Thickest Knife

MikeH · Jan 7, 2006

Here's a 5/16" Busse that I would not trade for any custom of similar price.

Cobalt · Jan 7, 2006

Very nice. Not sure I would trade that for a custom at any price, as t1mpani put it. Similarly, I would not trade my HOFSH for anything custom or not. But that is what floats our boat. I am sure there are many that feel the same way about Fehrman, Ranger, Tops, etc. They are all good knives made out of fairly tough steels. No SS is going to be tougher than a carbon steel as mentioned above.

Lest we not forget Johannings Tac knives. They may not be super thick, but tough as hell they are.

T.K.C. · Jan 7, 2006

Besides a custom, I would say a Strider, such as the AR or GB.

Quiet Storm · Jan 7, 2006

Cobalt said:
Toughness is not a matter of thickness as much as it is a matter of steel and HT. sure a 440C 1/2 inch blade will be strong. But with Jurgens design it will not be in anyway an effective cutter at all.

And compared to an Opinel the Busse won't be an effective cutter.

Cobalt said:
All that being said, I am more interested in performance than looks

Same here, that's why I buy custom fixed blades.

Cobalt · Jan 7, 2006

Quiet Storm said:
And compared to an Opinel the Busse won't be an effective cutter.

and compared to a razor....But when you have a 2 inch wide blade you can afford to have a thickness of 5/16 or even 3/8 without loosing effective cutting geometry.

Toughness is a steel property not a dimensional property.

Quiet Storm said:
Same here, that's why I buy custom fixed blades.

I have as well, and that is why I buy Busse

Ok so who else makes thick knives.

Cold Steel makes the Recon Scout and Trailmaster out of 5/16 stock.

I remember the old Gerber Bowies where 0.3 inch

The old Sog Trident was 0.27 inch thick and has now been reduced to 0.21 inch.

What else is there. Let's see how many can sound off what they have found. This wold be a good listing for future reference.

JD Spydo · Jan 7, 2006

Some of the Cold Steel knives I have are 5/16ths thick i.e. Trailmaster, Recon Scout & Gurkha Kukri. I have an ontario Machete that is at least 1/4 of an inch thick.

Cobalt · Jan 7, 2006

JD Spydo said:
I have an ontario Machete that is at least 1/4 of an inch thick.

Which machete is that? I didn't know Ontario made a machete out of 1/4 inch stock. How long is it or are you talking about the RTAK?

t1mpani · Jan 7, 2006

Quiet Storm said:
And compared to an Opinel the Busse won't be an effective cutter.

And I'll take an Old Hickory kitchen knife and run it so sharp an Opinel will look absurdly blunt and clumsy in comparison. But neither will do big-knife stuff well at all. For being what it is, the Busse is an extremely high performer.

Same here, that's why I buy custom fixed blades.

And so do I, and I buy Busses (and Fehrmans, and many many others), and I'll tell you that the best customs I have are getting high praise indeed when I say that they do their jobs as well as the knives from Wauseon. With exceptionally well done L6, 3V and a few others, INFI can be matched (at least, with how I use a large knife) but I've never seen it exceeded.

Quiet Storm · Jan 7, 2006

I don't doubt that Busses perform extremely well. (I used to own a Swamp Rat and I was amazed at its edge-holding ability.)

My point is that we're talking about high-end knives here, with excellent steels, excellent HT and excellent quality control. In this price range, performance is always a trade-off of one aspect of geometry for another, influencing a knife's cutting ability, toughness, weight and carryability either positively or negatively.

Cobalt · Jan 7, 2006

Quiet Storm said:
I don't doubt that Busses perform extremely well. (I used to own a Swamp Rat and I was amazed at its edge-holding ability.)

My point is that we're talking about high-end knives here, with excellent steels, excellent HT and excellent quality control. In this price range, performance is always a trade-off of one aspect of geometry for another, influencing a knife's cutting ability, toughness, weight and carryability either positively or negatively.

Agreed:thumbup:

Now, you should have seen the 24 inch HI AK I use to have. It was about 3/4 inch thick at the spine. It weighed about 4 lbs. and when I swung full power I had to make sure I could get my shins out of the way if I missed th wood because there was no way that Ang Khola was stopping until it hit something.

t1mpani · Jan 8, 2006

I used to have one about that size too---finally got rid of it because I was actually afraid of it. I'd rather swing a couple more times with one I can control---you miss with that behemoth and you lose a leg.

You're quite right, Quiet Storm----the number of factors that contribute to performance (and the number of possible definitions for "performance") are dizzying.

Rat Finkenstein · Jan 8, 2006

Speaking of H.I. How about this knife?
pretty much 3/4 inch thick at the spine- but good luck controlling your swings

t1mpani · Jan 8, 2006

I just saw that myself...words fail me (as would my courage long before I swung it.

).

Cobalt · Jan 8, 2006

t1mpani said:
And so do I, and I buy Busses (and Fehrmans, and many many others), and I'll tell you that the best customs I have are getting high praise indeed when I say that they do their jobs as well as the knives from Wauseon. With exceptionally well done L6, 3V and a few others, INFI can be matched (at least, with how I use a large knife) but I've never seen it exceeded.

Yes, pretty much my experince when I have compared it to the customs I have had in the past.

The big difference is that th busses never suffered as much edge damage as the others and this is a huge point to me.

Zen82 · Jan 26, 2006

One of the thickest blades I've seen is on the Smith & Wesson HRT line -- not sure of the model but easy to find out. I work construction and that thing can pry almost anything and yet to break, crack, or chip.

karolus13 · Jan 26, 2006

I also do not believe in 440C blades. I trust in Infi, but also in the experience of custom knivemakers, just like the mentioned Jürgen Schanz.
At the moment, I am planning with him a knive in a kind of Mojo-Style. But we have a problem:
I want a blade with a strength of more than 1/4 " of CPM S30 V or at least ATS 34. But where to get a raw piece of 1/2 "?
Can anyone solve this Problem?
Pik3@gmx.de

T.K.C. · Jan 26, 2006

You want an awesome, solid folder, that is like having a folding fixed blade, get a Strider GB or AR!!

Quiet Storm · Jan 26, 2006

karolus13 said:
I also do not believe in 440C blades.

Why not? What makes S30V or ATS-34 preferable in a large bade in your opinion?

If you want M-INFI-ish performance, you might want to try 2362, which is fairly similar in composition.

karolus13 · Jan 28, 2006

To be honest, I would not call me a real steel expert. But also Jürgen is not happy about the fact, that we only have 440C as an option at the moment. In his eyes, the question is very easy:
Stainless, means 440C, ATS 34 or CPM. Here is the 440C the softest and not most durable alternative. No question, a knive with a blade over 1/4 wont break with any kind of steel, but the question is, if it will hold the edge well.
Not stainless, here we have many strong and cheaper alternatives, but who wants to polish his knive evreytime after a hunting trip..
Remains the problem of a good source for high quality steel in this dimension.

Quiet Storm · Jan 29, 2006

karolus13 said:
To be honest, I would not call me a real steel expert.

I wouldn't call myself a steel expert either.

karolus13 said:
Here is the 440C the softest and not most durable alternative.

The rule of thumb is as follows: the better a steel holds an edge, the more brittle it is. In this case, 440C is generally a bit tougher than ATS-34, as well as being easier to resharpen and a tad more corrosion-resistant. ATS-34 does hold an edge better, but not by a wide margin. So if edge-holding capability is your only concern, 440C is indeed the "worst" of the three steels you mentioned.