New Guy questions

[devil07]

I'm new to the forum, and Busse Combat products. I have been reading as much as possible over the last few weeks, and I am getting close to making a decision on which Busse to go with, but I have some questions first. Now, my intent is not for this to be a "pick a knife for me" thread, but any suggestions along those lines will be welcomed.

So far, I have focused mainly on Satin Jack Tac (CG?) and now the ASH1 models, but there seems to be a few variations to choose from. My intended purpose for this knife is a general use knife in the field, but with the primary purpose being my pending deployment (USMC 0311).

Most of the models I have been seeing for sale (in my price range) are 3/16 (.187") thick.

Between the two mentioned (ASH1 and SJ Tac) is there a discernible advantage in utility?

Can both be safely used for chopping, splitting wood (using a rock/hammer)?

Does a .25" blade have an advantage over the thinner .187 ones? Such as prying. While I understand a knife is not intended to be used as a prybar, I am buying this to take overseas, first and foremost. Getting a great field/survival knife is just a pleasant result, and while it may be calming down "over there," it may heat up. So, I want the knife that can take any possible abuse. If I need to use my knife to pry open a door, I'm going to do it. If the thicker one is noticeably better for this purpose, let me know.

Next, about variations/grades.
What exactly distinguishes a blade as Combat Grade vs others?

Is it a thickness thing or what? Like with the Satin Jacks. According to hogcult.com, there is the SJ CG at .25, the SJ TAC CJ at .187, and the SJ TAC LE at .22. So what do the TAC, CG, and LE actually indicate. Is it more of a way of simply keeping the models separate, or is there a method to the madness that I am missing?

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise,
John

 

[idahoskunk]

welcome to the busse forum! :thumbup:

both the satin jack and ash-1 would be a perfect choice for you. i'm sure a few hogs will be along shortly to give you their comments on these two blades.

.

 

[Jeremy Horton]

Get yourself a bottle of scotch! drink half! Buy both!!! it's soooooo much easier than putting yourself under all this pressure!!!

 

[Deadhead Archer]

I'm new to the forum, and Busse Combat products. I have been reading as much as possible over the last few weeks, and I am getting close to making a decision on which Busse to go with, but I have some questions first. Now, my intent is not for this to be a "pick a knife for me" thread, but any suggestions along those lines will be welcomed.

So far, I have focused mainly on Satin Jack Tac (CG?) and now the ASH1 models, but there seems to be a few variations to choose from. My intended purpose for this knife is a general use knife in the field, but with the primary purpose being my pending deployment (USMC 0311).

Most of the models I have been seeing for sale (in my price range) are 3/16 (.187") thick.

Between the two mentioned (ASH1 and SJ Tac) is there a discernible advantage in utility?

Can both be safely used for chopping, splitting wood (using a rock/hammer)?

Does a .25" blade have an advantage over the thinner .187 ones? Such as prying. While I understand a knife is not intended to be used as a prybar, I am buying this to take overseas, first and foremost. Getting a great field/survival knife is just a pleasant result, and while it may be calming down "over there," it may heat up. So, I want the knife that can take any possible abuse. If I need to use my knife to pry open a door, I'm going to do it. If the thicker one is noticeably better for this purpose, let me know.

Next, about variations/grades.
What exactly distinguishes a blade as Combat Grade vs others?

Is it a thickness thing or what? Like with the Satin Jacks. According to hogcult.com, there is the SJ CG at .25, the SJ TAC CJ at .187, and the SJ TAC LE at .22. So what do the TAC, CG, and LE actually indicate. Is it more of a way of simply keeping the models separate, or is there a method to the madness that I am missing?

Thank you in advance for your time and expertise,
John

I own both and have used both in the field. My blades get used when camping.

Both fill the niche of being a medium-size blade. The SJTAC has a narrower blade (edge to spine) and I think is a perfect "combat" knife. The "TAC" is a handle designation, it's the "Tactical" style handle. AFAIK the only other design was just a plain old Satin Jack (which has a straight handle).

Let me state for the record that the CG ASH is a fatty, with a .330 spine. It has a much beefier feel in hand. If you want to compare apples-to-apples you are looking at a ASH-1 Limited Edition or a Thin-ASH from the Busse Company Store.

The Satin Jack has a comfortable all-around handle, where the largest complaint about the Straight-Handle design of the ASH is the pinky-pinch that people get when chopping (because of the hump at the base of the handle). Neither blade is forward-heavy enough to be considered a chopper.

