The SH's first taste of blood and oak

Andrew Lynch

Andrew Lynch

Joined
Feb 6, 2000
Messages
3,021
When I recieved my Steel Heart 2 E, I babied it, drooled over it, and only shaved hair with it. Things haven't really changed, except for the fact that the SH has had its first beating.

I went on a rather ill-fated camping trip (in that it rained all night, and the tent wasn't up to it!), but it performed very well. I was dying to learn first hand of its chopping performance, and I finally had the chance! I brought along my Filipino bolo with a 12" blade and with large buffulo horn handle slabs. The steel is probably 1095. Its blade thickness is about 3/16 tapered off to 5/32 at the tip. It weighs about 1 pound 9 ounces (about 725 grams) vs the Steel Heart's 1 pound 4 ounces (600 grams)(the Busse Combat website has it at just 16 ounces, but I get 20 ounces on my scale).

Now on to the chopping. I did NOT do this scientifically, so please don't expect exact figures or proof; just my opinions from using them.

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the bolo won quite easily. I mean, the blade is 4.5 inches longer; what can one expect? The place where the SH did start to approach the bolo in chopping performance was when cutting dry hardwood. I'm not sure why, but it was excellent at cutting this material. The bolo, as expected, far outcut the SH on live white pine; its long, thinner blade is suited to this material, and it cuts like crazy. By the end of the day, the SH could still barely shave (even after chopping dry hardwood and pine for atleast an hour and a half). The bolo would not shave, and didn't look to be close to it. But, neither of them had deformed edges after that. I am very impressed with the performance of both blades. One thing that I don't like about the SH is its handle. The angle is great, but the scales are very slim. It was unsafe to chop with using the "whipping" method. Using the power method was safer, but was still uncomfortable and not all that safe. My bolo, on the other hand, has thick buffulo horn scales, and the handle is about 10/8" thick (5/4" thick) vs the slim SH's 5/8" thick. So, it's about twice as thick at the top of the handle (slightly less at the bottom, it is slightly tapered). This thicker handle is far more comfortable IMHO. The micarta is a better grip material, but it is not nearly thick enough. And I think a much thicker handle would be more comfortable and safe not only when chopping, but for general utility aswell.

I noticed the tip of the SH is sharper (finer) than I thought it would be, and I am happy. It would be an excellent military knife, even for stabbing. I tried some full power stabs into a hardwood tree. The knife penetrated pretty well, if not great. I didn't try to test tip strength, but I'm sure it is very strong. The handle wasn't overly secure during the stabbing (due to handle thickness), but wasn't bad, due to the talon hole/guard and micarta texture. I found it very secure for stabbing during saber grip, though.

The coating wear was very interesting and impressive. After a while of heave use, I noticed that the coating was being abraded, but in an unexpected way. Where it abraded, only close to the edge so far, the coating just became smooth (the "crinkle" pattern wore off). It looked quite nice, actually, and not at all bad. Very impressive.

I like to make spears, and I found the SH to be a perfect size for an all-round spear maker. It can do the light/medium chopping required for felling the tree/lemb to use for the spear. Then, it is very good for the very light chopping involved with shaping the tip. Using the finger cut-out, it is capable of very fine work in finishing off the point and tip.

I'm also impressed with the sheath. Very utalitarian and very light. I like the pocket too. But, I wish it would be either high or low ride, not inbetween. Also, i wish the cordura cover was fitted tighter to the kydex, especially at the bottom. The holes at the top and bottom of the sheath are a nice touch, facilitating the sheath to be attached to a bag/pack (or tie the bottom of the sheath to your leg).

In closing, I would like to say that the Steel Heart 2 E is a medium sized knife that can do excellent fine work and is a pretty good chopper, especially for light to medium chopping.

It's a great multi-use knife!

 
Andrew Lynch:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Now on to the chopping. I did NOT do this scientifically</font>
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You took measurements without bias to quantify something and were able to reach a decision with confidence and reported this clearly without exaggeration. Seems like you were scientific to me. There will always be room for an increase in precision no matter what the work is or who does it, and no method is 100% definate.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">The place where the SH did start to approach the bolo in chopping performance was when cutting dry hardwood. </font>
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I would assume that the edge on the SH is thinner than the edge on the Bolo and thus as the wood gets harder and thus the penetration lower per hit, the SH will see an increase in relative performace. The part convex grind will also help as it has a lower drag profile As you go on to softer wood, the wood starts to "see" more of the blade and thus the thinner primary grind on the Bolo will allow it to pull ahead.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">One thing that I don't like about the SH is its handle. The angle is great, but the scales are very slim.</font>
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I would like the handles thicker as well. However comfort and security are of course dependent on the size and type of the users hands. If your hands are very thick and fleshy then you will have a very different perspective than someone with long slender tapered fingers. How your strength is distributed is also a major factor.

