Busse price justification

The OP has raised a reasonable question with the fresh view of an outsider. The best answer, as given above, is that Busse is priced at what the market will bear. My guess is that BCK Co gets a very healthy profit margin on their direct retail blades. And I don't begrudge them that in the least. Capitalism at it's finest. My suspicion is that Busse is able to offer blades to military units at reasonable prices (the prices must be reasonable or units would not be able to afford them) because the retail sales to us help to subsidize overhead costs and capital.

Head over to the Knifemakers Sales subforum here, and you will find some knives at very good values. Example: David Wegner sold a 7" hand forged fighter for $265. Every bit of that knife was done by David himself, a true one off custom There can be no doubt that he has more manhours in that knife than most Busse blades. And that knife will do everything that the typical buyer will need it to do, for ~ 66% of the cost of an SFNO LE. People pay more for the SFNO LE because they believe it represnts a value to them. The reputation of Busse, the warranty, the properties of INFI, the potential resale, the 'membership' in the club, all those things add up to the premium that a willing buyer is paying for.

And a Busse is not for everyone. Some buyers are perfectly happy with a Becker or an ESEE. Good for them. A small slice of the market is willing to pay even more. Good for them, too.

Above all, let's be nice to our guest.
 
Well put, Resinguy. I do not begrudge Busse in the least because the appear by all accounts to do things honestly and with integrity and their customers appear to be quite happy. The get what they get for their product because their customers truly believe that they are receiving value for their money. If I could even come close to replcating their business model even on a much smaller scale, i would be as happy as that proverbial pig in the stinky brown stuff. Sure, many of us laugh and roll our eyes at you guys cheering at Blade, but the fact remains that you are lined up 6 deep and cheering. There it is. :D
 
Busse is like a big family.................who takes my money...............I got my first Busse (a FBMLE in a trade for two knives). I used that knife for a couple years. Scratched it up, and feel I got my money's worth out of it. Then, a strange thing happened. I sold it, to buy more INFI, and and I did not loose my investment money!

Now, I have owned about 12 different models, and every one I have used, and sold to get more, I at least broke even, often better. None were safe queens. All had been used, many hard. Most had been re-profiled, stripped, modded, etc.

I only have a core of 4 users right now. All are users.


I am not an "expert" nor a super hog. Just a dude that likes knives (traditional slip joints, hand made customs, one of a kinds, production, I Like them all).

I don't need the toughest knife in the world. But it sure does not hurt.

One note, INFI really excels as an all around steel. Most steels are a compromise. Harder, but less tough. Stainless, but not as durable, more durable, but less edge retention, better edge retention but more brittle.

INFI is just a fantastically balanced steel. Super tough, excellent stain resistance, really good edge retention for tough uses like chopping, impact etc.


The one area I think it is not as stand out is in slicers, where you don't need as much toughness, but want more edge retention.

Busse released a thin, slicy higher hardness BAD. I really felt I could tell a difference in the edge retention. I think that should be the standard in their smaller offerings. Honestly, INFI is so tough, I think they should run their big choppers at a higher hardness too (they have some earlier release choppers with harder INFI).

At the hardness they run their normal INFI it should not be able to flex as well as it does, nor should the edge be as resistant to chipping. Instead of chips, you will get rolls, and dents. That might seem like a failure of steel, until you push it back into alignment on a smooth screw driver, and don't loose any steel. I have done small chips on another non infi chopper of a very expensive chopper (near battle mistress prices), and the effort it took to fix the tiny micro chips was simply crazy. I have done much much worse with infi, and just run the edge over a screw driver and bang, good as new.

They just make a lot of really solid designs. Good ergo's. A lot of different options for handle size, shape, blade grind, shape, size, etc, etc, etc.

Then there is the added desirability of getting the one you want, before they stop producing. That just adds to the fun, and craziness.

Then, you add to that, the sense of family. They do good deeds all the time. I KNOW this, because I had a family member deploy, and they did all kinds of speedy, great work for him. Add to that the rest of the HOGS, who give a lot back to members here. My cousin went to Afghanistan, he ended up with a donated knife and custom sheath, in about 1/10 the time it would have normally taken.

Just a fantastic group of generous people.

Word is that Busse is also going to release a newer steel some time.



Don't look at is as a Busse and nothing else. That would be boring. Think of it as INFI And every thing else.
 
PatrickKnight said:
Busses are great if you want something to cut a car in half. If you want something that cuts well and is still durable there are better choices, honestly guys this is just plain true. When it comes to doing stupid stuff with a knife that no one in there right mind would ever have to do Busses are at the top of the hill.
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Could you explain why Busses don't cut well in your opinion?

I only have a few models and am new to the Busse game, but I noticed a couple of things: they hold an edge really well, and they are much easier to charpen than I thought they would be. I own several knives in S30V (primarily Benchmades), and diamond hones, ceramic hones, it doesn't matter, I can't sharpen the damn things, I end up sending them back.

A while ago I bought one of the BAD models and it had a very dull edge (it was beaten on by the previous user). Going from Edgemaker to soft Arkansas to hard Arkansas to strop to a shaving edge in less than an hour, and I haven't sharpened it since.

The next was an anorexic boss something, and that thing is just scary sharp. So, I'm not seeing the "they don't cut well" side of this.
 
PatrickKnight said:
Busses are great if you want something to cut a car in half. If you want something that cuts well and is still durable there are better choices, honestly guys this is just plain true. When it comes to doing stupid stuff with a knife that no one in there right mind would ever have to do Busses are at the top of the hill.
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Sad story but true...I always think most of Busse models are just too thick to be useful as what a knife should be. Its has lots of cool factor though.
 