The difference between Combat Grade and Limited Edition is that CG is coated and LE is not (and is numbered). The confusing part is that pre-ASH blades had thin Combat Grade models and fat LE models (for example, the Satin Jack TAC LE is a fatty compared to the CG). The ASH was the first Busse blade to offer a thinner LE compared to the Combat Grade.

The company store sells the LE for more than the CG, so the CG tends to be the "affordable" model.

Any Busse can be used to chop and split; the fatter ones will excel in this but may feel "fat" when trying to do finer slicing chores. And of course a fatter blade offers better prying strength. Obviously, if you are trying to pry open a door with a blade and it doesn't yield you probably need a better entry tool such as a ram. The nice thing about a Busse is that they are malleable so you can bend them quite well without having to worry about putting a permanent bend in the blade.

So the trade off between the 2 is fat gives you better prying strength and thin gives you "narrower" slicing. Try doing some work in the kitchen with a combat knife some time and you will see the difference.

I would think that a perfect blade for what you are looking for would be in the .2-.25" range. Either the ASH or the SJTAC will serve you well.

 

[GregS]

I dont have a satin jack tac but I do have ash1's, I highly recommend the skinny Ash1:thumbup:, cg Ash1's at .320" are to thick for how short the blade is, although they do appear to be indestructible. The satin jack tac looks to be a good all arounder. I would suggest these three... Sarsquatch (coated so you don't have to worry about rust), skinny Ash1 (at the company store still, last time I checked) and the satin jack tac.:thumbup: IMO, you can't go wrong with any one of those three.

 

[GregS]

Ohhh and by the way, the 3b2 looks perfect for a guy with your cutlery needs. Too bad they are few and far between.... a really nice Ash1 variation, probably the best IMO.

 

[LMT66]

I'ds suggest the 3B2 also. It's not too heavy, not too light.

 

[barrabas74]

I'd say get the skinny Ash, they can be had at the company store now and to me is a better feeling knife than the Jack. I own several Ashe's and my Favorite is the LE, its a better slicer than the CG and feels more nimble in the hand. The Skinny ash feels good as well with those Mag Handles (which I think you do need on them). The 3B2 looks good, I would just go with what you can get now.

The thicker CG is definatley more of a "prying" knife but I think the Skinny version would handle anything you would need it too and cut better.

 

[devil07]

Thank you for the quick responses and info. I have checked out the 3B2 as well, but the ones I've seen are a little more than I can afford, by almost $150.

Get yourself a bottle of scotch! drink half! Buy both!!! it's soooooo much easier than putting yourself under all this pressure!!!

Sorry, more of a bourbon kinda guy...

So far as coatings, is there desirable difference between the different ones out there. I see both the "old school" black crinkle coating and smoother coatings that look more like a high quality paint job (although I know they are more than just a can of Krylon, probably similar, in function, to the finishes available on firearms).

Does the Busse shop offer coatings aftermarket? Meaning, if I find "a steal" on a no-finish Busse, can I send it in and add one later?

Any Busse can be used to chop and split; the fatter ones will excel in this but may feel "fat" when trying to do finer slicing chores. And of course a fatter blade offers better prying strength. Obviously, if you are trying to pry open a door with a blade and it doesn't yield you probably need a better entry tool such as a ram. The nice thing about a Busse is that they are malleable so you can bend them quite well without having to worry about putting a permanent bend in the blade.

So, with either I don't need to worry too much about perma-bending the blade, nor snapping it? I've seen the video of a truck being jacked up using a Busse shoved in the trailer hitch, I just didn't know how thick that one was, and if there was a bare minimum.

I would think that a perfect blade for what you are looking for would be in the .2-.25" range. Either the ASH or the SJTAC will serve you well.

Just to clarify, my understanding is that the SJTAC would be a .187 blade, am I incorrect, or are you referring to the post-coating thickness and I to the pre-coating thickness?

Thank you all once again for the input. You Hogs are good people :thumbup:

 

[resinguy]

You would be hard-pressed to damage even the 0.187" SJTAC, or Mole Jack (basically the same knife). Besides, the Busse warranty is even more bullet-proof than their knives; so in the unlikely event you hurt the knife, they would certainly expedite a replacement, especially if you were deployed.

Where are you? There might be some piglets or Hogs near you who could show some of their knives.

 

[LMT66]

Go to http://hogcult.com/chart for a great resource.

 

[devil07]

Where are you? There might be some piglets or Hogs near you who could show some of their knives.

I'm just outside of Indy, which is why I'm looking forward to next weekend, the Gun & Knife show is here, and thatmguy said in another post that he'll be there. Looking forward to fondling some of his knives now that I know *a little* more about Busse. Heck, depending on what, if anything, he has for sale, I might score one that day.

thatmguy, if your reading this, would you mind letting me know what you plan on bringing to the show? If you're wanting it to be a surprise, that's cool. I'll still be there one way or another.

