INFI and/or SR-101 vs 3v thoughts?

I would second a para 2 style blade in 3v. I have S30V I'm nervous I'll snap the tip right off. I would still be nervous if I had a tip that fine in 3v but I feel more confidant it wouldn't break. I really hope to see the S! folder design come out soon.
 
Ooh, a Para2 in 3v would be awesome! I know there is a version with M4 steel. And hinderer just released a few folders in 3V.

But I'm so looking forward to the Survive! Folder. They've been awfully quiet about it lately though. :(
 
I'm sure their working wicked long hours on getting these starters out before Christmas and as many as they can before the new year hits. I can see why they wouldn't want to focus on something not on the schedule.
 
Firestrike said:
All I can say is Infi and SR101 has enough of what I am looking for in a knife (toughness, edge holding, ect.) that I do not need to move on to a different steel. If I had to ever pick up 3v it would not be Survive as all thier offerings to date are just Plain Jane in my eyes so I would go Bark River as they are visually more appealing and have infinitely more options.


Got to also consider the Busse/Kin warranty that to date not one has been refused to be warranted no matter how grossly abused, this has encouraged extreme abuse that is well documented and no other company has been able to match that track record.

In conclusion I think 3v needs to be around a bit longer in abusive hands to prove itself to hardcore users, and be much more documented than what I have seen to date.

When looking up abused knives Busse is king of the ring.
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I appreciate your comments and respect your opinions but warranty has nothing to do with the steel. Buy an ESEE, made of 1095, and break it. They'll send you a new one. I've spoken to one of the owners and he said he's got a picture of one of his returns that was clearly shot multiple times with gun. He just sent them a new knife. Busse knives are very tough but they are also over built. They also have very strong edges that can take a lot of abuse but at the same time are terrible cutters. I have 8 or 9 INFI Busses and none of them cut well until I had the blades re-profiled. Also I couldn't work with the big ones for very long because they were too heavy....anyway my point is if INFI is such a tough steel why does Jerry overbuild his knives? I get why Topps does it, but I am not sure why Busse does it. This question was one of the reasons put up this post.
 
That's because (as we all know) geometry cuts. Chopping bricks, huge logs and stabbing metal folding chairs is not cutting. For that you need a different geometry. I promise that if you ran infi thin it would chip. Tops knives, the bigger ESEEs, striders and some of the customs, like Medford and Crusader forge all have thick geometry because they market to the hard use crowd. Unfortunately people doing dumb shit on YouTube with their knives has caused everyone to jump on this Hard use kick. To some degree the advances in modern metallurgy have only made it worse. Back in the day people knew they had a carbon or a stainless blade and that was about it. Even worse is that many folks that aren't as "refined" users tend to look at those vids and equate toughness to better. There has been a ripple effect in the cutlery industry because the average knucklehead thinks all knives should be able to chop bricks and survive it, without really understanding that knives designed to do that are just that... Designed to smash and chop, not cut. This has forced many designers to thinken their geometry to protect against what people think is now normal use for a knife. For example... Old school Bark River fans got mad at Mike Stewart when he started thickening his edge spines because dummy's were chipping his A2 a lot! A2 is a pretty great carbon steel. He specifically stated he had to do it to protect against the new "hard use" phenomenon.

This is why I like Guys designs so much. They have actual cutting geometry. 5/32 and 3/16 stock is as thick as any knife needs to be. Take the 5.1 and its relatively tall blade (spine to edge) with a high sabre grind and you get a knife that can have a relatively thick spine and a thin edge with a nice gradual taper. This gives you great cutting geometry, a thick enough spine and enough mass to handle chopping batoning and still do stuff like fillet the F out of some rainbow trout when in the hands of a highly skilled user. 3V steel's toughness has allowed for this.
 
Sorry about the wall of text! Didn't realize I pontificated somuch
 
Riz2530 said:
Sorry about the wall of text! Didn't realize I pontificated somuch
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No worries about the rant you had some great points. My original response above was 4 paragraphs but I decided to dial it back. Nonetheless, you did a better job with your response. I just find it interesting that people comment about the topic and can't really address the question. But this is probably as much my fault, because the topic might be perceived as Busse/kin vs Survive! and that's not the case.
 
OBX351 said:
No worries about the rant you had some great points. My original response above was 4 paragraphs but I decided to dial it back. Nonetheless, you did a better job with your response. I just find it interesting that people comment about the topic and can't really address the question. But this is probably as much my fault, because the topic might be perceived as Busse/kin vs Survive! and that's not the case.
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Clearly I'm a fan of both Survive! and Busse (kin included). But I'm in Guy's subforum here, and want to be respectful of that. The experience I've had in the field will keep me buying more of all three steels no matter the direction of this thread. I'd suggest trying it again in General where you'd get more non-S!K responses, but that's got the potential to get ugly quick.
 
