Hunters: Do you Skin with a Busse?

BePrepared

BePrepared

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
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Do you use a Busse or Kin? If so, which one do you use (pics welcome) and how much do you use it during a given year.

I'd like to hear your general experiences on edge holding while skinning, and the type (angle, geometry etc) of edge on your knife

I have been reading things from various folks (obvious haters) stating that their Busse doesn't hold an edge well while hunting, or their buddies uncles grandmothers busse gets dull faster than their 440c Pakistani garbage knife (dramatized), so i'd like to hear from those of you who are experienced users

If you use a busse and other non-kin, comparison would be nice.

thanks again guys!
 
I haven't ever used a Busse/INFI, but I have skinned and processed both Elk and Deer with SR-101 Rats. I've had no problems with edge-holding whatsoever. I easily outpaced anything anyone else was using (S30V, 1095, A2, 440C are other steels used that come to mind).
 
I've never processed an animal before with my knives, but I have prepared tons of food and chopped countless bones for my dog without having to resharpen. I also use my larger knives to split firewood and other heavy uses, without sharpening often and the edge stays sharp for a long long time. Have a look at my youtube clip of me splitting firewood with a SRKW M9 and then shaving my arm with it afterwards.

I would safely assume processing an animal with a Busse blade would not pose any problems in the staying sharp dept :)
 
why do you put obvious haters? when its fact. INFI is good at everything, just not the best at everything, without saying any other brand names, just keep it Busse Kin, there 101 and 154 will out skin INFI all day everyday
 
i don't mean obvious haters because they are saying INFI has weaknesses, i mean it in that they are haters... the same way people talk trash because infi costs more than cheaper blades.

but that's not really the point of the thread. I'm looking for info on busse skinning performance.

Rob, thank for the input. I haven't ever cut wood with a skinning knife but i do know that skinning can put a serious hurting on an otherwise good edge. Hair is BAD on a blade for some strange reason, but then my skinners have always been D2 or CPM D2, so i have no clue how other steels perform other than from hearsay
 
I spent a few months in a hunting camp three years ago. Skinned and processed dozens of deer and pig. I used a Game Warden, Heavy Duty, Badger E, and a few Rats one in 154CM the others in SR101.

I hate to say it but the SR101 and 154 simply walked away from the INFI blades, but one. The Badger performed like a champ, especially when it comes to separating joints and cutting through fur. I dont know what the difference is, but the Badger E holds an edge so much better than any of my modern INFI its scary. I think I may have gotten one of those one in a million blades in this one. :)

Its the one on top, its cousin the SHe is just as amazing, I once tried to split a hardened nut with it, and only managed to chip out my leather maul.
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I think it also has to do with the blade thickness and profile. If its too thick, .22 and up IMHO, it won't skin as great as a slightly thinner blade. But if it's sharp it will do the job. Processing game is hell on knives. It really is. Forget about chopping wood, I buy mine from the log guy or steal some from my friends who have a log splitter. I don't use my knives as a tree cutter but that's just me. I have found that no matter what the steel is, it's gotta be thin and be able to hold an edge.

Coated blades will get the job done but there's some drag. My B4 anorexic has come through, awesome skinner. The profile is great. I have a swamp rat rodent solution that had been stripped and convexed by NorCal blacktail. That thing is really air bleeding sharp and an amazing skinner. But it always gets some corrosion or rust on it if not cleaned right away. SR-101 sucks in that dept. But a little bit of mothers metal polish and piece of paper towel, and she's back to new again so it doesn't faze me. People have said that SR-101 holds a harder sharper edge than infi. I can't say that for sure. The infi blades are usually thicker than the Swamp blades. I think that has a LOT to do with it.

My satin meaners are great for doing the whole job. I have even done it with a Cultie and sar3 no problemo. The smallest knife I ever used to process a deer was a case tiny toothpick. It was all I needed. Until you get to separating the limbs but it can be done if you know what you're doing. I think that processing game is the most dangerous part of the Hunt, especially when it gets dark and you are rushing to get it done before it turns cold and then it's gonna be a pain. Best to do it while still hot, some of my buddies freak but they're not the serious hunters either. I can usually process 5 deer before I need a stropping and then it's back to business.
 
I have not skinned with my Infi. I did help process an elk. It had already been skinned. We processed it (butchered it).

It was on a concrete table, with only a sheet of butcher paper between the table and the knives.


I had my old Ash1cg, .22 GW, and an SS that I modded into a straight edge warnie.


The other guys were using various knives. Every once in a while, the other people would stop, and drag their knives through an awful carbide "sharpener".

I had my strop, and sharpened mine with a few strokes at the end of the 2+ hours.

