INFI Testimonials to Durability?

Keith_H said:
Aww Cobalt! That make me want a FBM even more :grumpy: !!
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Just remmber those posts are from 1999, so it was the SHBM they were talking about, but the FBM is an even better chopper. Just not as neutrally balanced as the SHBM. They all have their place.:thumbup:
 
The awesomeness is everywhere! A friend of mine's brother went to athens for to see the Olympics with the make a wish foundation, but i know where i would want to go, Wauseon, Ohio!

Edit: This is my 300th post! hooray!
 
Here is another post but ths time o a BM-E instead of the other ones I posted of the SHBM:

04-04-2001, 04:30 PM
Burke


Some Comments on the Busse Battle Mistress


We’ve seen a number of reviews of the Battle Mistress from Busse Combat, and I won’t pretend to have the patience to slice 2000 pieces of 1” hemp rope, or limb eighteen identical pine trees with the Battle Mistress and two other knives in order to get a comparative picture. Rather, I’d like to focus on the design and general attributes of the knife. Before I start, I should mention that I purchased this knife used, in new condition. So this is not a factory fresh knife, but I believe it is the closest thing to it.
First, description. The knife as a whole is 15” long, 5+” of handle, 9” of blade, and a little less than an inch of unground ricasso between the end of the handle slabs and the beginning of the edge grind. There is a small choil. The blade is a drop point, with a straight edge up to the last few inches, coated in black. The handle is a full tang affair, with micarta handle slabs. The micarta is described as black, but actually looks more gray-green to me when dry, darkening when wet. The oft-mentioned E-handle starts out like a regular straight handle, and has a dropped butt, rather than being bent directly at the blade-handle juncture like a khukuri. Fit and finish overall is very good, with edge grinds starting perfectly even, and only one or two minor grinds that show less than perfect symmetry. This is nit-picking, and I honestly think that the grinds are exceptional for any knife, let alone a large user of this sort.
The handle fits my hand very nicely. I have large palms, short fingers, and a decent set of calluses. I find it quite comfortable to hold for extended periods in either hammer grip for chopping or saber grip for whittling/slicing. I haven’t done much difficult extended work with this knife, but I have had no problems with “hot spots” or blistering. The texture of the micarta, combined with the front and rear talon holes make for a very secure grip, even with cold wet hands. The choil is nice for finer work, but if your fingers are any fatter than mine you will find it impossible to use without slicing them open on the beginning of the edge grind, and forget trying to use it while wearing gloves. A larger choil would be good, as long as edge length wasn’t sacrificed. I’d also like to see a little more contouring inwards of the micarta towards the front of the handle where the inside of the thumb rests. I think that this would provide for a slightly more natural, comfortable grip.
The general shape of the blade is more for heavy utility than anything else. The drop point provides good tip-strength, though it reduces penetration. Compared to the Spyderco Gunting, the Battle Mistress exhibits almost the exact opposite behavior in stabbing. I took a card-board box and stabbed it with both knives. The Gunting simply slid in up to the ramp, while the Battle Mistress penetrated a little over an inch before knocking the box forward. The blade came extremely sharp, with the hybrid edge that is standard on all Busses now. I notice that the convex edge is much wider than the flat ground portion, and that the portion of the edge closest to the handle is substantially sharper than the portion of edge closest the point. The first few inches of the blade will literally scare hair off of my arm, while the rest of the blade will shave only with a little bit of persuasion. I haven’t had to really sharpen the blade yet, but touching up the flat edge bevel proved simple with a Spyderco Profile. I haven’t touched the convex side yet. I guess I’ll have to buy a strop. Poor me, more knife sharpening equipment. I’m not sure if the difference in sharpening along the length of the blade is deliberate or not. The general cutting geometry of the edge is excellent, and gives the knife very good penetration while chopping. I would say it is roughly comparable to, or slightly better than, the Cold Steel LTC Kukri, praise of Battle Mistress given that the kukri is three inches longer, with a design dedicated to chopping. The Battle Mistress is also much more durable in regard to prying, with its thicker stock and stronger steel. I have no trouble flexing the Cold Steel knife when it is stuck in a pine tree or between two boards, while I have yet to notice flex in the Battle Mistress, despite the fact that I have purposely done some rough twisting it out of chops. The balance point on the blade is just slightly behind the choil, making the knife feel surprisingly light and maneuverable for such a large blade. Given the knife’s purpose I wouldn’t mind the balance point moving forward an inch, as this would make it a slightly better chopper, while sacrificing little in the way of handling or general utility. In terms of hacking stuff up just for fun, I was able to cut in half a single sheet of newspaper rolled into a tight tube with a single downward slash, cut a sheet of printer paper in half in mid-air with a single swipe, and demolish a card-board box that viciously attacked me. I think this is pretty impressive performance from a knife that is not a dedicated fighter, and I attribute it to the very sharp edge and the full flat grind.
The sheath that comes with the knife from the factory is functional. It is a rectangle of olive-drab nylon, with a kydex insert that holds the knife ambidextrously. The knife is held in by a nylon strap with button. While this sheath is acceptable, I don’t think it is fitting for a knife of the Battle Mistress’ quality, especially at its price point. The snap-strap doesn’t fit the knife particularly well, and the kydex insert has a narrow top, requiring practice to fit the knife in on the first try. I also don’t find that it wears very comfortably on my belt. However, the knife came to me used, with another carry option, and I also purchased yet a third sheath. These are a blade-o-leer, and a Kenny Rowe leather sheath. The blade-o-leer proves a nice way to carry the blade when you want ready access and don’t need to add anything else to your belt. I carried the knife several times snow shoeing in this sheath, and it worked well for me. The Kenny Rowe sheath is made from heavy duty black leather, and holds the knife securely on one’s belt. No fancy multi-carry or any of that, just a well-made, high-quality old-fashioned sheath. I’m pleased with it as well, and I believe that that is how I will primarily carry the knife this summer. Were I to buy the knife new, I would rather pay an extra fifteen dollars for one of these sheaths, or a multi-carry kydex one of similar quality, than the stock one.
These are, of course, only my opinions, and I look forward to being able to use the knife more extensively once the snow is gone from the ground and get a better impression of the edge-holding and strength of the INFI steel, and other attributes of the blade. I welcome any polite feedback either here or via email.
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Well, I have one. I have a tiny little Game Warden, about as sheeple friendly as Busse knives can get. ;) It cuts well, holds an edge well, it's a great user knife. But, since it's a Busse, I've done nasty stuff to it on purpose.

