R. W. :
Now I am not holding it right?
It wasn't the way I said I could break it no. That is kind of critical.
[comparing two unspecified reviews]
Second, they both sport Kydex carry rigs. Both are clamshell style. Cliff only mentions the good points of the Busse rig (ie no rattle, good retention, and nice leg loop). But in the review of the clone Cliff clearly states that he dislikes Kydex for its low durability in heat extremes. Why was this "negative" not mentioned in the Busse review.
If this is the SH-Battle Mistress review, because it was wrote many years earlier before I saw brittle failure with Kydex. The newer reviews such as the Camp Tramp reference the inherent problems with Kydex in this regard. I have also made those statements on the Busse forum here. There were also pictures of my shattered Basic sheath in the reviews forum and on the Busse forum. But yes that should be part of the review, it was just updated.
First the edges of the Busse and the Clone were only 0.001 apart in edge thickness (and the Busse is thicker). But in the reviews Cliff states that this is the ideal performace edge for the Busse, but then states that it is to thick for the clone
That would be a problem if the knives were intended for the same use, Busse generally allows use which other makers are less than positive about which would obviously then indicate different optimal edges. Which two reviews were you looking at exactly. For pure wood working and other lighter tasks the Busse edges are overbuilt for most, this is noted in the reviews and I have said it on the forums.
By attacking my fit and finish right off the bat ...
I actually thought that was actually more positive than negative considering the whole of what was said. Note the Busse reviews also contain such statements, the Howling Rat sheath was a little loose, the Camp Tramp tight, and both the Howling Rat and Camp Tramp didn't have 100% optimal sharpness edges and there was also variance in edge thickness and angle. The BM-E has a raised tang. The SH BM had a sharp choil (and to a lesser extent so did the Camp Tramp).
[just to clarify the Howling Rat and Camp Tramp are Swamp Rat knives, not from Busse Combat, but could also be called Busse knives since his wife runs that company]
Digger :
So are mine on one side, fisherman on the other.
I would much rather read how well a knife cuts open feed bags, whittles tent spikes, picks a splinter from under your skin, cleansd small game, prepares a meal, spreads peanut butter etc,
Those kinds of things are in there along with the stock testing.
Jeff :
It is possible that there is something new to be observed with this amorphous solid if you really work on a fine edge. Since the material is sort of soft I would try stropping it with ferric oxide (jeweler's rouge) as one of the experiments. I would try working on it with hones and strops that are made for sharpening straight razors.
It is soft but doesn't always behave as you might expect based on its softness. For example at 50 HRC is does not file near as readily as a SAK (or other similar knife). You can file it, but the file does not bite in as readily. Is jewlers rouge even finer that CrO? Maybe trying it out on clean leather after CrO. However when I have really tried in the past to get such high levels of polishes on steels, I never really found a limit and could get even "bad" steels like ATS-34 to be very sharp, and approach true razor sharpness (the double sided disposable ones you buy).
It might however be interesting to compare sharpness at various grit levels. I have sharpened this knife now completely six times, extensive sharpenings, removing a micro-bevel each time, and it does get sharp fairly easily. Freehand I can consistently get shaving edges with just a 1000 grit hones. I was really impressed with this until I tried the same thing on a steel knife and it behaved the same way. As a positive side effect of all the sharpening I have done lately my freehand skills are actually half decent now.
Kit :
[LM1]
I have sharpened this one a lot (waterstones + cro and ceramic and diamond rods), and if anything I would call it easy to sharpen if anything. What abrasives were you using, belts and a buffer?
Back to the knife :
I have done some heavy whittling, the performance is solid, very close to the Pronghorn (which is an interesting contrast). It easily out cut the Howling Rat (with NIB geometry) due to the thinner edge and more acute primary grind. It also doesn't need to be used in a choked up grip for near maximum power because the sharpened edge goes full back to the handle so there is no leverage disadvantage. There is a problem with ergonomics in that use however as the handle is a bit flat on the underside, no curvature, it just goes straight across. This induces a little "squarness" which would ideally be removed.
A note on sharpening and hte lack of a choil. It is often said that this makes sharpening difficult, and it can depending on the method, if you use v-rods it has little effect, but on freehand sharpening not being able to bring the stone back to the start of the edge does require an influence. You basically have to hone the first cm or so separately and then do the whole thing. Not a big deal and for me greatly out weighs the negatives of choil notches like hangups.
Also used the knife with a high polish for some light vegetation cutting, it worked well. The main problem here was simply lack of reach, and for the heavier stalks, not enough blade balance. Most light work was more productive with the blade pinched sideways and the material cut with a flick of the wrist. No problem in getting the blade very sharp so it cut all that kind of light stuff very well. Tried it out on some soft woods also, mainly Alders. It could easily chop them down readily (small woods, under an inch), but slightly harder wood of decent sized to make shelter would require the use of a baton to make it efficient.
Just as on the turkey, the thin point proved to be efficicent on some fish. It was a little large for the fish I ws cleaning (some trout), but still easy to handle due to the low weight. Not having to be so careful about corrosion after the cutting is a decent bonus as well - though this you can get with a decent stainless of course.
-Cliff
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