Hold on a second guys.
Things are getting a bit out of kilter here. And I am just old enough and grumpy enough to put the skids on.
First I am not trying to begin a flame war.
It seems there are three camps here.
One is the "Love it. Where do I pay?"
The other is, "Not my cup of tea."
Which are both okay.
So what is my beef?
It seems like Mr. Busse has spent a sizable portion of his adult life dedicated to building HIGH PERFORMANCE KNIVES. I cannot see a single design where he has skimped or lost focus on that goal. In the process has made a lot of very aesthetically pleasing knives. Possibly, given this information, there ought to be a bit more trust in a guy who has a lot to risk. As far as I can see this is one of, if not the first of, a knife with a traditional guard.
If he makes a guard a certain way. He has a reason.
If I had to guess, the reason that the handle may seem a bit narrow, is because it has to be in order to slide the guard down over the tang and onto the shoulder formed at the ricasso. I don't know this is the case, just a guess. This proportion can be tricky, and again a guess is that Mr. Busse wanted to leave a lot of steel at the joint between the blade and tang section. This is traditionally the weak spot in a stick tang knife and often the reason many makers place a ferrule or like Mr. Busse did, use thick guard material to bolster the joint.
This is all just supposition. It could be he tweaked it because it felt better that way. Regardless, looking at the BUSSE COMBAT tradition, function often dictates from.
Having said all that, I am the kind of guy who don't buy shoes in the mail. You never know if they are going to fit properly. And whenever I try to buy shoes that LOOK good, often they fit just like Hell. However on the rare occasion I do buy shoes in the mail, you can dang well bet they are made by companies that I trust, like DANNER or RED WING. That is also why one should not order his hunting boots from PAYLESS.
As a maker I have learned that knives for men are like shoes for women.
Sometimes one must belay vanity for something else. I would suggest that, if one is not able to be somewhere to actually try it, then you either pass it by, or trust the opinion of those that have had in-hand time with the knife.
C'mon really how often do you look down at your shoes and think, "Damn I look good!" Why should it be any different when you are using a knife?
When I saw the ridges which have been machined on the surface of the handle, I immediately saw that those ridges would push the hand into the back of the guard during high pressure impact. Mr. Busse could have allowed the handle to be smooth and thicker. He could have ditched the ridges altogether. But then he would not be Jerry Busse, and his knife would not have that feel his knives are known for.
As far as the ricasso being too long, or the blade being to wide, or the other beef's that have been brought up, I can't see this as a HUGE problem for two reasons. First is THE BUSSE CUSTOM SHOP. Seems like they can do whatever changes you want done. And it looks like they do a dang fine job of it.
Second, having looked at the hundreds of blade designs that have been produced by the 3 BUSSE ENTERPRISES there should not be anybody who can't find their own personal knife.
Ok, Ok....I am getting off my pulpit.
I think the main reason there is so much grumbling is that BUSSE has spoiled it's customer for so long they don't remember what life was like before there was a BUSSE COMBAT KNIFE, or a BATTLE MISTRESS.
Now you can start sending me all the nasty grams.
Shane
P.S. One point of courtesy. Misspelled profanity is still profanity. We are all grown-ups. Can't we use grown-up words without the need to be vulgar for emphasis?
It all boils down to "different strokes for different folks".
:thumbup::thumbup:
Hey-gratz to all who have this fine piece of unique steel. Have a great day folks!