Pronghorn vs. Truck

[UffDa]

I just finished reading an article about a truck driver who punched his way out of the crushed cab of his semi using a Bill Burke Pronghorn. (April 2003 BLADE) The writer is Ed Fowler and Bill Burke makes knive that are identical to Fowler's. According to the story, the only real damage to the knife was a small chip out of the edge.

As I read the story I couldn't help thinking that almost any Busse blade could have done the same thing with little or no damage to the edge. AND, at about 1/2 to 1/4 of the price.

You really have to give Burke and Fowler a lot of credit for fine knives. Their blades are ground quite a bit thinner then Busse's especially at the edge, but I still think that a Busse even with a thinner edge would perform as well if not better. IMHO of course.

 

[MikeH]

This is why the permanent home of my NO is between the driver's seat and the console of my car. The answer to my question, "where am I most likely to be when I need a heavy duty knife of this size in an emergency" was, "my car". It can cut a seat belt, break a window, cut sheet metal, repel boarders, and help extricate someone else from their wrecked car. True, there are specialized tools which could handle each of these tasks better, but who is going to have all of them at hand? This is why I have no patience with those who criticize heavy duty knives as "sharpened pry bars." Sometime, a sharpened pry bar is exactly what you need.

 

[Jerry Busse]

I hear ya! . .. . and. . . Amen!

 

[1whobuys]

That's why I always travel with either an AfterShock Bolo or a SHBM.
You never know...The odds of getting killed in a car wreak are 6200:1
The more you drive, the more you need to be prepared.

 

[Bobby B]

I drive a lot, I should probably get a NO... Yeah, for safety, that's what I'll tell the wife!!!

 

[Dark Nemesis]

Originally posted by 1whobuys
That's why I always travel with either an AfterShock Bolo or a SHBM.
You never know...The odds of getting killed in a car wreak are 6200:1
The more you drive, the more you need to be prepared.

6200:1 !!!!! Are you fricking serious? Applied to a population of several billion the chance of being in an accident is TERRIFYING!!!


Jerry....THIS is why we have evolved from cars to taking trains

 

[petenh]

Hi MikeH,
I have to agree with you on the people who look down on those sharpened prybars.I sell knives at gun & knife shows and there is always the guy that comes by when there are a few people looking at a knife with a blade of 4",6" or more and comments as he takes his 2 1/2" folding stockman from his pocket I skined 3 deer with this last year,or this is all anybody needs for a knife.Who cares big F*ing deal.So the best reply is yeah and it makes a great wood spliter, gets the last bit from a jar,and a great bread slicer to boot,don't even need to mention protection.This keeps em quiet and moving.I have always had knives on me since I was about 6 or 7.Have to have at least one pocket knife with 3"-4" balde and a small 4" or 5" fixed blade but nothing is more comforting knowing you have a heavy duty 6" or longer blade on you or at least nearby.It's a shame we can't always walk around with a large blade in the open.To many negative replys from the public and law enforcement.Probably this will never change only get worse.

 

[Ed Fowler]

UffDa:
Do you have real stories and stats to back up your claims??? We would all be interested!!!
angie fowler

 

[JERRY SHIPMAN]

Well , I know that driver real well , because it is me . I can't or won't speculate on any makers knives . I will say Jerry makes a damn fine knife and always has . But , if you really want to know how well your knife will do just get one of his models with a 4" blade ,5/32" thick with a full taper to the point and about 1" wide at it's widest . Next, go to the wrecking yard and find a 1987 KW model T600 with the factory double walled sleeper and proceed to cut a 2'x2' hole in the sleeper while upside down and in the dark . Just so we share the same experience as I had, be sure to break your forearm in two places and remember ya can't stop to resharpen that blade , this is a life and death strugle . I broke one knife trying to get out so I can say not all will do it .

I did not write this to flame any maker or knives just to respond to the thread . I hope no one ever has to find out just what their knife will do in the same manner that I did . Punching a hole thru metal is one thing but cutting for a good 25 minutes is a horse of a different color .

Be safe and good hunting ,
Jerry

 

[1whobuys]

I think the key here is to be prepared and have equipment you can count on and trust.

It's not a Fowler/Burke Vs. Busse thing.
It's a quality vs. junk thing.

I can see myself with many higher end customs, but I could never see myself with a cheap knockoff.
I trust my high end stuff and I know my Busse will hold up longer than I will.

And yes, the ratio is 6200:1 That you will be killed it an accident while driving.
The job I finished up on last year was I-80 just South of Chicago.
The State says 33,000 vehicles go by any certain spot in a 24 hour period.
My last three days out there we had 2 people on Tuesday, 2 people on Wednesday, and 1 person on Thursday get killed in the 9 mile stretch of road we were working on.
All of them were in separate cars, all of them fell asleep at the wheel, all of them were dead.

Be careful and be prepared.

 

[UffDa]

To Angie Fowler and Jerry Shipman:

There is always the danger of people mis-understanding the motive of the person writing a post like mine. No matter how carefully you choose your words, someone is going to take exception.

Obviously, this is the Busse forum, but I have seen no negative comments directed at the Pronghorn. I was just pointing out that a Busse would have performed just as well at a fraction of the price. Cliff Stamp has proven that over and over. The fact that the Pronhorn held up so well under such abuse is a testimonial to Ed Fowler and Bill Burke. Nothing I wrote is in anyway negative regarding their knives.

Dennis

 

[JERRY SHIPMAN]

Hi Dennis ,

No exception taken on my part . I fully agree as to your posting about Busse knives as I stated they are damn fine knives . Thanks for the post and we can all state our take on a subject and still remain brothers and sisters of the blade .

Now if I could get me one of those one-off Triple grind Busses to test .

Take care ,
Jerry

 

[Eric Isaacson]

Jerry Shipman,
I read this article as soon as I received my Blade Magazine, I'm glad you are alright.

Thank goodness you had a high quality/performance blade to use to extricate yourself.

Now you have the ultimate answer to the question we all to often get asked by sheeple "why do you need to carry that knife?"



Eric

 

[JERRY SHIPMAN]

Eric,

Thank you . You are absolutely right !! We have the ultimate answer for that question . And again you folks have made a good point in that it doesn't matter the make just that it is quality .


Thanks again and take care ,
Jerry

 

[idahoskunk]

mr. shipman, i got a 15" fowler that would have cut your extraction time down to a few minutes

glad you made it ok

 

[swede79]

Gotta love this story, glad everything turned out all right! I love my stockman, and I love my steelheart, for different reasons. They both have their place, and this story is a great illustration of that!

In another 3 - 5 years, I hope that I can write that I love my pronghorn (I'm in the queue)...

 

[Matteo Escobar]

If I am not mistaken, INFI is a superior steel to that used in the Pronghorn.....and the handle of canvas micarta is a little tougher too. Not to start trouble, just speaking the truth. It's pretty hard to argue with the truth.

 

[DonL]

Originally posted by 1whobuys
I think the key here is to be prepared and have equipment you can count on and trust.

It's not a Fowler/Burke Vs. Busse thing.
It's a quality vs. junk thing.

Amen, brudder.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

angie fowler :

... real stories and stats

Back a few years ago McClung had several of his knives used to cut holes in cars as a promotion of their "extreme" durability. Being interested in just how difficult this was, and how demanding it was on a knife, I did it many times with many different blades.

In short, it isn't very difficult at all, and even very cheap knives can do it easily without gross damage. Most cars and trucks have bodies made out of light sheet metal which is far weaker and softer than cutlery steel. I have cut far harder and thicker metals with various Busse knives, such as :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/basic_sink.jpg

Though the point is valid, that Fowler does use slimmer points and edges than Busse.

The above story is however a strong testament to keeping your head under pressure, not throwing a spazz, and doing what needed to be done. It shows someone who would be very valuable in a crisis, tools are great but it takes someone of ability and confidence as a user to give them any practical value.

-Cliff

 

[idahoskunk]

i collect both busse and fowlers along with others. my every day carry knives are a pronghorn, meanstreet or active duty.

i have met bill burke half a dozen times and although i don't own one of his knives they are nicely done.

for what it's worth fowler's and busse's are both damned tough knives and they both would be the very last on my list to get rid of if i had to thin out my collections.

last but not least both jerry and ed are amoung the very best and both stand behind there products 100%. they both have contributed a sh!tload to the knife industry.

send me some peterbuilts or kenworths and i'll personally do some testing

ps: micarta does come from sheep raised in idaho