This should ruffle some feathers

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bowdriller

Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
17
I see everyone in this community has some pretty sweet blades and I own a knife over $100 but for my liking in an outdoors situation give me a Cold Steel Bushman anytime and I will be content. Strength, sharpness, dependability, its all there. Yes, maybe not as fancy or high quality as hierloom quality pieces but who needs that when it comes down to doing the job? Lots of use goes into making bowdrills (for friction fires) and other things of the such. It chops, slices, and cuts superbly for its size, plus it holds and edge reasonably well but what I like is how easily it resharpens. I have beaten my Bushman to death and it is still going very strong. Recently I just went through an entire 40 year old Mockernut Hickory tree, splitting it with a Bushman and some pounding sticks. I went through several pounders, and at one point was actually worried about the abuse I was inflicting on the knife but now I know how tough it is ; it holds its own. I have owned three: lost one, gave one away, still got one. For $25.... forget about it!!!!!!! A thirty two pound flathead catfish is not easy to catch, but I did.
 
somewhere else in bladeforums that would probably get someone pissed. i think here people are much more practical.

by the way, awesome username.
 
bowdriller said:
I see everyone in this community has some pretty sweet blades and I own a knife over $100 but for my liking in an outdoors situation give me a Cold Steel Bushman anytime and I will be content. Strength, sharpness, dependability, its all there. Yes, maybe not as fancy or high quality as hierloom quality pieces but who needs that when it comes down to doing the job? Lots of use goes into making bowdrills (for friction fires) and other things of the such. It chops, slices, and cuts superbly for its size, plus it holds and edge reasonably well but what I like is how easily it resharpens. I have beaten my Bushman to death and it is still going very strong. Recently I just went through an entire 40 year old Mockernut Hickory tree, splitting it with a Bushman and some pounding sticks. I went through several pounders, and at one point was actually worried about the abuse I was inflicting on the knife but now I know how tough it is ; it holds its own. I have owned three: lost one, gave one away, still got one. For $25.... forget about it!!!!!!! A thirty two pound flathead catfish is not easy to catch, but I did.
Click to expand...
I agree with you but the handle sucks comfort wise and they are not at all pleasing on the eye !!!:barf:
Value wise though they can't be beaten !:thumbup:
 
I only have confidence in a full tang knife that has good carbon steel that is well ground with a very fine heat treat that has been well tested in extremely frigidly freezing cold weather conditions over and over(as this is the true test for blade stress and breakage situations) again.

If it is comfortable to use in all the survival situations that I will call on it for, and it will not break apart under any of these conditions, then and only then I will be able to stake my life on it.. After all the most important tool a man has in the wilderness in a live or die situation is his knife.

IMO, One must be able to count on his knife not to fail. If you can purchase this type of knife for $25. I would be very happy to know where and by whom it can be had.
 
Check out member noss4's knifetests.com for some awesome video of the abuse that a bushman can take. There is a lot of controversy over the usefulness of these destruction tests, but at the very least they are entertaining. The bushman outperforms many knives 4 times the price.
A great blade, just begging to be modded to any shape you see fit, and some grip tape fixes the comfort level of the handle considerably.
 
I've got a bushman, but its not about to take the place of my Ontario RATS or my Ranger RD's - I'm not saying that it can't be counted on, but if MY life were on the line, and I didn't have much $$, it'd be Ranger and RAT for me for under $100... It was mentioned before, but the handle on the Bushman sucks pretty bad, and the sheath is a POS as well. Again, I have one, I like it, but its far from my 1st choice.

The spear test that Noss did was pretty ingenius - I was impressed w/ the Bushman's peformance, thats for sure...
 
Why would this Piss anybody off ??

If you read this forum often enough you would see that we did a thread a week ago on Bushman survival kits, and that we talk about moras and Sacs far more than Sebenzas and Busse's.

We all like nice knives and those who can afford them buy them, but we all also appreciate the basics.

I once heard someone say " Any iddiot can buy a good $500 bottle of wine but a connasuer (sp) can find a $20 bottle thats just as good"

I believe the same is true of knives.
 
Very well stated EMS.

I guess that I didn't mention that while the Bushman isn't at the top of my list, it IS in my Bug Out Bag - a pretty prestigious position! - while I would definately grab one of my higher end blades if I knew that I'd need a knife, I'm not afraid to keep a bushman in my BOB (which is in my Explorer) - I know that it'll hold up, and I won't care too much if it gets stolen because its so cheap to replace.

Black Swan is an Australian wine - about $5-7 a bottle - and for the $$, its a nice bottle (I've had the Cab and Merlot - both were very good). Little Penguin (another Aussie wine) is also pretty decent. Just thought I'd throw that out there!
 
For non-finesse applications I use Moras (Frost) which are even cheaper than the Bushman. Alone in the forest in a survival situatin I'd pick a Mora over a Sebenza.

For 20$ I'll try a Bushman, thanks for the tip. I'm however a fan of stainless so I might not be that excited.

Spanish wines are very good for the pricetag. Just about any Reserva from the Rioja district is good, my favorites are Campo Viejo, Marquis the Arienzo and Muga. They are 8-18$.
//Jay

PS. Skip french Champagne and go for the spanish version "Cava". Costs as wine but Champagne level quality.
 
Lynn Thomson hands out these "Bushman" blades to trackers in South Africa when he hunts there. If you have ever hunted in Africa, you will know that trackers are also skinners of the game you shoot. African trackers are some of the most bush savvy people around and the USE their blades for survival EVERY day.

The CS Bushman blade holds up VERY well considering it is a $20 knife. The new version should even be more popular. Great buy at the price.
 
The Mini bushman is out of production cut can still be found for about $15.00 on line. As for handle comfort I wrap mine with paracord and then cover it with duct tape. Its not perfect but it is an improvement. The sheath does suck if you want a replacement contact Eric (Normark) at on Scene Tactical. he make kick a** replacements for the full and mini size. Thr CS bushman is a good low cost knife that you can use and abuse without the $$ signs flashing, or you can leave it in a bag or vehicle kit and forget about it.

I own both sizes.
 
Bushman modifications: Cut a champagne bottel cork into shape so its fits snugly into the back of the Bushman's hollow handle. Roll essentials (PSK items) in a plastic bag and insert into the hollow handle. Seal with champagne cork top. Now roll parachute cord over the handle. Then put tennis racket grip tape over the parachute cord. Good to go for a day in the wilderness! The sheath REALLY sucks though!
 
I like the Bushmans. As I said before, and will say again, my only problem is the size. If they could bring the blade down to, say 4", I would be all over one.
 
bowdriller said:
I see everyone in this community has some pretty sweet blades and I own a knife over $100 but for my liking in an outdoors situation give me a Cold Steel Bushman anytime and I will be content.
Click to expand...

How DARE you Sir! Content with a Cold Steel Bushman? Why that's absolutely, positively preposterous!!!

Ha! Here's mine sporting a new jacket:

Bushman001.jpg

Bushman003.jpg

Bushman002.jpg


The sheath still needs a little tweaking. My Bushman had been relegated to the garage for landscaping duty for the last 6 years or so. My interest in the knife had been rekindled recently, so I thought I'd give it a new sheath and tote the knife along on a few adventures this year. It has always proven to be a competent performer, regardless of what tasks were thrown at it.
 
I'm not a big fan of round handles, but I'm sure with some ranger bands like above, or maybe skateboard grip tape, it would be just fine.

Bowdriller, if you like stuff that's affordable, simple, and RELIABLE without a bunch of fancy-schmancy, you've come to the right part of the forum :) (especially if you're a carbon steel fan, we seem to be in the majority in here).

SkunkWerx and mp510, I've been kinda wanting the smaller version too, I may just end up getting the big one and reprofiling the blade some. More like 4" long with a mild drop point is what I'm thinking. I haven't handled one yet but from what I can see, I wouldprobably leave the bevel angle the same. For $25 and an hour puttering around, I don't see how you can go wrong. If you don't have a grinder, send me the knife and a drawing of how you want it, I'll shape it for free but you cover shipping both ways. If you do have a grinder, what are ya waiting for? :D Go slow, cool the blade often (before you see it start to change colors from the heat/friction) and it will be fine. You'll tear off much of the black coating, I think I would just patina it when done.
 
Best Bang for the Buck Survival type knife out there.

The full size one is a beast.
The mini is my personal favorite.
I have several of them stashed here and there.
 
Hey Guys...

sunnyd said:
After all the most important tool a man has in the wilderness in a live or die situation is his knife.
Click to expand...

Hey Suuny..

Actually the most important tool man has in the wilderness is his mind....

If the mind can't think, it doesn't matter what kind of knife he has...
Alot of people have survived and are in fact surviving on knives that you and I wouldn't be caught dead with.. :)

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Actually you be up the creek if you didn't have hands because no matter how smart you are you'd have a hell of a time getting things done with just nubs. You'd also have to sort of use your teeth to duct tape a knife to a nub and it probably wouldn't hold up too long. Don't even get me started on feet......;) :D

Just taking the piss guys, I've always been curious about the Mini-bushman and who are we kidding? We're all multi knife folks here. I think I'm going to try to find one online.

Eric, I once inquired about a sheath and you promptly replied but I never got back to you. That was rude of me and I apologize.:o


Normark said:
Hey Guys...



Hey Suuny..

Actually the most important tool man has in the wilderness is his mind....

If the mind can't think, it doesn't matter what kind of knife he has...
Alot of people have survived and are in fact surviving on knives that you and I wouldn't be caught dead with.. :)

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top