 

[dduangrat]

The SJTAC would be the perfect sized knife, both in length and weight. The only bad thing is that it's not in production and you have to hunt for a pre-owned one on the exchange board for an inflated price. Then hunt down a sheath that will mount onto your gear. I guess a Spec-ops Combat Master sheath would work for the SJTAC. The ASH1 is too wide for a Spec-ops...you can jam it in there but that's pretty ghetto. The good thing is that if you find one, you can get it fairly quick in time before deploying.

 

[Deadhead Archer]

Does the Busse shop offer coatings aftermarket? Meaning, if I find "a steal" on a no-finish Busse, can I send it in and add one later?

They can't easily coat a polished blade because of the fact it is polished. The coated blades aren't smoothed out and have "dimples" to hold the bake-on finish. Guys here who strip their coated blades who want to have homemade satin blades have to sand the dimples down.

So, with either I don't need to worry too much about perma-bending the blade, nor snapping it? I've seen the video of a truck being jacked up using a Busse shoved in the trailer hitch, I just didn't know how thick that one was, and if there was a bare minimum.

They are much more resistant to perma-bending a blade than most other steels. There is a picture somewhere of David Brown flexing his AK (I couldn't find it) which gives you an idea how malleable INFI is. resinguy is correct in that if you break it Busse will replace it.

Just to clarify, my understanding is that the SJTAC would be a .187 blade, am I incorrect, or are you referring to the post-coating thickness and I to the pre-coating thickness?

The coated thickness is .187. I just happened to have my SJTAC in my laptop back today and confirmed it to be .187". It won't be as strong of a pry bar as my .330 CG ASH-1; but really if you are prying that hard you probably need another tool.

Best of luck in your search; Thanks for your service to our country!

dduangrat posted while I was composing this and I thought I should mention that I am carrying my SJTAC in a Spec-Ops Combat Master sheath (the short version, it's Molle compatible). They are practically made for each other IMO.

 

[Idaho Jarhead]

I can't top any of the other information that has already been given, so I will just say this:

Semper Fi, brother. Stay safe, watch yer six, keep your powder dry, and thanks for serving our country.

 

[on_the_edge]

I'm just outside of Indy, which is why I'm looking forward to next weekend, the Gun & Knife show is here, and thatmguy said in another post that he'll be there. Looking forward to fondling some of his knives now that I know *a little* more about Busse. Heck, depending on what, if anything, he has for sale, I might score one that day.

thatmguy, if your reading this, would you mind letting me know what you plan on bringing to the show? If you're wanting it to be a surprise, that's cool. I'll still be there one way or another.

Of course, gather up as much info from folks here as you can, but reserve your final judgment until you have had a chance to hold a few different blades. Ultimately, none of the Busse blades are likely to fail in any way. As such, which is best for your needs is something that only you can fully answer, and you can only do that after handling some knives for yourself. Good luck with your choice and welcome to the Busse forum.

 

[devil07]

The ASH1 is too wide for a Spec-ops...you can jam it in there but that's pretty ghetto. The good thing is that if you find one, you can get it fairly quick in time before deploying.

That was another question that I was going to ask once I settled on a model. So you say that the ASH is to wide(edge to spine) for a SpecOps? Are there any comparable models of sheaths, MOLLE capable, that would properly fit an ASH? I was already looking at the Combat Master, since it would have a spot for my multi tool as well.

So far as time frame, I'm still looking at a couple months before disappearing into the depths of Mojave-Viper and other such fun....so I have some time to make up my mind and wait for a blade, if I have to order it. Of course, I'm a tad impatient. I wish I could just order one of each now, and afford it....ahh, such is life I suppose.

 

[foxyrick]

My ASH1-LE fits perfectly in a spec-ops with only a little heating and reshaping; took about 5 minutes and an electric oven. The LE is similar in thickness to the Skinny ASH1's. I'm not sure a CG ASH1 would fit - it might be too thick and I've not got around to trying.

 

[RVO3VOM]

Wait to handle what Mike (Thatmguy) brings to the show next week. Even if he doesn't have a SJ TAC for sale, he probably owns one himself that you could at least try on for size. If he doesn't have exactly what you are looking for, contact the Busse Shop. They will go out of their way to make sure you are well equiped before you deploy.

Thanks for your service! :thumbup:

∞

 

[eastr77]

welcome go for the ash1:thumbup::thumbup: