-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Come on Over!!
- Thread starter Lycosa
- Start date
- Joined
- May 31, 2005
- Messages
- 6,860
I dunno. Are these BF'ers MF'ers? To be completely honest, it's 6:45am. I'm pretty much a BM'er right now. Gotta go. 
GregS
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
- Messages
- 6,023
I don't know, after hanging out in General a lot lately I have noticed some guys that think you have to jump through hoops to get INFI from Busse.
And when you suggest the exchange for a fix they swear all the knives are ridiculously marked up, which I know for a fact isn't true... for example, Sarsquatch with a sheath for 320.00, wheres the profit? Sounds more like a loss to me. I have been trying to convert a few, the only problem is, for every guy that suggests a Busse family blade there are ten guys screaming "Rat Cutlery!!!"
Not a rant, just an observation.
And when you suggest the exchange for a fix they swear all the knives are ridiculously marked up, which I know for a fact isn't true... for example, Sarsquatch with a sheath for 320.00, wheres the profit? Sounds more like a loss to me. I have been trying to convert a few, the only problem is, for every guy that suggests a Busse family blade there are ten guys screaming "Rat Cutlery!!!"Not a rant, just an observation.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2007
- Messages
- 1,406
I have lazy friends that want INFI but do will not spend the time online to find the knife they want and make me do it. But then it gives me an excuse to shop for more knives. And Rat Cutlery is the addiction steel that makes an individual only wanting to get a fix on harder steels.
GregS
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2008
- Messages
- 6,023
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2006
- Messages
- 7,035
A few things I've noticed:
- Not so much on BF, but other forums, people seem to think the only knife Busse makes is the Battle Mistress. They all howl about "sharpened prybars". When I post pics of the BAD and the Meaners, explain that some knives like the Hellrazor are 3/16" (fairly normal for that length knife), and not 1/4" thick, etc, they're like "Oh, I had no idea. . ."
- In the General forum here I find most people seem to want standard production knives. They don't like short-run (Busse kin) or semi-custom (Himalayan Imports) knives that are really great. They want something they can order on a whim from the Cheap As Crap catalog or something.
- Which brings us to price. People whine about the price all the time. I've heard people who'll pay $800 for a backpack screech that the $300+ for a NMSFNO was way too much. I hear people gripe about the prices of Swamp Rat and Scrapyard (which seems to be pretty close to RAT Cutlery and other upper-end production knives).
They have a point. Can you do the same things with a RAT RC-6 that you can with a Skinny ASH-1, but for half the price? Yeah, really, you can. The 1095 does hold up extremely well and is very easy to touch up. They also have the same kind of "no-BS" warranty.
So why the Hell should anyone buy a Busse?
Well, for one, when you buy a Busse, you, well, buy a Busse. I've yet to show someone any of my Busses and not get an "Oooh!" or "Ahhhh!". They are distinctive. They are good collector's pieces because they are limited run products. I think Jerry was rather smart to NOT go after the production-knife market, but rather the high-end, hard-use, and yes, collector's market. As a result, there's going to be a limited market for them.
Two, they are intended as hard-use knives. There are precious few knifemakers that won't void the warranty for stuff a Busse does regularly. For that matter, I don't recall anybody shooting other knives to see how they'd hold up. If I had to head out the door knowing someone's life may depend on my knife holding up to abuse, the only ones I'd consider are my Busses or Himalayan Imports.
Then there's the uniqueness. Not just the limited runs, but the shapes and some of the features (like the CBTs) are very distinctive. You can have a blade you can beat to hell and back, and have it be stylish all the while.
But let's not get too worried, most people could just buy Buck, Ontario or Cold Steel knives and have more knife than they'll ever use. In my experience, there's a lot of those guys (nothing wrong with them, btw) in the General forum. Most guys who want something more hang in the various sub-forums.
Just the view from down here.
- Not so much on BF, but other forums, people seem to think the only knife Busse makes is the Battle Mistress. They all howl about "sharpened prybars". When I post pics of the BAD and the Meaners, explain that some knives like the Hellrazor are 3/16" (fairly normal for that length knife), and not 1/4" thick, etc, they're like "Oh, I had no idea. . ."
- In the General forum here I find most people seem to want standard production knives. They don't like short-run (Busse kin) or semi-custom (Himalayan Imports) knives that are really great. They want something they can order on a whim from the Cheap As Crap catalog or something.
