The Skinny ASH is the perfect knife, right...?

adrock1978

adrock1978

Joined
May 30, 2009
Messages
2,538
So why am I not content with mine, and have been drooling over their DC fatty cousins in the .32 variety. Seriously, though. Help me out. I really want a double cut ASH .32" thick. Is there an advantage to one over the other? I can't have BOTH, so don't go there. And I can't mention any options as far as making the switch or the thread will get locked.

The Skinny is the only knife I have in its size and use class (which I consider to be an all-round camp/hunt/hike knife)
 
My cg is bomb proof, without doubt. That being said it's really heavy for the blade length, to the point that I'd trade it for a skinny pretty quick.
 
Ive never owned a Skinny, but think of the CG .32 as a sharpened prybar. It is a beast. Some don't care for the weight for carry in conjunction with the blade length...I am not one of those people. I love that its a big job knife in a shorter package. I kinda view the skinny as a large utility. If I were to pick one, and I have, it would be the CG at .32...but thats just me. :D
 
Between the two, I'd go with the Skinny. The CG is too thick for it's length, IMHO. However, I ended up selling both and getting a .22 SE:D I'd recommend something in .22, an LE, SE, or custom shop one if you really like the blade style.

GregB
 
I picked up one of the new "skinny" ASHs at Blade West. The knife is a little bit thicker than the original one. I am not sure by how much off the top of my head (there was a thread about it). I love it, I wouldn't want it thinner, with that said I wouldn't want it thicker either. The .32 blades, particularly on the small to mid sized knives don't make any sense to me. They just feel way too thick/heavy. On a bigger chopper I may feel differently.
I consider my knife close to the perfect camp knife, although I give that title to the NMSFNO. If the your ASH seems too light/small maybe you'd dig the NMSFNO.
Regardless, a .32 thick DC ASH will look cool as hell.
 
pushingmongo said:
I picked up one of the new "skinny" ASHs at Blade West. The knife is a little bit thicker than the original one. I am not sure by how much off the top of my head (there was a thread about it). I love it, I wouldn't want it thinner, with that said I wouldn't want it thicker either. The .32 blades, particularly on the small to mid sized knives don't make any sense to me. They just feel way too thick/heavy. On a bigger chopper I may feel differently.
I consider my knife close to the perfect camp knife, although I give that title to the NMSFNO. If the your ASH seems too light/small maybe you'd dig the NMSFNO.
Regardless, a .32 thick DC ASH will look cool as hell.
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Well, I love everything about the blade length and shape. My thinking is, I can only have one... shouldn't it BE the more bomb proof of the two? Plus I'm not really a fan of coated blades anymore... and my skinny is black. Its no slouch though as far as tough knives as we all know. Am I just obsessing over a non-issue?
 
adrock1978 said:
Well, I love everything about the blade length and shape. My thinking is, I can only have one... shouldn't it BE the more bomb proof of the two? Plus I'm not really a fan of coated blades anymore... and my skinny is black. Its no slouch though as far as tough knives as we all know. Am I just obsessing over a non-issue?
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NO, get what YOU like:cool:
 
I didn't like the heavy straight-handle; you made the right choice by going skinny. Now if you want to heavy, a FSH is what to do it in.
 
jnphares said:
I didn't like the heavy straight-handle; you made the right choice by going skinny. Now if you want to heavy, a FSH is what to do it in.
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I'm confus-ed... both knives in question have the same handle. Are you talking about a straight handle steel heart?
 
Get you a cg ASh... they are monsters, and can not be surpassed in pure destruction power.
Picture025.jpg
 
fbusmc said:
Get you a cg ASh... they are monsters, and can not be surpassed in pure destruction power.
Picture025.jpg
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Wow! Sell me that DC one in the lower left with tan/black G10!! Just kidding... don't want to get the knife police after me again. ;)
 
adrock1978 said:
I'm confus-ed... both knives in question have the same handle. Are you talking about a straight handle steel heart?
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Unless I was mistaken about what you were referring to, the Skinny ASH has a handle like those in the pictures above (pretty much straight), but the FSH model has Jerry's Fusion handle (curved, but less curved than an Ergo).
 
GregB said:
Between the two, I'd go with the Skinny.
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+1

Had both, sold my CG and feel content with the skinny.

The CG was just TOO thick for the pre-apocalyptic world.

GregB said:
I'd recommend something in .22, an LE, SE,
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The Goldilocks approach :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Sounds like this would be the way to go for you if you can find one!

