What's so special about a bushcraft knife?

sodak said:
Personally I think it's a marketing fad.
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Not sure if it's a fad or not... if you take someone who has used these types of knives all their life and that's what they like then that's one thing... However someone who just got their first knife of this type after the popularity became apparent... then maybe.
 
Steel-Junky said:
LOL... I'll take issue with that statement. How much sharper than razor sharp can you get. I have a Busse FBMLE with a thickness of .32" and it's scary hair popping sharp and will stay that way throughout much use.

I can see why a thinner blade would be good for slicing and even fine wood working, and how a narrow blade could have it's uses as well... but sharper... I don't think so.
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A lot of people on this site for some reason think of edge geometry and sharpness as the same thing, which might be what he was speaking of. By "sharper" he might of just meant a more acute edge bevel.

I think a Busse would work fine for most bushcraft things I do. I'm all about extremely thin edges myself, but in all honesty it's not that often I have to carve wood. Usually it's for the fun of it, something to occupy myself with while I sit by the fire. Hacking vegetation and thorns out of a trail or camp site, batoning wood for the fire, chopping poles for a shelter, cleaning game....thick edges can do all of that. With chopping though you can definitely get a deeper bite if you take the edge down some, but it's not absolutely essential.
 
I agree - not a marketing fad. Bushcrafting knives do better at their intended purpose.

I get the reason for the slender tip (drilling), thicker spine (battoning), and scandi edge (ease in sharpening), wider blade width (being able to choke up for small work), 4 - 5 inch length (large enough to batton but not so big as to be a chopper), and contoured handle (made to not slip in either direction).

You can do bushcraft with other blades - but it is easier with a more suitable tool.

The rest (super steels and fancy grips and the like) are not needed - but really neat and at times have advantages (sharpen less - very strong - yet hold and edge).

TF
 
Vivi said:
A lot of people on this site for some reason think of edge geometry and sharpness as the same thing, which might be what he was speaking of. By "sharper" he might of just meant a more acute edge bevel.

I think a Busse would work fine for most bushcraft things I do. I'm all about extremely thin edges myself, but in all honesty it's not that often I have to carve wood. Usually it's for the fun of it, something to occupy myself with while I sit by the fire. Hacking vegetation and thorns out of a trail or camp site, batoning wood for the fire, chopping poles for a shelter, cleaning game....thick edges can do all of that. With chopping though you can definitely get a deeper bite if you take the edge down some, but it's not absolutely essential.
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What I find works for me best is to see how thick the blade is right behind the edge. That will give me an idea of how far to lay and edge down when reprofiling a blade. I have yet to find a magic angle... it just depends on the blade's personality. But I have laid just about all of my Busse edges down a little at some point... ESPECIALLY near the round of the tip... it's always super steep there. I almost always wind up having to bring the edge bevel back a good bit LOL. But once you find an angle that works for that particular knife... man those things go and go and go and go and go and... well you get the idea.
 
Steel-Junky said:
LOL... I'll take issue with that statement. How much sharper than razor sharp can you get. I have a Busse FBMLE with a thickness of .32" and it's scary hair popping sharp and will stay that way throughout much use.

I can see why a thinner blade would be good for slicing and even fine wood working, and how a narrow blade could have it's uses as well... but sharper... I don't think so.
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a 90 degree edge can theotetically shave hair. shaving hair is a test of sharpness, not really cutting ability. the way a scandi is set up, it is designed to function like a woodworkers plane. one side of the edge laying approximatly flat against what is being cut gives the plane effect. scandis are set up so that when the back edge is resting against the material being cut, the blade against the material will make an acute angle, giving the knife versatility and the ability to be very precise while cutting. a more obtuse angle, while it will still shave hair, forces you to hold the knife at a greater angle, relative to what is being cut. so, you are limited in the amount of precision you can obtain.

regarding the thickness, a thinner blade dosent need to displace as much wood (or what ever you are cutting) to get through. a thick blade on the other hand, has to displace alot more material.

as far as a choil, cutting techniques vary from job to job. i think (but am not really sure) that busses are intended for tactical use. for that, the choil comes in handy ( i would assume) . in bushcraft, the cutting style is alot different. watch some of this guys videos http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=hobbexp&view=videos . he uses a cutting style that is nearly the same as mine, and he uses knife that are similar to mine. i am not sure, but i dont think that a tactical knife can cut quite as good as bushcrafters can in this application.

really, just go spend the 10 buck on on a mora and you will notice the differnce.

i am not trying to be argumentative or badmouth busse at all, just for this application, i dont see that type of knife as being very effective.
 
