Tell me why Busse is the best.

I know mom sure likes them!



Even in thinner, higher hardness infi, I am very impressed.

I once chopped a pea sized stone in half by accident (it was in the dirt and mud on the chopping block). Took a screw driver a few minutes to steel the tiny mar/roll on the edge out. Did not have to remove any steel to fix it.

I can tell you, that even in thinner knives, you can put a lot of lateral stress and flex the blade without it taking a set. I won't try that with my other blades in the the same thickness class, or at all with some event though they are thicker.

Just this weekend, I dropped my BAD (Bony AD. Very thin, very very thin point, taken t a slightly higher hardness than standard Infi).

Dropped it from 4 feet on to the concrete. I expected the tip to be gone. It powdered some concrete. Just made the tip a tiny bit dull. No real rolling even. Just a few minutes per side on a ceramic stick to align, then a few strokes per side on a small diamond hone, then another couple passes on each side of the ceramic and it was shaving again.

You might say that this proves nothing, because I have nothing to compare it to........Oh, not true........


I am a clumsy schmuck. I have dropped many knives on the concrete. I have had to do a lot of tip repair, and edge repair, on quite a few different steels. Basic stainless, High performance laminated stainless, High carbon tool steel, spring steel.

There are a handful of top end steels I have yet to use.

But so far, Infi does well in every category.

I have used a few steels that edge out in outright edge retention.....but that advantage disappears the second you smack anything hard and have to do edge re-profiling.


The thing is, it is not an either or thing.

There are excellent knives from any number of manufacturers in various steels I love. There are even more from custom makers I love, and want, some in traditional basic steels, and don't even get me started on customs with laminated stainless/carbon that are dead sexy.


But, that said, I only buy users. No safe queens here, because I don't have the extra scratch. But some how, I seem to find the money to spend on Busse users.

There are designs I love, and ones I will pass on.

I buy what I like, and I like what I buy. If I don't I move it along, and get another one.

Busse has so much variety to choose from. That is what makes them so great. More diversity!


As to some one buying a Busse, and having to ask Jerry which steel it is, that only means he really scored!!!! The older versions in A2 are awesome, and command a real premium!
 
One of my favorite bumper stickers says:

"If it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, call the Marines".

Even with my limited experience with Busse knives I feel this way:

"If it absolutely, positively has to survive Armaggedon, get a Busse"

All you have to do is fill your hands with a BWM or an NMSFNO or any Busse for that matter, and you KNOW that the blade will survive a nuclear blast and will NEVER let you down.

I have dozens of knives, many from really well known high end makers, and none have ever made me feel as if I could survive ANYTHING with just that one knife, except for Busse.

Michael
 
I'm going to ask my own question in this thread, which is "is there no standard line of knives"?

I've always heard of the Battle Mistress as being a superlative piece, and the one that helped make Busse Knives in the eyes of a wider audience. However, I don't see anything but an assortment of three small (4") knives offered on the Busse website (strange, when it seems that many folks seem to think Busse is at their best on medium to large blades.). I guess you could go w/ something from Scrapyard, but they don't use INFI steel.
 
CZ-75A said:
I'm going to ask my own question in this thread, which is "is there no standard line of knives"?

I've always heard of the Battle Mistress as being a superlative piece, and the one that helped make Busse Knives in the eyes of a wider audience. However, I don't see anything but an assortment of three small (4") knives offered on the Busse website (strange, when it seems that many folks seem to think Busse is at their best on medium to large blades.). I guess you could go w/ something from Scrapyard, but they don't use INFI steel.
Click to expand...

If by "standard", you mean "available all the time"...then no, there isn't a standard line of knives. The best way to describe Busse is that they are a "semi-custom production knife company". Busse offers one or two knife models at a time (sometimes overlapping with a third), which usually begins as a pre-order. Each order is custom assembled to the specifics of the customer based on the options each customer has chosen, and it allows for consistency with the personal touch. Busse rotates between different sized knives offered and the last models available before the smaller ones up currently were the Killa Zilla (khukri), the Bushwhacker Mistress (a variation of the Battle Mistress), and a thicker coated version of the knife now available (BOSS Street). It's not your typical business model, but it is one that works well for what Jerry Busse strives to produce...which is top quality knives. :)
 
CZ-75, it was before JAXX's time, but I was around when there was a base line of knives being offered. It was nice to pick what you want, but the wait time was a little more than "two weeks", it got a little ridiculous at times. Several months was not uncommon.

I think you'd find what you want in the exchange quicker than you would have gotten one back then. So it kind of evens out, I think. :)
 
CZ-75A said:
I'm going to ask my own question in this thread, which is "is there no standard line of knives"?

I've always heard of the Battle Mistress as being a superlative piece, and the one that helped make Busse Knives in the eyes of a wider audience. However, I don't see anything but an assortment of three small (4") knives offered on the Busse website (strange, when it seems that many folks seem to think Busse is at their best on medium to large blades.). I guess you could go w/ something from Scrapyard, but they don't use INFI steel.
Click to expand...

leatherman said:
CZ-75, it was before JAXX's time, but I was around when there was a base line of knives being offered. It was nice to pick what you want, but the wait time was a little more than "two weeks", it got a little ridiculous at times. Several months was not uncommon.

I think you'd find what you want in the exchange quicker than you would have gotten one back then. So it kind of evens out, I think. :)
Click to expand...

I agree with LM, it's quicker, and you can find some good deals in the exchange if you do your homework.
 
MY SON.............. If you wish to yield the power of the GODs in your hand then thou must bow to the Busse and accept it into thou heart and hand as if it were a lighting bolt from Zeus himself. Or.... you can go get yourself another knife and just remain a mere mortal, venerable to the great purging that is about to occur.
 
wolfdad said:
MY SON.............. If you wish to yield the power of the GODs in your hand then thou must bow to the Busse and accept it into thou heart and hand as if it were a lighting bolt from Zeus himself. Or.... you can go get yourself another knife and just remain a mere mortal, venerable to the great purging that is about to occur.
Click to expand...