With that said, I thought I read somewhere that the ASHs offered at the shows now are in the .22" range....?


.
 
FBUSMC's pic is useful for what I would like to add ... I have a Skinny Ash ... it was my first Busse ... when I got into them they were available at the store .... later I got a Ash LE which was also on offer .... a bit like you I sort of felt there was'nt enough weight/chopping performance in the Skinny .... and yet it had the depth of blade indicative of a "chopper" style knife ... the LE felt better at .22 thick as opposed to .187 .... then I went to Knob Creek and had the chance to handle the thicker version at .32 .... my first thought was it had "needless" weight for the size .... I felt like this as well on a later buy of a BATAC LE ... knives this size don't seem to radically improve chopping ability when a lot thicker .... it is as if the length of blade can only do "so much" ....

Anyway ... the LE was probably my favourite for a while though I never used it much .... my Skinny I used every which way .... I stripped it quite quickly as I too am not a fan of coated blades generally ( although I love the smooth Basic 9 ??? ) but having stripped it I spent 8 hours plus doing a hand sanding satin finish .... then at least another 8 hours experimenting on the edges .... going back and forth from straight V grinds with back bevels to convex edges on my sander .... working out which cut best and lasted longest .... then I went all the way and fully convexed the Skinny Ash taking it down in thickness quite a bit as well .... mine is now around .17 thick ... or rather .17 THIN !

At this level of thinnes the knife really came into it's own for me ..... plus by doing so much sharpening and testing my blade profile was becoming similar to the 3B2 in FBUSMC's pic .... and I got one of these in due course based on liking the shallower depth to the blade .... I found with the shallower blade I had a lot more control on using the Skinny Ash for fine work and with a "thinner thickness" it could carve and do delicate work FAR better than I remember from when it was in stock shape ....

So to conclude .... I would give a lot of consideration to a 3B2 .... I don't expect you to mess with your Skinny like I did .... I learned so much from that knife tho' ... that if I was going back down that route I would as a first buy get a 3B2 and weird as it might sound allowing for the great cammo finish ... I would strip it and get it double cut ....

The black smooth G10 grips are "amazing" on comfort ... and size and profile wise it reminds me very much of the Seigel SAR knife he did which is a very popular knife with those in that field ... and it makes for a great general utility camp knife .... much more control with your thumb on the spine and using the choked grip.... my Skinny is now very similar to a 3B2 and for me is all the better for it ....

I gave up looking for chopping ability in a knife this size .... .32 thick does'nt do it ... go thinner and slightly bigger if you need that ability ... weight wise the best in class for me and where the "chopping" ability starts is a sabre grind SFNO or NMSFNO or bigger ....

But ... for a great field knife a 3B2 or a modified Skinny Ash is a cracking knife ....

Batoning with a thinner blade with the sort of depth you have with a 3B2 is a doddle ... plus you can cross grain baton if you need to instead of trying to chop with a light blade .... when thinner the Skinny bites VERY deep on this task .... and on game work and food prep it just plain beats everything .... it is my most used Busse in the kitchen by a very long way .... infact a Chef who is a good friend enthuses over my "Anorexic Skinny" a LOT .... it's a great way to get him to give me a hand on preping venison lol...
 
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it's difficult to express how much I love my .32 ASH.

seriously.

it'll do everything from slicing a tomato to peeling an apple to fire prep to chopping through rusty chains to (I imagine) prying a car door open in a pinch.

it feels just right in the hand too, IMO.
 
For camp knives I put the Skinny ASH and the SRKW Camp Tramp on top of the heap. With the Skinny ASH at 3/16" and the Camp Tramp at 1/4" they both carry lighter than the fatter ASHs and perform well enough to cover all the bases. I've barely re-profiled my Skinny ASH at all but when I used it to strip the damned English ivy off a bunch of trees it never failed me even when I had to swing from some awkward positions. Love the Skinny ASH!
 
richstag said:
NO, get what YOU like:cool:
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richstag makes a good point here. GET WHAT YOU LIKE!!! I have had skinny, DCBB .220" and the fatty. I like all three. In fact the ASH-1 series is one of my favs and the skinny is awful handy and lite enough to enjoy wagging around. Like already said thought the Fatty is a sharpened prybar and a fine one at that. Ask yourself what is your primary use that you want. Get both and enjoy them for what they are. You want a splitter grab fat boy, you want a easy handler, grab the skinny, can't go wrong. What ever you deside good luck and enjoy.
 
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