Worked just fine.


It is important to note, that Infi is not at the top of the heap when it comes to outright edge retention. It just isn't! No way around it. It sure as hell is tough! Great all around steel.

Where it really blows other steel away is those "oops moments".

I accidentally chopped a pea sized stone in half on the chopping stump. I heard a ping, and felt it.

Cut the stone in half, and I looked at the edge, expecting to see a huge dent or roll.

The roll was simply tiny! It steeled right back into place. Just a few passes with a round screwdriver, and a few swipes on my stone. You can just see the ripple here, before I fixed it.

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I can tell a difference in the edge retention of the BAD to my other stuff. (higher hardness). It sure makes me excited to see the new higher hardness, better edge retention the Boss was talking about. Infi 2.0.


The guy I let use my Ash1cg kept banging it on the concrete table. The butcher paper did not do much to stop it. He flattened out a few spots on the edge. 2+ hours of this knuckle head banging my edge on a rough concrete table, and it was in remarkably good shape. Just a few small flat spots. They steeled right out. Literally, I was able to push the flat spots back into shape.


I did the same thing with a blade with laminated VG1 (dinged it against concrete) and there was no saving the edge. I could not steel it back, because there was steel missing. Bunch of small chips! Instead of a few minutes steeling, I had to spend literally days re-profiling the edge by hand. It was also a chopper. A Trailmaster with their laminated steel. It seemed to hold a great edge, and I would have no hesitation recommending it. But it did not do as well with "oops".
 
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I do not process any game with any Busse. That is not to say that they are not capable of handling the task, but I prefer a custom or two that I found are far superior in the game processing dept. Of course, YMMV.
 
Skin with a Busse... can't be did... :rolleyes:
Now, all joking aside, they work as good or better than anything else I have tried on coons, chickens, deer, rabbits, etc. and the edges hold up fine. An over-thinned out edge may give you some rolls/dents with bone work, but the factory angles will not give any trouble at all.
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I have.... after last season with my B4 Anorexic it is a permanent part of my hunting kit now.... :)

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My Scrapmuk skinned and gutted my first ever wild hog recently. It's a satin LE Scrapmuk. Worked flawlessly and still shaved hair afterwards. I have skinned countless whitetails in my life, and this blade performed at the top of the list for me.
 
I used my CABS for a couple years now and really like it... I have two now- just in case :)
 
The only Busse I have used to process an animal is a Game Warden. Yes it worked fine, but there are better knives for the job. The blade being a little too thick and the small choil getting hung up were my two main complaints. That being said, the GW still comes on all my hunting trips.

Maybe I just learned how to skin game differently, but I just don't comprehend the hair being hard on a blade argument. When skinning, my blade barely touches hair. Start at the vent and cut to the neck with the blade faced up. Then work the hide off from the inside. If the kill is fresh the hide will peel off like a banana and requires very little knife work. How is this hard on a knife edge?
 
I totally agree with you that, when done right, the edge shouldn't come into contact with hair.

but my knives have a bad habit of finding themselves in the hands of my father-in-law or friends, who tend to use some very questionable techniques that end with them cutting from the outside in small strokes (no idea how to explain that better) which ends with them cutting a LOT of hair

and that is definitely very hard on an edge
 
I've used three different ADs for the past few years now, HD, MAD & BAD. They work great. I've found that they hold an edge (two of them (HD & MAD) are reprofiled by me on my Edge Pro) as good as D2 which is about as good as it gets without using Powder Metallurgy Super Steels. YMMV
 
Awesome. I have a MUK coming from the custom shop, and if it holds an edge as well as my D2 skinner, i'll be VERY happy with it

The custom skinner that i have is .25" thick with a convexed edge, and from what i can find, the MUK is thinner so that can only help it's cutting ability
 
I've used infi extensively for the past 4 years. Meaner street and Meaner hack have seen lots of venison and a pig or two.

Four to six whitetail can be processed without requiring sharpening. A couple swipes on the strop brings the edge back to perfection...

Now, I do not use the factory edge on any knife I own. Mostly because I'm a knife-nut and like sharpening knives. Almost all factory knives leave me wanting. My meaner has been a convex until about a week ago. I put it back to a V edge. The Meaner hack carries a pretty thin edge and maintains it very well. Thick edges are certainly more durable, but I don't chop with a 4" blade. The thin edge has NO damage going through the ribcage of a whitetail.... it's like a zipper. In short, I clean as many as 10 or more whitetail per season. I've not found anything that holds an edge better than INFI.

Slightly modified Meaner Street:
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Meaner hack... pure genius (wish Jerry would make this one a production model!!!)
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