Pic request

[david tn]

I am having trouble finding a Busse mid size knife that feels good in my hand. I have XL hands and my best fit in the Busse line that I have is my TGLB.
I am looking for smaller knife in the 4- 6" range. If anybody has a RMD, SJTAC or BA (three mid size knives I own) and are able to compare it to a SAR 5 it would be a big help. My RMD is almost way too small. The SJTACs handle is long enough I can find an OK grip after a little wiggling.
I really want to find that just right knife in the Busse line. I live about 700 miles from nowhere and I have to buy the knife just to hold it.....oh to live in SYD. Thanks in advance! David

 

[FTR-14c]

I have a SJAC with magnum handles and it is one of the most comfortable knives I have ever held.
Side by side with standard slabs it is a totally different knife. You could look into having yours rehandled
or have Garth add liners.

 

[dericdesmond]

Add 1'' and go sar6

 

[david tn]

Add 1'' and go sar6

The concave handle on the 6 does not look like it would be very comfortable. The handle on the 5 to me kind of looks like a GW handle, a little fatter on the end.

 

[Father & Son Traditional Sharpening]

The SAR 5 handle will likely not work well for you even with the XL glove size. The palm swell is placed too far towards the pommel which places your index finger about an inch away from the cutting edge. If you planned on having the handles modified, then I'd say go for it as the blade itself is quite nice. Here's a thread with a lot of good info for you to consider.....

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/843911-SAR4-vs-SAR5-vs-SAR6

 

[Father & Son Traditional Sharpening]

The concave handle on the 6 does not look like it would be very comfortable. The handle on the 5 to me kind of looks like a GW handle, a little fatter on the end.

It may look that way, but I don't think that's the case..... I think Jerry hit the nail on the head saying the people might like the handle...... IF you like the feeling of a claw hammer! I couldn't agree more with that assessment after having just had a SAR 5 in my possession....:thumbup:

Here's an in-hand pic of mine before I sold it, I wear a size Medium glove.

My hand is not gripping the palm swell as it is intended, had I done this it would have placed my hand about an inch closer to the pommel. This would leave quite a gap between my index finger and the cutting edge.

 

[Father & Son Traditional Sharpening]

Have you tried the Basic handles yet? I'd say try out a Basic 6 LE if you don't dislike res-c...

 

[Last Visible Canary]

The single biggest mid sized handle I've seen to date is the sar series, such as the sar4 or sar6.

This is my hand on a sjtac:

I didn't like how not-tall the index and pinky positions were. That tennis-ball grip left the center of my palm hurting and didn't give me a felling of security. If you find the grip on the sjtac to be a bit too small, the large basic handle will likely be to small for you. This is my grip on a basic 10:

I fill it out completely, and my hands aren't that big. This is my grip on a sar4:

The handle ramps up to the back with no swells of any sort, so for an XL grip it seems ideal. But you have to like the simple triangle shape. Anything with the small basic handle is going to be much much to small. This is my grip on a small basic next to a SHBA. The SHBA is a good sized grip, but it suffers from a similar half-tennis-ball grip as the sjtac, you have a lot to hold onto with your middle and ring finger, but not much with your index and pinky.

Your probably not going to like any of the straight handled BA, SJ, or BOSS series, they are much smaller than the TAC handles. The one above it is a terror monkey variant from an NO-E. It was a good grip, but a monster choil, and prohibitively rare:

If your willing to expand your blade length a bit, you might really like the SFNO, or the NMSFNO. Pictured here is an actic white NMSFNO (longer blade, similar to the steel heart in length) next to a TAC handled Tank buster. It takes the TAC length and format but increases the height of the index and pinky positions, creating a much fuller grip all around. The magnum scales were a bit to thick for my hands, but it was a nice consistent multi position grip.

In the end I'd look for a SFNO if your okay with the large choil, or a SAR4/SAR6 if you want something easier to get and a smaller choil.

 

[Last Visible Canary]

This image comes from Lil foo showing an ash1 next to an sfno. The benefit of ash1 is it's slightly shorter blade and possibly straight back (if you like that sort of thing). The benefit of the SFNO is that the grip is taller from ricasso to pommel, and lets you get a much fuller grip towards the back end for light chopping - or for the pinky position of XL+ hands.