- Which brings us to price. People whine about the price all the time. I've heard people who'll pay $800 for a backpack screech that the $300+ for a NMSFNO was way too much. I hear people gripe about the prices of Swamp Rat and Scrapyard (which seems to be pretty close to RAT Cutlery and other upper-end production knives).
They have a point. Can you do the same things with a RAT RC-6 that you can with a Skinny ASH-1, but for half the price? Yeah, really, you can. The 1095 does hold up extremely well and is very easy to touch up. They also have the same kind of "no-BS" warranty.
So why the Hell should anyone buy a Busse?
Well, for one, when you buy a Busse, you, well, buy a Busse. I've yet to show someone any of my Busses and not get an "Oooh!" or "Ahhhh!". They are distinctive. They are good collector's pieces because they are limited run products. I think Jerry was rather smart to NOT go after the production-knife market, but rather the high-end, hard-use, and yes, collector's market. As a result, there's going to be a limited market for them.
Two, they are intended as hard-use knives. There are precious few knifemakers that won't void the warranty for stuff a Busse does regularly. For that matter, I don't recall anybody shooting other knives to see how they'd hold up. If I had to head out the door knowing someone's life may depend on my knife holding up to abuse, the only ones I'd consider are my Busses or Himalayan Imports.
Then there's the uniqueness. Not just the limited runs, but the shapes and some of the features (like the CBTs) are very distinctive. You can have a blade you can beat to hell and back, and have it be stylish all the while.
But let's not get too worried, most people could just buy Buck, Ontario or Cold Steel knives and have more knife than they'll ever use. In my experience, there's a lot of those guys (nothing wrong with them, btw) in the General forum. Most guys who want something more hang in the various sub-forums.
Just the view from down here.
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2007
- Messages
- 43,271
CP---That was a good Post. I held out for about a year before I drank a glass. Now, well...you all know the rest of the story. There were some fantastic knives at the Lewisburg Knife Show but when I pulled out my GW, folks were really taken by that Busse. I wish I had my PD. The funny thing was that hardly anyone ever heard of Busse combat Knives.
Infi is like Steel Heroin
RedbeAR15
Platinum Plucker
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2008
- Messages
- 6,092
Red---Wait till you sniff the INFI Dust.
Too late - I think I absorbed the infi straight into my system when I handled the BAD. I even had withdrawal pangs last week with no infi around.
I have resigned to the fact that I am an infiholic:thumbup:
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2005
- Messages
- 11,135
I don't know, after hanging out in General a lot lately I have noticed some guys that think you have to jump through hoops to get INFI from Busse.
Not a rant, just an observation.
I know I havent made any $$ off any Busse I ever sold. Took a hit most of the time...
Now I just dont sell em.
:thumbup:
Bigfattyt
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2007
- Messages
- 19,256
My first infi plunge was drastic. I sent an AR pistol to a man I had never met before to get a FBMLE and a custom he had made. My wife was steemed because she was sure I was going to get burned (the guy had a ton of excellent feed back, including trades for fire arms and is a custom maker).
Now I have 4, and traded a 5th. I remember the first time I saw the price on a FBMLE I was like holy Cow!!!
Now I just say that with prices for customs and older infi. If anyone had told me I would be buying knives in the infi price range, let alone modding them and beating them years ago, I would have said no. But when looking at the normal prices of customs, even user customs it is not unreasonable. Bigger pieces do get pricier, but some of the prices seem down right reasonable for a lifetime investment.
I sure was a lurker for a while though!
Now I have 4, and traded a 5th. I remember the first time I saw the price on a FBMLE I was like holy Cow!!!
Now I just say that with prices for customs and older infi. If anyone had told me I would be buying knives in the infi price range, let alone modding them and beating them years ago, I would have said no. But when looking at the normal prices of customs, even user customs it is not unreasonable. Bigger pieces do get pricier, but some of the prices seem down right reasonable for a lifetime investment.
I sure was a lurker for a while though!
shunsui
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2008
- Messages
- 5,852
There's a lot of nice knives out there. We're living in a golden age for knives. Hope the economy doesn't turn into an extinction event for all these good companies. My haul since getting back into knives: 2005 Collectors Series satin finish D2 Rat-7, Spyderco Mule Team S90V, Busse Tanker Gray NMSFNO. Next purchase is probably the Spyderco orange G10 S30V Millie special.
Last edited: