Three Busse or One Custom???

I sold off my Busse's and got a Rinaldi Armageddon SKS set. I sometimes miss my straight handled Busse's for their collector value, but once they were worth more than I paid (even well used) I had to sell. If you get a chance to get one of Trace's knives, DO IT! He is the man when it comes to excellent using blades. To fill in on smaller and mid sized great using knives, I got a couple Swamp Rat's that I am very happy with. Bottom line is, nothing is better than a custom knife crafted by someone who knows what they are doing.
 
Originally posted by v-man
What do you guys think about John Fitch's knives?
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A lot of people rave about Mr. Fitch knives. Assuming they are of a quality similar to Terry's, for example, I think they're quite a bit more expensive than comparable knives.

There was a test in a French knife review that was very critical of their cutting ability, but on the other hand Mr. Fitch is one of the top performer in the cutting competition. I'd tend to believe that this was an accident, but it could also be that his big knives are better at chopping than other types of cutting? In any case, he is highly regarded.

JD
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence Joss.

I can tell you John Fitch makes a darn good heavy-duty hard use knife. I've held quite a few of them and inspected them closely. I have also been in cutting competitions with Big John.

John wins a lot of competitions, and while some of the events take a degree of skill and technique on the part of the contestant, there's one common element in all the events -- it still takes a darn good knife to win.

I know it may sound crazy for one maker to essentially be promoting another maker, especially since my name has been thrown in the pile here. But one thing I have, if nothing else, is honesty and integrity. John makes a lot of big knives and hence, has more experience with them than I do. If someone asks me if they should buy a Fitch Bowie or Camp Knife, my answer is, "Heck yes".

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As a side note, I had one that was supposed to appear in the same French publication. I wonder what happened there? I was told by phone that it faired quite well in the testing, and it did come back in one piece. Those tests were done at least a year ago.

If it does pop up in a future issue, I'd sure like to hear about it. I don't even know the name of the magazine. Those of us who submitted knives for testing worked through the tester rather than directly with the magazine.
 
Originally posted by primos

As a side note, I had one that was supposed to appear in the same French publication. I wonder what happened there? I was told by phone that it faired quite well in the testing, and it did come back in one piece. Those tests were done at least a year ago.

If it does pop up in a future issue, I'd sure like to hear about it. I don't even know the name of the magazine. Those of us who submitted knives for testing worked through the tester rather than directly with the magazine.
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It was indeed published. The name of the magazine is "La Passion du Couteau" (A passion for the knife). Your knife was praised, considered better than the Fitch one (which basically got flamed). The one constructive criticism they had was that the handle design needed some work.

JD
 
Oh mercy. Maybe I should have asked about it by email. I didn't know.

I stand by my original assessment. John Fitch makes a hell of a good hard use knife, and when it comes to classic "dressy" Bowies and art knives, he is much better than I am. I would confidently carry and use one myself for chopping chores.

On a bittersweet note, I'm glad to hear that mine got a good write-up. I actually sent three, which were supposed to end up in three separate artcicles.

One was a big camp knife, which is the one that you saw the write-up on. The handle design fit me like a glove, but was not comfortable to the testers for extended use. I have small hands. That one went to a fellow in Oklahoma who requested a long clip be ground on it (after the testing was done). It ended up being a real wicked looking thing.

The second one was large Bowie, which Danbo now owns. To the best of my knowledge it wasn't used quite as hard as those in the article about camp knives, but I'm told it did good. I really liked that Bowie.

The third one was one of my little El Camino's. That one was stolen in transit, and I'll never see it again. I hope the FedEx guy that I am pretty sure stole it, gets the claps.
 
That's a pity... The reviewer concluded that you were "someone to watch", IIRC. It's disappointing that they didn't at least send you a copy of the article. It's a great magazine, BTW, with loads of good pictures, compared to the cheapo Blade & co. It probably reflects the French custom knife market which must be more geared toward art / collection, and less users.
 
I had this review and read that article several times. Yes, the John Fitch knives got flamed. The main issue were the handles, the guy that did the testing (Dominique Beaucant - SP) says the handles are way too short. I remember him saying he almost dropped one of the knives while chopping. Maybe the handles were small, maybe he has very big hands :confused:
Terry, two of your knives were reviewed in that article. The camp knife and the El Camino. The review was positive. The camp knife went through quite a few magnolia wood logs (thick a a leg), a number of two by fours, performed well in the kitchen and still shaved after all that :) He mentioned he wished the handle was a tad biger (or thicker). About the El Camino he basicly said it is a cool little knife, but I suspect he didn't really tested it. There were pictures of both knives. I no longer have the review, if find it I'll scan the article for you.
I am very surprised they didn't think to send you a copy or at least notify you about the article...
 
First, I apologize deeply for inadvertently hijacking the thread. But I'm real interested in this article. I didn't know that it was out. If I could get a copy I would be grateful.

The ones that got the real workout were the ones classified as camp knives. We were not told exactly what would be done because obviously that would have allowed us to try to tailor-make one for specific tasks. Basically all I was told was that it would be fairly brutal, but not anything that should destroy a good knife.

I have no idea what they did with the smaller ones, if anything at all.
 
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