Jerry Busse
Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 11,920
As most of you know I have been absent from this forum for about 3 weeks. Been very busy. I hadnt planned on visiting again until after the Blade Show, but I heard there was some fun going on so I decided to look in. Seems Dr. Ron has been over here getting things all stirred up. . . thats good, it keeps the fire burning. Having read all of the posts he made on his forum and on ours, I am simply struck with an overwhelming sense of jealousy. It must be great to have that much free time on your hands.
After reading Rons posts and his quite lucid statements about how I didnt work with my orthopedic surgeon on our new handle design, but rather used info. gathered from him, I was quickly lead to the only logical conclusion left open to me. Ron Hood was my orthopedic surgeon. I admit to being rather drugged up during the time of my surgery but I am surprised that I didnt recognize him. Thanks Ron for the excellent surgery. . .my hand is working great. You guys have to understand what a joker Ron is, of course after having read his posts you must have figured out that he was kidding. . . right? I mean the idea that any Busse Combat Knife was even slightly influenced by a Tops knife is hilarious. Lets check the comparison record just for kicks, and see if we can determine who was the originator and who was the copier. Yeah, this should be real difficult.
Below I will list the features found on the two knives being compared along with the approximate, respective dates that the particular feature was used by the manufacturer.
Black coated, ¼ thick blade - BUSSE COMBAT=1985 Tops=1998
Black Canvas Micarta Slabs BUSSE COMBAT=1983 Tops=1998
Handle Bolts- BUSSE COMBAT=1983 Tops=1998
Kydex Sheath- BUSSE COMBAT=1985 Tops=1998
Busse trademark talon holes- BUSSE COMBAT=1989 Tops=1998
Exposed skull crusher- BUSSE COMBAT=1984 Tops=1998
Now heres a list that shows the features that Busse Combat knives had before Tops started making knives. This chart also exhibits how many of these features have apparently been copied by the Tops designers.
BUSSE COMBAT - Black coated, ¼ thick blade, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Black Canvas Micarta Slabs, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Handle Bolts, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Kydex Sheath, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Trademark talon holes, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Exposed skull crusher, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - STEEL HEART Tops - STEEL EAGLE ½ copied by Tops.
Who copied whom? I must be the first man in history to have committed psychic plagiarism. I made design features on my knives as far back as 14 years before this other company (Tops) existed and many, many years before I had ever heard of Ron Hood. I now realize that I should be over on the Hood website claiming credit for design features found on the Tops knife line. . . Sure I can see it now. . .. Why, armed with all of this proof I could . . . . I could. . . .Geez, what could I do? Oh, yeah, I could do what my orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ron Hood tried to do over here. I could start a little girly flame war. If any of his concerns were real, then why wouldnt Ron have approached me privately? He couldve taken it public if he was unhappy with my response but I was never given the chance to respond until this hit the forum. What are you up to Ron? Im sure that there must be a reason. Personally I dont see the fun in any of this, but maybe Im missing something. It may also be that I have a . . . . oh whats that word??????. .. oh yeah, a LIFE! I suppose I should be flattered by all of the copying and entertained by the lack of original ideas, although it may be important to note that the talon hole usage is a Busse Combat trademark infringement. What do you care? Its not your business. Are all of these obviously copied similarities why you now stand with your finger pointing at us? Is it to get the attention off of yourself? . . .its not working ..
Oh, and how many of you caught the review of the Tops STEEL EAGLE in Tactical Knives (Sept, 99 page 73)when the author mistakenly referred to it as a STEEL HEART? I wonder why he did that? Perhaps it was the similar name on a knife of the same size with so many of the exact same design features. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. The fact that Ron claims to have done much of Tops designing after having first worked with our knives for such a long period of time does make all of these similarities seem a little beyond coincidental. Of course I did just discover that Ron was my orthopedic surgeon so I suppose that anything is possible.
By the way, I have a new favorite over on the Hood Survival site. They are now selling or including, who knows, a set of dog tags with the Tops company name stamped into them. WOW! What a clever idea! Who thought of that? Oh, thats right it was Busse Combat again! In fact, the company name stamped dog tags were introduced by Busse Combat before Tops ever existed. For a full color picture, you can check on the Spring 95 cover of Tactical Knives to see how cool the original ones looked when Busse did it first. The dog tags are so much a part of our identity that they are on our company logo.
Hey! Heres a wild idea. . . how about an original idea? . . . No, seriously.
