Custom INFI

[JWBirch]

Let's get some Blade West inspired input on why you buy custom or get custom work on your standards.

I'm home on leave, and am developing a serious case of jealosy for all you hoggin' bastids who get to go to Jerry's next show. From a financial standpoint it's probably a good thing I won't be able to make it, but those pics got me thinking about the real value of custom INFI. Think about a Les Baer 1911 pistol for example. Do you buy one of those to look at it or let it appreciate in a safe, or do you buy it because you've looked long and hard and haven't been able to find anything better for your defense needs? I'll grant that there are a lot of INFI knives that do deserve safe-keeping, but most of the recent batch of customs look like they've been optimized for hard and purposeful work.

Taking stock of my own combat load, I realize that every one of my duty steels from Wausseon have been customized in some way shape or form. Some by the Custom Shop, some by trusted friends. I didn't take customization into account when I narrowed down my selections, it just turned out that way. But it makes sense that I'd grab the optimized knives over the standards.

You guys are lucky if you get a chance to raid the upcoming trough. I'll be lucky if I get to hit the ganzaaaa afterwords. Anyway, when you do get your custom shop knives, let's hear some stories of why you bought it and what you expect to do with it. Or just for kicks, let's hear which one you want, and why you want or need it.

 

[Hogwash]

To me, the production models are raw material, the fancy custom shop pieces are a finished product.

With the collector value of Busse Custom Shop pieces, my customs tend to see mostly safe queen duty.

My modified Busse's have less "collector" value and unless they are broken, usage doesn't hurt that value. The fact that they are modified to work better for me and they can't loose value makes them easy to abuse.

 

[mymindisamob]

After sanding the slabs on my BATACLE it is almost perfect to me. I talked to Bill Siegle at Blade West yesterday, and he is going to take it the rest of the way for me (semi-false edge and thumb serrations on spine). So far, no piece of INFI has been perfect for me without some modification (except the Pumpkin Warden and ASH-1 I held at the show.:thumbup.

 

[Tony G]

It has always seemed to me that a collectible knife is a regular production knife and a user is a custom. My thoughts on this are that there may never be another run of SHBAs and I can only get one from say Mulder.

But all I need to do to get a custom AD or Meaner is pick up the phone and plunk down some cash.

This is also why I don't like to modify production knives as it lowers their value to me.

 

[on_the_edge]

Whether a Custom Shop or regular production Busse, if a knife doesn't feel right to me, it will eventually find its way back into the swirling universe of INFI and someone else's hands. That said, I am very picky on the customs because I feel that any particular knife will have certain features or attributes that may only appeal to a few people. Take that, in conjunction with the higher price typically paid on the Custom Shop knives, and I think you have the potential to have a difficult time selling the custom if you don't like it. Still--again, regardless of whether it's a Custom Shop knife or a regular production knife--if I like the knife to the point I know it is a keeper (and I mean forever), then I have no qualms about modifying it to suit my needs even better. My clip point NO-e is a keeper and so is my G-Rex SFNO, both customs. My Basic 5 and 7 are also keepers though!