Introduction, Opinion Requested

Daniel Halcomb

Daniel Halcomb

Joined
Sep 26, 2015
Messages
231
Hey everyone, I'm rather new around here and haven't posted much, so I'd like to officially introduce myself and say hello.

My name is Daniel, I'm from Idaho and I'm starting college this coming fall, so I'm buying knives while I still have money :D ;)
I love hiking, backpacking, camping etc., and will be studying physics.

My first Busse came in the mail on Monday, a 2g SH-e, and I must say I'm more than impressed. It surpassed all my expectations and was well worth the 5 month wait.

But now I'm faced with a dilemma. I also ordered the 2g BM-e, and anything that I won't use isn't really in the budget. I bought the SHe to be an all-around camp knife, which it will excel at, but after realizing that this SHe will be a good chopper despite its shorter length, I wonder how much of a difference the extra 2 inches on the BMe will make. What're your thoughts, based on experiences with other knives? Will the 2 inches make it a significantly better chopper(worth another $400 from a functionality standpoint), or will the SHe be able to keep up for the most part?

Though the more I play with this SHe, the more I think this post is pointless, as I might end up owning the entire ergo lineup at some point :rolleyes:

Anyways, thank you in advance for any input you may have.
 
First off, welcome to the forum..I think you will be surprised at how lively this forum is. Everyone is always happy to lend advice. Jerry Busse, Garth, and others like David Brown make it fun as hell.
and 'm a huge fan of the steel heart size for an all round blade.. but I do think the BM will chop better enough to have both. But that's my limited 2 cents..there are people on here with a lot more experience than me.. great to have ya!
 
The 2 extra inches will make it a better chopper but it's up to you decide if you need/can afford both.

I say wait until you get the 2G BMe in hand before you make a decision on which one you want to keep or if you want both!

Welcome to the forum, cheers!
 
Howdy from Massachusetts, Daniel! I'm still just a wee piglet myself, but I can welcome you to the Wonderful World of Busse & Kin™! I purchased a 2GBM-e myself! As well as a CGBB13. Do I need either of them? Nope. Can I afford them? Depends on who you ask. Will I love them? Darn skippy! For me it all started with an AMS, and now I see where I can cut unnecessary costs in my life just to afford my INFI fix. :D Seriously though, once you've got a taste for it, you crave more. GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!

As for your question, I can't speak from experience as I'm still waiting on a large slab of INFI myself (my biggest piece right now is the aforementioned AMS) but based on what I've seen from others' posts and pics, I imagine that the 2GSH-e will handle whatever you can throw at it and them some. The extra 2 inches offered by the 2GBM-e will probably only make larger tasks like chopping and batoning slightly easier what with having increased mass and all. The Steel Heart is the favorite platform of many a user here, and for good reason. It's an excellent all-around blade, and she certainly won't let you down.

ETA: If you can swing it, it probably won't hurt to hang on until you get the 2GBM-e in hand, as ExtraBaconPlease suggested, and see how she handles. If you decide it's not worth it, you can always sell it on the secondary market here and recoup your losses. Busse knives are great at retaining their value, used or otherwise, and chances are there'll be someone who missed out during the initial offering that will be willing to pick one up second-hand.
 
Robdude said:
First off, welcome to the forum..I think you will be surprised at how lively this forum is. Everyone is always happy to lend advice. Jerry Busse, Garth, and others like David Brown make it fun as hell.
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Thank you! Perhaps I should have said "relatively new." I've been around since a bit before or maybe just after O2W started (I just haven't been super active), and you are absolutely right. I've never seen a better forum community :thumbup:

Thanks for your input, I agree that the steel heart is perfect for an all round blade, and would love to try some of the other variations of the model such as the ASH and FSH eventually.
 
You guys bring up a good point about trying it out and reselling it. I've glanced at the exchange before, but roughly how much of their value do Busse knives generally retain on the aftermarket?

Apologies for the double post, I walked away part way through typing that response and then came back and sent it, didn't realize there were new posts.
 
I have a steel heart ergo and a fusion battle mistress - both earlier models, but maybe close enough to the new models to offer a comment. To me they feel like very different knives.

SHe is an all-rounder, can do finer tasks (like food prep - I use mine in the kitchen) as well as chopping and batonning. It is not forward-heavy and so feels fast and nimble. Also easier to carry. For chopping, it can do small branches (<3 inches) easily but I probably wouldn't bother with anything bigger - you could, but why struggle?

Battle Mistress is mostly a chopper - not so good for finer tasks you might have in camp. It feels clumsy to me for anything other than chopping, batonning, prying bark and broken wood, but feels the opposite to clumsy when doing those 'bigger' tasks - it feels extremely good in hand, perfectly balanced for the task, very easy to use. The BM is the one I've grown to love the most out of ~15 Bussekin I own, it is a very special knife. You feel bomb-proof when carrying a BM.

