If I have no money for a Busse and if A2 sucks? What options for a survival knife?

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ukknifer

Joined
Jan 30, 2010
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Hi

I just saw Noss4 test of Bark River Bravo1 in A2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEABRcTeIE0&feature=related
This thread is not about how Noss4 tests are abuse or good tests.
This Thread is not About Bark river marketing strategies and the sort.

This is about A2 as a survival (not bushcraft) knife blade and if there alternatives for those who cant afford Infi on a Busse.
I don't like 1095 because I have seen it break easily in tests.
3V is as expensive as Infi (almost) and not available on production knives.

Any ideas?

Thank you guys
 
If you are basing your purchase on his "tests", guess Busse is your only option.
 
I can't agree with you on several of your assumptions.

First off, 1095 is, in my experience, a very tough steel. I've had my Becker BK9, 1095CroVan, has bent probably 20 or 30 degrees on me, and popped right back to shape.

Secondly, A2, specifically Bark River A2, has proven itself to me in the field.

I suspect that the edge on the Bravo that Noss tested was overly thin. That's not a fault of the steel. It was either ground too thin by BRKT or by Noss. He has been known to work with his edges before he tests a knife.

All that being said, I can solidly recommend an RC/ESEE 5, Becker BK2 or 9, or the BRKT Bravo 1. I own all, and I've thumped on all of them in the field. I've pried open a car door, batonned through lots of firewood, cut food, built shelters, carved and generally used the heck out of these knives. They have all shown themselves to be capable of handling anything I'm likely to throw at them.

In the end though, the RC 5 (mine is a pre-name change model) rides everyday in my get me home bag. I trust it completely. As time goes on, if my Bravo continues to impress me I might switch it into the GHB.
 
Every knife will break regardless of steel if treated as something other than a knife. If Im in a survival situation and I need to use a knife to sever a steel pipe, my judgement has failed. When that happens, everything else will fail soon after.
 
Every knife will break ================ Yes
All knives break at the same point========NO
I want my knife to break AFTER you break yours :)
 
There isn't a steel blade or any other product made by man that cant be broken, if beat upon long enough or hard enough.A2 is very good steel.
one knife was broken by one guy doing tests that are questionable to say the least. The real test is the thousands of knives in the hands of everyday people who use there knives hard in the real world. I havent heard to many complaints. buy what you like and be happy. thats my 2cents anyway.
 
What are you intending on doing with this knife?

My 1095 mora with its stick tang has handled batoning, carving fire by friction sets, cutting materials for weaving baskets and plates, cutting materials for a mattress, making shelters and food prep. If this wimpy little knife hasn't broken doing standard "survival" type tasks, I don't think infi is necessary.

If you want to smash stuff up, maybe carry a nice thin knife for slicing and a hammer for smashing?
 
MIKE MACINTOSH said:
There isn't a steel blade or any other product made by man that cant be broken, if beat upon long enough or hard enough.A2 is very good steel.
one knife was broken by one guy doing tests that are questionable to say the least. The real test is the thousands of knives in the hands of everyday people who use there knives hard in the real world. I havent heard to many complaints. buy what you like and be happy. thats my 2cents anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike

The thing is, Allot of the thousands who have this knife or that knife, don't use them hard enough , some don't use them at all to be able to know their limit.

Some have problems but simply don't report them.
 
ukknifer said:
I remember a video on you tube a long time ago. I don't remember the poster or the knife but I am sure it was 1095.
Click to expand...


You base your opinion of 1095 being junk on a video you saw years ago, made by someone you dont know and a knife that you dont the maker of.

With a thought process like that it wont be a broken knife that messes you up in a survival situation.
 
Oh no knife test guy strikes again A2 is great!! knife test guy is a dummy! If A2 sucked so bad Chris Reeve would be out of buisness a long time ago. And as far as busse go's you pay for the BS and the knife is free. Knife test guy is just a puppet for busse. Thats my 2 cents.
 
beef said:
What are you intending on doing with this knife?

My 1095 mora with its stick tang has handled batoning, carving fire by friction sets, cutting materials for weaving baskets and plates, cutting materials for a mattress, making shelters and food prep. If this wimpy little knife hasn't broken doing standard "survival" type tasks, I don't think infi is necessary.

If you want to smash stuff up, maybe carry a nice thin knife for slicing and a hammer for smashing?
Click to expand...

I don't want a hammer
I also don't want my knife to role on me and become like a serrated knife because I missed and hit a rock.
 
A2 does not suck. Its an awesome tool steel. Keeps an edge, resists corrosion. Tough stuff.

If your careless and hit a rock, any steel will roll and chip. Yes, even INFI.
 
ukknifer said:
I remember a video on you tube a long time ago. I don't remember the poster or the knife but I am sure it was 1095.
Click to expand...

Do you suppose that all knives made of 1095 are the same?

No offense, but if you do not even recall the knife then it would appear that there are many other variables that could be evading you. A couple of glaring possibilities are heat treat, hardness, blade geometry and thickness.

I suggest that any or all of these variables can be manipulated in such a way as to break easily with any steel (including Infi).
 
1095 is great steel. But if you don't want that and want cheap and indestructible, get a Cold Steel GI Tanto. It will break, but you'll have to really put some work into it. And you can buy a dozen for the price of one Busse Tank Buster (great knife btw :D)).
 
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