Tough knife?

J

jaime

Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
63
HI!. I am looking for a really tough knife, medium or large (6-10´´).
I intend to use it for survival purposes, but the point is it must last and work in the worse conditions for quite long (many months without rest).
I have been thinking about the Busse Combat Mistress or the Steel Heart, but I have no possibility of viewing them, so I would be very grateful if you gave me your opinion on them, as well as any other knife/s you may think of. I insist the main feature I search is toughness.
Thank you very much
 
OK, I looked at the Strider site and they look awsome!!.
Now I have a new problem: Strider PAB with epoxi resin handle or Busse combat mistress?. Both products have an extended waranty, which demonstrates how sure they are of the toughness, and I have seen the tests on Busse´s knives and how they perform, but how do Strider perform compared to Busse?
Can anyone help me?
 
OK, I looked at the Strider site and they look awsome!!.
Now I have a new problem: Strider PAB with epoxi resin handle or Busse combat mistress?. Both products have an extended waranty, which demonstrates how sure they are of the toughness, and I have seen the tests on Busse´s knives and how they perform, but how do Strider perform compared to Busse?
Can anyone help me?
 
When you say you "have not way of viewing them" about the Busse line, do you mean handle them, or see them? If it is see them, check out
www.bussecombat.com.

If this is a "stake your life" situation, I'd vote either the BM or the SH.

And the warranty is FOREVER.

Mike
 
Thatmguy;
Thank you for the link. I have read a lot about those knives lately (last weeks) as well as about many others. What I ment about not being able to see them was actually having them in my hands, because I live in Spain, and they don´t import them just to look at them.
Sorry if I was misunderstood, but sometimes it is quite hard to make yourself understand when dealing in a foreign language.
Anyway, what I would really apreciate is a first hand opinion on them, as I have read many positive articles about many, many knives; I can´t decide without holding them!!. That´s why I came here, to see if I could get some "voting" on them, as the rating is high on all of them.
Thanks again for your interest.
 
I'll second ThatMGuy on the Busse recommendation. IMHO Busse makes the toughest survival blades found.

Battle Mistresses (9.5" blade) are very strong choppers. But my recommend for a handier all-around size blade would be a Steel Heart (7.5" blade). A Busse blade is one of those items you only need buy one for your whole life. As noted, the warranty is for the life of the knife, not the owner. These things are built tank-tough.

When you have to bet your life on your knife, a Busse won't fail you.
 
jaime;
You did not indicate what you wanted your knife to do in the way of uses.
True, the Busse Battle Mistress is one very strong knife but if you want to whittle with it or use it for small tasks like a lot of wilderness cooking then perhaps you should also look for a companion to the big knife as in a 3"-5" blade too.
Unless you are among the few who are very hard on a knife then also consider the Busse Basic line (3" to 9"). They are less expensive and use a modified INFI steel but are still very tough knives for about 1/2 the price of the Battle Mistress. I had a Battle Mistress but I have small hands and for me it was just not very comfortable to hold,however, the Basic 7 was much more fitting to my size of hands.
Both Strider and Busse have good warrantees but you should also take a look at the Fallkniven line of knives from Sweden (VG-10 stainless steel) the A1 is a very strong knife as well as their S1 and F1 for smaller tasks. Myself, I have the A1 and F1 in one piggyback style sheath and it covers most of my uses. If you want a knife to chop trees down with then maybe you should consider an ax AND a knife.
By the way, you have a lot better command of English then I do of Spanish!

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Here is a set up that can't be beat. Trace Rinaldi makes a knife that is meant to be used.
View
 
i think that the folks on this forum would be able to help you with your selection if they knew where you were planning to go and what the knife was expected to do. then they would be able to sort out the many fine knives that are talked about here.

if you would let us know what conditions are you going to be in and what jobs that the knife will be used for then we can narrow down the selection.

alex
 
Jaime,

No problem with your English at all. The problem with our language is that it is full of ambiguous phrases. The one you made could be taken two ways. No biggie.

I have found that the Busse line of knives to be virtually indestructible. For an all round user, the Steel Heart balances the chopping aspects found on machete length blades, with the manuverability and dexterity of a smaller blade.

If you don't want something that long, but more of a medium game knife, the Badger would fit. Big enough for deer, but small enough for rabbit/squirrel.

I think the one thing you will find, is that your first Busse will not be your last. You will find yourself buying others, just to be sure you have all functions covered.

Have you contacted the Busse European office?

