Busse vs. Custom Fixed

BlazenGem

BlazenGem

Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Messages
1,253
This question has appeared many times in my head.;)

Many Busses go to the price, or even above the price of custom fixed blades.

I have yet to venture into the world of fixed blades.:D

What are the oponions between them? :thumbup:

(am I asking this on the wrong forum? :eek:)
 
I know that INFI is amazing an virtually indestructible, but i think that it would be hard to push a steel like 1095 to its limits, especially a collector. But on the other hand, Busses would go up in price...

Its really just your preference, Mike.
 
BlazenGem said:
This question has appeared many times in my head.;)

Many Busses go to the price, or even above the price of custom fixed blades.

I have yet to venture into the world of fixed blades.:D

What are the oponions between them? :thumbup:

(am I asking this on the wrong forum? :eek:)
Click to expand...

Been there... done that... now I am here on Busse forums. My advice is as follows... maybe I can save you some time and money.

I have a fairly substantial number of "custom" knives and I have come to one conclusion. You can spend as much as you want and it will be difficult to find a knife that will compare to a Busse in overall performance.

Sure, there are much prettier knives out there that are very nice, but I'll tell you from experience most of them are all show, no go. Well... 'no go' compared to the performance of a Busse.

If you really want a custom that will hold an edge like INFI, then you will be spending in the area of $1000 plus. I have been impressed with mastersmith Ed Fowler's work. But that will cost you much more than $1K. I always find in funny when people scoff at the price of a Busse. Trust me, it is not very expensive for what you get.

For the money, Busse is your best bet. :thumbup:
 
soup_monger said:
It depends... what do you want?.... and why do you want it?... :)
Click to expand...

Hey Soup,

Its just a question that pops in my head everytime when I see people getting so :Dexcited:D when their INFI arrives...and when makers posts the fixed blades they just made, with positive comments.

I am broke right now, cant afford neither, but worth knowing :thumbup:
 
It all comes down to what YOU want. For most uses, a custom blade made of the right materials will suit you fine...but if you want something that can take a hell of a lickin and keep on kickin go with something INFI. I've got some sweet INFI morsels both user and queen but I've also got a few customs that I love every bit as much. When it comes down to it though...if shit hit the fan, I'd be carrying a Busse in my Bugout bag right next to my 5'' 686 S&W :D. Sometimes you just want a certain stying or materials that you can't find in a Busse...go custom....for everything else....go BUSSE! You'll never look back.
 
For a strong utility knife, they (Busses) are hard to beat. If you desire a task specific knife (a light weight fighter for example), Busses probably wouldn't be the knife. There are so many good choices on the market. Busses are definately one of the high end using knives. Other notable semi-customs would be Mad Dogs and Chris Reeves. My petite 5' 3" girlfriend loves her Muddy-Tan Game Warden which she got as a Christmas present from me. To most people, a knife is a knife.

What are the oponions between them?
Click to expand...

I don't own any truly custom knives. I prefer the factory semi customs. I have been considering a Bill Buxton in 52100 just as a reference blade. Your preference might vary. The best thing to do is purchase one of each type and see what you like more. Ya know?
 
things busse does not make (or rather hasnt, since most of what you can get is aftermarket):

sub hilt double edged fighters
1/16" small skinners (though you could probably get one custom from busse)
1/32" thin knives
single edged karembits
choiless knives (in production so far, only the war boar counts, but thats not a knife its a karembit. the hog muk and potential #2 sar knife might fall in here, though those aren't standard gaurd included choiless configurations, those are completely guardless)
machetes (though you could have one custom made from busse, at a high price)
long katanas (again with the custom)
older classic and historical reproductions
super thin true zero edges - i'm talking 10 degree's included - infi fails at that thiness. or rather, it dents out MUCH to easily to be worth while (in that thinness).
1/2" thick knives (HI being an example of who does - and again, you could get it custom through busse)
khukuries (though we may see one coming up here someday)
folders (again, 2 weeks. swamp rat put out 1 folder)
knives in other steels (though you can get some variety from the sister companies)
super hard knives (normally not above 62rc)
super corrosion resistant knives (again with the other steels bit. infi is corrosion resistant, but it will rust eventually.)
axes (swamp rat did however put out the crash axe - not infi, (modified s7 steele)

and thats all I can think of for right now....

if you want those things - then other companies are the way to go.

busse does make:

custom knives and swords, for a price (and a few years)
some thinnish knives, but not that thin. most of the time you're looking at 3/16, with a few 1/8" exceptions.
heavy choppers
medium and small hard use knives and general use knives
sharpened prybars

and busse has infi, wich is pretty much the only steel available that is completely chip resistant at 60rc, and still highly corrosion resistant.



I say buy something from busse, use it and see if you like it. if you don't you can resell it for at least what you paid for it if your willing to let it sit on the market for a while. if you do like it but want something specific, order something from the custom shop, and be prepared to wait 3-5 years (reasonable when you compare to randall and a few other custom makers with similar wait times). you can watch the boards in the mean time to see if something similar comes up to tide you over. many of the things I said they don't make above can be had through the custom shop, like axes.
 
