- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
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- 4,409
I tried the search function but it wasn't working, so I don't know if anyone has already done a review of this knife. Sorry for the lack of pics, but I'm short on time so will try to be descriptive.
I've had this knife for several years, but haven't really done anything with it up until recently.
Here is what CS has to say about this knife:
"Model 95BUS, Bushman, Features a 7" SK-5 high carbon steel blade that has been heat treated and tempered to RC54. The Bushman has been expertly cold forged out of a single piece of 2.5mm thick SK-5 high carbon steel. Blade has been carefully ground to an extra thin edge, and then honed and buffed by hand until razor sharp, which makes re-sharpening easy. The broad, thin, curved blade is ideal for skinning. The hollow handle allows for survival supplies or handle extensions. Includes a leather sheath with a hard plastic liner for safety. Blade Length: 7", Overall Length: 12 1/4", Weight: 10.1 ounce"
Those figures are pretty close to my measurements. The knife can be purchased for between $18 and $25.
I've been using this knife around the property as a light chopper and slicer. We have a lot of new trees that I am afraid to use the weed eater around, so I use this knife as a grass knife to cut the grass and weeds away from the stem far enough to weed eat.
I have also used the knife to cut small trees, vines and large weeds away from a 200' length of hog fence so it could be rolled up and stored. The largest diameter of the vegetation cut is about 1".
I have also done some kitchen prep with the knife, such as cutting up potatos and slicing beef.
Observations:
This knife is not a heavy duty blade. I haven't tried any batoning with it
, it may serve to cut up small lengths of wood. I may try this in the future. The tip comes to a pretty fine point, and given the thinness of the blade, I doubt it would hold up to much prying without bending.
The handle, which is just bare metal, is quite slick. I solved this problem by coating the grip with tool dip. This solved the slickness problem. The whole knife is finished in a matte black finish that seems to hold up pretty well.
The knife is very blade light. Attempting to chop even very thin tree stems and vines was not a very satisfying circumstance. The handle of the knife is hollow, so to increase chopping ability, a longer haft could be socketed into the handle. This would greatly increase the chopping power of this knife.
Just to see how this would feel, I cut a piece of ceder limb, about 2" in diameter down to about 8" in length. I shaped the limb and inserted it into the handle. This completely changed the balance of the knife, and made it FEEL like it could be used to chop somewhat larger trees more effectively. I may install a longer handle on this knife in the future. The grip has a hole drilled in it about 1/2" from the end where a screw or pin could be put in to hold the handle, or the longer handle could be glued in.
The blade has about a 1/4" bevel the length of the blade, the edge is concave. The steel is pretty soft, but the cutting and chopping I did caused very little damage to the edge. Resharpening with a kitchen sharpener and a steel was quick and easy, and the blade was brought back to good sharpness.
Slicing/food prep was easy with this knife due to the shape of the blade (much like a general utility kitchen knife). Grass cutting, which doesn't require chopping, works very well.
The sheath is a pouch style leather job with a belt slit on one side. It protects the knife and covers the edge, but ain't good for much else. If you thread it onto your belt, it will either flop loosely at your side, or be pulled tightly and uncomfortably into your ribs, depending how you put it on the belt.
I solved this problem by threading a carabiner I bought from Home Depot through the belt slit. Then I ran my belt through the carabiner. This allows the knife to hang at your side, blade down. You can slide the carabiner further back out of your way, or up under your forearm for easy access. It's also easy and quick to remove, but allows both hands to reach the handle.
For the money, this knife is quite useful and utilitarian. If you are on a budget or just need an inexpensive, big knife to throw into your truck or ruck, it can work quite well. There are better knives on the market for twice the money.
Hope this helps.
Andy
I've had this knife for several years, but haven't really done anything with it up until recently.
Here is what CS has to say about this knife:
"Model 95BUS, Bushman, Features a 7" SK-5 high carbon steel blade that has been heat treated and tempered to RC54. The Bushman has been expertly cold forged out of a single piece of 2.5mm thick SK-5 high carbon steel. Blade has been carefully ground to an extra thin edge, and then honed and buffed by hand until razor sharp, which makes re-sharpening easy. The broad, thin, curved blade is ideal for skinning. The hollow handle allows for survival supplies or handle extensions. Includes a leather sheath with a hard plastic liner for safety. Blade Length: 7", Overall Length: 12 1/4", Weight: 10.1 ounce"
Those figures are pretty close to my measurements. The knife can be purchased for between $18 and $25.
I've been using this knife around the property as a light chopper and slicer. We have a lot of new trees that I am afraid to use the weed eater around, so I use this knife as a grass knife to cut the grass and weeds away from the stem far enough to weed eat.
I have also used the knife to cut small trees, vines and large weeds away from a 200' length of hog fence so it could be rolled up and stored. The largest diameter of the vegetation cut is about 1".
I have also done some kitchen prep with the knife, such as cutting up potatos and slicing beef.
Observations:
This knife is not a heavy duty blade. I haven't tried any batoning with it
, it may serve to cut up small lengths of wood. I may try this in the future. The tip comes to a pretty fine point, and given the thinness of the blade, I doubt it would hold up to much prying without bending.The handle, which is just bare metal, is quite slick. I solved this problem by coating the grip with tool dip. This solved the slickness problem. The whole knife is finished in a matte black finish that seems to hold up pretty well.
The knife is very blade light. Attempting to chop even very thin tree stems and vines was not a very satisfying circumstance. The handle of the knife is hollow, so to increase chopping ability, a longer haft could be socketed into the handle. This would greatly increase the chopping power of this knife.
Just to see how this would feel, I cut a piece of ceder limb, about 2" in diameter down to about 8" in length. I shaped the limb and inserted it into the handle. This completely changed the balance of the knife, and made it FEEL like it could be used to chop somewhat larger trees more effectively. I may install a longer handle on this knife in the future. The grip has a hole drilled in it about 1/2" from the end where a screw or pin could be put in to hold the handle, or the longer handle could be glued in.
The blade has about a 1/4" bevel the length of the blade, the edge is concave. The steel is pretty soft, but the cutting and chopping I did caused very little damage to the edge. Resharpening with a kitchen sharpener and a steel was quick and easy, and the blade was brought back to good sharpness.
Slicing/food prep was easy with this knife due to the shape of the blade (much like a general utility kitchen knife). Grass cutting, which doesn't require chopping, works very well.
The sheath is a pouch style leather job with a belt slit on one side. It protects the knife and covers the edge, but ain't good for much else. If you thread it onto your belt, it will either flop loosely at your side, or be pulled tightly and uncomfortably into your ribs, depending how you put it on the belt.
I solved this problem by threading a carabiner I bought from Home Depot through the belt slit. Then I ran my belt through the carabiner. This allows the knife to hang at your side, blade down. You can slide the carabiner further back out of your way, or up under your forearm for easy access. It's also easy and quick to remove, but allows both hands to reach the handle.
For the money, this knife is quite useful and utilitarian. If you are on a budget or just need an inexpensive, big knife to throw into your truck or ruck, it can work quite well. There are better knives on the market for twice the money.
Hope this helps.
Andy
