What the diff btw Basic #5 and Howling Rat?

Joined
Sep 12, 2000
Messages
2,483
Apart from the Talon Hole, and the steel and the texture on its handle . . .
Comparison pic would be nice, too.
Thx! :D
 
http://mysite.verizon.net/res1udb2/...erpictures/basic-5-shba-inhand-sidebyside.jpg

that isnt what your asking for, and i do have a photo of the howling rat in hand, but i dont want to upload it...

the handle of the howling rat is about the same size as the basic 5, but its thicker and blockier, without varied texture like the basic line has. the blade itself would be the same length as the straight handled badger attack, as well as being as wide, but the choil eats away about 20% of its edge length. it has more belly then the straight handled badger attack as well, lots of belly.


the thing i didnt like about it was how little blade it had, mostly due to the choil taking away vital edge near the handle. with that little blade, and so much belly, things will slip towards your hand when you slice back and forth (wich with a blade that small i tend to do, since if i try to push cut through things that arent held tight by something (like loose fabric), it will just cause the fabric to iether not be fully cut (blade doesnt reach end to end of the material), or the fabric will slip off the tip and i have to replace the cut)


but thats a lot of personal preference, mine being completely against choils...

its a nice knife, and damn near indestructable by human hands, where as the basic 5 has several cases of being broken by hand here on the boards. i personally felt that the basic 5 was perfect for what it was, where as the howling rat had some problems.
 
lol! this one got past me.:D I dont have a Basic 5 of my own but I have handled a few. The biggest differences are: B5 has 1/4" thick blade while the Howler is 3/16ths, the B5's blade is a bit longer and narrower (I think its narrower?), Bigger choil on the Howler.......anyone add anything else?

EDIT: Seth added a few points while I was writing, looks like your getting some good info now Santi :)
 
Thanks, guys!
So far, so good. ;)

SethMurdoc said:
its a nice knife, and damn near indestructable by human hands, where as the basic 5 has several cases of being broken by hand here on the boards.

People broke the #5?? I find this is hard to believe . . .
:rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:
 
I wouldn't say several, there was a basic 9 that mike turber tested to failure by clamping the tip in a vise and pulling like all dickens to get it to break. Cliff broke his Basic 7 after an extended period during something that involved using a framing hammer to drive the knife into a tree, and Owen broke his fighting a pallet nailed together by some alien space metal here

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187901&highlight=basic+broken

Which makes the # of basic 5's broken equal to 1. If there's any other stories though I'd love to hear how they managed it :p
 
basic-5-shba-inhand-sidebyside.jpg
smalldsc01431.jpg



your absolutely right about the basic 5... i should have said basics, as i tend to think of their durability in terms of the steal rather then construction (thickness, grind etc)

turns out it was just one photo... kind of a vis-a-vis type thing... you can sort of tell the basic size comparison via these pictures... at least, i hope you can :confused:


the basic 5 was a perfect knife for what it was... when i get a good amount of extra money, i intend to rebuy one...
 
Thanks for a pics, Seth.

SethMurdoc said:
the basic 5 was a perfect knife for what it was... when i get a good amount of extra money, i intend to rebuy one...

Same here! I like the handle on the Basics a lot better than those of the Rats. :D
 
Santi,

Congratulations on acquiring a Basic 5! It is a superb knife; I like the handle, blade profile, small choil, and of course the virtues of M-INFI including great corrosion resistance.

Gene
 
yoda4561 said:
I wouldn't say several, there was a basic 9 that mike turber tested to failure by clamping the tip in a vise and pulling like all dickens to get it to break. Cliff broke his Basic 7 after an extended period during something that involved using a framing hammer to drive the knife into a tree, and Owen broke his fighting a pallet nailed together by some alien space metal here

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187901&highlight=basic+broken:p


If I remember correctly, (it's been a couple of years) the Basic 5 that Owen broke turned out to have been modified. Someone who owned it before him took a grinder to it, and more than likely ruined the heat treat.

(even though it turned out to have been modified, Jerry in all of his generosity replaced it anyways.)
 
Yeah, Owen's was the only B5 I've ever heard of anyone breaking, and his had been modified. Also, he didn't break it dicing potatoes--here's the link to his thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187901

Ain't it great with all the hard-core, hard-using, hardheaded users Busse knives manage to attract, the number of knives that have actually been busted can be counted on one hand? And at least two I know of (Cliff's 7 & Owen's 5) had been admittedly and mercilessly abused time after time before giving up the ghost. As Cliff has said many times in the past, it's not the INFI guarantee that is so impressive--it's that Busse can actually make a knife that will perform up to the level of that give-us-your-best-shot-come-what-may promise.

Busse's...just gotta love 'em.
 
Back
Top