Good luck.
Mike
 
Thank you very much for such a massive response!!
As some of you have suggested I will explain the whole situation the use of the knife is intended for.
I am a professional pilot, and I am flying around Africa and central America by the end of this year aproximately. I will be there for many months before being able to get a shower, and I think I will fly over dessert, deep jungle and maybe high mountain.
Chances are high that I have to survive in such scenarios, maybe for quite a while, and maybe after emergency landings (you should see the quality of the planes and the quantity of load I will have to transport, too low and too high respectively!) with only what I might have on me, maybe I can get something more with me, maybe not. Anyway, nobody will come pick me up.
That´s it; I need a knife I can rely on and have on me at all times during flight (at most 10´´, but able to perform delicate tasks).
I already have a XL knife (Lofty Wiseman´s) and a small knife (X-42 Recondo), but I prefer one only knife if possible.
Hope it is a bit more clear now.
Thank you again for such an unvaluable help.
 
Big-Target,
Wow! Superlative knives at Simonich´s. Have you any of them?, can you give any impressions?. I have seen a 10 inch tanto that looks really good (Yeah, I like them big, plus it has the problem of the delicate work quite solved with that small knife it carries). Really impressed and grateful to you for such a big help.
 
Put me in for another vote with Busse. Based upon your focused criteria, Busse meets the need. I also agree witht he advice on the Steel Heart as compromising between the chopping ability of the BM and the handling characteristics suitable for finer work as well of the smaller blades. Though the Natural Outlaw is my favorite model, I am not using it in "survival mode" as much as you seem to intend.
 
i think that any of the mentioned knives are good bets, also look at newt livesay's knives, i would ask jeff randall's opinion as to what knife he likes, he has spent some time in the jungle and has some great ideas about what works well. he visits on this board also. you might also get some tips on jungle survival and the other gear you might find interesting to have along. iodine crystals for water decontamination, mosquito net, tarp, etc. jeff also has his own web site where you can ask questions.

the aitor machete looks very interesting.

what are you packing in your survival kit?

alex
 
Jaime,
I havn't ever owned a Busse, so I don't have any room to talk about them.
My pick for hard use knives are Newt Livesay's work. He makes several models all of which are excellent. See:http://members.tripod.com/~Newt_Livesay/

I have owned two different models of his knives, the HKR and the RTAK. I currently have another RTAK on the way since I was foolish enough to trade the other two away.
His designs are no nonsense, serious use knives built to take punishment. Also, if you are on a budget, the Livesays go for about a third of the cost of the Busse. (Livesays are not made of INFI steel either so that explains a portion of that difference.) Newt uses 1059 hi carbon steel with a parkerized finish. With regular maintainence, they hold up extremely well. I have used the RTAK in the field and loved it. (I'm still trying to remember what I wanted so bad that I traded off that knife.) The HKR that I got from him turned out to be to beautiful a knife to take to the field. I think I recieved a presentation model or something by accident as it was polished up nice and pretty. I traded that one to a Gunny who is using it as a service knife in the Corps out at Lejune. (It goes to show that Gunnies have no hearts.)
Hope this helps stimulate some ideas. You can do a search and see several reviews of the RTAK.

A note: Newt's knives show up notoriously with an edge equivelent to a butter knife. It will require sharpening, but once done will work like hell and keep coming.

recondoc
 
If you're heading into tropical regions, forget spending all that money on a large knife - buy a good machete and a pocket folder and you'll be fine. Nearly all the knives mentioned here will do the job, but no better than a good machete.

Jeff
 
Nimrod, thank you for your vote. Each time I think more seriously on a Busse.
Alco141, as I am not sure of the zone I will fly about I am taking survival kit for most enviorments.The regular stuff (several ways of starting a fire, Aqua pure, tommy cooker, fishing net and lures for the jungle, solar still stuff for the dessert...) besides that I am willing to take a course on serious first aid, which is what I know less about, so I will add whatever I learn is necessary. For what I know now the most important is knife/ves, rope, trauma treatment stuff and some good boots. Also I just learned I am leaving later than I thought, so maybe I have time to do a real serious jungle course (no jungle in Spain), maybe with Randall !. Who knows. Anyway if you have any brilliant idea I´ll be glad to add it. Also I own the Aitor Bolomachete, you may refer to, but I think it´s too big and heavy.
Recondoc1, Mmmm, Jeff´s blade sounds good too, plus its cheaper than most of the knives I´ve seen. I´ll take a good look at it.
Jeff, thank you for the advice. Maybe you will be able to tell me in person if I do a course with you. I´d be glad to learn jungle survival from an expert. It is not pleasant to go to a jungle not knowing the secrets of living in it.
 
All suggestions to date are excellent. I'd like to add the Becker Campanion to the list of contenders. Becker is the best bang for the buck IMHO, however, I'm sure any Busse would do as well. I would like the second the motion of carrying a basic pocket knife and a hatchet (or camp axe). It the REAL world, that is, without a doubt, the best way to go.
 
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