Busse testing

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sevenedges

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Today a friend and I decided to test our new E Handled Battle Mistresses against the older straight handled one.

While we were out there we tested five other blades as well, just for fun.
The blades are of different size and type.
We tested the blades for their chopping ability only. And photographed all testing.
Knives tested were:

Cold Steel Bushman
Cold Steel Recon Scout
Cold Steel SRK
91/2" Ontario Bowie
7" Kabar
Busse Battle Mistress E Handle
Busse Battle Mistress Straight Handle

The knives were tested by the following method,
My friend would chop with each knife for 25 strokes, then I would do the same for a total of 50 strokes per blade.

The knife that chopped the best was the Straight Handled Battle Mistress.
Then the E handled Mistress. Followed by the Ontario Bowie.
Recon Scout, Bushman, SRK and Kabar.


The first attempt with the Straight Battle Mistress went through an eight inch sideways growing tree enough that it started splitting and we had to use a thicker 12" tree for the testing.

We also flexed our Battle Mistresses quite a bit, My friend was using his body to jump up and down on it while totally suspended in air.
No damage at all to either blade.

I will have pictures in a couple of weeks and will try to dig this one up to post them.

---Jeff
 
That's one of the few reviews I've read which compares the SH BM and the BME, and it's nice to know how they compare.

You said that the SH BM out-chopped the BME...how large was the difference? Could you possibly make an estimate like: The BME had X% of the chopping performance of the SH BM. That would be great, as it would really help to truly quantify the difference.

Also, how did the two handles compare during heavy chopping?

Thanks for the review!
 
Jeff :

The first attempt with the Straight Battle Mistress went through an eight inch sideways growing tree enough that it started splitting
Click to expand...

That's not a bad cut.

I look forward to seeing the pictures.

-Cliff
 
Andrew,
I would estimate after thinking about this for a while, that the Straight Handle BM outchopped the BME by aproximately,
20%. +/- 5%

I do believe the reason for such a difference is that for one I have significantly thinned out the edge of my SH BM. And it now has a flat V grind on both sides of the edge.

The second reason for the added perfomance from the SH BM is that it has a little more heft to it. The blade a little longer and wider.

As for the handle difference, well in all honestly I think I still like my old one a little better.

When I did full power (throw your back out type swings) with the straight handle I get a little pinky bleeding after a while if I don't hold it firmly and it slips a dozen or so times and slams into my pinky finger. Also I get a little blistering between by thumb and index finger. However this handle fills out my hand better than the BME handle.

Now for the BME handle, at full power swings the knife doesn't hurt my pinky finger, but it does hurt my entire hand. infact for the 25 full power swings while testing it was quite uncomfortable. The handle is just to thin for my hand.
I still feel I need to do more testing with both knives for just the handle though.

Cliff,
When we chopped through the eight inch tree it only took 25 swings to make it split, as my friend didn't even get to follow up with his 25 swings before it let go. I too was very surprised that it only took 25 swings.

I contribute that to the edge.

I would guess that with the identical edge on each knife the difference would narrow to approximately 15% +/- 5%
with my true feeling of about 12 to 15% with the SH BM still in the lead. It just simply is more knife.

Like mentioned before I do have some very good pictures of all the knives lined up in their respective notches cut in the log, that I will post as soon as I can. My friend has the film and is away right now so it will be a couple weeks.

-Jeff
 
A couple of other things to take into account,

I am experienced with the straight handled BM
I am not with the E handled BM

The fit and finish is quite a bit better on the E handled BM .



--Jeff
 
Originally posted by salamander
The handle is just to thin for my hand.
Click to expand...

I agree. I wonder what percent of Busse customers also agree. However, I've heard several people say that they prefer a thinner handle, so it goes both ways.

I will probably have some more info on thicker handled Busse's in a few days ;) .
 
O.K. I did some follow up testing today to make sure I was correct in everything I had stated in my earlier post.
I decided to do some chopping and I concentrated on handle impacts as well.
I started with the BME and chopped down a ten inch diameter tree with medium force impacts. By the time I was done my hand was a little red in the thumb and index finger area. Nothing serious. I then used the SHBM to chop down a ten inch diameter tree in the same area and of the same species. No comparison at all. The SHBM Ate the tree as if it were an ax and the the BME as if it were a large quality knife. Also the handle of the SHBM is much easier on my hand.
I am almost certain that the SHBM is so much better because of the much better suited edge than the BME. So I decided to thin the edge out quite a bit when I got home. When I started out I could not beleive how hard the crinkle coating is on the BME. It is the hardest material I have ever tried to cut with my DMT coarse stone. I still have work to do just to get through the coating. After I get the edge where I want it I will test them again and see how they compare. One thing is for certian, I like the thicker old style handles a little better than the new thinner ones.

Jeff
 
salamander:

I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. How significant is the difference in handle thickness between the BM-E and the SH-BM? Could you give me the measurements of both?

2. What is the reason for the E-model handle being thinner? Is the steel less than 1/4 inch or are the micarta scales thinner than on the straight handle?
 
Maskwa,
This is weird, I just measured the handles and they are 11/16" thick on the BME the whole lenght of the handles.
The SHBM measures 11/16" thick in the narrowest areas and 12/16" thick in the thickest areas.
So in reality the handles arn't that much thinner on the new knives, but they arn't contured as much as the old ones.
This leaves me to beleive that it is the handle shape, not necessarily thickness that makes the SHBM fit my hand better.
The width of the SHBM *HANDLE* is about a quarter inch less than the BME.(from spine to edge.)
Also the blade thickness of my SHBM is a just over a 1/4"
And the BME is right at 1/4".

--Jeff
 
salamander:

Thanks for answering my questions, I appreciate it.

Until I get my own BM-E I would like to learn as much as I can about how it compares to my SH-BM. I enjoyed reading about the differences between the straight handle BM and the ergonomic BM, I look forward to seeing the pictures from your review.
 
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