PatrickKnight said:
Busses are great if you want something to cut a car in half. If you want something that cuts well and is still durable there are better choices, honestly guys this is just plain true. When it comes to doing stupid stuff with a knife that no one in there right mind would ever have to do Busses are at the top of the hill.
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Oxymoron?
 
It's not a sad story, I reckon it's a false one. :) All the Busses I own cut beautifully. I use a .32" ASH1 in the kitchen regularly and it out cuts almost all the other knives I own, including the purpose designed kitchen knives. The smaller thinner stock knives like the Pork Shank are amazing at fine slicing due to their incredible polished convex edge. Easy to keep scalpel sharp too. The Swamp Rat/SYKCO SR101 steel is probably the most amazing stuff I've ever used when it comes to edge holding. And it takes an edge that is dangerously sharp. I'm no expert on steels or knives, but I do know that the Busse family of knives, from several years of experience alone, cut like a dream. :)
 
While someone might not be content with the edge geometry or sharpness of an INFI knife right out of the factory, what other TOOL STEEL knife will resharpen or reprofile as easily?
If you're going to USE a knife, you're going to have to know how to sharpen it????
So... what's the problem. For the strength, edge retention, and sharpen-ability, no other knife compares.
The only instance that I can see justifying the price for ANY other knife might be if you're doing something like a survival competition where you have to pack super light, you're going to need a tough knife and you don't want to bog yourself down with any extra weight, like a sharpening stone or two. Then, MAYBE... just maybe... something a Fehrman 3V might be a better choice, but even then I'm not so sure.
But since the resellability of Busses are just as incredible as the other features, you have no excuse but to buy a beater and do your own comparison tests if you are in doubt.
 
My Busse knives all cut just fine. While I have unintentionally cut bedsprings, hit rocks and misc. debris while clearing brush, I was able to clean the edge back up with little effort. The small and large work great in the kitchen as well. Whenever somebody talks about Jerry's knives like they don't work well for everyday cutting chores and such, I just assume they haven't mastered working with any edged tools. As far as INFI being worth the money, I am in more of a wonderment that the folks that have gifted me my Busse knives think that I am worth a gift of an incredible knife.
 
I have several Busse/ Swamp rat knives. To be honest, I don't feel as if I overpaid for any of them.
Quality, good looking and functional equipment. I am happy to support a American company and
and their employee's. I hope the OP will give them a try.
 
I recently ordered my first Busse mainly because I believe that its always better to "have it and not need it than need it and not have it". I hope to God that I never find myself in a situation where I need a knife that I can baton through a brick wall......but if I do, I want to know that I AM going through that damn wall. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
 
clampdaddy said:
I recently ordered my first Busse mainly because I believe that its always better to "have it and not need it than need it and not have it". I hope to God that I never find myself in a situation where I need a knife that I can baton through a brick wall......but if I do, I want to know that I AM going through that damn wall. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
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Word.
 
mymindisamob said:
My Busse knives all cut just fine. While I have unintentionally cut bedsprings, hit rocks and misc. debris while clearing brush, I was able to clean the edge back up with little effort. The small and large work great in the kitchen as well. Whenever somebody talks about Jerry's knives like they don't work well for everyday cutting chores and such, I just assume they haven't mastered working with any edged tools. As far as INFI being worth the money, I am in more of a wonderment that the folks that have gifted me my Busse knives think that I am worth a gift of an incredible knife.
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Oh my friend, I have some to show you from the dark ages before Beef. :p The Renaissance of Busse. :D The new stuff is beyond awesome.
 
jdm61 said:
Because the pricing is what the market will bear?;)
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jdm61 said:
Not a very good guess. If I want Micarta scales 3D machined, I can get a pair for around $16 if I order say 50 pairs. G10 would cost me around $20. As for Infi, it may be a great steel but it is still a cast steel, so no $100 price tag. If you pay more than $8 to have a blade water jet cut, you have probably paid too much. If I was making a good sized knife from say CPM 3V and outsourcing everything but the assembly, i think that I would expect for that to cost me around $125-135 or so including a basic kydex sheath. Where Busse does well is when they sell directly to the customer because they get to keep the "dealer cut." That doesn't suck under any circumstances.;)
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Best answers yet. It does not cost that much to produce a Busse they charge what people are willing to pay and employ clever marketing techniques and limited runs in order to charge what they do. I am fine with all of it except, for what they charge, satin blade finish should be standard and simple kyex sheaths should be included with all knives.:)
 
clampdaddy said:
I recently ordered my first Busse mainly because I believe that its always better to "have it and not need it than need it and not have it". I hope to God that I never find myself in a situation where I need a knife that I can baton through a brick wall......but if I do, I want to know that I AM going through that damn wall. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
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I have many of the reasons above to own one of the finest knives made, but in a very to the point and a PERFECT simplistic way of putting things clampdaddy hit it quit well ;):thumbup:
 
Yes!!! And...I just like them! The huge number of Busse models/variations/customs/variations of variations makes them more desirable to collect, and fun to search for!...I am new at this, was first overwhelmed by the sheer number of Bussekins, but have now focused on the one's I want to collect. That's beyond the two RMD's; two Steel Hearts; and Terror Monkey that I have already. I thrill to the hunt! Cheers.
RussMo said:
I have many of the reasons above to own one of the finest knives made, but in a very to the point and a PERFECT simplistic way of putting things clampdaddy hit it quit well ;):thumbup:
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