Thoughts on price vs performance of Busse/Swamp Rat/Scrap Yard knives?? Other recommendations?

The Ratmandu is a good solid beater once you strip the blade coating and give it a proper edge.
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If I were looking for a knife to fit the OP’s parameters I’d go with a Ratmandu without hesitation.

I’ve had several and wound up keeping this orange and green one. Just love the funky colors on the thing. The bronze/green one below has gone on to a new home, but it was stunning in person (should’ve kept it).



 
I was lucky enough to get an Alpha Regulator with a kydex sheath,its a real monster of a knife. Before i got it i saw a post of guys posting their knives on the Busse forum, saw Ankerson post his Alpha Regulator, i knew then i had to get it.....
 
goldie said:
I was lucky enough to get an Alpha Regulator with a kydex sheath,its a real monster of a knife. Before i got it i saw a post of guys posting their knives on the Busse forum, saw Ankerson post his Alpha Regulator, i knew then i had to get it.....
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I too have an Alpha Regulator...... and agree it's awesome. So is the 1311
Both are SYKCO.

a "regular" Busse just seems to mall ninja like, for me.
They sure have their own crowd........

Something that wasn't mentioned brand wise, is L.T. Wright.

They are a step up from the brands you are used to. and yet, you still will get what you pay for.
Great value.


Otherwise, I'd start going Custom.
 
I love Busse and kin knives. They’re actually worth getting, because if for some reason you’re not satisfied, you can sell them for either what you paid or more. INFI is a great steel, and SR-101 is pretty much just as good in my opinion. Swamp Rat and SYKCO are really good for price to performance ratio. I have a Busse TGULB, Swamp Rat Mega Ratweiler, and a SYKCO DB-421. Out of all of them the DB-421 is the most well rounded in my opinion. The Res-C handle isn’t fancy, but very durable and comfortable. I’m almost positive you won’t be disappointed with any of those 3 brands. Even though the blades on my knives are quite a bit larger than your requirements, I’ll post a couple of pics to give you an idea.
https://flic.kr/p/2mG6jiS
https://flic.kr/p/2mJt64J
https://flic.kr/p/2n2BY1f
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I too have an Alpha Regulator...... and agree it's awesome. So is the 1311
Both are SYKCO.

a "regular" Busse just seems to mall ninja like, for me.
They sure have their own crowd........

Something that wasn't mentioned brand wise, is L.T. Wright.

They are a step up from the brands you are used to. and yet, you still will get what you pay for.
Great value.


Otherwise, I'd start going Custom.
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Busse knives are too mall ninja?! Lmao, now I’ve seen everything. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
 
I'd say you should get a Busse (or Swamp Rat, or Scrap Yard) and / or a Carothers just so you have a point of reference. It's hard to know where your tastes sit in the 'knife spectrum' until you have a point of reference on both ends of the scale. You can always sell the Busse / CPK if you decide it's not for you, so there's no real loss in finding out.
 
Since you’re looking at price vs. performance, I’d say Swamp Rat and Scrap Yard both beat Busse by a wide margin.
You can even get INFI steel in certain models from those brands.
I’ll probably get a Busse some day, but for the reasons above I’ve only purchased Scraps and Rats so far and definitely think they’re a good value. As are many of the customs sold here. Happy hunting.
 
I appreciate all of the replies. I couldn't decide so I ended up getting both. I got the Winkler Belt knife I was originally looking at, and a buddy of mine ended up selling me one of his.

Bought his custom shop Ratmandu in INFI. Will definitely keep an eye out on Carothers tho, as the same buddy I got the Ratmando from also had a Carothers DEK1 that I may also end up buying.

Now time to tell the wife that someone stole my debit card lol 🤣
 
Corton93 said:
I appreciate all of the replies. I couldn't decide so I ended up getting both. I got the Winkler Belt knife I was originally looking at, and a buddy of mine ended up selling me one of his.

Bought his custom shop Ratmandu in INFI. Will definitely keep an eye out on Carothers tho, as the same buddy I got the Ratmando from also had a Carothers DEK1 that I may also end up buying.

Now time to tell the wife that someone stole my debit card lol 🤣
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You learn quick
 
shane45-1911 said:
I have several Busse's. And like you, I also have several ESEE's, Tops and Becker's.

While my Busses have been up to the task of whatever I throw at them, the same can also be said of the other aforementioned brands, for my requirements. Busse's hold an edge rather well, and require less sharpening between uses. However, I have also needed to reprofile all my Busse's to a thinner edge geometry to allow them to cut more efficiently for my requirements. I have not needed to do that with my other "hard use" fixed blades.

You hit the key words with "point of diminishing return". That is up to you to determine where the break point is. I have honestly not found anything that my Busses can do, that my other fixed blades cannot. In fact, the other blades sometimes do it better when you put out-of-the-box edge geometry into the equation.

Don't misinterpret what I have said. I am quite happy to own and use my Busse knives. But after the novelty of owning one wears off and you look at it as just another knife in your collection, I am just as likely to grab a Becker as I am a Busse for a week of camping, or a weekend of hiking.

I am far more likely to commission a custom fixed blade now if I have 4 or 5 hundred bucks to spend, rather than a Busse. Unless Jerry releases a really killer-looking design, which I cannot deny - I am a sucker for. :)
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It sounds like the OP made the only responsible decision. Lol. Despite that, the above post ^^^ was so close to how I feel that I felt compelled to comment.

When it comes to "hard use" blades, I have a pretty good selection of TOPS, Beckers, Barkies, ESEEs, and Busses. And, with that, I just always seem to grab my trusty ol' TOPS 107E. It's been my constant companion on many outdoor adventures, has never let me down, and I reckon I'm just a creature of habit. (*who likes to stick with what has stood the test of time) Your mileage may vary...



 
ron finkbeiner jr said:
Hard to beat a Ratmandu.
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Man, that hurts.....i had a beautiful original version ratmandu, sold it a few years back and i am regretting it ever since :confused:.
While i agree that it was really thick behind the edge and there are other cheaper knives that compare to it, i do find my self checking the Busse for sale section every now and then. I really miss that design
 
Corton93 said:
I appreciate all of the replies. I couldn't decide so I ended up getting both. I got the Winkler Belt knife I was originally looking at, and a buddy of mine ended up selling me one of his.

Bought his custom shop Ratmandu in INFI. Will definitely keep an eye out on Carothers tho, as the same buddy I got the Ratmando from also had a Carothers DEK1 that I may also end up buying.

Now time to tell the wife that someone stole my debit card lol 🤣
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That’s the spirit. Congrats!
 
Busse and CPK are top notch. Busse blades are often too thick, but there are exceptions, which I own.
 
Also on this journey …I’ve been into high end folders for years and always gravitate towards CRK and Strider .. one for hard use and one for city. White river was my first foray into fixed blades and had a few but recently found Busses and Carothers .
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Now I find myself only grabbing SFNO CG for my large knife … I sharpened it and the factory edge was at 24 dps but it still cuts well . Mostly camp tasks

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A Busse RAD and DEK1 are competing for pocket time. I like the size and blade length to handle ratio of the Carothers but the micarta handle of the Busse feels better to me than the OD green G10 . Let’s see how INFI and Magnacart compare

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