Hard Knocks said:
Clearly I'm a fan of both Survive! and Busse (kin included). But I'm in Guy's subforum here, and want to be respectful of that. The experience I've had in the field will keep me buying more of all three steels no matter the direction of this thread. I'd suggest trying it again in General where you'd get more non-S!K responses, but that's got the potential to get ugly quick.
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Good point, I did it here because I know there are folks here that have both such as you. Also people here seem to really use their knives verses buying them for looks and I figured I'd get informed responses.
 
I love all these points. That's very interesting about Bark River. I've always respected his design and noticed the changes that are obvious influence. Both good and bad. Very cool thoughts
 
OBX351 said:
Good point, I did it here because I know there are folks here that have both such as you. Also people here seem to really use their knives verses buying them for looks and I figured I'd get informed responses.
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And I'm not saying that you shouldn't have started it here at all. I've been enjoying the thread, and we've got a lot of informed users here, that's a great point. There have just been times that I would have defended some things more rigorously, but didn't because, like you pointed out, I didn't want to come across in a busse v. survive kind of way.

Lol, I guess I'm not much help! :D Carry on!
 
Hard Knocks said:
And I'm not saying that you shouldn't have started it here at all. I've been enjoying the thread, and we've got a lot of informed users here, that's a great point. There have just been times that I would have defended some things more rigorously, but didn't because, like you pointed out, I didn't want to come across in a busse v. survive kind of way.

Lol, I guess I'm not much help! :D Carry on!
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No worries HK!
 
NoviceNorth said:
I love all these points. That's very interesting about Bark River. I've always respected his design and noticed the changes that are obvious influence. Both good and bad. Very cool thoughts
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I believe, and it is MY opinion, that Guy took design elements that he favored from all of the knives he liked and created his ultimate outdoors/survival/bushcrafty
/utility blades knife. So yes you can find influence in many different manufacturers' products. Look at an ESEE 6 for example. Take an ESEE 6 and tweak and upgrade the steel, materials and heat treat and boom! GSO 5.1

Honestly, nothing about the knife is really that unique, but it is Guy's execution of a bunch of great features in one package for a great price that make them awesome!
 
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Riz2530 said:
I believe, and it is MY opinion, that Guy took design elements that he favored from all of the knives he liked and created his ultimate outdoors/survival/bushcrafty
/utility blades knife. So yes you can find influence in many different manufacturers' products. Look at an ESEE 6 for example. Take an ESEE 6 and tweak and upgrade the steel, materials and heat treat and boom! GSO 5.1

Honestly, nothing about the knife is really that unique, but it is Guy's execution of a bunch of great features in one package.
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Yea I agree. My first real outdoorsy blade was a Tops BOB. And it is terrible IMO. Possibly the worst balance for heavy use. And I am glad that GUY has stuck with the grind he has now. I like scandi, but not as much all around as I do these kind of blades and grinds. I can't wait for my 5.1. I already know I love the shape, Steel, balance and the fact that it is not coated :)
 
I've never run across a scandi I really liked. I've wondered why they never went ahead and finished the blade.
 
I would like to try a scandi just to give it a shot. I've never used one, I think it'd be nice to give a try doing a try stick or making a spoon.
 
Scandi grinds are good on thin stock. .156 is about as thick as I feel a blade should be with a scandi grind. 1/8 inch is even better.
 
Riz2530 said:
I believe, and it is MY opinion, that Guy took design elements that he favored from all of the knives he liked and created his ultimate outdoors/survival/bushcrafty
/utility blades knife. So yes you can find influence in many different manufacturers' products. Look at an ESEE 6 for example. Take an ESEE 6 and tweak and upgrade the steel, materials and heat treat and boom! GSO 5.1

Honestly, nothing about the knife is really that unique, but it is Guy's execution of a bunch of great features in one package for a great price that make them awesome!
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I definitely don't disagree, but I can't think of anything I've encountered in a good knife that is revolutionary. In the thousands of years of using knives, I think humans have figured out a general formula for what works in a knife. If you really tried I think you could argue a lot of knives are just like other knives except for minor differences. At least in the narrow scope of what I'm familiar with, the only "truly new designs" I've seen are by are TOPS or Schrade and their designs are so radical that I have no desire to try them.

Texas_toothpick said:
I would like to try a scandi just to give it a shot. I've never used one, I think it'd be nice to give a try doing a try stick or making a spoon.
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Me too! I have a mora 511 in my amazon shopping cart that I want to lump in with another purchase at some point.
 
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