My new wilderness knife

Steel-Junky, you do raise some valid points, however I don't think you fully comprehend the durability of a good convex edge, especially a Busse convex edge.
I just got a bunchoblades back from Ban, and have no fear of damaging them, I've hit rocks, concrete, glass nails and maybe some other stuff while batoning aged oak, and have actually never needed to even touch up an edge while out.

Now if you are worried about serious damage, you can carry a piece of sandpaper and a ceramic rod or small stone. What I have done with my SARSquatch is use the ceramic(Fallkniven DC-4) to put a sort of micro bevel on and then use the sandpaper to convex it out, I'm sure you could do the same with your Spyderco stuff, and you'd only be adding a few fractions of an ounce.

And Busse knives really shine with a convex edge, they are ment to be together
Now, with all that said, if you prefer a v grind thats perfect, I just think you are underestimating the convex
 
Steel-Junky said:
That's only to maintain the edge... a very dull or even deformed convex edge must be stropped with grits as low as 100. That means taking 5 to 10 different grits with you to address any possible edge damage that might occur in the field... My two little Spyderco Pro-Files can fix and maintain just about anything that can happen to a regular V-Grind.
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How long do you plan on being in the field? Sooner or later you will be at home repairing any damage with your heavy maintenance tools. I highly doubt you can do enough damage to a good steel knife like a Busse in the field to render it inoperable or deadlined for the duration of the field problem.

How did we ever survive with only 440A?:D

I'm slowly being won over by the convexed edge concept myself. But by all means, use what you are confident in, and works for you.
 
Even if you get a little ding in the blade, it's not going to render it useless. It will still work fine until you get home. IMO if you have a good convex edge, you just are not very apt to do any damage to a decent blade without almost trying.Even if you did need to repair a little ding in the field, your rod or a small file will fix a convex edge too.
 
featherstone45 said:
Im pretty sure the TOPS knife was first, and yeah thay look ALOT alike...
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There are literally dozens of knives that look very much like those two. That's just because it's a darn good basic design. Any company would be foolish not to address that market. It's not a conspiracy, honest.
 
What ever the edge type...
If you were in a RLSS® you'd use what you had.
Small pocketstone, river stone, ceramic stick, bottom of a porcelain coffee cup, top edge of a car window...
You get it sharp enough to cut again, and if you do survive;), you fix it up after you get home.

Look at all those old pocket knives and FB's with worn, convexed edges.
Those old timers didn't have mouse pads :D
 
gruntinhusaybah said:
Steel-Junky, you do raise some valid points, however I don't think you fully comprehend the durability of a good convex edge, especially a Busse convex edge.
I just got a bunchoblades back from Ban, and have no fear of damaging them, I've hit rocks, concrete, glass nails and maybe some other stuff while batoning aged oak, and have actually never needed to even touch up an edge while out.

Now if you are worried about serious damage, you can carry a piece of sandpaper and a ceramic rod or small stone. What I have done with my SARSquatch is use the ceramic(Fallkniven DC-4) to put a sort of micro bevel on and then use the sandpaper to convex it out, I'm sure you could do the same with your Spyderco stuff, and you'd only be adding a few fractions of an ounce.

And Busse knives really shine with a convex edge, they are ment to be together
Now, with all that said, if you prefer a v grind thats perfect, I just think you are underestimating the convex
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Don't get me wrong... I know how VERY strong a convex edge is. It doesn't surprise me that it holds up to nails... And I have been giving some thought to using one.... I put together a stropping kit with grits from 100 to 3000 for my work bench just for that purpose. I just know that a V grind is easier to fix in the field when gross damage happens... now... the good thing about the convex is that it takes a great deal to damage it... So I don't know where the give and take line is. I'm probably setting up rules for a failure event that will never happen LOL. As some of you have said... you've never actually seen a convex edge take the kind of damage where it would require that sort of repair.
 
I like the blade shape and all the back and forth about edges is interesting too. I never gave it much thought. I've never had much of a problem keeping a knife sharp. The few knives I have made I've always used the convex edge. Wouldn't a hatched or axe edge be convex? They sure seem to be able to handle the abuse.

Anyhow back to this Busse's blade. I must get out of the cave more often I haven't heard of this brand before, though that's true with many of the knives discussed here. The first time I heard of Bark River I checked them out and bought one of the Auroras. A nice knife but I needed to sharpen it when it came in, it did sharpen up nicely but I was a bit disappointed that it came that way. I like the knife and plan on keeping it but I've learned not to go searched all the knives that are mentioned and revered here.

I've got a few buddies that make knives, Edgar Chattin and Tony Bell and I guess I'll just keep getting knives from these guys, it was meeting them that stopped me from making my own. Yeah they'll rust in heartbeat but I have no problem maintaining them even here in humid Florida.

