Busse vs Spartan Blades vs Esee

I have a Spartan Horkos. It has a nice overall feeling and is shaving sharp. It's only meant for cutting though. Prying and throwing will void the warranty. It's a handy blade to have. I do have a Busse battle mistress on order though (waiting is very hard). I don't chop crazy items, but I definitely get a kick out of some of the youtube vids. I definitely want to do a comparison of the busse and spartan, just to see hot they stack up. I've read somewhere that the Busse battle mistress doesn't come very sharp out of the box. Is that true?
I personally find that hard to believe. Can anyone enlighten me on how sharp the battle mistress comes out of the box?
 
TrueBlue11c said:
Can anyone enlighten me on how sharp the battle mistress comes out of the box?
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Depends on who sharpens it at the Busse shop. When you do order a BM be sure to ask Beef to sharpen it for you. He is the only one there who can magically put a scalpel sharp edge on such a thick knife.
 
Firestrike,

You have both the Busse TGLB and Fehrman First Strike. Those are the two I keep going back and forth with for a 7.5"-7.75" tough fixed blade knife. They're very evenly matched spec-wise. Do you have a preference? Toughness, comfort, steel, etc.
 
RamZar said:
Firestrike,

You have both the Busse TGLB and Fehrman First Strike. Those are the two I keep going back and forth with for a 7.5"-7.75" tough fixed blade knife. They're very evenly matched spec-wise. Do you have a preference? Toughness, comfort, steel, etc.
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If your talking about that knife next to that Busse, its a TOPS, not a Fehrman.

I do have one of the original First Strikes and its a fantastic knife. The ergo's are nice, and that rubber gasket they sandwich under the handles is very effective against vibration. Fehrman 3V has proven to be very wear resistant, holds an edge very well.

I also have a few ESEE knives and have been very happy and impressed with their performance. Rowen is great at heat treating 1095 to where its tough and holds an edge for longer than my factory 1095 knives.
 
leatherman said:
I also have a few ESEE knives and have been very happy and impressed with their performance. Rowen is great at heat treating 1095 to where its tough and holds an edge for longer than my factory 1095 knives.
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Only two production companies do that, run the steel a little harder for better edge retention while still using a spring temper for toughness in the carbon steels, EESE and Cold Steel....
 
Ankerson said:
Only two production companies do that, run the steel a little harder for better edge retention while still using a spring temper for toughness in the carbon steels, EESE and Cold Steel....
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I had heard about Rowen's methods being more intensive, its a good thing. :)

I remember when cold steel was using Camillus "carbon v", amazing stuff, but I haven't heard who is working with them now? It seems to perform almost if not as good as the carbon v, but its a little more prone to breaking under stress.
 
leatherman said:
I had heard about Rowen's methods being more intensive, its a good thing. :)

I remember when cold steel was using Camillus "carbon v", amazing stuff, but I haven't heard who is working with them now? It seems to perform almost if not as good as the carbon v, but its a little more prone to breaking under stress.
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Carbon V is gone, sadly.
 
RamZar said:
Firestrike,

You have both the Busse TGLB and Fehrman First Strike. Those are the two I keep going back and forth with for a 7.5"-7.75" tough fixed blade knife. They're very evenly matched spec-wise. Do you have a preference? Toughness, comfort, steel, etc.
Click to expand...

I recalled you have a Knife Research Legion, don't you?

Though the handles, total length, steels are different,
the Knife Research Legion has a very similar blade shape and grind as the Busse TGLB.
That's what's stopping me from getting a Legion after owning the TGLB.

TeamGeminiLB__85255.1360790887.1280.1280.jpg


knife-research-stonewash-br-sc-colasangue-large.jpg
 
RamZar said:
Firestrike,

You have both the Busse TGLB and Fehrman First Strike. Those are the two I keep going back and forth with for a 7.5"-7.75" tough fixed blade knife. They're very evenly matched spec-wise. Do you have a preference? Toughness, comfort, steel, etc.
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RamZar, I had to look up the Fehrman's FS. No it is a Tops Firestrike 45, (maybe Fehrman's Design???). But yes these two knives are twins in Length, Thickness, and both have a choil. The Tops is a wee bit heavier.

As to performance, depends on what you want to do.

Chopping, 100% TGLB win, the FS45 does not bite deep because of it's thick edge.

Stabbing, FS45 wins by a wide margine (bayonotte tip). The TGLB was acceptable.

Batoning, FS45 only very slightly

Ergos, TGLB got it dead on, the FS45 offers grip options but is very flat and rectangle in hand (perhaps Tops Rocky Mountian tread pattern would fix this)

Toughness, again TGLB I haven't even sharpened it yet and no coating has worn off. The FS45 is a true prybar that has been sharpened, very solid at 1/4" thick.

Edge Geometry, No contest TGLB, The FS45 edge geometry sucks (recommend reprofile) way too thick.

Fit and Finish, TGLB is 11/10, FS45 9/10

Sheath, + side for the TGLB I ordered a very sexy Skystorm sheath - side COST $$$, FS45 comes with a Kydex rig and while not perfect it is very functional.