^ awesome.
 
"Best" is a term that can mean so many things it really doesn't mean anything.
I prefer custom knives in some respects. Busses do have their flaws. They aren't the "fastest" knives in the hand, for example. Many are too thick for regular kitchen duty and somewhat heavy to carry. But they are my favourite hard use knives. Infi is truly outstanding, the knives are very, very tough and the warranty is also outstanding. They also happen to fit my hand perfectly. Plus, the people at Busse are outstanding too, and that's a bigger factor than most people know.
The truth is that most people probably don't need Busse level performance and may not need to spend the extra money. But, honestly, I can't think of a better production knife for hard use and, all things considered, definitely worth the money. For my purposes, it's the best all around hard use knife, but it really boils down to personal factors.
 
Last Visible Canary said:
Infi is a known composition that has been trade marked and patented. Unless busse wants to file another patent for a different composition infi will not be changing anytime soon.




What you just said doesn't prove anything because there are no verifiable sources in it. Infi hasn't changed it's composition since it was patented. Jerry has used several steels throughout the course of his knife making career, sometimes on the same model such as the steel heart. If you want a company to use one steel and one steel only, good luck, I would suggest a custom maker who will provide you with a certificate of the steel used.



V 0.36% Vanadium
Cr 8.25% Chrome
Fe 87.79% Iron
Co 0.95% Cobalt
Ni 0.74% Nickel
Mo 1.3% Molybdenum
C 0.5% Carbon
N 0.11% Nitrogen

If you want to know what the composition of the steel being used is: ask. There is no reason to want a knife to be harder to sharpen. There are several good reasons why you would want a higher wear resistance.



The insinuation that people know the first names of the customer service representatives because they have to use them often due to poor *anything* isn't comical or sly. Every customer representative within the busse company represents themselves by their first name. If you would prefer to not know who works at a knife company that's your call.



Unless you feel the impetus to do so, don't. Buy a lot of other companies knives and be happy. If you ever want to try out a busse for yourself and make your own opinions about it based on use, do so. Most people can use a knife in 420js and be satisfied with how it functions.

INFI as a steel was designed to maintain malleability at high hardness (58-62) while maintaining as many other desirable qualities as possible: wear resistance, ease of sharpening, corrosion resistance, shock resistance, strength. It does so very well.

In each category you will find another steel that can trump INFI: other steels have better corrosion resistance. other steels are harder. Other steels are easier to sharpen. If you need the best of the best in a single category: buy that steel and be happy. If you need as many of the categories to be at the a high level of performance at the same time, with an the most attention being paid towards chip resistance: yes, INFI is the best given that required set of performances.

All things material can be improved upon. If you don't like the fan base, don't interact with the fan base. If you don't like the steel, don't buy or use the steel. If you don't like the price, buy something that is less expensive. If you don't like the availability, buy something that is readily available.
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Simply brilliant response I wholeheartedly agree with, thank you so much for your reply.
 
I'm a newbie here, too, and I have to say DONT buy a Busse. Since the first time I was referred to this area it has cost me nothing but grief. I now have to have knives shipped to my office. I find secretive ways to pay for them. I have to lie(over-exaggerate ) to my wife. I cheat at work and check the exchange while on the clock at. None of this is something you want to get in to....

Seriously though, I don't love every design they have but the ones I do make me drool...there is nothing like the excitement when waiting on the next one to be delivered. I have only 6 now( don't laugh, I'm new) and will be busse groupie for life. And I really like koolaid!
 
leatherman said:
CZ-75, it was before JAXX's time, but I was around when there was a base line of knives being offered. It was nice to pick what you want, but the wait time was a little more than "two weeks", it got a little ridiculous at times. Several months was not uncommon.

I think you'd find what you want in the exchange quicker than you would have gotten one back then. So it kind of evens out, I think. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. I could wait several months, after having waited w/ Randall for several years, albeit more for a conversation piece with a heritage, than a working knife. It would just be nice to know that Busse would offer what people expect of them as their premier model at least once a year so they could put in a pre-order.

I, personally, don't just want ANY knife Busse makes, but have a specific interest in the BM, or a variant thereof that doesn't stray too much from the original formula. As it stands now, I have no idea if or when one would become available to order.

Thanks to everyone who replied.
 
I'd be willing to bet you could get a Battle Mistress variant of some sort available several times a year at knife shows scattered all over the US. Busse or a representative has tables and booths at shows on a pretty regular basis. Blade and Knob Creek come to mind immediately, and there was a big gun show that a rep was at a few months ago. ThatMguy attends gun shows on a regular basis as well, and he always has a good selection of INFI and other Bussekin.

If you cant make the show get a proxy, theres always a handful of people more than willing to shop for you.
 
albeit late - I just wanted to add that LVCs response was stellar, and more friendly than I.

well said...
 
CZ-75A said:
Thanks. I could wait several months, after having waited w/ Randall for several years, albeit more for a conversation piece with a heritage, than a working knife. It would just be nice to know that Busse would offer what people expect of them as their premier model at least once a year so they could put in a pre-order.

I, personally, don't just want ANY knife Busse makes, but have a specific interest in the BM, or a variant thereof that doesn't stray too much from the original formula. As it stands now, I have no idea if or when one would become available to order.

Thanks to everyone who replied.
Click to expand...


It is unlikely that any past model BM will come back again unchanged. Your best chance is to search, figure out what you want, and then post a WTB on that forum. (Even though you can't see posts on the WTB forum, you can post there)

Good Luck! :thumbup:
 
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