Military model by Burt Foster, MS - micarta rules!

When I saw the combination of loverly green canvas micarta and Burt's forged finish, I was... in love.

This one was shown in Roger's post, but here we go again. This time it resides with me.

orig.jpg


I love the touchmark on the sheath backside strap.
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Completely ergonomic handle with a nearly indestructible material. The sheath (as ALL of Burt's sheaths are) is a work in itself.

It came with a fine zipper pouch and paper documentation on it's build. The complete package.

I am quite pleased. Get in line. (My next order has also been placed for something more fancy. :D)

Coop
 
If I didnt make my own, I'd buy from Burt.

Great looking knife and of course a photo to do it justice Jim.
 
Oh yeah, this is a line you want to be in. Burt is one of a handlful of makers with whom I always have a knife on order. In fact, one is inbound at present - swapping micarta for ivory this time. ;)

This is a terrific piece and I am glad you snagged it. I think this particular sheath design is one that Burt picked up from Chris Kravitt (Treestump Leather) at the Northeast Hammer-in that we both attended. I like it a lot - a pouch sheath that can still accomodate a double-guard.

Great pics.

Roger
 
RogerP, you are one heck of a collector, and well Burt is the man!

Nice score!
 
SharpByCoop said:
When I saw the combination of loverly green canvas micarta and Burt's forged finish, I was... in love.

This one was shown in Roger's post, but here we go again. This time it resides with me.

orig.jpg


I love the touchmark on the sheath backside strap.
orig.jpg


Completely ergonomic handle with a nearly indestructible material. The sheath (as ALL of Burt's sheaths are) is a work in itself.

It came with a fine zipper pouch and paper documentation on it's build. The complete package.

I am quite pleased. Get in line. (My next order has also been placed for something more fancy. :D)

Coop
Click to expand...

If ever put in a harsh environment under severe circumstances, I would want this baby on my team. :eek: :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Very stylistically done, especially Coops picture of the handle profile. i like it a lot. couple of questions, first, the scale left on the blade, in the feild, would this area be more likely to become more pitted and rusted, harder to keep clean?

Also, for a military knife, why go custom. How would the performance compare with something such as offered by a production knife of military gear, for example.. Busse combat? Is that taboo to ask?

there should be some way of knowing, minus marketing, objective data to support a general conclusion. Do you think the knives would stand up equally well in tests, would you want to know?

This is what you can't see and still matters. Understand, I am not calling Burt's knife into question, it is beautiful. just there is no accurate way to perceive a performance rating on a knife by seeing a picture of it, compare to any other military knife company. Busse combat is the one on my mind, since i see there is a booming collector market in these and they display a lot of artistic micarta, everthing from plain jane up to zebra patterns.
David
 
I'll try to answer that, and see if this makes any sense.

There are two kinds of performance when it comes to knives. The first is the kind that can be attained through accurate and appropriate heat treatment. Manufacturers have this ability, and many custom makers do not have the equipment to rival the equipment in industry for accuracy and repeatability. Of course, I'd say I do, but who wouldn't claim that? But seriously, I do. :)

The second, and the thing that has far more to do with performance is what custom makers do best. And that is the "compromises." Yeah, I know that the HK slogan is "In a world of compromise, some don't." That sounds great, but it just ain't true. Everything's a compromise, and you're kidding yourself if you don't believe that. Since you can't make a knife that will thinly slice a tomato and chop a cinderblock in half, any more than you can make a truck that will haul 10,000 lbs and still get 50 mpg, then the makers and the manufacturers have to decide where they want to come down on that spectrum. For every job, there is a tool that will do that job best. Knives can be made to be very task-specific, or they can be a jack-of-all-trades, though master of none. That is where a good custom maker can tailor a knife to suit a customer better than a manufacturer.

That's why it's so hard to compare performance between two knives, because one may be superior in one respect, while the other will be better in others. It is ultimately up to the buyer to determine what the real job of the knife will be and to buy the knife that will suit his needs the best. Most "combat" knives carried by active duty personnel, are used for cutting real things - not rocks or armor plating, so my military knives are cutting tools, first and foremost. That means I have traded off a measure of "indestructibility" for what I'd call real-world performance. You could hurt one of my blades if you really set out to try to. But you can damage your M16 if you use it as a prypar, and you can damage a HUMMVEE by not changing the oil.

Every tool has its limits, but if you understand where those limits are, and the care and maintenance required to keep it working at its best, then that tool will ultimately work far better than one that is marketed as a tool that can do anything and never require maintenance.
 
Yay Burt! :thumbup:
 
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