• Preorders are LIVE for the 2024 BladeForums Traditional Knife

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    Requirements: Be a Gold or higher member or have been a member of the forums since 6/2023 with at least 100 posts in the Traditional Forum. Preorder is for people who live in the continental US only, international orders will be separate.

    Delivery expected in Q4 2024, hopefully before the holidays.

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I Gotta Get One

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Citori

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2002
Messages
516
I've decided to buy my first Busse knife sometime soon. Hunting season is over so I'm not likely to be doing anything or going anywhere that will require me to have a super-knife on me, but I'd like to figure out which one I want and get it ordered and in my hands in time for next season. Like most people I will probably never be in a position where my life will depend on the durability of my knife but I do spend quite a bit of time in the boonies.

My personality is such that even though I could probably get by with something less it would kill me to know that I bought an inferior product for its purpose. I figure that for camp chores I might as well get what most people seem to consider the toughest knife around. Who knows when I might want to chop kindling or hammer in a tent stake? I think I've settled on a Steel Heart E, with a Natural Outlaw being another possibility. The Battle Mistress is probably too big for utility use.

So anyway, here is where I need some help: What are all of the options and / or variations available? I know about the snakeskin nukarta handles, and I assume those are just for looks, but what about these 'flying handle' and 'zero tolerance' variations I've read about? Anything I need to look out for if I come across a good deal on a used knife? Some used Busse knives I see on the Exchange forum seem to have collector value (ie - higher than the same model new) and others are priced a little below a new knife. I might wait around for the next Indy 1500 since I live in Indy, there seem to be a lot of Busse fans there and I could catch one of you in person.

Any help or links to anything that explains some of this terminology would be appreciated, even if its just 'call the Custom Shop'.
 
Steel Heart is about a perfect all around knife for choppin and such, if you get a smaller knife for daily use, I can suggest only one knife, and that's the Busse Active Duty, my favorite and most used Busse.....The BAD is also an awesome deer knife. I used two of my deer this year, very nice, super sharp.

you should be able to find SHs around on the secondary market in perfect condition, the BAD is a custom shop. Both are available at bussecombat.com.

Good luck, and welcome to the madness!

(and no, I don't get paid to say these things!:D )
 
Citori,
Welcome to the Busse forum. I don't know if you have checked out
the Bad Mojo site. But it is loaded with pics and info. Shows you
a lot of variations!! Great place to visit.:D http://www.badmojo.tv/
 
No! Don't do it! Don't visit the Badmojo site. You will regret it....You will be even more confused as to what to buy than you are now. Next thing, you'll find yourself ordering, yet, another Busse.;)
 
Sounds like a Steel Heart is what you need :D

The ZT series were a special run that are no longer available. Flying handles are just differently shaped :cool: handles that are pricey.

As far as for sale forums, if I was looking for a user, I would try to find the most beat up (hence cheapest and easiest to really use) Busse I could find.
 
The Steel Heart is an excellent choice for camp use!:cool:

The variants rock, but for a plain 'ol user I would just get a standard model (with Snake Skin of course;)).

Take Wilco's advice and pick up an Active Duty also. It is a perfect blade to carry along with your Steel Heart.
 
Citori, there will be a Busse table at the March INDY show. If you'd prefer to handle a few models then would be a prime time.

The SH and AD combo is a great way to cover almost the entire spectrum. Both are (understatement here) very nice pieces.
 
Citori,
Welcome to the Busse Forum.

Lots of good advice here. :D

If you want a good user, I'd suggest you get a regular Combat Grade(CG) model to start with. Then once you get a feel for what you might want different you can also order a variant or custom to fit your specific needs.

To be honest I bet once you've really used and abused one you won't need or want anything different :D:D
 
That badmojo site has even more info than I expected. But it gives me an idea of what everyone means when they talk about variants.

Fortunately I'm still convinced, and getting more convinced when I read these posts, that a regular off the shelf Steel Heart would be my best bet. If there is going to be a table at the Indy 1500 I think I might just show up there and get my hands on one.

Thanks for the replies everyone.
 
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