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Nuclear top, is it functional?
- Thread starter 7p62mm
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Gravelface
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Looks great, but I have never really used it.
AZTimT
The Stripetition Finish Guy (inactive)
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They look awesome, but I would only get it on a knife you plan to use in a fight with someone (let's not and say we didn't) or take pictures of and never use. In normal use having a sharpened/serrated spine is more of safety liability then anything else. Again, they do look cool though and make great collector's pieces.
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Now that you mention it the nuclear top option would be handy to have in a knife fight. I guess I have been on too many camping trips to not have thought of that lol! Thanks AZTimT
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Sounds to me (price aside) this would limit the ability to baton with such a knife, making it less usable.
I’m still learning about Busses, so my question is: why would this additional work, which decreases the utility of a knife, command a higher price? Is it just for the looks?
Any idea why it’s called “Nuclear”? Maybe it should be called “Russian edge test”….
I’m still learning about Busses, so my question is: why would this additional work, which decreases the utility of a knife, command a higher price? Is it just for the looks?
Any idea why it’s called “Nuclear”? Maybe it should be called “Russian edge test”….
Liu Kang
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Those are all custom hand ground tops I believe that are done by one of two people, either Jerry or Garth. And I know I would pay more money for anything I know that Jerry himself hand ground. Any time you get a expert knife maker to custom hand grind anything, it's going to cost much more. There are very few produced and around, so the demand is always higher then supply so the price goes up. They are not production knives so usually one of a kind. And because they are done by the Custom Shop, they still hold Busse Warranty vs what work that Ban or anyone else does.
Gravelface
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I have never heard this....is it written anywhere?
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AZTimT
The Stripetition Finish Guy (inactive)
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Dan grabbed a good one there. That knife feels great in hand!
They weren't cheap, but they were sitting on the table ready to go at the 2010 AG Russell show so turnaround was not an issue.
As a custom order I have no clue how long they take, but Garth said there is over 20 man hours of work into sharpening each one of those nuclear Zillas which is why they were so expensive. They are in the Argonne Assault or satin Gladius price range for a reason.Some of Jerry's preview pics of what was headed to that show.
Here are just a few of the hundreds that are on their way!!!!!
Jerry
My personal favorite.
Bigfattyt
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For sure, the serrations are not "saw" type. They are cutting, slashing type. Just think of it as a fully sharpened edge, with the added bite of the serrations.
You would not make much progress trying to saw a tough material like wood. They might provide better bite on materials like webbing, rope etc with a sawing motion.
They look mean and nasty though!
You would not make much progress trying to saw a tough material like wood. They might provide better bite on materials like webbing, rope etc with a sawing motion.
They look mean and nasty though!
Liu Kang
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Hey Tim, you suck! You got a really nice one which I really wanted... But you were just faster, little piglet like me will learn in time and become as good as you. Still love that blade a lot... hate you... You are a brusier guy and you put that one down? If you didn't, I would have that orange one...LOL.
It's all good, lots of knives at that show and lots of fun with everyone that showed up!
You are a brusier guy and you put that one down? If you didn't, I would have that orange one...LOL.It's all good, lots of knives at that show and lots of fun with everyone that showed up!
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so that was a show only model with the serrations where they only made whatever.... 20-40-100 or? Nuclear was only show and Ganza maybe? Thx guys. Awesome pics too Tim. Thx for digging those up. I had never seen those past posts/pics. Im sure they were going for 500-600 if people r getting 8-9 in the aftermarket.
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Thanks to everyone for their responses and especially Tim T and Lui Kang for the great pictures. Those knives are spectacular! I originally thought that the nuclear top would be a good option for an all purpose woods knife. I now realize that is not its intent. I am a new member and this was my first post. Thank you for making it work out so well.
AZTimT
The Stripetition Finish Guy (inactive)
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I'll give you a hint, I didn't see more than I could count on two hands there.
Oh, and you forgot the little 1 in front of your numbers there for those nuclear TTKZ's. 
Hey, we all start somewhere and welcome to the Busse forums.
There's a bunch of great guys and gals here with all sorts of opinions but one great common interest... the love of INFI. :thumbup: The hardest part starting out is figuring out what you need vs want and prioritizing your purchases accordingly. I love and want way more of these things than I can afford to keep, but I have a pretty good idea of what works for me after a lot of trial and error.
Hey Tim, you suck! You got a really nice one which I really wanted... But you were just faster, little piglet like me will learn in time and become as good as you. Still love that blade a lot... hate you...
It's all good, lots of knives at that show and lots of fun with everyone that showed up!
Dan, it sure was a tough choice between those two for sure but the pumpkin with that spine just did it for me. And I got lucky you were late is all.
You beat me in the next day though and made up for it. LOL I think you quit qualifying as a "little piglet" a long time ago. I'm curious about some of the other nukes you have in your collection. Definitely, it was a good time and nice meeting everyone that showed up. :thumbup:
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For me the nuclear serrations are a useful addition to the TTKZ .... they offer a number of advantages ....
Firstly if you are clearing brush and chopping down by the ground you can use the serrated side and it stops the knife edge from dulling or getting "dinked" near the point from contact with stones .... very handy if you are just using the Khukri as your main blade because then you can preserve the tip and edge for working on game preperation ....
I also find that chopping the blade into a log using the serrated side to anchor the knife so that I can run small game along the knife edge using it in a fixed position is a lot better than trying to hold a none serrated TTKZ down by the point using the flat spine to try to do such delicate work ...