Once, I batoned that poor little Game Warden into a heavy log, as deep as it would go until the blade was all the way in. And then I kicked the handle with a lot of force. And you know what broke? The log. :D Not entirely, of course, but a notable chunk of wood cracked right out of it, and with it came the Game Warden, completely intact. And they say the Game Warden is not for "heavy and abusive prying." Yeah, I wonder what Busse's definition of abusive prying is. Shooting a missile at the knife handle while the blade is stuck in a giant redwood tree? :D

Edit: Now, I'm sure you could break one of these knives. But I'm not sure how the hell you would ever achieve that, unless it was doing something completely insane and unnecessary.
 
Elen said:
Edit: Now, I'm sure you could break one of these knives. But I'm not sure how the hell you would ever achieve that, unless it was doing something completely insane and unnecessary.
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yeah but if it is accidental it is covered :D
 

Elen said:
Once, I batoned that poor little Game Warden into a heavy log, as deep as it would go until the blade was all the way in. And then I kicked the handle with a lot of force. And you know what broke? The log. :D Not entirely, of course, but a notable chunk of wood cracked right out of it, and with it came the Game Warden, completely intact. And they say the Game Warden is not for "heavy and abusive prying.
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I like that story. I often go out backpacking for several days and only bring one knife and at times I worry about what I'd do if I broke it. Right now it is a custom AD.

This kind of story may also be the reason why we may not see a .11 thick warden or AD slicer. I mean at what point of thinness might the blades start to break if you did abuse them.:confused:
 
Cobalt said:
you gotta be kidding right?

... There is absolutely no other brand that is so routinely abused by it's owners and proudly so. It is almost scary because Busse cannot let his guard down on his product because he has fools throwing his knives into metal objects like Microwaves and car doors, chopping metal road signs, concrete blocks and worse stuff ...
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yeah, i hear there is some dumb*** out there that has thrown an SHBM into a wood target upwards of 15,000 times. sounds like a crock to me.
;) ;)

Winston
 
Keith_H said:
Is this the reason for the beautiful satin finishes with G10 ganza handles? :D
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2 of my primary users a GW and a LrMS are both satin, and scratched to :eek:, well you know.

I've been breaking down pallets at work with the GW, just for fun. Prying planks, splitting the boards, and it's only .140".

A pallet's no challenge to a SH or BM.

But your right, I'm more likely to pry open a car door with a coated blade then one of my satins.
 
Tony G said:
This kind of story may also be the reason why we may not see a .11 thick warden or AD slicer. I mean at what point of thinness might the blades start to break if you did abuse them.
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And therein lies the rub. INFI has been established as nie-indestructible. The nitwits of the world (that guy who wore those masks last fall comes to mind) take that as a challenge to their manhood and look for whatever ways they can find to prove Jerry wrong. The delicate slicer that many of us crave faces tremendous hurdles to being put into production because it will be a target for every single-helix mouth-breather who is irritated that HIS favorite knife can't be bought in INFI. So instead, we get things like the 0.3" thick BATAC, which is a great hard use knife but hardly a slicing machine.

