The Journey to Busse and Custom/High End Knives

Adian

Adian

Joined
Jul 28, 2013
Messages
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I think it is interesting to see the journey that led to a destination. So it makes me curious on the journey of folks here to get to Busse and other high end knives.

Me personally, I've been a knife lover since I was little. Grew up in the country and would get Gerbers and such for Christmas. I even found a set of fixed blade Buck knives while wondering around the woods one day.

When I joined the Marines I moved to Spiderco and SOG. I carrier that Spiderco for years, eventually losing it somewhere on a patrol and never replaced it.

After I got out I didn't really carry for a while until I Bought a CRKT. After that I got a good job making more than I had ever in my life and had a lot more disposable income. To celebrate I bought a Spartan Nyx and a ZT 0300.

That started me in on higher end knives. From there I ordered a 0777 that I waited over two years for and ended up with 2. Also a ZT 0100. Then came Benchmades and my foray into the RMJ hawk world.

After that we PCS moved and I wasn't making as much so I only ordered 2 in that year, a Coye and a Nocturnal Knives.

We PCS'd again and I found a really great job and had too much disposable income, and this is also when I found The Busse Custom shop. I promptly ordered a Flying Mojo as my hiring gift to myself. Then another RMJ/Bawidamann hawk, ZT 0392, an American Kami, a Satin Gladius and a soon to receive FFBM.

It's been this year that the big hit me really hard. I've bought guns, but there is so much more artistry in knives, so many designs, blade grinds, handles, so much to customize.

I do need to try to take a break so I can finish all the stuff on my Jeep, but new things keep popping up.
 
Fun question. Went into a shaver and cutlery shop years ago and bought a Benchmade because the owner said they were the best knives (Axis Lock and all). Of course, if you're going to have a Benchmade, you have to try a Spyderco. Hmmm, now it's getting interesting. This led to Strider (SNG/SMF) and Chris Reeve (Sebenza). Since Chris had the one-piece knives back then, I saw an old "Nos" video that shows Busse knives holding up to more abuse than we'd ever put a knife through. So the BATAC was the first Busse and the rest is history. Not only are Busse knives great, but it's fun to see what's coming next and to master the F5 skills needed to score a #1 (or other low number) limited edition. I still remember being totally fooled by some stealthy Hogs back when Busse offered the SFNO-LE, A knife I absolutely coveted. I lost out completely that night, only to be saved by Amy-O and the rest of the staff at the time. God, I'm starting ... to ... feel ... old.
 
It's funny, I stumbled upon busse almost the same, John. I had bought a sebenza, and was looking for a fixed blade. I also watched the knife test videos, and saw that the reeve didn't fair so well. So got to thinking, I wonder what kind of knives have made it through? Lo and behold the mighty nmfbm caught my eye, and those began my love for Busse's! I still don't have as many as others do, but I love all of them!
 
It all started for me watching Man vs Wild. No, wait, bear with me. (See what I did there? ;))

I said to the wife, "the one thing he always has with him is a knife," which got me thinking 'what knife does BG use?' I avoided the Gerber stuff, but quickly bought a Buck Nighthawk and Bantam, and found this forum and its Aussie equivalent.

I remember pretty early on thinking that there were some seriously over the top knives out there and that I would never spend that kind of money - specifically Busse and Zero Tolerance.

My first experience with a Bussekin knife was an RMD that came up at a reasonable price but I wasn't overly impressed and moved it on. A while later (probably eighteen months or so ago now) I grabbed a 511 off the Exchange here, thinking I would give these over-priced knives another go and that's when the sickness started. Now I have the 511, 711, S5LE, 2x RMD, Rodent 6, and TGLB in the collection, with a Desert Dogfather and BG-ASH arriving Tuesday, plus my CG-SOB just paid for last week, and a Ratweiler, JMD and custom shop Rodent 6 still on order.

(Oh, and I have almost as many ZT folders as I do Bussekin blades too :) )
 
Thanks for sharing! I'm with you on ZT folders. Though lately, a Marfione Custom Shop Starlord has caught my eye. But at the fast rate I'm acquiring Busse's, it won't be long before they outnumber everything else in my collection
 
Although I have always used knives - really what man hasn't - about two years ago, I was watching an episode of "Naked and Afraid" and the featured large survival blade prompted my investigation of higher end knives. Now I'm hooked. Grayman; Carter; Becker; Winkler; Chris Reeve. And about 37 Bussekin. And...I can't stop. Oh, well. Can afford these great tools and investments now. So let the show play on...;-)
 
Although I have always used knives - what man hasn't - about two years ago, I was watching an episode of "Naked and Afraid" and the featured large survival blade prompted my investigation of higher end knives. Now I'm hooked. Grayman; Carter; Becker; Winkler; Chris Reeve. And about 37 Bussekin. And...I can't stop. Oh, well. Can afford these great tools and investments now. So let the show play on...;-)
 
Dad gave me a Buck 110 when I was a kid, and I carried that up until around halfway through my first year in the Army. That knife has cleaned thousands of Speckled Trout, cut a crapload of fishing line and rope, and performed various other pocket knife tasks- but I never liked how hard it was to keep an edge on it in my pre- being decent at sharpening days.

One of my NCO's had a Spyderco paramilitary that he swore by, so I got a Spydie Dragonfly in s30v secondhand and fell in love with having a little knife that can hold an edge like a champ. (This is about when I bought a Lanksy system, which helped the edge). about 6 months later, that Dragonfly fell off my kit out in the boonies, and I bellied up to a Spydie Military, which I still carry now. Little later, I got a ZT0301 off ebay for cheap, and figured I have as many folders as I'd ever want or need (Going from Active Duty to the Guard as a student has cut my need for knives drastically).

My first "real deal" fixed blade was a Randall 14, which is still a work of art IMO (Even though it's dead stock, no cool-guy features), but I always feel guilty taking it out of my room and putting it on my kit- and I don't think it's cut anything more difficult than a MRE package or some tape. I loved it, and just couldn't make myself be rough with it for some reason.

Found out about Busse via this forum, and my wife's obsession with The Walking Dead (Her dream blade is a TGLB- which I stupidly didn't buy when they were still being offered. Granted- I didn't have the money, but still). Just got my first two hunks of INFI in the mail, and have more in limbo.... (Gotta love getting paid more to work part time than I did as an Active Duty Soldier, right?) and now I'm hooked- as is my wife.
 
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