What's so special about the Busses?

C

cgusek111

BANNED
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
450
What is everyone drooling over? As a survival knife how much better are they than Becker or Cold Steel, (Ontario) RAT? Can anyone give me some comparisons and tell me why they like them compared to other knives (besides that they look cool)?
 
lol you are about to get 350 responses lmao....do a search for busse comparison or something along those lines...there are a pile of threads with virtually the same question. I put off buying one for two years then I held one...now I have several
 
To give you a brief answer bro, the INFI steel that Busse use is the best all round steel available !!!
 
I have a Fusion Battle Mistress and a Hell Razor. They seem to be pretty tough, but the thing that I really like about them is the way they feel. The grip and balance are special. They are both on the "if you could only have a couple of knives" list for me.
 
IN MY OPINION......

For 99% of what you will need a survival knife for, there is nothing that a RAT or Becker can't do that a Busse can. They are very nice knives, but they are certainly not neccessary. If you want to spend a few hundred bucks, go for it. If not, you will do just fine with one of the manufacturers that you mentioned.
 
The designs, the steel, the heat treatment and cryo treatment, the customer service, the warranty, etc., are all top notch.

They take exceptionally sharp edges, they hold their edges well for a long time, the edges are easy to restore. They resist corrosion well. They are extremely resistant to chipping. They take a lot of force to bend. They can bend far before taking a set, and bend very far before breaking. They withstand high heat for long periods without damaging the temper.

They have a lot of variety of knife styles, and a lot of variations for each style, to suit your needs.

They really are splendid knives, in my experience.
 
were can you buy these beast the only place i can find they is flee-bay and they want 649$ is that rite for one of these????
 
right here @ the bf exchange, busse company store, busse combat website, yea and e-gay.
 
They are not the most stain resistant, nor the toughest, nor the easiest to sharpen, nor the most flexible, etc.

What they are, is the very best combination of these characteristics for a 'hard-use' knife.

Every knife choice is a compromise of characteristics; make it harder for edge holding, it chips easier etc etc. Infi steel is by far the best compromise available.

They are available in a wide variety of blade finishes and handle colours, micarta and G10. Maybe not a survival consideration, but it is a knife-nut consideration.

They come with a lifetime warranty (but then, so do some much less expensive knives).

If you are a complete knife nut, and/or have plenty of available cash and demand the very best, and like the Busse aesthetics and ergonomics, then a Busse is what you will be looking for. If not, then there are other production knives that are truly good, just not quite as good as a Busse.

I don't really have a lot of cash, but I don't have any other vices and I do tend to appreciate and demand the very best. Plus I like the look and feel of at least some (not all) Busses. I take pleasure in owning and using them. Thus I spend money on them when I can.

I've just finished (minutes ago) reprofiling a satin Active Duty I got a week or so ago. It's truly scary sharp - peels skin of the edge of my thumb real easy! Even takes the tops off my fine arm hairs a little (completey shreds the tops off my chest hairs). It's as sharp as any blade I have ever had!

There are areas where I think Busses could be improved (get rid of the choil on smaller knives for instance). In general I don't think they make the best bushcraft knives due to the large guard and choil. There was recently a discussion, started by Jerry himself, on this very topic though, so maybe watch this space...

As to buying them, Busse only release and make one model every few months. The previous few releases might be available at the company store. Otherwise, it's the secondary market and usually inflated prices.

Bottom line: If you want, or think you need, and can afford the very best, it's a Busse. If not, there are plenty of fine knives with just a few percent less performance for most tasks. I have some of them too. BTW, I class Fehrman in the same league as Busse.
 
:barf: well the company store has nothing only flee-bay might give one a try but going to stick with the rat and spyderco for now
 
Did you click the "next" button until you went to the last page? Thats where the knives are at. I looked earlier today and they had 4 different combo's of Game Wardens and the LE BATAC. Any of those are fine choices to start with.