All in all, I can honestly say I have never handled a better knife than the TGLB. I could really go the rest of my life with the TGLB, makes me want to buy a back-up or four.
 
Ive never owned a busse or a spartan. But I have owned and used Esee knives and im definitely a lifetime customer. They arent as glamorous as the others. They dont have the fancy steels or color combos, but they are great working knives. If you are looking for anything more than that, youre gonna be disappointed. Not saying the other two companies dont make quality knives (ive seen some pretty crazy stuff in the Busse subforum) but if you are just looking for a knife that cuts and doesnt break the bank, id go Esee. If you are looking for something special, go with one of the others.
 
Quiff said:
I recalled you have a Knife Research Legion, don't you?

Though the handles, total length, steels are different,
the Knife Research Legion has a very similar blade shape and grind as the Busse TGLB.
That's what's stopping me from getting a Legion after owning the TGLB.
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Yes. The KR Legion and LionSteel M7 are a relative bargain but there's no denying TGLB & FS.


Knife Research Legion:
  • Blade Length: 6.7"
  • Blade Thickness: 0.22"
  • Blade Material: Sleipner (56-60 RC)
  • Weight: 14.5 ounces

LionSteel M7:
  • Blade Length: 7.1"
  • Blade Thickness: 0.22"
  • Blade Material: Sleipner (60-61 RC)
  • Weight: 14.43 ounces

Pohl Force Quebec One:
  • Blade Length: 7.6"
  • Blade Thickness: 0.23"
  • Blade Material: Sleipner
  • Weight: 14.25 ounces

Busse TGLB:
  • Blade Length: 7.75"
  • Blade Thickness: 0.25"
  • Blade Material: INFI (58-60 RC)
  • Weight: ??.?? ounces

Fehrman First Strike:
  • Blade Length: 7.5"
  • Blade Thickness: 0.25"
  • Blade Material: 3V (57-59 RC)
  • Weight: ??.?? ounces
 
straitr said:
True.

One of my first larger fixed blades was a Carbon V SRK, and I loved it. I can't remember exactly when I got it, seems like about 20 years ago. It was stolen 5 years ago.
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Only have 2 in Carbon V left, Recon Tanto and Laredo Bowie.
 
Carbon V is great. I've got a Gurka Kukri, Mini Gurka Kukri Light, Laredo Bowie, and an Arkansas Hunter. All in Carbon V. Good stuff.
 
Busse make the most bomb proof knives made in every respect. They really are at the pinnacle of hard use blades. I think they are fantastic. I am a true fan.

I do have a problem with them though. My problem with them is they are overbuilt and the designs aren't very ergonomically good either. This makes them heavy for what a knife should be and difficult to work with in practice. As a combat blade I wouldn't want to carry one as for the carry weight they aren't useful enough (I was a Rifleman for thirteen years). I suppose if you had a tank to carry it it wouldn't matter.

Again I like then, I like that they are harder than nails, but there are just better tools for working with. If its not for work then buy one. They keep their value well and have a real following, but again I'm not convinced they are that useful.

The large knife that I would carry and has my attention is the Survive Knives GSO 7/7. Its a great compromise of all the factors that go to make a useful knife worth carrying. It is on the bigger side and most would agree one f the smaller ones are more practical, but I think this one would fit the requested remit.

Esee make very good knives, as do a whole lot of other makers. Custom makers do some fantastic work. In truth buy whatever floats your boat. I have user knives and a very few just because. I carried a Chris Reeve Project II for ten years and that was in A2, it never let me down. I quite like the Pacific, but possibly the GSO might be even better. Knives failing is rare, or luck, or just outright abuse. If bomb proof is important then Busse are the ones. Bombproof isn't my priority though.
 
So I purposely damaged a Busse. I knew I would severely damage the edge which was nice and thin. I hammered on it for 7 minutes cutting into 8 inch long 3/8" thick cement nails. After all was said and done it was indented 0.083" if I remember correctly. This is after 350 hits with a hammer. I sent Busse pics. He wanted to see the damage so I sent the knife back. They refinished it and sent it back to me no charge. That's service. HEre is one of the videos of the punding

[video=youtube;zzpL9CW_AJA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzpL9CW_AJA[/video]

Just as an aside, I did the same thing with a 1095 crovan blade and it snapped in half in under 2 minutes.

20160105_123508_zpsedgcocc5.jpg
 
Cobalt said:
So I purposely damaged a Busse. I knew I would severely damage the edge which was nice and thin. I hammered on it for 7 minutes cutting into 8 inch long 3/8" thick cement nails. After all was said and done it was indented 0.083" if I remember correctly. This is after 350 hits with a hammer. I sent Busse pics. He wanted to see the damage so I sent the knife back. They refinished it and sent it back to me no charge. That's service. HEre is one of the videos of the punding

[video=youtube;zzpL9CW_AJA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzpL9CW_AJA[/video]

Just as an aside, I did the same thing with a 1095 crovan blade and it snapped in half in under 2 minutes.

20160105_123508_zpsedgcocc5.jpg
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The more I've gotten used to infi and sr-101, the less impressed I've become with 1095. Well done
 
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