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- Feb 25, 2001
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Im proud to announce the Busse Satin Jack as the newest outdoor knife in my collection. Busse has a solid reputation for building heavy-duty choppers, but isnt exactly known for making knives to handle finesse applications. It seems that toughness and finesse are not exactly traits that go hand in hand. The Satin Jack looks to be Busses answer to this riddle of durability and ultimate usefulness.
Im getting ahead of myself here, and it seems that a little bit of history is in order. Id been hearing about Busse knives for some time, which were largely favored by outdoorsmen. Id read tales of people hacking through ungodly objects with their Busse knives, with only the occasional rolled edge to show for damage. If youre reading this, Im sure you can understand my curiosity. Who wouldnt want an indestructible knife? I wasnt exactly convinced of this fact though, as Ive never come across a heavy-duty knife that wasnt seriously compromised in cutting efficiency. Anybody can make a knife out of bizarrely thick steel, which usually wont cut worth a darn. But people told me that Busse knives were good cutters, on top of being stout prybars.
So I got around to studying up on the Busse line of knives, and posted questions in the appropriate online forums. I was looking for the ultimate camp knife; a knife for general purpose cutting chores, and a limited amount of small chopping duties. Unfortunately, it didnt seem like a whole lot of people had actually field-tested a Satin Jack. Most Busse lovers seemed to prefer the Natural Outlaw as their six-inch Busse of choice. Who was I to argue? Once the money was saved up, I ordered a combat grade Natural Outlaw. The combat grade Busse knives have black coated blades and symmetrical grinds. The Busse symmetrical grind has a convex edge bevel on one side of the blade, and a flat edge bevel on the other side. Theoretically, this allows for the strength and cutting efficiency of a convex grind, but with the advantage of a well understood flat ground edge bevel for sharpening.
What arrived was definitely not what I had hoped for. The Natural Outlaw had a very thick edge bevel, on the end of a very thick chunk of steel. While it was tough as nails, and chopped very well, the Natural Outlaw just didnt have the finesse needed for so many standard camp chores. The ergonomic shaped handle of the Natural Outlaw was also much too large for my hand. My hands arent unusually small or anything, but could never be described as large. Keep this in mind if youre planning on purchasing a Busse knife. The standard e-handles are made to fit very large hands. The Natural Outlaw was a very well built knife, but not quite what I was after.
Fortunately, Jerry Busse is a man who aims to please his customers. Upon hearing of my dissatisfaction, Jerry was immediately in touch with me. We explored a number of possible customization options, but seeing that my Natural Outlaw was still in pristine condition, we finally decided to trade for another part of the Busse lineup. And believe it or not, we ended right back at the Satin Jack. To be particular in its description, we decided to try out the Limited Edition Satin Jack, which sports a satin finished blade instead of the black crinkle coating, and a zero edge grind instead of the standard symmetrical grind. The zero grind is basically a flat grind with a high convex edge bevel. The only real difference between my exact knife and the real LE Satin Jack is that mine does not have any engraving on the blade. I wanted to take this knife on an upcoming outing, and couldnt have the engraving done in time. That suited me fine, as it also reduced the cost slightly. Busse knives arent cheap on a civil servants income, so any cost savings was quite welcome.
So I got in my Satin Jack last Friday, and was able to breathe a deep sigh of relief. The SJ is exactly what I was after. It is made of 3/16 Infi stock, which is considerably thinner than the 1/4 stock of the standard Busse lineup. Its also exceptionally light for such a stout knife, weighing in around 10 ounces, sans sheath. This could very well be the ultimate camp knife for the northern backpacker, who opts not to carry an axe or other large chopper, due to severe weight limitations.
Okay. Lets run through the features on Jack. Unlike the traditional style knives that I usually use outdoors, the Satin Jack has a full integral handle. Sandwiched to it is a set of black paper micarta handles, affixed with what appear to be hollow brass rivets. The handle is much more secure in my average sized hands than the new Busse e-handles, and provides a very good grip. I wouldnt say that the grip is as comfortable as the more rounded handle of a traditional style knife, but this is a tradeoff Im willing to make for the durability of a solid integral handle.
And durable it is!!! Jack is built like a tank. You really cant appreciate the toughness of this knife without actually using one. Jerry Busse really must have done his engineering homework on this baby. I chopped through knots in cedar, birch, spruce and cherry wood this weekend, and never managed to roll the edge. It barely even lost its shaving sharpness, which was quickly restored with just a leather strop. This knife maintains that prybar-like feel, yet manages to cut remarkable well.
Finesse cutting is not quite as good on the Satin Jack, as it is on something like a thinly ground Marbles knife. But it is very close. In fact, it was close enough for me to leave my Marbles Fieldcraft sheathed this weekend. I was still able to whittle wood and cut fuzz sticks without a problem, and do chopping that a Marbles might have had problems with. And with the tough Busse steel and construction, I had absolutely no fear of using a baton in conjunction with the Satin Jack. Basically, the Satin Jack mowed through everything I put in front of it, and did it with relative ease.
One feature that I particularly liked was the finger coil cutout at the base of the blade. This gave me the ability to choke up on the grip significantly, effectively making the six inch bladed knife feel like I was using a knife that was 1 1/2 shorter than it was. I used the finger coil extensively during finesse work, and it provided much better control over the blade, as well as imparting less fatigue on the hand. I would have appreciated it if the sharpened blade area directly in front of the coil had been blunted slightly. The coil is somewhat small, and the blade could theoretically cut a particularly fat index finger. Thats easy enough for me to take care of though. Thirty seconds with a coarse hone should do the trick.
Ill also make quick mention of the standard Cordura sheath. While there are many custom options when it comes to sheaths for Busse knives, the stock sheath appears to be quite serviceable. I would have preferred Velcro instead of a snap on the retaining strap, but I can alter that to my personal taste with little trouble. The overall construction doesnt have that custom attention to detail, but I cant find anything functionally wrong with it, other than the fact that the knife has a bit of play inside the kydex liner. One thing I do like about the sheath is that it fits perfectly on the outside of my Adirondack pack basket. I can run the baskets straps through the sheaths belt loop, and use paracord to tie the bottom of the sheath down the baskets wooden frame bottom. I couldnt have designed a better fit for my pack.
What is also notable, about the Satin Jack, is its incredible balance. Ive never held a knife with as good a balance as the SJ. The center point of weight seems to be directly where your lay your index finger on the handle. If the weight had been any further forward, finesse cutting would have been a problem. Any further back, and light chopping could have become quite tedious. Busse struck a great bargain by putting the center point right where it should be.
As sad as it sounds, all knife makers must stay within the laws of physics. Tradeoffs must be made when it comes to stock thickness, weight distribution, length, and edge beveling. You take away from one aspect in order to specialize in another. What is most remarkable about the Satin Jack is its apparent lack of tradeoffs. Jerry Busse is so confident in his Infi steel that he has apparently designed the knife so that the steel has to cope with any tradeoffs he may have made. As long as Infi steel does what is expected of it, the design holds up. Talk about confidence in your manufacturing process!!!
All in all, the Busse LE Satin Jack more than impresses me. It is excellence both in design and manufacturing. While these are only my initial impressions, I am very confident that extended use will only show forth more this blades virtues. This knife is Jack Sprat, Jack Nicholson and Jack the Ripper, all rolled up into one awesomely sleek cutting machine. This could very well be the ultimate camp knife for those who wish to travel light in the backcountry.
and a CGSJ I still own). They are awesome and are great quality outdoor tools. I plan on buying more soon, the SJ is my constant outdoor fixed blade and will be for sometime to come.