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

6 BILLION people on the planet. God only knows how many BILLIONS of knives are out there. And he can't find ONE that will give him that warm fuzzy feeling? Then, someone gives him a suggestion in good faith, and he's all like 'Well, what about THIS?', and shows A picture. One. Or a vid of some guy obviously abusing a tool far beyond it's capabilities, and giving said tool a purely subjective rating. (seriously, when was the last time that anyone here had to lock their knife in a vise in the field, and hit it with a 3lb sledge)The OP then claims that his needs in the field are far more than that knife will EVER be able to handle. What in the HELL kind of Zombies does he think are after him? Paranoia is not pretty my friend, get some counseling.
 
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I was unaware that most of us on these boards are idiots for choosing A2 and 1095 steel for our knives.

It sounds like the OP should be more worried about his skill set and level of skills than steel choice.
 
United Cutlery's 420A is the toughest stuff on the market!:thumbup:

























:p
 
The OP should look into Mantits knives, I'll bet their steel is the best and probably also used for fail safe ball cap bill grommets.
 
Sorry if I seemed like an ass in my previous posts. To answer the OP's original question, if you can't afford a Busse, and you're afraid A2 sucks, here's your solution: Find someone to forge or grind a 10 inch chopper out of 3/16" 5160, flat ground and convex edge, with a good differential heat treat. Try for a rockwell of about 55-57 at the edge. Put a micarta handle on it, get one kydex and one leather sheath, and hit the field without worry.





Just kidding, I am not really sorry......
 
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machine26 said:
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.
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At the risk of getting an infraction.. HAHAHA!!! :D :thumbup:

To the OP: $250-300 should be enough to get one of the many knife makers here to make you a custom survival knife with some steel you'll surely like. I personally love A2 and 1095, but there are other choices out there.
 
I think the OP should buy a hatchet, just a word of advice theres some very clued up people on this forum so think before you post and you wont get picked on. That being said you can take a crap peice of steel and with the right heat treat and blade geometry you can have a great knife, you can take a super steel with a bad heat treat and bad blade geometry and have a crap knife.

For a first survival knife you cant go wrong with any of the recomendations and once you gain some experience you can upgrade to a knife that fits your needs better when these needs are identified from that experience
 
sounds to me like you need to check out the Swamp Rat Ratmandu. SR101 is an awesome steel. Its 52100 with Swamp Rats heat treat. I love mine! In my opinion Sr101 is as close to infi as your going to get. The only thing infi has on sr101 is rust resistance.
 
Hmm I just read the first post again.
You might want to take a look at Fallkniven. They are cheaper then Busse and in general favorable looked at by those who like hard (ab)use knives.
If you look at Noss4 videos for reference he did his thing on a "A1" model and it did well enough.
If you don't like Noss4 videos, there are a few others reviews on YouTube.
 
OP the weakest link in your survival scenario will not be the blade you are carrying, if you attach any credence to those silly tests, it will be your mindset and thought process. Save your $200 - $300 and use it for survival classes.
 
I have had bark rivers in A2 and used them before and they are great knives. I've had ESEE knives in 1095 and used them, also great knives. Same with busse in INFI.

All of them exceed what most normal, half-sane users would be willing to do to their knives.
 
GWashington1732 said:
But why do that when you can smack a knife through a stump with a brick?

Get a KaBar USMC or Becker, if you kill it, there's something wrong with you and you're not going to survive anyway.
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How many dead guys are found in the wilds of America every year lying next to their broken knives?

It's gotta be hundreds, right? :D
 
jvan said:
OP the weakest link in your survival scenario will not be the blade you are carrying, if you attach any credence to those silly tests, it will be your mindset and thought process. Save your $200 - $300 and use it for survival classes.
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+1 :thumbup:

That said, if you watch the Noss video (I did yesterday) it goes in line with the link to the thread about the run of Bravo 1's that came out with too thin of a grind and could be sent back. His troubles were all along the edge and stopped at the same height of the blade edge.

Guess I'm saying that if the grind is done right and I assume this has been addressed by now, the knife should be fine. The chipping & ragged edge all stopped at the same line, where the metal got thicker.

He stabbed it about 50 times through steel and about all of them snap when he stands & bouces on them or hits them with a sledge, while in the vice - sideways.

I was going to get one but my RC-4, RC-3 & USMC Ka-Bar make it kind of redundant. You could always call the company and ask if the "thin grinds" have been addressed (ask for a technician). I've called companies but not this one and got real experts on the phone to speak with.

Good luck OP. :cool:
 
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