What is the reason for sterile knives?

PeterPHWS said:
Yeah....I did'nt think an issue like this could generate so many responses.:confused:
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anything related to the military that is also related to marketing is guaranteed to polarize responses. This particular subject is a gateway drug to the meth-grade debate of whether busse actually sells to military or not. people love conspiracies, they love either believing in or trying to force disbelief of a given topic onto others. Every industry has at least one, and busse's got a few.

not saying thats whats in this thread, it's been intelligent and calm. just that that's an element of why there are so many opinions about it.
 
Last Visible Canary said:
so, lets combine whats in this thread to make a list of 6 reasons to fill out your (6) number requirement.

1. perception of the military personel is that sterile is better for the purpose of not being identified. wether that's actually true or not doesn't matter, perception is king.
2. laser etching does cause the knife to rust in that location. I've personally seen it on at least 4 of my busse knives where there is consistently a small patch of rust in that location.
3. sterile knives look cleaner. being that the talon hole identifies the knife as a busse another logo isn't necessary. It's nice to have the option - not a requirement.
4. I don't like logo's. on anything. I wear plain black t-shirts and plan black everything else. I tear the logo's off of every piece of apparel I get. The tags are still present inside of them to state what brand it came from if I ever need it. I don't want to advertise for anyone.
5. It gives a second version for collectors who want a particular type of knife. doesn't matter whether it's necessary - as a businesses giving your customers something they want is a good thing.
6. having "combat" on something that almost all sheeple call a "weapon" is a bad idea. It doesnt matter that your not a killer, that you use it for utilitarian purposes - perception is king, it's what people act on.
7. It wears away with use, so why have it in the first place? it would be different if it was etched into the back of the handle or stamp pressed, but it's not. it wears off with friction, making it a temporary marking. why have it in the first place if it's going to be a heavy user.
8. the military overruns are orders with specifications requested by the military. it doesn't matter why they ordered it that way, that's what they wanted, so that's what they were given. as a mil overrun, we get someone else's custom order done how they wanted, in this case sterile.


"because thats what they wanted" is an answer that doesn't necessitate a physical function based reason, human want can be intuitive rather then logical.

when ken said "many reasons" I'm pretty sure he meant a varied personal response, not 100 logical if-then statements.
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That looks like a sufficient list of reasons. Including personal preference I'd say thats about the best list someone could think of. Thanks Busse team for the combined effort.

I did not know that the logo would rust, I'll have to keep an eye on that. Personally I do like the busse logo, I think it looks pretty decent!

You guys take it easy,
-steve
 
silverbullets said:
simple, they can't afford to pay Jerry's prices in 3rd world countries :eek::p:D
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:D
Well you'd be surprised to see the truth.
I live in a country that would be fit into the category.
Here the gap between poor and rich is so wide.
For most people here, knives above USD 50 already categorized as expensive, anything above USD 300 will close to unthinkable.

On the other hand, I have known people collecting traditional knives with prices well above my imagination (that is before I know them).
Anything bellow USD 1000 is of lesser quality.
Moderate ones will usually goes around USD 3000-7000.
The excellent ones will be way beyond that :o

Between those two groups, there lies the potential buyer for Busses.
I was one that shy away from expensive knife, now I start collecting Busse though I am not sure if I will grow into a BIG HOG...:p
 
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I've always ordered mine sterile (I was denied on the NMFMLE though for the first time since 2002 and that was quite a BUMMER for a $800.00 knife and not get it exactly like I wanted to match my FBMLE). I really just prefer both sides of the blade to be clean and smooth. It is mostly personal preference since all of my early Busse's came sterile from the factory without ordering it that way . I just really like the clean look of sterile blades and don't like having "Busse COMBAT" and a picture of a FSH on my Battle MIstress or especially a small AD or GW with a huge logo on one side and a beautiful clean look on the other. I really wish Busse would drop the "Busse Combat" and just have "Busse" or go back the sterile production days. Just my preference;)
 
TheButcher said:
I've always ordered mine sterile (I was denied on the NMFMLE though for the first time since 2002 and that was quite a BUMMER for a $800.00 knife and not get it exactly like I wanted to match my FBMLE). I really just prefer both sides of the blade to be clean and smooth. It is mostly personal preference since all of my early Busse's came sterile from the factory without ordering it that way . I just really like the clean look of sterile blades and don't like having "Busse COMBAT" and a picture of a FSH on my Battle MIstress or especially a small AD or GW with a huge logo on one side and a beautiful clean look on the other. I really wish Busse would drop the "Busse Combat" and just have "Busse" or go back the sterile production days. Just my preference;)
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did you ask if you could send it in post-initial sale and shipment to be customized?

