straight answers on expensive knives for bushcraft?

From my experience the quality of the steel used is very important for any kind of work with a knife, no exception for bushcrafting. So I would like to disagree with the idea that there are no major differences in effectiveness between cheap knives and expensive ones.

Concerning Busse: (I don´t have experiences with CR): I don´t believe in any "magic mystery steel" but from the comparisons I have (Böker 440c steel, Busse infi, Rat cutlery, a custom knife from a german knife maker, SAKs, and a few other Brands) I must say that the steel used by Busse really is pretty good. It´s the easiest/fastest to sharpen I have had so far and it keeps the edge for a very very long time.
It´s not without competition, but the competition is definitely not among the cheaper knives I have used.

But that´s just my opinion.

l.
 
Every knife I own has it's strengths and weaknesses. I keep on looking, buying, and experimenting with the naive belief that one day I will find "the perfect knife" for me. I am finally getting to the point, after 40 years of this, that the search itself is as, or more, enjoyable than the procurement of the elusive holy grail of knives. Regardless of the knife you use, there is always a critic. I enjoy seeing what others use, as they may have something that I had not seen, or thought of. One of my top picks for a good woods knife, is a Cold Steel Master Tanto. Hardly a conventional choice, but it works for me. I would try just as many choices as possible and determine what it is that works for YOU. RAT, Reeves, and Busse are mentioned in here. Try looking at what TOPS has to offer. I have an older Busse BM that I will never sell. With it's full flat grind, saber point, and minimal distal taper, it is a great heavy duty outdoors knife. You could build a log cabin with it. I can get it scary sharp, and it offers good edge retention without being overly difficult to sharpen. As I respond to this thread I am shopping for a RAT-3. I always carry a small, thin fixed blade, so a secondary knife that compliments (not replicates) the functions of my small fixed blade is the goal.
 
I personally have limited experience with high dollar knives. My most expensive blades are a Helle Eggen and a ritter mini grip. I end up using cheaper scandi's for most of my wood carving and field work.

For me, the edge retention and durability of a finer steel would be nice, but I'm not going to drop the money until I've actualy experienced a need in my own life. Like others have said, if I want a knife and I think it's worth it to me, then I'll buy it.


The thing is I'm more likely to lose a knife than to break it. As long as they do the job, I'd rather have 4 or 5 relatively cheaper knives than one high dollar knife.
 
Personally, I think we are all very lucky to live in the 21st century, where a knifemaker -- custom or production -- has access to a wide variety of high quality steels. This means we can get decent performance out of even an inexpensive knife, provided the design of the knife is correct.

And a custom knifemaker can, if he/she so chooses, astonish us with the quality and performance of a knife ... at a certain price point. :);)
 
ipm said:
so, whats your experience with chris reeve and busse? do they deliver?
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The Busses I have deliver very well. I'm one of the folks that really likes the BAD. I also have a SAR5 that I carry a lot, but I have thinned/convexed the edge on that one. Another woods favorite Busse of mine is the SARsquatch. I think the Skinny ASH is a very versatile blade and might be the one I would pick from all my knives if I could only keep a single knife.

Knives are tools. They don't HAVE to be expensive. They just have to do the job you want them to do, they way you want them done. I think it's fun to keep searching and trying....

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I'm a person who prefers redundancy over 'the best' because I find lower value in 'the best'. The Busse knives, in my opinion, have a value that is inflated by the esthetics of their owners. That's not the makers fault and I don't blame him for taking a profit from it.

I shan't, however, partake.

A couple years ago I decided that there were plenty of good knives available for 100$ or less, and I'd never get around to owning them all. There are a LOT of knives that sell for under a hundred and don't suck. So I put a limit of 100$ on my knife purchases, with a maximum number of 2. That's the only way I could afford to buy heirloom whetstones..
 
Most of us just have way too much steel. I bought about 18 or so knives in the $100-$150 range. They all performed nicely and have their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, I started wondering why I didn't buy a few less $100 knives and a couple of $200-300 knives. It seems like a big psychological barrier to get beyond paying an amount you are used to paying.

I finally jumped that hoop on a recent order, but it took me awhile. Even though this latest and greatest knife has some real performance attributes to it, really its the aesthetics that provide the true rationale for what makes it worth it.
 
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