busse vs custom

M

manassas dragon

Joined
Dec 3, 2009
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it seems from my reading here that the ultimate knife is any of several by busse made from infi. can the custom makers using steels of their choice
make a better knife? are custom knives just improved cosmetics rather than function? not wanting start a war-just curious.
 
As long as we're just stating opinions, my personal opinion is that it is patently ridiculous to assert that there is an ultimate knife. I feel certain there are many ultimates among knives, aligned with specific intents and uses. No one knife is all things to all people or suited to all tasks.

- Greg
 
sorry,but all i want to know is if custom makers put out a superior product than busse.
it seems that infi steel is superior. would x amount of dollars yield a superior functioning blade from busse or would a custom knife from say the average custom maker be functionally superior?
 
You can only order the model in production at the time, so the point is kind of moot to begin with. I've never had experience working with INFI, but after using 15N20, 1055-1095, and a number of other 110% capable steels for a long time now, I have a hard time justifying paying 2-3x more for a design for a proprietary steel. If Jerry Busse could produce a blade half as beautiful or ergonomic as Rick Merchand, Christof Harper, D Farmer or any other of the hundreds of capable makers here, then he might get some of my business. A custom maker can take the exact specs you're looking for, add their artistic element to the blade and craft you something that a factory produced knife could never be.
 
manassas dragon said:
sorry,but all i want to know is if custom makers put out a superior product than busse.
it seems that infi steel is superior. would x amount of dollars yield a superior functioning blade from busse or would a custom knife from say the average custom maker be functionally superior?
Click to expand...

By that mentality I could spend half the money on a custom 1084 chopper that could very well last 200 years longer than me, and is easier to maintain in the field, and save myself 200-300 dollars on what a Busse would cost.
 
Well, I understand that Busse does a hell of a good job on their heat treat. I don't know the exact process, but the knives can take abuse. (do all knives need to?) The notion of the ultimate knife is purely subjective. One guy loves his Busse, the other can't do without his Mora. The beauty of metallurgy and knifemaking is that there is no "one steel to rule them all". If you believe a knife to be "the best" .... then for you, it is. Custom makers are capable of anything production companies are... plus we are not bound by model #'s and company image. Does that mean we make better knives? No:o........ :confused:er... I mean, yeah! uhhh.. yes it does..... buy custom!!!!:thumbup:;)

Rick
 
You can have the best of both worlds- buy a Busse big enough to use as a blank and have it modified and/or rehandled as necessary. There seem to be plenty of people who have managed to reshape Busses without ruining the heat treat, just takes patience.

As said above, there is no "one steel to rule them all" and there are plenty of good steels and great custom makers. INFI is a really nice steel, though, with a great mix of properties (IMO) and if that's what you want, you can "have it your way".

If you're asking "Is a custom as good as or better than a Busse for the same price?" there is no way to answer that. It depends on which maker, what steel, what type of knife and the intended use... All in all, I don't know any makers that I would feel confident could make a knife as good as a Busse that don't charge more than the price of a comparable Busse- which doesn't really mean much, because I don't know that many maker's work. Bottom line is that quality is always going to cost more, and a custom is usually going to cost more than a production knife.
 
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I'm fairly certain Jerry Busse still takes custom orders. It is EXPENSIVE, but you can get INFI made to your specs.
 
I really do believe that Infi is a good steel, with a good heat treatment. Is that steel worth the kind of money they charge? Not to me, it isn't.

There are too many makers that turn out great custom knives — to your requirements — for a lot less money. Heck, there are some production knives out there that are pretty darn good.

To me, knives like Busse's are what I call "ego knives," and I'll never buy one. I'd much rather support our makers.
 
What would anyone expect Infi to do better then any other quality steel? I don't get it. There are so many great cutlery grade steels out there what makes Infi superior to say L6, 1084, 5160, A2 the list goes on. The heart and soul of a blade is the heat treatment. If that is right, the knife will perform.
Scott
 
Infi is so universally praised for its fine qualities (when properly heat treated), I can certainly understand feeling caught between the limits of one designer's use of a very special material versus a world of design in a (slightly) lesser material. In the bicycle world there is more expression to be had with steel, but titanium offers the edge in performance.

Does Busse or one his side brands offer a model that appeals? If not, than the wonder metal is not for you.

What's second best? Can custom makers get that for you? If I were going to go all out, I think I might be looking at something made of Bulot - there's more than one way to define a wonder metal.
 
manassa dragon, you question says you don't know the real questions to ask like is he the only one to use that steel because its so fantastic and would a 1/2" thick blade be better. Just a ridiculous questiion since froim the way you ask , you already think he is the only one that can make a knife. Have you any of his knives yet and tested out many others as well? If not Then you have to know there are hundreds of makers that could do as good a job or better. Sorry I won't even try. Frank
 
This is a question that I have asked myself on more than one occasion, and have come to the conclusion (every time) that as a user, it depends upon what you want from a knife. I own both Busse & Bussekin and Customs, and each has its place, but I must admit that my customs are simple utility knives, similar in size and type to Busse, my last being a Landi, Snake Bull that is fast in the hand, finely balanced and hard as hell.