Ron, I love the way that you suggest that we copied your handle design on the Tops Anaconda. First of all there is no similarity to be found unless youve flattered us again and there is a new Ergo handled Anaconda with flared handle fasteners and Diamond Quilted Micarta that is shaped completely different from the one on the Tops site. If not Im sure that it will be along soon. If it is still the same then I would think that you should be more upset with Kevin McClung over at Mad Dog Knives because it looks like every handle he has ever put on his ATAK. This includes the dramatic drop and integral index finger groove. Of course the materials used are Busse Combat in nature and you did use our trademarked talon hole and extended skull crusher. I suppose if I were to describe the Tops Anaconda handle to someone I would have to say that it looks like someone combined the Busse Combat designed handle with the Mad Dog design. If youre going to make accusations, at least flatter me by saying that I tried to rip off Mad Dog. I could at least take that as a compliment. Now Ron, I do recall telling you that Mad Dogs handles are considered by many to be among the most comfortable in the industry. Maybe thats where you found your inspiration! Well, is it? And whats with the new survival tool you have on your site? What is it called? Oh yeah, the ATAX. Mmmmm. . . . knife handles that look like the Mad Dog ATAK and a new survival tool that is called the ATAX. Lets put those two side by side, ATAK, ATAX. Mmmmm. . . maybe youre picking on the wrong knifemaker. By the way I couldnt help but notice the similarity between your ATAX design and the SOLUTION made by Alcas in the mid-eighties. It won Blade magazines knife of the year. Im sure that with your extensive bank of knife knowledge that you are VERY familiar with it.
Hey, dont feel so attacked, I know what its like to have a buddy make a boat load of accusations about you in public. Why Ive been there. . . in fact it was just a little while ago when I read your flaming posts. You can now spend your time defending yourself. If you had any real concern Ron, you would have addressed these issues privately, like a gentleman.
Its also interesting to hear you state what a good friend you were to me in my time of need after my accident. You recall the many telephone conversations we had but seem to have forgotten their content. I remember standing in front of a crowd of about 200 people at a Preparedness Expo. I was a featured speaker and was giving a lecture on knife construction, grind configuration, edge geometry, etc. . . I looked pretty cool with my arm in a cast suspended high in the air. I began to discuss the importance of high performance steels and the enormous level of toughness that needs to be in a survival knife. I proudly stated how Busse Combat was the preferred fixed blade of The Ron Hood Survival School. Thats when a gentleman interrupted me and quite loudly and proudly pointed out in front of this large crowd that I was mistaken, that Ron Hood was now endorsing a different knife from a different maker, and he wanted to know if we had had a falling out. I told him, not that Im aware of. Now thats a fun situation to be in, especially in front of a large crowd. You would have thought that a good friend like you would have given me a little heads up. Thats when it hit me. All of a sudden all of your telephone calls that were filled with questions about steel choices like 1075 and 1095 and saw teeth on the back of a blade and handle construction and heat treating specs. and coatings became very clear. I asked why you were so interested in cheap steel and all of this other information and you told me it was for an article you were writing. I believed you until I saw your new knife. I had given you sources for material and answered every question you had tossed my way. You could have told me what you were up to and I wouldve shared the information just the same. But you had to use me as a source and honesty, honor, and forthrightness were quickly clouded. Kind of explains why I would rather cut the HOOD knives into pieces than deliver them to you, doesnt it? Whats the old saying? Screw me once shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me. You couldve saved me a little public embarrassment. But as I can see from your posts on my forum and on your own, you apparently take great joy in trying to embarrass your friends.
I read on your site where someone had vowed to expose you for being a fraud. You then had to post all kinds of information to defend yourself against these idiotic accusations. If anyone should have been able to understand the malice involved in making unfounded accusations, it should have been you. If you wanted to know how I had arrived at the final design of the new Ergo handles, all you had to do was call and ask. I could have, and would have, gladly taken you through the long and tedious process of how we arrived at this design. But, you decided, or assumed, or thought that it might be fun to get something going over here by claiming that I had used information that I had received from you. What school of academic thought did that research method come from, the survival school? Are sales of the Anaconda that poor that you thought this would give them a boost? Is this how you check someones research processes, you simply GUESS where they found their information? How do you get people to believe you?
The bottom line remains; if you had any REAL concerns you wouldve contacted me privately. Perhaps this little tirade of yours accomplished what it had set out to do. I read a post on your forum by a customer that I have spoken with many times, who I considered to be more than just a customer, he was, in my book, a friend. He wrote about ethics and said that he felt his friend had been wronged. I thought he was referring to me. Turns out that he thinks that I wronged you and he is now going to buy a TOPS Anaconda. It wasnt until then that I understood why you had started your little flame fest. Cha Ching! I can hear the register ringing! The Doctor is in and ready to move some readily available stock. If you want to continue this nonsense, please feel free to do it on your own forum. Or please handle it like a gentleman and do it privately. Dont come to my site and tell everyone how youre going to bless us with your patronage once we improve our customer service. Take your ego and go home.