Steel-Junky said:
So is it more of a wood working tool? For like carving crafts and stuff? i'm not trying to be funny seriously... I'm trying to learn about their application. Got any sources of reading material on their use? I'm trying to figure out what they do better than say my Busse Mean Street or Busse NO-E.
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That about sums it up..its a knife that excels at woodworking that can second as a skinning or food prep knife. Atleast thats how I think of them. Gene
 
That is how I think of it too. I don't think of design, per se', but what it can do well.

I don't care if it looks like a fantasy knife - as long as it WORKS!

TF
 
I think the main focus, and I stand to be corrected, on a bushcraft design is a comfortable handle for prolonged use. The term Bushcraft came before the knife. It has to do with making most of your camp implements by knife. It involves long term carving and in various grips. Prolonged use will wear any edge to some degree so the scandi grind is a preference for some mainly for ease of field sharpening.

I don't care if it looks like a fantasy knife...
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I do!
 
Here ya go, clearing the trail or woodwork, chopping for food prep, two knives in one sheath. :)

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BarberFobic1992 said:
a 90 degree edge can theotetically shave hair. shaving hair is a test of sharpness, not really cutting ability. the way a scandi is set up, it is designed to function like a woodworkers plane. one side of the edge laying approximatly flat against what is being cut gives the plane effect. scandis are set up so that when the back edge is resting against the material being cut, the blade against the material will make an acute angle, giving the knife versatility and the ability to be very precise while cutting. a more obtuse angle, while it will still shave hair, forces you to hold the knife at a greater angle, relative to what is being cut. so, you are limited in the amount of precision you can obtain.

regarding the thickness, a thinner blade dosent need to displace as much wood (or what ever you are cutting) to get through. a thick blade on the other hand, has to displace alot more material.

as far as a choil, cutting techniques vary from job to job. i think (but am not really sure) that busses are intended for tactical use. for that, the choil comes in handy ( i would assume) . in bushcraft, the cutting style is alot different. watch some of this guys videos http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=hobbexp&view=videos . he uses a cutting style that is nearly the same as mine, and he uses knife that are similar to mine. i am not sure, but i dont think that a tactical knife can cut quite as good as bushcrafters can in this application.

really, just go spend the 10 buck on on a mora and you will notice the differnce.

i am not trying to be argumentative or badmouth busse at all, just for this application, i dont see that type of knife as being very effective.
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First and foremost... you corrected my comment on "Sharpness" by stating that shaving is only a measure of sharpness... I don't get it. I completely understand that different blade shapes and edge geometries apply themselves to different tasks. I said a Scandi isn't SHARPER than a Busse. I fail to see where I am wrong here.

Second, again... different blade designs will excel at different tasks. My Busse will do just about any general survival tasks that need be done. Now where you're exactly right... is that I don't think I could make a "Bush Pipe" with on of my Busse knives... LOL... But then again... who cares. I don't see how that is a useful skill anyway. Create something in a survival situation that will hurt your health. Great idea! And being able to make a bow and arrow? I don't plan on staying out there that long. When I go into the woods I take a gun. And plenty of ammo. If I need a bow... it has to be because I've decided to stay in the woods and make a new life for myself.