This one I bought from Tony about 4 years ago, it's similar to the knife in this discussion and it has been used quite a bit the edge has never been as dull as that Bark River knife the day I received it.

Pictured here with a sheath I made for it. I photoshopped the image the knife is in the sheath when I took that part of the picture.

2454208120033885154S600x600Q85.jpg
 
I've been backpacking in the wilderness for 5 days before, used my knife a lot every day and it was still plenty sharp to use at the end. That was a 3/32" Nessmuk!:thumbup:
 
hushnel said:
Anyhow back to this Busse's blade. I must get out of the cave more often I haven't heard of this brand before...
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What?:eek:

You do know Obama got elected, don't you?:D

Just kiddin' around, hushnel!
 
Steel-Junky said:
You get the thick unbreakable Busse Edge when you buy the knife. They are working edges and come razor sharp... now if you want to customize it for a specific type of work that's on the user. But Jerry believes in selling you a knife with a super duty edge. I've never had a Busse that didn't come razor sharp... however I have had a few I needed to thin out becuase the factory edge was not ideal for the tasks I was putting the knife toward. I'd much rather have to remove some steel than add it.

People mistaken think that a thick blade cannot cut efficiently. I think some of this is ignorance on the users part. Geometry is a great deal of it. On a Busse there is a lot of material right behind the edge... that's one thing that makes them so tough... but the edge angle is easily laid down if that's what you need done... I don't think I've ever seen someone need to increas the angle on a Busse LOL.
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Sorry, but you're mistaken. A thick edge can be razor sharp, and slice paper very well, but for cutting other things like wood, geometry is as important as being sharpness. The larger the angle the farther away the spine has to be held from what ever youre cutting, and that affects performance.

There's a reason people prefer Scandi grinds for woods knives, a 25degree edge simply cuts MUCH nicer than an equally sharp 40degree edge.


If you're planing on stripping your SAR5, expect a lot of ugly underneath. It's not like some other Busses that have a nice bead blast finish bellow coating. The convexed bevel has CNC grind lines and the flats are covered with dimples, including a strip along the top, it's not quite a full convexed grind, it's more like a very tall saber grind with a convexed bevel. The dimples take absolutely forever to sand out by hand, I wouldnt even bother without a belt grinder.
 
:D
Ankar Sheng said:
Sorry, but you're mistaken. A thick edge can be razor sharp, and slice paper very well, but for cutting other things like wood, geometry is as important as being sharpness. The larger the angle the farther away the spine has to be held from what ever youre cutting, and that affects performance.

There's a reason people prefer Scandi grinds for woods knives, a 25degree edge simply cuts MUCH nicer than an equally sharp 40degree edge.


If you're planing on stripping your SAR5, expect a lot of ugly underneath. It's not like some other Busses that have a nice bead blast finish bellow coating. The convexed bevel has CNC grind lines and the flats are covered with dimples, including a strip along the top, it's not quite a full convexed grind, it's more like a very tall saber grind with a convexed bevel. The dimples take absolutely forever to sand out by hand, I wouldnt even bother without a belt grinder.
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Sounds like you care more about looks than performance my friend. You seem to spend a lot of time making sure your knife is pretty. You ever see a construction worker worrying about the scratches or rub marks on his hammer?

Now back to your misinformation. You say a thick edge is not good for wood. This old argument. Again as I've said a MILLION times to you bushcraft guys... it depends on what type of chores you're putting the knife to. For carving a smoking pipe out of a piece of drift wood... you're absolutely right... a thick beefy edge will perform poorly at this task. For carving a spoon... it's not very good. These are wood working chores... and as has been said many times... there is a big difference between survival ideals and bushcraft ones. Now a thick beffy edge is absolutely wonderful at splitting wood or chopping. And you can find I happy medium between what you get from the factory on a Busse and what you like in a edge for carving a little wooden soldier out in the woods. You can lay down the edge a little and get a working knife that will chop well for it's size and work wood well enough to make traps, snares, shelters, ect... I don't NEED a knife that can carve a wooden duck out of a piece of drift wood. To me such a skill... while impressive... is not useful. Making snares, traps, shelters and such are useful skills... and this knife will do that quite well thank you. Even with it's ugly dimples.
 
While we are on the subject:

Does anyone have any trouble with the INFI steel throwing sparks off of a firesteel??

I have a BAD and a Game Warden and I'm not sure what it is but I can only get minimal sparks from a firesteel with either. Are the spines beveled?

I find it hard to believe it's the steel since a stainless Fallkniven will totally crank the sparks:eek:
 
I do not know about the Busse, but the Tops, is one FINE knife, in the payaste lite.
 