Happily, I can say "I got mine!"

Rick
 
Winston Smith said:
yeah, i hear there is some dumb*** out there that has thrown an SHBM into a wood target upwards of 15,000 times. sounds like a crock to me.
;) ;)

Winston
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I know not of what you speak, who is the one that has done such a dastardly deed. : She's retired by the way :confused:
 
rbmcmjr said:
And therein lies the rub. INFI has been established as nie-indestructible. The nitwits of the world (that guy who wore those masks last fall comes to mind) take that as a challenge to their manhood and look for whatever ways they can find to prove Jerry wrong. The delicate slicer that many of us crave faces tremendous hurdles to being put into production because it will be a target for every single-helix mouth-breather who is irritated that HIS favorite knife can't be bought in INFI. So instead, we get things like the 0.3" thick BATAC, which is a great hard use knife but hardly a slicing machine.

Happily, I can say "I got mine!"

Rick
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I totally agree! I don't own any INFI, but its steel, not unobtainium, Its hard sharp, tough, It would last me 3 life times. I love using a crowbar- its very useful, and cannot be replaced by a quality knife.
 
I didnt know you only had the blade for 2 weeks. I withdrawl my statement. But if you keep beating the crap out of it, it will eventually need to be sharpened.
 
Tony G said:
I like that story. I often go out backpacking for several days and only bring one knife and at times I worry about what I'd do if I broke it. Right now it is a custom AD.

This kind of story may also be the reason why we may not see a .11 thick warden or AD slicer. I mean at what point of thinness might the blades start to break if you did abuse them.:confused:
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I think you've got it, there. On the other hand, it's not a "problem" (if we can call it that) that only Busse has. With survival knives, pretty much every maker seems to have some pressure on them to make sturdier, thicker, stronger knives at the cost of sacrificing raw cutting and slicing performance. Seems to be a trend nowadays. That is true even here in Scandinavia to an extent, even though we've traditionally used thin, lightweight knives.

I would like to see a thinner Busse, particularly for the bushcraft model idea, and I'm sure INFI would be plenty strong enough even if you thinned it out a lot. I bet most customers would understand the obvious: that a really light, thin knife isn't something you can pry a tree down with, even if it is a Busse. The guys that beat on their knives just to prove something aren't worth thinking about, if you ask me. Destructive testing is one thing, of course, and I can appreciate that, but if someone starts whining about a thin slicer breaking if you pry concrete blocks with it, I say they're not worth listening.

But hey, I don't mind things the way they are. The Busses we have now may not be the thinnest in the world, but they sure take a ridiculous amount of beating, and in even harsh use will last a lifetime without breaking. For the thinned out slicers, there are lots of other knives out there. Although an INFI slicer would be cool to have. That Busse bushcraft model might be real nice at typical Scandi thicknesses... ;)
 
the thinnest big knives busse ever made where the ZERO TOLERANCE line and they were awesome. The ZTBM's are incredible slicers. Probable the best slicing and stabbing big blade Busse has ever made alongside the 1 of 300's. They make Great short machetes as well.
 
i have done some goofy stuff with my infi.

includes, but not limited to, the following:

1. batoned a hhfsh with a sledge hammer into a brick, tip first.
2. batoned a hhfsh with a sledge hammer through 3/4" plywood.
3. chopped up an aluminum picture frame with hhfsh.
4. threw an sfno at a tree, subsequently missed, and hit a rock.
5. threw a ruck kensei at a tree, about 50 times. it actually stuck about 6.
6. batoned a ruck into an oak log, then flexed the blade about 30 degrees. just to see.
7. sliced/chopped kevlar body armor panels with a shsh, meaner, and ruck.
8. chopped up a counterfiet mean street (mtech) with a fbm.
9. a lot of food prep with various knives.
10. lots of chopping/throwing with various knives.

ive gotten edges to roll from the brick, rock, and knots in wood. the edges held up surprisingly well against the kevlar. i thought for sure the fibers would take the edges off quickly, quite the contrary.

ive found cardboard to be the most edge ruining material. but that is the case with any knife.
 
Cobalt said:
the thinnest big knives busse ever made where the ZERO TOLERANCE line and they were awesome. The ZTBM's are incredible slicers. Probable the best slicing and stabbing big blade Busse has ever made alongside the 1 of 300's. They make Great short machetes as well.
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Salt in the wound. I traded my ZTBM for a Force One. No regrets, of course, but I still miss that blade. I console myself with a ZTSH, which is a better general purpose size.

The NICKs are the best, but not quite "big".

Rick
 
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