There, you see Ron, dreams do come true, Busse Combat will no longer do business with Ron Hood or Hoods Woods. Feel free to pay me for the five Hoods you received prior to my accident in July, 1998. Andy, you can expect a whole new batch of Variants. . . mmm I wonder where theyll come from?
Yours in Nuclear Toughness,
Jerry Busse
After reading Rons posts and his quite lucid statements about how I didnt work with my orthopedic surgeon on our new handle design, but rather used info. gathered from him, I was quickly lead to the only logical conclusion left open to me. Ron Hood was my orthopedic surgeon. I admit to being rather drugged up during the time of my surgery but I am surprised that I didnt recognize him. Thanks Ron for the excellent surgery. . .my hand is working great. You guys have to understand what a joker Ron is, of course after having read his posts you must have figured out that he was kidding. . . right? I mean the idea that any Busse Combat Knife was even slightly influenced by a Tops knife is hilarious. Lets check the comparison record just for kicks, and see if we can determine who was the originator and who was the copier. Yeah, this should be real difficult.
Below I will list the features found on the two knives being compared along with the approximate, respective dates that the particular feature was used by the manufacturer.
Black coated, ¼ thick blade - BUSSE COMBAT=1985 Tops=1998
Black Canvas Micarta Slabs BUSSE COMBAT=1983 Tops=1998
Handle Bolts- BUSSE COMBAT=1983 Tops=1998
Kydex Sheath- BUSSE COMBAT=1985 Tops=1998
Busse trademark talon holes- BUSSE COMBAT=1989 Tops=1998
Exposed skull crusher- BUSSE COMBAT=1984 Tops=1998
Now heres a list that shows the features that Busse Combat knives had before Tops started making knives. This chart also exhibits how many of these features have apparently been copied by the Tops designers.
BUSSE COMBAT - Black coated, ¼ thick blade, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Black Canvas Micarta Slabs, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Handle Bolts, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Kydex Sheath, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Trademark talon holes, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - Exposed skull crusher, copied by Tops.
BUSSE COMBAT - STEEL HEART Tops - STEEL EAGLE ½ copied by Tops.
Who copied whom? I must be the first man in history to have committed psychic plagiarism. I made design features on my knives as far back as 14 years before this other company (Tops) existed and many, many years before I had ever heard of Ron Hood. I now realize that I should be over on the Hood website claiming credit for design features found on the Tops knife line. . . Sure I can see it now. . .. Why, armed with all of this proof I could . . . . I could. . . .Geez, what could I do? Oh, yeah, I could do what my orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ron Hood tried to do over here. I could start a little girly flame war. If any of his concerns were real, then why wouldnt Ron have approached me privately? He couldve taken it public if he was unhappy with my response but I was never given the chance to respond until this hit the forum. What are you up to Ron? Im sure that there must be a reason. Personally I dont see the fun in any of this, but maybe Im missing something. It may also be that I have a . . . . oh whats that word??????. .. oh yeah, a LIFE! I suppose I should be flattered by all of the copying and entertained by the lack of original ideas, although it may be important to note that the talon hole usage is a Busse Combat trademark infringement. What do you care? Its not your business. Are all of these obviously copied similarities why you now stand with your finger pointing at us? Is it to get the attention off of yourself? . . .its not working ..
Oh, and how many of you caught the review of the Tops STEEL EAGLE in Tactical Knives (Sept, 99 page 73)when the author mistakenly referred to it as a STEEL HEART? I wonder why he did that? Perhaps it was the similar name on a knife of the same size with so many of the exact same design features. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. The fact that Ron claims to have done much of Tops designing after having first worked with our knives for such a long period of time does make all of these similarities seem a little beyond coincidental. Of course I did just discover that Ron was my orthopedic surgeon so I suppose that anything is possible.
By the way, I have a new favorite over on the Hood Survival site. They are now selling or including, who knows, a set of dog tags with the Tops company name stamped into them. WOW! What a clever idea! Who thought of that? Oh, thats right it was Busse Combat again! In fact, the company name stamped dog tags were introduced by Busse Combat before Tops ever existed. For a full color picture, you can check on the Spring 95 cover of Tactical Knives to see how cool the original ones looked when Busse did it first. The dog tags are so much a part of our identity that they are on our company logo.
Hey! Heres a wild idea. . . how about an original idea? . . . No, seriously.