 

[Last Visible Canary]

The sar5 is a knife that has a few problems. The index finger position has no handle material on it, so your holding open metal which is uncomfortable over time. The weight is all at the back end so it's a very handle heavy knife, it wants to slip backward with the edge coming at your fingers. The curve from the index finger to the edge is shallow so that there isn't much of a guard protecting your finger when it slips back. The palm swell is designed to force your hand backward away form the edge to the same distance as though there was a talon hole gaurd on it.

Few busse knives are designed to put your index finger close to the edge in the full grip position, it seems to be a consistent design concept that your hand should be at least 1" away from the cutting edge in a full grip, which I find consistently frustrating. Jerry has said that he likes the grip versatility of the choil, but he's also given the example of throwing out his shoulder during a rope cut because the choil snagged on the rope - a clear and present danger to anyone working in a wooded/vined environment with overhead chopping. So you'd think the sar5 or the MUK would be excellent exemptions to that 1" form the edge rule... But they aren't. Even without a substantial guard your hand is forced by the grip to be at a bad leverage point from the closest usable edge.

If your hands are really really big the sar5 might be a good option, because your hand may completely cover the gap formed at the index finger by putting your palm over the palm swell. But it's still going to be handle heavy without much in the way of index finger guard.

 

[david tn]

Guys thanks! A lot of good ideas. About how much could a fellow expect to pay for someone to install spacers? I would suspect sending it back to Busse could take half a year.
On the NOs, I just sold my NMSFNO because of my love for my TGLB. The grip on the NMSFNO was OK. At first I did not like it at all. After a lot of fingering it grew on me. With the TGLB being so close in size I pushed the NMSFNO down the road.
Back to spacers, what are the largest spacers you would want to put on a knife?
You guys are great, thanks for y'all's help.

 

[dinokay]

The most comfortable SAR-6 you can own with big hands is this one. It's on the Exchange if your interested.

 

[David Brown]

Take it from a fellow member of the huge hand club.
the Sar 4 through 8 is the most comfortable handle Busse makes for us.

The Sar 5 is like holding a shovel handle I do not like that one.

 

[EDawg]

David, I recently got one of the MO Rats during Santa Gazaa sale, and, I have to say, it is very nice. It fits the hand like an RMD, but the scales seem slightly bigger. The blade is also an inch or so longer. The weight and feel of the blade is perfect in my hands....better than the RMD for those of us with larger hands. This pic is not the best, but maybe it will help.

Eric

 

[david tn]

Take it from a fellow member of the huge hand club.
the Sar 4 through 8 is the most comfortable handle Busse makes for us.

The Sar 5 is like holding a shovel handle I do not like that one.

That might have been a better question......Hey big hands, what's you favorite Busse knife.
I might give the SAR a go.

On the RMD MO I had no idea it was larger.
Thanks guys

 

[EDawg]

That might have been a better question......Hey big hands, what's you favorite Busse knife.
I might give the SAR a go.

On the RMD MO I had no idea it was larger.

Thanks guys

The MO Rat is actually modeled after the R6 I believe...good luck with your decision.

Eric

 

[Alpha Mike]

I'll throw my 2 cents in fwiw. Now I don't own a Busse yet (the business of buy my wife a new car and moving across the country hurts the cause). I got to spend some time with several Busse knives thanks to a fellow Hog with a shop in Long Beach. He's got an extensive collection and some super rare Busse's. I tried maybe 12 different sizes of knives and handles and being part of the "meat paw clan" I found the ergonomics of the SAR's to fit my "sausage fingers" perfectly. 4-8 were the best handles I've felt in a knife. One of those will be my first Busse.

 

[resinguy]

Do you have large hands with long fingers, or a large meaty hand? IIRC, Mr. Brown has meaty paws and prefers thinner grips.

 

[2Dead]

My hands aren't the largest but I find the SAR series very comfortable as well. I've posted these before but here are some comparison pics with the Sarge-7.

 

[Alpha Mike]

Do you have large hands with long fingers, or a large meaty hand? IIRC, Mr. Brown has meaty paws and prefers thinner grips.

Large meaty hands. SAR 4-8 felt the best for me.