Most Important Knife Characteristic?

[Tyrkon Lawson]

With all the recent troll attacks on Busse knives I thought it'd be interesting to see what is most important to us in a knife. Take the poll here to select the #1 factor that is a must for your knives and then you can list the rest in order of importance and perhaps explain why. Let's see how close or diverse we are here.

 

[Tyrkon Lawson]

I'll start. Here is how I would rank the 4 choices.

(1) Slicing/cutting.
(2) Prying.
(3) Batonning.
(4) Chopping.

Living and spending 99% of my life in the urban Los Angeles area I look for a knife that would be most useful in such a settion. Especially in an emergency situation. I think cutting is really important in all settings. Needing to open stuch doors and other objects would be important here as well. Batonning for camp fires is usually a recreational thing but would be helpful if I had to rely on camp fires for cooking, warmth,, etc... Lastly is chopping only because I do not see nearly as much heavy chopping as you guys in the great outdoors do.

I know corrosion resistant, ease of sharpening, edge retention, etc... are all important but I wanted to keep the options more focused. Anyway, what do you guys and gals think?

 

[Waldganger]

I would also list them in the order that you have.

Slicing/Cutting is what a knife was made to do, prying can be done with many things, batonning is something that would have very specific end results, eg firewood or trap making, and chopping is something that I'd rely on a different tool, whether it is a knife or axe.

A slicer/cutter would be in my eyes a leaner/meaner, maybe with a Krein grind or such.

Prying and batonning would be done with something like a BATAC (my RAT-5 did it perfect) and the chopping would be done with a mistress.

saying that, I would have all three in my hunting bag, which also could double as a bug out bag, as it already has a first aid kit, fire gear, wet weather gear, emergency food, 3 litres of water, GPS and Walkie Talkie etc etc and all the gear needed to go with my bow for food harvesting.

anyway good thread idea, lets give them trolls something to thing about

 

[pmsayre153]

I think that listing your options in order of priority is a good idea because we tend to expect Busse knives, unlike others, to excel at most or all of those choices. Otherwise, 'cutting/slicing ability' is the most important. That is what a knife is for. The fact that you can confidently do the rest with Busses is one reason we appear to 'outsiders' as "Koolaid Clubbers". Pete

 

[Elen]

I'd say general durability. A broken knife is a useless knife, and in the worst case, it will cause injury to the user. After durability, it's obviously cutting, since that's what knives are for - durability only enables the blade to be actually intact when you need it for cutting something. Chopping, batoning and prying are pretty much meaningless to me for anything aside recreational, just for the heck of it, use. Sometimes they're fun to do, even a heck of a lot of fun, but I've never found such things necessary, under any circumstances. It's hard to find knives as durable, much less more durable, than Busses, and that's why I like 'em.

 

[Danno4017]

There are factors that are important to many that shape their choice that you have not listed.
Price
Value in relation to type of use.
I could not possibly spend hundreds of dollars on a knife of any make without upsetting the budget and the Wife.
If I was in the Army or lived on the land I may be able to rationalise it but that is not my case.
I understand their are plenty with more disposable income or those that prioritise in a different order, each to their own.
Live and let live.

 

[barrabas74]

I have mine in the same order though at first I was going to have chopping 2nd. However I put it last as most of my Busse's are not choppers I just happen to like choppers alot.

I think people complain or troll alot about Busse's because of there sometimes thick edges and thick stock which do not always lend to the cutting ability that everyone has as there #1.

Now I see it as I can put the edge I like to use on there and as long as its not too thick its no big deal. Most of the Busse's I have recieved have had decent to good edges and almost all were razor sharp. You cannot make everyone happy, but they make me happy so I guess thats all that matters

 

[Danno4017]

I have mine in the same order though at first I was going to have chopping 2nd. However I put it last as most of my Busse's are not choppers I just happen to like choppers alot.

I think people complain or troll alot about Busse's because of there sometimes thick edges and thick stock which do not always lend to the cutting ability that everyone has as there #1.

Now I see it as I can put the edge I like to use on there and as long as its not too thick its no big deal. Most of the Busse's I have recieved have had decent to good edges and almost all were razor sharp. You cannot make everyone happy, but they make me happy so I guess thats all that matters

What do you chop Mate?

 

[Solstice]

I'd have to put cutting & slicing at the top but batoning and chopping I would put together. Prying to me isn't the function of a knife so I would leave it out altogether.

 

[Last Visible Canary]

100% dependant on the task.

It's not wether I find prying more important then slicing, at their time of need the are equally important. I care about the characteristics of the knife I choose for each task, as they apply to the task.

a battle mistress with a paper thin edge would be pointless because it would get mangled in use. a custom slicer would be pointless with a pbf style 50 degree's per side edge.

for me, they are all of equal importance, though I use a knife for cutting and slicing more often then the other 3. but, when choosing my options on a ffbm, I'm not even remotely thinking of how it will slice potatoes.

 

[mymindisamob]

I'd have to put cutting & slicing at the top but batoning and chopping I would put together. Prying to me isn't the function of a knife so I would leave it out altogether.

Agreed, although I do take advantage of my INFIs capacity for abuse sometimes.

 

[jimmyjones]

How about 'cause it irritates the un-initiated' and brings out the trolls.


.....now excuse me while I go destroy a cinder block .


I just want a knife I can't break, regardless of what bone headed thing I might 'want' to do.





Oh, and pass me the Kool-Aid !

 

[Greg45]

I'll also go along with the poll order of importance. Cutting / slicing is always number 1. Chopping is second, depending on the knife (I don't do too much chopping with a GW ). In the deer woods, chopping is not just the ability to chop a log up, but also to re-arrange a little vegetation for a better line of site or a quieter entry to a stand.

I also agree with Solstice about chopping & batonning going hand in hand, but prying is important to me as well. When I think of prying, car doors and things like that aren't the first things that come to mind. I'm a notorious bullet hunter, and have snapped several blade tips digging projectiles out of boards, trees, and other places. It's good to have knives that can handle that. :thumbup:

 

[on_the_edge]

Just for everyone here who might not catch it, the sole voter that the single-most important function is as a pry tool is a fake Jerry. For some odd reason, I can smell them (all of the fake Jerrys) a mile away.

 

[theonew]

Just for everyone here who might not catch it, the sole voter that the single-most important function is as a pry tool is a fake Jerry. For some odd reason, I can smell them (all of the fake Jerrys) a mile away.

Good eye and good nose

 

[Mr. Clean]

Exactly in the order the poll is set up

 

[azshaman]

I'm voting for cutting/slicing, since I do that most often; but I also have to agree that everything is task-dependent. I prefer my battered BM-E for trolls, orcs, and the occasional irate goblin. Scorpions fear my Hell Razor. I can't wait until the day I can own an AK for the zombies...I have such short arms!!!

A girl needs a knife...

 

[mikeymoto]

I'm not going to vote on this one because I feel my requirements depend on the specific knife. I say this with an assumption that some knives are better at things than others.

For example I don't think I prize the GW as much for its chopping ability as its ability to cut/slice, and its ease of sharpening.

On the other hand I prize the FBM more for its chopping abilities and ease of sharpening than for ultra high edge retention.

 

[Z51]

You forgot "collect" ability.

 

[THEGRATENATE]

The most important factor is how it looks, followed closely by how envious my friends are of it. If it doesn't get me accepted into the club then why would I want it.