If can you only take one knife with you, and want to be able to do a bunch of finer tasks, then I would recommend the SH. If you can take two knives with you, the best combo would be a BM and a small knife (fixed or folder).

I'd suggest handling both to see how they feel. You can always sell one on the secondary market to recoup some cash, they don't lose value.
 
Daniel Halcomb said:
You guys bring up a good point about trying it out and reselling it. I've glanced at the exchange before, but roughly how much of their value do Busse knives generally retain on the aftermarket?

Apologies for the double post, I walked away part way through typing that response and then came back and sent it, didn't realize there were new posts.
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I've watched the exchange a lot, lately, and done a fair share of acquiring that way. From what I can tell, O2W blades rarely go for more than they sold for, plus shipping costs. Occasionally I see one go for what I believe is below cost. The only ones that go for significantly more than I believe they sold for are the older Busses, [edited to clarify: pre-O2W, by a significant amount of time] that have been out of production for a long while, or were limited runs, etc.

In short, if you wait on the 2GBMe and decide to sell it, I doubt you'll get more than you have in it, and you MIGHT have to let it sit on the exchange for a bit to move it at cost.
 
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Welcome!!

My experience is still fairly limited, since I only really started getting into Bussekin last October, but I would also expect the BME to pack a significantly bigger punch than the SHE, due to the additional length/leverage/speed/heft.
 
Welcome mate :)

First things first - hide your credit cards. Put a small limit on them, cut them up, do something. The secret ingredients of INFI are highly addictive and you can never ever stop at one.

That said, wait until you get the BMe, you'll be surprised at how well that thing goes. And good first choice too! Holy crap!! :)
 
If I had to choose between the two, I'd keep the Mistress. Hands down. I've owned both, played with both. Ergo mistress is bigger, but doesn't seem so.
 
Thank you all for the advice and kind words, I think I will take it and just wait until I've held both to make the call. I just checked the exchange, and a 2gSHe sold for about $100 above its price from the shop, so that's encouraging, though that may change when O2W picks up again.

tinfoil hat timmy, by "doesn't seem so" do you mean that it handles about the same as the steel heart ergo, yet still chops better because it's bigger?
 
I thought a satin convex NMSFNO was the perfect knife, including very good if not perfect chopping ability, but I lusted after what seemed like the uber-chopper ability of a BM. While my NMSFNO was away at the custom shop for a good long while, I tried out a couple blades that called to me, including a stripped and convexed CGFBM. I'm mainly chopping downed trees in the 4"-10" diameter range to clear trail while running, so I deal with both live and dead wood, but don't do much batoning/spliting. I might make several cuts through a tree in a row, but I'm not using the thing as an axe-substitute for extended periods of time.

My take: the added chopping ability of 2" just isn't what it seems like it would be, and the added length of a BM makes it more impractical/specialty/Rambo blade versus the more versatile and less remarkable blade.
 
Those are some really good points Dr., and I started to think along those lines after I posted earlier.

Ultimately, I think it would be very situation dependent sort of question for me. For example, there is no question in my mind that my 1111 far out-chops my B8, but that doesn't mean I'd necessarily prefer the 1111 as a general camp knife. I'm very pleased with how well the B8 does chop for it's size and it's certainly more versatile and easier to pack along or belt carry.

I know these aren't the blades being discussed, but it's the closest comparison I can draw at the moment. Heck, a lot of folks get by on far less than even a RMD, but where's the fun in that? :D

All I know is the new BME is going to be su-weeeeet!
 
Daniel Halcomb said:
tinfoil hat timmy, by "doesn't seem so" do you mean that it handles about the same as the steel heart ergo, yet still chops better because it's bigger?
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That's about right. The Ergo battle mistress isn't much bigger than a NMSFNO BTW. I've had one of those too, and the Ergo mistress won. At least in my book.
 
Just to add... I skipped the SHe. I don't remember specifically why now, but I did. But when the BMe came up, I jumped on it immediately. Partly because it came along about the time I wished I had grabbed the SHe. But, it will probably be paired with something like a 'mandu, BATAC, or the BAe that I also have coming. So... never mind. That doesn't help you, not really. Except to give a couple of hints of good knives to pair a BMe with. Maybe.
 
Howdy and Welcome Dan! I'm still waiting for my SHe, but I KNOW it will be awesome!:D I have several larger knives, but think that the SHe will do all I will ever need.

The other folks are right...Infi is a STRONG addiction and you will eventually have more!:D
 
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