Steel-Junky said:
Now a thick beffy edge is absolutely wonderful at splitting wood or chopping.
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Yeah, but that very same edge, convexed, will cut even better with same final angle at the edge. They just don't bind as much, and push the wood apart more easily.

Check out a lumberjack competition once. These guys are pretty serious about their tools, and I daresay you won't find a flat V-edge on any of their big choppers. There's nothing new about this, as someone mentioned above.

The supposed maintenance factor of convex edges is just way overblown. It's not that hard, guys. If nothing else you can always convex the edge and put a microbevel on it, if that's easier for you to sharpen. You'll still have the smoother cutting of the convex on your side.
 
James_Terrio said:
Yeah, but that very same edge, convexed, will cut even better with same final angle at the edge. They just don't bind as much, and push the wood apart more easily.

Check out a lumberjack competition once. These guys are pretty serious about their tools, and I daresay you won't find a flat V-edge on any of their big choppers. There's nothing new about this, as someone mentioned above.

The supposed maintenance factor of convex edges is just way overblown. It's not that hard, guys. If nothing else you can always convex the edge and put a microbevel on it, if that's easier for you to sharpen. You'll still have the smoother cutting of the convex on your side.
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LOL Are you still on the convex thing... We're just talking about thickness of the edge now. Like I said... I know Convex edges are strong... and most of the nice axes and hatchets I've seen have them. I'm just not sure (For myself) that under gross damage they'd be easy to fix in the field... I could be very wrong... but this is the reason I've stayed away from them.
 
Steel-Junky said:
:D

Sounds like you care more about looks than performance my friend. You seem to spend a lot of time making sure your knife is pretty. You ever see a construction worker worrying about the scratches or rub marks on his hammer?

Now back to your misinformation. You say a thick edge is not good for wood. This old argument. Again as I've said a MILLION times to you bushcraft guys... it depends on what type of chores you're putting the knife to. For carving a smoking pipe out of a piece of drift wood... you're absolutely right... a thick beefy edge will perform poorly at this task. For carving a spoon... it's not very good. These are wood working chores... and as has been said many times... there is a big difference between survival ideals and bushcraft ones. Now a thick beffy edge is absolutely wonderful at splitting wood or chopping. And you can find I happy medium between what you get from the factory on a Busse and what you like in a edge for carving a little wooden soldier out in the woods. You can lay down the edge a little and get a working knife that will chop well for it's size and work wood well enough to make traps, snares, shelters, ect... I don't NEED a knife that can carve a wooden duck out of a piece of drift wood. To me such a skill... while impressive... is not useful. Making snares, traps, shelters and such are useful skills... and this knife will do that quite well thank you. Even with it's ugly dimples.
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I'm not going to argue with you, as you're clearly set in your ways. I'm just going to point out the irony in saying I'm spreading misinformation when I say a thin edge carves better than a thick one (and suggesting people have come to this conclusion due to ignorance) then in the same paragraph admit a "beefy edge" will preform poorly at carving.:jerkit:
 
Steel Junky, I don't even see why you ask questions, seems like your mind is already made up. Chris
 
hollowdweller said:
While we are on the subject:

Does anyone have any trouble with the INFI steel throwing sparks off of a firesteel??

I have a BAD and a Game Warden and I'm not sure what it is but I can only get minimal sparks from a firesteel with either. Are the spines beveled?

I find it hard to believe it's the steel since a stainless Fallkniven will totally crank the sparks:eek:
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I dont mean to get in the middle of this interesting discussion. :yawn:

but, yeah HD the spines of the busses Ive owned all have a very slight bevel to em. The BATAC I posted pics of throws great sparks since I squared off the spine. :thumbup: Same with my SMOG warden.... Before that I was having alot of trouble getting sparks from the spine too.

Ankar Sheng, I caught your point, and didnt see anything confrontational about it, nor did I gather that you prefer your blades to be pretty to functional. ill bet that SAR you redid is a freakin light saber, and tough as nails.:cool:

SJ- bro, im not trying to come off as a dick, but you come off as very confrontational to guys offering you their personal opinions. I dont know if you see you are doing it, but you are. Why all the hate twoards bushcrafters? Have you read Bush Craft? Its not all about carving little wooden ducks and soldiers.:D It seems like to me, if you have no experiance with a convex edge, as you have stated, you dont know enough to make an accurate comparison. The guys who do have experiance with both V grinds and convex, are just offering up their impressions and opinions. Take em as they are. :thumbup::)

A happy medium to me, is a convex edge. Its a "do all" type of edge thick enough, but not too thick. However, use what works for you. Thats what is important. I think Busses Asymetrical edge is convex on one side and V on the other isnt it?
 
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