CS Pocket Bushman, a review by Bushman5!

B

Bushman5

Joined
Oct 31, 2007
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I've been playing with this knife in the store for a while now, at first i hated it, it seemed awkward and blocky.

then i thought, well hell, for $30 i'll buy it, try it out and if i dont like it, i'll give to a friend (some of my friends like knives and love it when i pass along a knife to them)

First impressions:

the CS Pocket Bushman is a slim, simple design, built like a tank, plain jane no frills, all business. No fancy graphics, etchings, excess screws/bolts, just a plain bomber design (kinda like an old bolt action rifle...) I like the all metal construction, i can clean it like i clean a handgun, with a bristly brush and gun solvent! No plastics to break or get damaged by solvents.

it fits in a suit pocket, very well inside a waistband, and leaves almost no profile in a back pocket. I tried it inside my sock in my boots, again, low profile, comfortable to carry. There is'nt a "i'm carrying a thick knife" syndrome with the CS PB.

Next up the blade: big and beefy, simple drop point, almost a bowie styling. Sharp. DAMN sharp out of the box. I keep bandaids handy and i used three today. I honed it on a Sharpmaker and now its scary sharp. Made some fine fuzzsticks, sliced a steak cleanly in half and made clean cuts in some foam.

now the most unique part of the knife is the lockback....err......"slideback"...lock. One has to pull the lanyard fairly hard and fold the blade at the same time. This lock is not coming undone....which leads me to say this...the CS pocket bushman, IMHO, would make a GREAT self defense / fighting knife. (oh quit rolling your eyes, bear with me....)

why?

why? because once it locks open, it STAYS locked open, you CANNOT accidentally squeeze the lockback open like a traditional lock knife....due to the frame being a folded over chunk o steel that encloses the "slidelock" like a second lock. It takes a VERY unique movement to unlock the knife. Its almost like a fixed blade when the blade is locked open.

Th fact that the knife is slim in design and has no footprint in a pocket, makes it so you do not notice its there, (even when running.)

thems my thoughts, your milage might vary, i give the CS Pocket Bushman a 10/10, both for affordability, uber bomber design, looks, features. I do not work for CS, i despise Lynn T's antics, but this knife i like! It would be an excellent choice for a PSK knife, a plane/chopper/truck survial kit knife etc etc.

lemme put it this way - the CS Pocket Bushman just replaced my Spyderco Chinook in my pocket. (and i LOVE my Chinook!)

stay tuned for pics.....and some mods i'm doing!

:thumbup::cool:
 
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An interesting review. There have been some comments that it is bloody difficult to close the knife. Also that opening it one-handed is not a reasonable expectation.

Having worked with yours, what do you think?
 
I got one. I agree the Pocket (?) Bushman is a pretty good deal and an interesting knife.

I don't get the hard to un-lock issues often mentioned, BUT I will say I wouldn't want to close it with slippery hands. And, the lock seems to be about as sure as any thing short of a fixed blade that I've seen so far.

The knife is a perfect example of having thumbstuds for no purpose but looks.

So, when is the "mini Bushman" coming out. Three and a half inch blade would be nice. (No puns, please)
 
I oiled it with Boeshield T9 and it gets eaiser to close. I hold the open knife at the pivot, with my left hand thumb and forefinger, palm resting on the spine of the blade. With my right hand i grasp the lanyard (its easier with a larger bead added to the paracord) and pull, simultaneously pushing down the on the spine to close the knife. Its smooth and fluid and keeps your digits out of the cutting zone. A very slight turn of the pivot screw counterclockwise helps too.

Edit: i agree about the thumbstuds....while i like the actual deisgn of the studs, they dont work, its far eaiser to open it like a slipjoint knife instead..

a mini pocket bushman would be neat too, i'd get one.
 
So someone that has always been a bit "meh" about cold steel marketing, I will say that a few of there knives and specialty items are pretty good.

The PB is one of these rockstars. I bought one last month, and I have pretty much EDC'ed it since then. It does lock up tight, and the opening action will loosen up over a bit of time. I don't have big hands at all, but I can now thumb my PB open with relative ease. Closing it is also pretty easy once it breaks in.

In all honesty, a person that wanted to pack ultra light but might need a bit of beef to their camping blade could get along pretty well with a PB. I've put mine through the paces over the last few weeks. Very solid and a very good deal for the $.:thumbup:
 
I've been carrying mine as one part of my EDC for a while now, and I'll use it for anything I don't want to use my nicer pieces on. It's done super well so far, and while the thumb stud is just about useless, it's real easy to open it like a slipjoint and the lock is easy as cake once you get used to it. :D

If anything it's seen more work in the kitchen or at lunch time than anything else, but it's there for anything heavy or stupid-abusive. While the steel dulls easily against hard materials (dry hardwood dowels, etc.) and blunted quickly when I cut pizza against a plate (faster than I normally experience at least) it was incredibly easy to restore the edge, and the flat grind of the blade means that the bevel can at least still work for you when the edge is gone. Examining the blade after cutting on the plate, I was surprised that it had developed that much of a rolled edge because it had felt like it was still resaonably sharp!
 
Andrew Colglazier said:
It's stainless, right?

Andy
Click to expand...

Yeah, the blade is that Krupps stuff that CS uses on some of its cheaper knives. It takes a very, very sharp edge, but it does deform pretty easily. I touch mine up weekly to keep it polished.

The handle appears to be some sort of 400 series(?) rolled steel.

The thing is built like a tank. Short of TRYING to break it, I don't think it should fail on you. Even if it does, it's about $30 shipped.
 
When mine came, I instantly hated it. Even thought of throwing it out.


So how 'bout this?

Free to Good home; new CS pocket bushman.

First one to call it is the poor guy who gets it.


Edit: But it would be nice to get reimbursed for the shipping.
 
i open mine like an old slipjoint pocket knife, by grabbing the blade and frame and pulling the blade out and into lock.

i'm experimenting with filing a halfmoon groove 1" behind the existing finger groove. (choil????) it will give more area on the blade to grab (for opening) when the knife is closed.
 
anyone disassembled their Pocket Bushman yet? i'd be curious to see how everything is put together before i attempt it myself....

on a side note i made a different stubby lanyard for the PB. I used thick paracord and 9/16" wide SS nuts, 5 of them and two orange beads on each end. Nice little pull cord for fast retrieval of the PB out of the pocket, and for unlocking the blade.
 
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The Krupp 4116 steel CS uses is the same high-end cutlery steel found in Messermeister's knives and is part of the X50CrMoV15 family found in similarly ranked knives from Wüsthoff and Henckles. I don't think anyone runs it harder than RC56 and doubt CS would pay the extra money to buck that trend, but it's a fine-grained steel that can be steeled back to sharpness several times before the benchstones or sander need to be brought out. CS deserves some kudos for choosing a stainless steel that can take a good beating before it dies without being a meter thick or costing $800.
 
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