Edit, I just looked and all the ones I mentioned are there right now on the last page.
 
The BCS has a few Game Wardens (little ones) and a pricy LE Badger Attack TAC right now, on page four.

Many of the deals on the exchange, for CG (combat grade) knives are around the original retail right now. Only the customs, LE's and older/more sought after designs get really pricey. Knives like the Battle Mistress, Badger Attack TAC and Game Warden tend to go for around retail. Users a little cheaper.

Evilbay tends to overprice Busses more than the exchange, although there is the occasional, very rare bargain to be had.

Nothing wrong with sticking with what you have though, they're good knives.

In all honesty, I'll probably never use a Busse hard enough to tell the difference between it and the likes of spyderco, becker, etc. I do like them though.
 
stalking the blade you want, then decisively procurring your objective before others! it is the hunt that is half the fun! ever been beaten to the punch? ouch!!! oh yeah, the knife is super too! now thats a reason to drink!
 
foxyrick said:
The BCS has a few Game Wardens (little ones) and a pricy LE Badger Attack TAC right now, on page four.

Many of the deals on the exchange, for CG (combat grade) knives are around the original retail right now. Only the customs, LE's and older/more sought after designs get really pricey. Knives like the Battle Mistress, Badger Attack TAC and Game Warden tend to go for around retail. Users a little cheaper.

Evilbay tends to overprice Busses more than the exchange, although there is the occasional, very rare bargain to be had.

Nothing wrong with sticking with what you have though, they're good knives.

In all honesty, I'll probably never use a Busse hard enough to tell the difference between it and the likes of spyderco, becker, etc. I do like them though.
Click to expand...

What is the blade thickness on the wardens for sale at BCS.??
 
There are 3 Busse companies, they all produce hard use knives with bombproof warranties. The difference is not much in their quality but the price is. Most can afford a Busse knife of some kind. Price is no longer a real excuse for a top notch blade in the $100-$250 range.

Skam
 
As for the knives themselves, yeah, INFI steel is the best combination of a lot of different criteria. If you want a knife that will do well in any kind of thing you might think to do with a big sharp slab of steel you can't go wrong with a Busse.

The drool though, tends to be less about the knives and more about the culture. They put out a lot of limited edition boutique knives, handle color variations, coating variations, etc. Jerry Busse is also very good at whipping fans of his knives into a buying frenzy with the way he sells them. If you watch his forum you'll see big pre-order events jump off that claim limited quantities and the like. All very infomercial-esque.

But they are good solid knives that hold up well to hard use. They also have great resale value so you really can't go wrong buying one, trying it out, and selling it if you end up wanting something else.
 
The 'buying frenzy' type of things, and the hype (is it hype if it's true?) surrounding the knives, actually put me off buying one for quite a while. I don't really like a lot of fuss over things. I imagine a lot of others feel the same way.

It was only one coming up for sale in Europe, at a good price, that made me take the chance to see what they were like.

I'm glad I did.

Good point about reselling too; that came into my decision at the time. I would not sell any that I have now though, unless money was really tight. And I would sell a lot of other stuff first.

Skammer had a good point too - you don't have to buy an actual Busse, there are less expensive options made with the same care and philosophy. I tend to forget about Scrapyard and Swamprat, not because they are not good knives, but because the steel is less corrosion resistant than infi. I have really acidic skin and can rust O1 just by looking hard at it. Otherwise I would certainly give them a try; especially the ratmandu - it looks a terrific knife. It is no more likely to rust than any other carbon steel though, like the beckers etc.
 
foxyrick said:
Skammer had a good point too - you don't have to buy an actual Busse, there are less expensive options made with the same care and philosophy. I tend to forget about Scrapyard and Swamprat, not because they are not good knives, but because the steel is less corrosion resistant than infi. .
Click to expand...

They are all Busse blades just slightly different steels. Same heat treat and bombproof durability only slightly less stain resistant. Every bit as quality.
No excuses.

Skam
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top