.
Executive Summary: It's the most comfortable to use big knife that I've handled.
A good few years ago I was searching for the 'ultimate' big knife. To me, that meant one big enough for efficient chopping but not so big that I couldn't use it for other things too. So that you know, I have always had an issue getting knives to fit my hands well, just like the problem I have with my feet and boots.
In the search I got my hands on candidates from Fallkniven, Fehrman, Nexus, Busse and a few less expensive alternatives.
The Busse was an HH-FSH (Fusion Steel Heart, Heavy Heart version (thicker stock)) with magnum scales.
The HHFSH beat everything else for comfort in the hand, in a variety of grips, and both comfort and efficiency in extended wood chopping. The handle shape and size, weight, balance and blade design simply worked for me. It really is as close to perfect for the type of knife I was looking for as I can imagine.
The Fallknivens (which I still have for cold winter use) were comfortable enough to hold, but I found them less efficient for heavy chopping. My Nexus handle dug into my hand enough to cause pain quite quickly when chopping. The Ferhman knife was a gorgeous design and as much as I wanted it to work for me, it simply was nowhere near as good in my hand as the HHFSH. I perhaps found it a smidgeon better in the hand for non-chopping tasks than the Busse, but not enough to make a difference really. Nothing else came close to the Busse.
I did not really compare edge holding or anything else; all the main knives I tried had good steels and good reputations and would likely meet my needs in that respect.
So, the Busse won, by a big margin. To answer the original question, yes, Busse knives are definitely worth the cost - if they work for you as well as they do for me. If you have the cash spare, and don't desperately need it for more important survival stuff, go for it.
Recently, I had a few days with some friends in a forest in Brecon, Wales. The weather had been horribly wet for weeks and every bit of wood available was soaked almost to the core. So, a lot of battoning as well as chopping of hard and wet wood was the order of the day. The HHFSH is my go-to knife for any trip like this.
We kept a fairly large fire going for four days and nights, about half of the wood (a lot!) being supplied by me and the HHFSH. I don't wear gloves but the knife gave me no problems with blisters or the like, even with the tooling on the micarta. At the end of the trip, the knife would still shave arm hairs easily.
It did receive a little damage though. I managed to deeply roll about quarter of an inch of the belly, due to trying to batton through a rock that the log I was splitting was leaning against. Tip: Don't batton in the dark, after half a bottle of Jack Daniel's. No worries, a bit of effort on the stones fixed it right up. The lump of sandstone had a much deeper gouge in it than the knife. Had I noticed before trying to hammer through the rock thinking I had just found a knot, I might have got away with just steeling out the roll.
I think my Fallknivens would have chipped badly if subjected to that (admittedly stupid) abuse. I did chip the tip of a Fallkniven quite easily when it contacted some embedded grit once in driftwood. I was a bit surprised and dismayed at that.
On a final note, I have over the last year or so sold most of my Busse (and other) knives due to poor financial circumstances. I have got my money back on the Busses, with a small loss on some balanced by profits on others. That is in the UK where we have to pay about 30% more than you in the US for the knives, and that basically comes out of the 'investment' that Busse knives are seen as. So, still being able to get my money back after having the pleasure of owning the knives for a few years is remarkable.
I still have my HHFSH of course; that will be buried with me, just in case.