So I get your point that a scandi knife is a great jack of all trades wood carving knife. But it ain't a chopper, it ain't a pry bar, it ain't a shovel, it ain't a hammer, and it is not going to support my body weight should i need it too. All useful things for a knife to be set to improvised use for in a survival situation. My Busse will do all that and more. I can't make a wicker basket with it... but I can get out of the woods with it and back to my nice warm house.
 
gunknifenut said:
That about sums it up..its a knife that excels at woodworking that can second as a skinning or food prep knife. Atleast thats how I think of them. Gene
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It's interesting to say the least... I might have to try one out just as knife to toss in my pack. from what I understand... they are dirt cheap. What about something like a filet knife? or is that too thin.
 
Steel-Junky said:
It's interesting to say the least... I might have to try one out just as knife to toss in my pack. from what I understand... they are dirt cheap. What about something like a filet knife? or is that too thin.
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SpookyPistolero said:
If you've not tried a scandi and want to try one out, the Mora knives are very popular and very cheap (and lots of models to choose from). If you want to experiment:
http://ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html
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They're sort of the 'gold standard' for testing the scandi waters. :thumbup: I recommend the 510, #1, 760, or 2000
 
Steel-Junky, your original post was asking about the features of bushcraft knives, and what they are designed to do. I think that many people have provided informative and informed responses. There's no need to get defensive about the relative merits of your Busse, and no-one is arguing that scandi-ground bushcrafters are designed to fell trees or support one's weight.

If a Busse works for you, by all means use it.

All the best,

- Mike
 
BarberFobic1992 said:
as far as a choil, cutting techniques vary from job to job. i think (but am not really sure) that busses are intended for tactical use. for that, the choil comes in handy ( i would assume) .
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Busse to me has always been more of an everything knife... I mean some folks do buy them for tactical applications (whatever that means) and many buy them for survival knives, and some buy them just cause their purdy LOL. I think Busse would fit more in the category of hard use cutting tool for whatever occasion. I've cleaned game with them, preped camp, made shelters, split and shaved wood, dug cat holes, pryed up stuff, preped food for cooking, hammered in tent stakes, used as a step up, and all kinds of other stuff. And the choil... don't know much about it's intended use... but the larger ones allow you to choke up on the blade for a tick more control. And as far as smaller ones... I just think it's ugly on a knife when you have the edge meet the blade stock... always looks cheap and unfinished to me. That's the blade snob in me LOL.
 
Mentor said:
Steel-Junky, your original post was asking about the features of bushcraft knives, and what they are designed to do. I think that many people have provided informative and informed responses. There's no need to get defensive about the relative merits of your Busse, and no-one is arguing that scandi-ground bushcrafters are designed to fell trees or support one's weight.

If a Busse works for you, by all means use it.

All the best,

- Mike
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I'm not defensive... LOL. I was more making a joke than anything. One member stated that scandis are sharper... I disagreed and then was corrected in that my example of sharpness was only an example of sharpness. I've said time and time again that I understand that different blade shapes lend themselves better to different tasks. If we took the perfect knife for every task with us in the woods... we'd leave the house with 37 knives LOL.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
They're sort of the 'gold standard' for testing the scandi waters. :thumbup: I recommend the 510, #1, 760, or 2000
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I looked at that earlier... there was a blue handles knife that caught my eye... I'll look again and keep your model numbers in mind. Thanks.
 
Steel-Junky said:
Second, again... different blade designs will excel at different tasks. My Busse will do just about any general survival tasks that need be done. Now where you're exactly right... is that I don't think I could make a "Bush Pipe" with on of my Busse knives... LOL... But then again... who cares. I don't see how that is a useful skill anyway. Create something in a survival situation that will hurt your health. Great idea! And being able to make a bow and arrow? I don't plan on staying out there that long. When I go into the woods I take a gun. And plenty of ammo. If I need a bow... it has to be because I've decided to stay in the woods and make a new life for myself.
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in this paragraph i think you answered your origianal question. those things arent necesary to survival, however, bushcraft isnt all about survival. its about being able to have whatever you want given the resources in the woods. it might not be a pipe or a bow for you, but i could be for somone.

i think i came off as a tad critical in my first post, but i am really merely contributing advice. i am sure busses are great blades.
 
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