The difference to me with the Busse is the legendary warranty and the fact that it can be resold very easily - it has its own currency.

As I said above, its what you want from a knife.
 
What's hype? Busse, or Infi as a steel?

Infi doesn't just seem to be tough and all that, it's a fairly weird alloy as well. Is that hype?
 
It all depends on what you want your knife to do. I carry one knife (folder) that is my slicer and a fixed blade that I use HARD. So many other knives had let me down - we've all seen threads on "batoning wrong" or "improper use of a knife" - well, Busse knives have NEVER let me down in that regard. Busse knives get the job done (and they don't have to be 1/2" thick - I'll never get that trend).

Watch this clip. That knife is 3/16" thick and I did that same demo over 200 times that weekend with the same knife. I'm not interested in hearing that it's the wrong use for a knife because I agree. HOWEVER, because I have done things like that with a Busse, I have a firm belief that it will be able to handle anything I need it to do during SAR callouts. I believe in this knife because I have tested it.

I'm not going to say that a custom maker can't do better. I'm sure that some can. But in most cases I firmly believe that the custom knife would have broken doing that demo.

Now remember, I'm comparing Busse knives to other batoning/bushcraft knives and acknowledge that slicers etc shouldn't be expected to have much in the way of lateral strength. If you are marketing a blade as being 'tough', give that demo a try and see what happens, but I firmly believe that in this class of knives, INFI is worth the hype.

Cheers.
 
I don't know enough about various steels to offer a truely educated answer to your question but I think it comes down to knowledge of the maker and what do you want it to do.

Busse knives are made to be abused. The threads I've read over there that indicate the users use their knives as prybars, axes, hatchets, and even splitting mauls. Yes, Busse has a proprietary heat treat that helps but most of them are very heavy knives too.

I've also read the threads here where makers, with properly heat treated and tempered blades, have cut pieces off other people's knives to demonstrate why their blade was better.

So ask yourself what do you want your knife to do. Then search for the best steel to serve that purpose and the best designed knife in that steel to serve your purpose. If it takes a Busse, pony up and buy one. If not, I think you'll find a lot nicer knife on the custom side.

Just my two cents but to me, a Busse knife is a niche knife. It is designed and engineered for a particular purpose.

I've got two that I'll probably be selling soon as my uses for a knife don't fall into that niche and I'd rather they went to someone who was going to use them for their intended purposes.
 
I agree exactly - Busse is a niche knife and most makers here aren't making knives in the same niche.
 
a knife is a knife...

I own Bussekin knives, but no Busse's yet.

I'll put it this way, if the world ended and I was the last person (or one of few) left alive, I would want a Busse on me, but it would not be my only knife I would want on me. The reason I say this is because warranty don't mean s**t if that is the situation, and from what I have seen their knives would stand the test of time, and be relatively easy to reshape/resharpen (could be wrong) if something were to happen to the edge.

It also depends what your going to be doing with it, if you are looking for a knife for bushcraft, or a hunting knife, or something to whittle sticks with, a Busse would not be MY first choice. I would go with a Nessmuck, Kephart, or mora type blade shape/grind type from a custom maker.

and good luck finding a model of Busse brand knife for a "reasonable" price on the secondary market. Getting one directly from the manufacturer I think their prices are just fine.

I personally like the style and look of Busse and Bussekin knifes, but they where not my first knife purchases, and like others have said, everyone is going to have a different type/style of knife that is their ultimate/ or appeals to that person.

If you are in love with their warranty, take a look at ESEE knives, they have the same warranty (if not a bit better, questionable, no reason to start an argument) and their prices and availability are amazing, for what you get; the down side is that these will rust if you do not keep them oiled, or are not using them, it will be surface rust, and no big deal, but that bothers some people.

All in all a custom is going to be just that, a custom or very limited number made, piece of work. A Busse/Bussekin, is what I would consider a semi-custom/semi-production, because of their availability and quality.

If I where you, I would do what I did, and buy multiple knives, and you will see that there is not really a "be all, end all" knife out there.
at least not that I have found one, and I don't own as many as some people that read/post on these forums, but I have a few.

Having said that, and being "into" knives, I like different things on different days. Heck, for what its worth, I used my Gerber (uh oh!) folding gator, all last year during hunting season, just because I hadn't used it in a long time, and it did just fine, could be a bit 'pointier' but like I said it got the job done.

sorry that got a little long, and it is just one persons opinion.
 
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