Ron, I love the way that you suggest that we copied your handle design on the Tops Anaconda. First of all there is no similarity to be found unless youve flattered us again and there is a new Ergo handled Anaconda with flared handle fasteners and Diamond Quilted Micarta that is shaped completely different from the one on the Tops site. If not Im sure that it will be along soon. If it is still the same then I would think that you should be more upset with Kevin McClung over at Mad Dog Knives because it looks like every handle he has ever put on his ATAK. This includes the dramatic drop and integral index finger groove. Of course the materials used are Busse Combat in nature and you did use our trademarked talon hole and extended skull crusher. I suppose if I were to describe the Tops Anaconda handle to someone I would have to say that it looks like someone combined the Busse Combat designed handle with the Mad Dog design. If youre going to make accusations, at least flatter me by saying that I tried to rip off Mad Dog. I could at least take that as a compliment. Now Ron, I do recall telling you that Mad Dogs handles are considered by many to be among the most comfortable in the industry. Maybe thats where you found your inspiration! Well, is it? And whats with the new survival tool you have on your site? What is it called? Oh yeah, the ATAX. Mmmmm. . . . knife handles that look like the Mad Dog ATAK and a new survival tool that is called the ATAX. Lets put those two side by side, ATAK, ATAX. Mmmmm. . . maybe youre picking on the wrong knifemaker. By the way I couldnt help but notice the similarity between your ATAX design and the SOLUTION made by Alcas in the mid-eighties. It won Blade magazines knife of the year. Im sure that with your extensive bank of knife knowledge that you are VERY familiar with it.
Hey, dont feel so attacked, I know what its like to have a buddy make a boat load of accusations about you in public. Why Ive been there. . . in fact it was just a little while ago when I read your flaming posts. You can now spend your time defending yourself. If you had any real concern Ron, you would have addressed these issues privately, like a gentleman.
Its also interesting to hear you state what a good friend you were to me in my time of need after my accident. You recall the many telephone conversations we had but seem to have forgotten their content. I remember standing in front of a crowd of about 200 people at a Preparedness Expo. I was a featured speaker and was giving a lecture on knife construction, grind configuration, edge geometry, etc. . . I looked pretty cool with my arm in a cast suspended high in the air. I began to discuss the importance of high performance steels and the enormous level of toughness that needs to be in a survival knife. I proudly stated how Busse Combat was the preferred fixed blade of The Ron Hood Survival School. Thats when a gentleman interrupted me and quite loudly and proudly pointed out in front of this large crowd that I was mistaken, that Ron Hood was now endorsing a different knife from a different maker, and he wanted to know if we had had a falling out. I told him, not that Im aware of. Now thats a fun situation to be in, especially in front of a large crowd. You would have thought that a good friend like you would have given me a little heads up. Thats when it hit me. All of a sudden all of your telephone calls that were filled with questions about steel choices like 1075 and 1095 and saw teeth on the back of a blade and handle construction and heat treating specs. and coatings became very clear. I asked why you were so interested in cheap steel and all of this other information and you told me it was for an article you were writing. I believed you until I saw your new knife. I had given you sources for material and answered every question you had tossed my way. You could have told me what you were up to and I wouldve shared the information just the same. But you had to use me as a source and honesty, honor, and forthrightness were quickly clouded. Kind of explains why I would rather cut the HOOD knives into pieces than deliver them to you, doesnt it? Whats the old saying? Screw me once shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me. You couldve saved me a little public embarrassment. But as I can see from your posts on my forum and on your own, you apparently take great joy in trying to embarrass your friends.
I read on your site where someone had vowed to expose you for being a fraud. You then had to post all kinds of information to defend yourself against these idiotic accusations. If anyone should have been able to understand the malice involved in making unfounded accusations, it should have been you. If you wanted to know how I had arrived at the final design of the new Ergo handles, all you had to do was call and ask. I could have, and would have, gladly taken you through the long and tedious process of how we arrived at this design. But, you decided, or assumed, or thought that it might be fun to get something going over here by claiming that I had used information that I had received from you. What school of academic thought did that research method come from, the survival school? Are sales of the Anaconda that poor that you thought this would give them a boost? Is this how you check someones research processes, you simply GUESS where they found their information? How do you get people to believe you?
The bottom line remains; if you had any REAL concerns you wouldve contacted me privately. Perhaps this little tirade of yours accomplished what it had set out to do. I read a post on your forum by a customer that I have spoken with many times, who I considered to be more than just a customer, he was, in my book, a friend. He wrote about ethics and said that he felt his friend had been wronged. I thought he was referring to me. Turns out that he thinks that I wronged you and he is now going to buy a TOPS Anaconda. It wasnt until then that I understood why you had started your little flame fest. Cha Ching! I can hear the register ringing! The Doctor is in and ready to move some readily available stock. If you want to continue this nonsense, please feel free to do it on your own forum. Or please handle it like a gentleman and do it privately. Dont come to my site and tell everyone how youre going to bless us with your patronage once we improve our customer service. Take your ego and go home.
There, you see Ron, dreams do come true, Busse Combat will no longer do business with Ron Hood or Hoods Woods. Feel free to pay me for the five Hoods you received prior to my accident in July, 1998. Andy, you can expect a whole new batch of Variants. . . mmm I wonder where theyll come from?
Yours in Nuclear Toughness,
Jerry Busse