I honestly don't think Busse's are above in price compared to other customs out there. I'm talking about Fehrman's and Maddog's.

I wouldn't consider Simonich's, Gerbers, CRKT's, TOPs, Entrek's, etc. in the same category or standard.

Not to drop names but that's just my opinion and 2 cents.
 
dduangrat said:
I honestly don't think Busse's are above in price compared to other customs out there. I'm talking about Fehrman's and Maddog's.

I wouldn't consider Simonich's, Gerbers, CRKT's, TOPs, Entrek's, etc. in the same category or standard.

Not to drop names but that's just my opinion and 2 cents.
Click to expand...

if you go into the makers sales section of bladeforums, there are a lot of custom makers that sell knives ranging from 150-400$, wich is for the most part below the general market price of any given busse right now.

ferman is more of a small run production outfit, though he probably does do some custom work. and I'm not sure mad dog actually takes custom orders. Simonich, Gerber, CRKT, TOPs, and Entrek are all pure production shops right now. I think that simonich and entrek are kind of like busse, in that they have a small section of their bussiness that can and will do custom orders, but their bread and butter are standard production models.


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all have custom work thats up that is under the 500$ mark. all of it excellent stuff, just different then what you'll find at busse. some of it has features that busse doesn't normally use in their production knives, unless you custom order it (wich you can do), such as true choiless, and classic hidden tang bowies.

so, for collecting purposes, the custom maker market gives you much more variety. for use, the custom market gives you a range of items that busse either wont produce (steels, super super thin), or doesn't produce (classic designs). though again, you could totally get a custom knife from the busse custom shop for a 6" bladed knife for less then 800$.
 
Personally, I think you'll find that the Busse knife will do anything you ask it too within reason you won't get a .250 fillet knife from anyone you know ;)

I think if you are looking at game knives, then Busse are too thick, although they do have great ergos/profiles (take it from someone who busts beef for a living) and for kitchen I'd say the same.

If your main knife usage is outdoors kind of stuff, then Busse will rock your world.
A great all rounder, just a tad thick for some more "precise" applications.

for me, EDC Busse, for my game knife I'll take a modded Busse (Infi rocks) and for the kitchen, what the wife has is fine for me.


BlazenGem, both have their advantages, but they also both have their limitations.

Personally I'd feel more comfortable with my AD over a custom 5"er...
 
My B. Goode WSK in O1 is going for more than an FBM in any variety but LE.
My Koster Nessmuk in 3V is valued at more than a BATACLE.
A Skookum Bush Tool in 3V costs almost as much as a CG ASH1.
An Airkat TORQ NVTR Skorpin is in production and costs more than an FBMLE, while the Busse Folder is as common as a unicorn.
Comparisons abound, and most people complaining about prices don't realize that alot of us don't want Moras from Frost Cutlery and such. Although some of the Scandi based blades get pricy as well.
 
I would just say that of all the collectable knives I've had.

That Busse's seem to be the "one" brand that gets used more than not. Buuse's also seem not to loose any real value if they are used.

Why is that?

Most others makers make shelf knives.

Most owners are either too affraid to use them( including myself) or maybe they're affraid of taking such a loss for using it..

Not sure?

I have both.... but my users are BUSSE's
 
To me, CPM 3V is the best overall steel, besides INFI, you can build a custom fixed blade knife from.
But it's not as good as INFI so why bother having a custom fixed blade built from any steel since it's inferior to INFI :confused: :)
Now, a custom folder is a different ball game. ;)


Sag.
 
Sagittarius said:
To me, CPM 3V is the best overall steel, besides INFI, you can build a custom fixed blade knife from.
But it's not as good as INFI so why bother having a custom fixed blade built from any steel since it's inferior to INFI :confused: :)
Now, a custom folder is a different ball game. ;)


Sag.
Click to expand...

jerry himself has stated that certain steels are better then infi in a given geometry, specifically i'm thinking of the explanation of using d2 in the swamp rat line of hunting/skinning blades. infi can't hold it's shape when it's very thin, because it's too malleable even at 60rc, it dents out.

so why have a custom built from another "inferior steel"? because the other steels aren't inferior, they just have different applications. if you need a knife for that particular application - infi will do okay, but another custom makers knife that has a steel that is better at that task then that task specific knife will perform better.
 
BlazenGem said:
This question has appeared many times in my head.;)

Many Busses go to the price, or even above the price of custom fixed blades.

I have yet to venture into the world of fixed blades.:D

What are the oponions between them? :thumbup:

(am I asking this on the wrong forum? :eek:)
Click to expand...

what are you going to be doing with this knife? is it a user, or a collectors peice? what uses do you expect to put it through?
 
Not sure exactly what you mean by "custom".

I've been buying Busses for about 10 years. Think they are fantastic knives, but am not one of the Kool-Aid boys.

IMO, you are not going to beat Jerry at his own game - so there's that. :-)

If you want something light and thin that cuts like mad, then I could see going to Dozier or Krein, or someone like that.

If you want an objet d'art, then follow your nose. :-)

Then there's the folder issue...

For a heavy-ish to super-heavy all-around user, I do not think you can beat Jerry. You can certainly find something that has one or two better attributes, but probably not a better all-around package.
 
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