I would understand if they didn't want to mess with the production line in order to keep everything going smoothly, but for something small like that I'd expect the custom shop to be willing to do it (unless the queue line has finally gotten to large)
 
LVC, its not that big enough a deal for me to send it back , I figure after beating the crap out of it for a few years then one day I'll just give her a good bbdc. It's funny that the only logo'd Busses out of 19 total that I have are the FFBM (Co. Store only) and NMFBMLE(I think they really really wanted the LEs limited by number, I guess?)
 
Sterile ?

Just lazer etch a Star of David or any three Russian or Chinese characters on it and drop it off anywhere in the world.

Mis-direction always works.
 
I think all quality knives should have a makers mark. I don't like numbered knives.
 
Lil' Foo said:
ummm.... to make lil' piggies ask questions??? :confused:

:p :D

I had forgot about that one...one more to add to my list of reasons:p

.
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TheButcher said:
I've always ordered mine sterile (I was denied on the NMFMLE though for the first time since 2002 and that was quite a BUMMER for a $800.00 knife and not get it exactly like I wanted to match my FBMLE). I really just prefer both sides of the blade to be clean and smooth. It is mostly personal preference since all of my early Busse's came sterile from the factory without ordering it that way . I just really like the clean look of sterile blades and don't like having "Busse COMBAT" and a picture of a FSH on my Battle MIstress or especially a small AD or GW with a huge logo on one side and a beautiful clean look on the other. I really wish Busse would drop the "Busse Combat" and just have "Busse" or go back the sterile production days. Just my preference;)
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I agree with you and wished I had ordered some sterile. I do like the CS logo, and the new "Busse" only logo like I've seen on some of the newer blades.

My two favorite sterile blades. I only have 7 that is sterile.
IMG_2363.jpg

IMG_2246.jpg
 
Riddle me this: A military guy goes out with his non-descript AK (to blend in, of course) his sterile Busse knife, his mismatched BDU's with NO COUNTRY INSIGNIA ON THEM and gets caught.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he considered a spy and not a soldier, ergo torture, death, firing squad, etc.,???

Most of my military knowledge comes from movies, but if he's got a little USA flag on his shirt, what's a logo on a knife gonna matter.

Now, I'm SURE there are military personnel that go out "dark." But the % of them is pretty danged small. I've got the son of a friend over in Afganistan with the Marines. He's gone out on a long-term mission in some valley somewhere fighting the Taliban. There is never any question he's a US Soldier, tho.
 
Dennis in MA said:
Riddle me this: A military guy goes out with his non-descript AK (to blend in, of course) his sterile Busse knife, his mismatched BDU's with NO COUNTRY INSIGNIA ON THEM and gets caught.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he considered a spy and not a soldier, ergo torture, death, firing squad, etc.,???

Most of my military knowledge comes from movies, but if he's got a little USA flag on his shirt, what's a logo on a knife gonna matter.

Now, I'm SURE there are military personnel that go out "dark." But the % of them is pretty danged small. I've got the son of a friend over in Afganistan with the Marines. He's gone out on a long-term mission in some valley somewhere fighting the Taliban. There is never any question he's a US Soldier, tho.
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Or a contractor. You've got to speak at some point so unless you speak numerous languages fluently without detection believe me at some point they're going to know where you're from. So in a sense it's marketing and just about everyone does it but with Busse I don't think it's a blatant.
 
on_the_edge said:
Well, that is the rumor anyway. What if someone had to leave an MP5, magazine, CRK bowie, or even a spent shell casing? While the reason you site for not having a logo sounds cool at first blush, I can't see how it makes a difference. Busse knives go all over the world, so if one was left behind, I don't think it would say anything (other than the person who left it has good taste in knives, of course :p) about where it came from.
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Perhaps a entire special (military for example), run.

Beyond that, in the general scheme of things, blade output (finished knives), was and perhaps still is, higher than the laser engraver could keep up with.

I'd say about 3 of 4 knives bought direct from Busse (standard production runs), were sterile.

Rob
 
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