Again, using the same technique of sinking the serrated edge into a stump I find that if I have chopped into a log with a view to spliting it and it is the first chop which goes deep and is difficult to get the knife out ... I invert it and sink the serrated edge into the stump and can then bash down on the log with either another log or even a rock without damaging the knife .... that usually gets the blade sunk right up to the spine and then you can take it out with the log firmly placed and turn it over to batton the blade through .... using a wooden baton on the serrations does no damage to the knife and a strong baton lasts for days before the serrations have cut through it .... weeks even .... and even then the baton just goes into the wood pile and I find another ....
The serrations are also great if using the Khukri as a machete to clear a way through head high foilage etc ... the serrated side catches and cuts small thin leafy branches much better than the sharpened knife side .... no matter how sharp the knife side is .... but you do need to keep the serrations sharp too ...
On fire prep the sparks you generate from a ferro rod using the serrated sharpened tips are way superior to anything you can generate with even the best of flat right angled spines .... and ofcourse this preserves your cutting edge as the only option to get good sparks if the spine were the normal rounded one on the TTKZ or the KZII is to use the edge. Unless ofcourse you carry a specific ferro rod strike with you .... but even then I get a better shower of sparks from the serrated edge than from the strikers supplied with most of my ferro rods .... the only comparable is when the striker is a proper piece of cut down hack saw blade ....
Another real benefit of the serrated spine is if you want to cleave a deer carcass down the sternum and split the spine .... it is ideal for this and spares the main blade any dulling or damage from the hard bone ....
Finally the weight and balance of the Nuclear KZ's is a lot lighter and faster than the others and for me that is perhaps it's best feature as the NTTKZ chops just as well as the others but is much better for extended periods of use .... easily able to be used as a machete if you need to .... so for me the Nuclear version of the Zilla is definately an advantage.
On a smaller blade though .... something in the 4 to 5 inch range where you may want to use a choked grip or work with your thumb along the spine for delicate cuts .... then naturally I would'nt go for this feature. All my smaller blades have either flat spines or may have a sharpened clip point such as on a Ratmandu ... but you don't need the full nuclear treatment on knives like this .... as it is better to have the ability to work using a flat spine .... especially if you want to hold the knife near the point for carving .... but on a larger blade such as the KZ it is a good advantage for me ....
Here are some pic's of what I mean ....
This one below shows anchoring the khukri in the stump using the serrated edge ....
A swift bang on the log and it easily split ....
And chopping wise if you chop around a log as seen below you can still baton the blade through in the centre to split the log if need be .... the serrations don't stop the knife being batonned at all ....
And the serrations are also handy for fire preperation if you just want to dig out a few wood chips onto a tarp to use as dry kindling ....
Gets a fire going nicely and with a Zilla you can keep the wood pile nicely stocked no problem ....
Firstly if you are clearing brush and chopping down by the ground you can use the serrated side and it stops the knife edge from dulling or getting "dinked" near the point from contact with stones .... very handy if you are just using the Khukri as your main blade because then you can preserve the tip and edge for working on game preperation ....
I also find that chopping the blade into a log using the serrated side to anchor the knife so that I can run small game along the knife edge using it in a fixed position is a lot better than trying to hold a none serrated TTKZ down by the point using the flat spine to try to do such delicate work ...
Again, using the same technique of sinking the serrated edge into a stump I find that if I have chopped into a log with a view to spliting it and it is the first chop which goes deep and is difficult to get the knife out ... I invert it and sink the serrated edge into the stump and can then bash down on the log with either another log or even a rock without damaging the knife .... that usually gets the blade sunk right up to the spine and then you can take it out with the log firmly placed and turn it over to batton the blade through .... using a wooden baton on the serrations does no damage to the knife and a strong baton lasts for days before the serrations have cut through it .... weeks even .... and even then the baton just goes into the wood pile and I find another ....
The serrations are also great if using the Khukri as a machete to clear a way through head high foilage etc ... the serrated side catches and cuts small thin leafy branches much better than the sharpened knife side .... no matter how sharp the knife side is .... but you do need to keep the serrations sharp too ...
On fire prep the sparks you generate from a ferro rod using the serrated sharpened tips are way superior to anything you can generate with even the best of flat right angled spines .... and ofcourse this preserves your cutting edge as the only option to get good sparks if the spine were the normal rounded one on the TTKZ or the KZII is to use the edge. Unless ofcourse you carry a specific ferro rod strike with you .... but even then I get a better shower of sparks from the serrated edge than from the strikers supplied with most of my ferro rods .... the only comparable is when the striker is a proper piece of cut down hack saw blade ....
Another real benefit of the serrated spine is if you want to cleave a deer carcass down the sternum and split the spine .... it is ideal for this and spares the main blade any dulling or damage from the hard bone ....
Finally the weight and balance of the Nuclear KZ's is a lot lighter and faster than the others and for me that is perhaps it's best feature as the NTTKZ chops just as well as the others but is much better for extended periods of use .... easily able to be used as a machete if you need to .... so for me the Nuclear version of the Zilla is definately an advantage.
On a smaller blade though .... something in the 4 to 5 inch range where you may want to use a choked grip or work with your thumb along the spine for delicate cuts .... then naturally I would'nt go for this feature. All my smaller blades have either flat spines or may have a sharpened clip point such as on a Ratmandu ... but you don't need the full nuclear treatment on knives like this .... as it is better to have the ability to work using a flat spine .... especially if you want to hold the knife near the point for carving .... but on a larger blade such as the KZ it is a good advantage for me ....
Here are some pic's of what I mean ....
This one below shows anchoring the khukri in the stump using the serrated edge ....
A swift bang on the log and it easily split ....
And chopping wise if you chop around a log as seen below you can still baton the blade through in the centre to split the log if need be .... the serrations don't stop the knife being batonned at all ....
And the serrations are also handy for fire preperation if you just want to dig out a few wood chips onto a tarp to use as dry kindling ....
Gets a fire going nicely and with a Zilla you can keep the wood pile nicely stocked no problem ....