My brother for example has the exact opposite hand structure than I have. To get specific, my hand is about 8" from tip of index finger to base of wrist, and about 3" thick, bottom of thumbpad to middle of the top of hand. His hand is about 1/2" or so longer but *much* more slender. We have very nearly opposing viewpoints on grips. He liked the Trailmaster grip, I did not, I liked the Machax grip he did not.

It would be nice to maybe have the handles optionally thicker. This would obviously complicate the manufacturing process and possibly worth a slight price increase for a non-standard item.

-Cliff
 
I agree Cliff, an option would be great. However, I think that this handle is extra slim, and is too slim for a majority (if not large majority) of users. The handle is just over half an inch thick; that is way too thin. I suggest a handle atleast 3/4 or an inch thick as standard, and with about 9/8 of an inch thick as an option. I mean, as soon as I put this knife in my hand (for the very first time, within seconds), I knew I wanted a thicker handle. But again, a really thick handle won't suit everyone either, so a choice would be really great (though, like you said, making the manufacture of Busses harder, more expensive, and time consuming). Despite the problems, I think a thicker (and more rounded) handle would dramatically improve the knife. It may be that some people who say they dislike the E handles after handling them dislike them due to the handle scale slimness. Anyhow, the handle is a knife's "user interface", and it's important to make it as comfortable as possible. In this case, it wouldn't be hard.

 
Andrew Lynch:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">It may be that some people who say they dislike the E handles after handling them dislike them due to the handle scale slimness.</font>
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Are they significantly thinner than the older handles?

While I would strongly agree with thicker slabs, I wonder about the majority opinion. Does Busse Combat for example recieve complaints about this on a regular basis from the customer base?

The talon holes by the way make it very easy to cordwrap which will obviously beef the grip up significantly if desired. Mine was wrapped for quite some time until the cord got gummed up and I removed it for sanitary reasons.

-Cliff
 
Cliff, firstly I'm not sure if the handle slabs are much thinner (if at all). It was a guess, and maybe I'm wrong.

About the majority. I haven't heard many people say that they wish the handles were thicker, but in the few reviews of the E models, I've heard it as a suggestion almost every time. I believe something to the effect of wanting thicker, rounded handle slabs is in the now heated review of the BM, "Some Comments on the Busse Battle Mistress". I think you probably know where it is... But, you're right, the majority thing was a guess, and maybe I was wrong in stating it. However, I still think that the majority of people would like thicker handle slabs. If I'm wrong, I apologize.

Oh, and I think I might cordwrap my SH. Should I use paracord? If so, where's a good place to get some? I may try tennis racquet handle wrap; atleast for a while (especially since I play a lot of tennis).

 
I actually used hemp rope the last time I did it. That makes for a very abrasive grip however. Paracord can be found in most hardware stores. One thing you might want to think about is doing a simple cord wrap and then running a layer of tape across the top. This will save on the amount of tape you need to use.

-Cliff
 
Cliff,

I actually just tried, then removed some tennis handle tape from my SH. It is the wrong type. Firstly, it's blue, which looks horrible against the black and tan of the sheath, and secondly it is very thin. There are some high-quality handle tapes that have an excellent grip and are very durable, but most importantly some are quite thick. But, I think I'll opt with paracord. It is very durable, and isn't slippery when wet like tennis handle tape can be.
 
Lee Valley sells a high friction grip tape, its green and has no adhesive so it doesn't stick to anything so its easy to remove. And of course since its high friction you have a solid grip, very solid in fact, the first time I used it, the surface was so abrasive it blistered my hand in multiple heavy contact areas. I can use it now though, I have gotton used to it.

Since it doesn't have any adhesive the bonding works by the actual nature of the tape. If you look at it under a scope you will see a very barbed structure. It basically sticks to itself like velcro, but in this case the loops and barbs are intertwined in the same piece. You can't readily peel it off once it is on, but since it doesn't bond to anything besides itself you can just slice down the back and pop it off.

Oh yeah, and because it is so high friction it gathers dirt really quickly and so after awhile starts to look like muddy vomit. Not exactly the most attractive visual, but it is very functional.

-Cliff
 
Just to toss in an opposing viewpoint, I feel that the handle is too thick. I have short, thick fingers. I wish there was some way to remove the slabs and grind them down a little. I don't want to grind the face off them because I love the quilted Micarta. I would rather be in your position as it is easy to make them bigger.

Jim McCullough

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Next time you feel your life is sooo tough, read this- Some American Heroes
 
Jim, I think the custom shop could easily do this, not sure about the price though you might want to drop Busse an email about it.

-Cliff
 
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