- Joined
- Sep 11, 2002
- Messages
- 1,862
Yesterday I received my Buffalo Warden by way of Brian at Okuden. I've been anxious to receive this knife after this thread just to see what I was getting.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the overall quality of the Buffalo Warden. The thicker handles give it more of a "big knife" feel in comparison to an Orange Warden I have. The buffalo horn looks awesome after an initial wipe down with mineral oil. The handle rivets are driven in perfectly, and other than some smudging on the satin finish (which I buffed out) it's perfect! Grinds are dead on, and it came hair-popping sharp (whether it left the factory this way or if Brian touched it up any I don't know).
I got the Okuden A-2 sheath because I like the fact that it comes with 2 options of carry, IWB or with a removable tech-lock. I thought long and hard about marrying natural handle material with a synthetic sheath; but if anyone could do it I figured Brian could! And if you ask me, he did - in spades!
I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves; however I will state that the knife fits the sheath like a glove, and snaps securely into place.
As for the SH-E, this last weekend I ended up having to do some brush removal after the ice storms that hit us recently. It was a perfect chance for me to take a larger Busse out and beat some brush (as I cannot legally carry a large blade off my property in Iowa); and since I yet to have acquired a sheath for my CGFBM I instead opted to take the next best [Busse] thing, my SH-E.
I used the SH-E to clean off limbs for stacking wood into a wheelbarrow (to haul to the street corner for pickup) for the better part of an hour. I would guess the wood to be no more than 2½" thick at the most, was a combination of green and dried woods, and most of the removal I did was via chopping. This is the first time I've used a big knife for this sort of work extensively, so I really don't have anything to compare it to other than my observations:
The factory canvas sheath wears well. I didn't even notice I was wearing it (although I probably would have if I had to run).
The micarta handles are HARD. I probably was holding on too tight and some of the discomfort would have to be from impacting, but my hands hurt even when wearing work gloves.
The Ergo handles didn't seem to suite me to well for this sort of application. Granted, I was chopping with a knife that doesn't have a huge amount of forward weight (the sweet spot is behind the talon hole where the index finger rests on the handle), however I found myself choking up on the handle and almost holding the knife at the very bottom of the handle and covering the rear talon hole. I did develop a hot spot between my thumb and index finger, which I eventually alleviated by resting my thumb along the spine of the knife.
The asymmetrical edge was a fun experience as after I was done it was still crazy sharp. I later found a tiny roll near the sweep which I stropped out with a ceramic stone - which I could have gotten by hitting a stone on a downward chop or even on a hard knot.
I know what I did doesn't even begin to constitute abuse; but since it's the first time I've ever really beat a Busse I have to say the overall experience has reinforced my belief that Busse makes the BEST KNIVES in the WORLD. :thumbup:
I was pleasantly surprised to see the overall quality of the Buffalo Warden. The thicker handles give it more of a "big knife" feel in comparison to an Orange Warden I have. The buffalo horn looks awesome after an initial wipe down with mineral oil. The handle rivets are driven in perfectly, and other than some smudging on the satin finish (which I buffed out) it's perfect! Grinds are dead on, and it came hair-popping sharp (whether it left the factory this way or if Brian touched it up any I don't know).
I got the Okuden A-2 sheath because I like the fact that it comes with 2 options of carry, IWB or with a removable tech-lock. I thought long and hard about marrying natural handle material with a synthetic sheath; but if anyone could do it I figured Brian could! And if you ask me, he did - in spades!
I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves; however I will state that the knife fits the sheath like a glove, and snaps securely into place.
As for the SH-E, this last weekend I ended up having to do some brush removal after the ice storms that hit us recently. It was a perfect chance for me to take a larger Busse out and beat some brush (as I cannot legally carry a large blade off my property in Iowa); and since I yet to have acquired a sheath for my CGFBM I instead opted to take the next best [Busse] thing, my SH-E.
I used the SH-E to clean off limbs for stacking wood into a wheelbarrow (to haul to the street corner for pickup) for the better part of an hour. I would guess the wood to be no more than 2½" thick at the most, was a combination of green and dried woods, and most of the removal I did was via chopping. This is the first time I've used a big knife for this sort of work extensively, so I really don't have anything to compare it to other than my observations:
The factory canvas sheath wears well. I didn't even notice I was wearing it (although I probably would have if I had to run).
The micarta handles are HARD. I probably was holding on too tight and some of the discomfort would have to be from impacting, but my hands hurt even when wearing work gloves.
The Ergo handles didn't seem to suite me to well for this sort of application. Granted, I was chopping with a knife that doesn't have a huge amount of forward weight (the sweet spot is behind the talon hole where the index finger rests on the handle), however I found myself choking up on the handle and almost holding the knife at the very bottom of the handle and covering the rear talon hole. I did develop a hot spot between my thumb and index finger, which I eventually alleviated by resting my thumb along the spine of the knife.
The asymmetrical edge was a fun experience as after I was done it was still crazy sharp. I later found a tiny roll near the sweep which I stropped out with a ceramic stone - which I could have gotten by hitting a stone on a downward chop or even on a hard knot.
I know what I did doesn't even begin to constitute abuse; but since it's the first time I've ever really beat a Busse I have to say the overall experience has reinforced my belief that Busse makes the BEST KNIVES in the WORLD. :thumbup:
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