Good suggestions all around so far. These guys know their stuff so listen to there recommendations.
First of all this ain't no cult. Busse/Swamp Rat/Scrap Yard owners are the real deal. Sure there are a bunch of us that are collectors, others that are users and some are a combination of the two. But as Walking_Man noted we buy from these companies because they produce high quality knives out of superior materials and provide what is arguably the BEST warranty and customer service in the industry. Just look through all the posts and you'll be amazed at how many time you get to interact directly with staff on the forum. If you have a problem they make it right, no BS. That is a MAJOR bonus these days when products can be crap and customer service even crappier. Off my soap box for now.
Secondly, you can't go wrong with Busse/Swamp Rat/Scrap Yard. They all have there place in the industry. Busse with its INFI steel is the high end stuff. You'll see that in both the production line and the customs. Fit and finish are top of the line. INFI has a proprietary heat treat that makes the steel extremely tough. It tends to roll out of shape rather than chip. Most rolls are easily stropped back into place. For more info read this:
http://www.bussecombat.com/infi/index.shtml
Swamp Rat uses SR-101 steel which is modified 52-100 tool steel. In my opinion it is the best bang for the buck. The Rats have a more utilitarian design. That's not to say that the products are inferior. There are some beautiful models, some not as pretty, but all beg to be beat on. Fit and finish are also great.
This description is on
www.swampshack.com.
SR-101 Steel is the combination of an extremely fine-grained tool steel and a proprietary multi-step tempering protocol. This process includes the incorporation of a deep cryogenic treatment for grain refinement with the added benefits of differential tempering which add greatly to the overall toughness and strength of what will most certainly prove to be your favourite blade.
Scrap Yard is just that in most cases. The staff dumpster dives and we get to reap the benefits of their findings. Scrapped INFI, old discontinued handles, you could see just about anything in one of their knives. They also use their own steel SR-77. See specs here:
Heat Treat and Tempering
It is in this process that the very soul of a blades performance will be born. It can also be the most expensive process involved in the making of a fine blade. Sadly, the knife buying public has been led to believe that Rockwell Hardness is some sort of gauge by which to determine performance. This is ridiculous! Following standard ASTM heat treating and tempering protocols, a blade made from a standard tool steel can be "properly" heat treated and tempered in less than 1-1/2 hours and brought to a hardness of 57-59 Rc. So what! Take one of our blades that has received our proprietary heat treat and tempering protocol of over 40 hrs. and it will also test out at 57-59 Rc. The fact is that one of our transversion wave tempered SR-77 blades that tests out at 57-59 Rc will spank the living hell out of a standard heat treated knife blade out of the same material that also has a 57-59 Rc hardness.
Grain structure and carbide distribution, are the keys to great performance NOT Rockwell hardness!
Fit and finish are less important. It's all about functionality with SY. They don't call Dan Busse Dan "the Hack" for nothing.
Now for the most important part. What blades to look at. First check out the Busse Collector website (
http://www.bussecollector.com/gpage.html5.html) or BadMOJO (
http://homepage.mac.com/zombiekiller/badmojo/index.html). Both are EXCELLENT online resources about past and current models, specs, rarities, etc. Great pictures as well.
I would consider something like Busse's Natural Outlaw Ergo (NO-E) or Satin Jack Tactical (SJTAC) for 6-inchers, Busse's Hell Razor (HR) or Special Forces Natural Outlaw (SFNO) for 7-inchers. Good luck buying an SFNO without taking out a second mortgage. If you can get away with 5" blade try a Combat Grade Badger Attack Tactical (BATAC). If you go with Swamp Rat look for a Camp Tramp (Res-C handles) or a Ratweiler (micarta handles).
For your smaller blade I concur with the rest. Busse's Active Duty (AD) or Meaner Street (MrS). Any of the variations will do you good. They are great EDCs. The Game Warden (GW) ain't so bad either. They all serve their purposes well. That said I think the AD is the best compromise of the three. Swamp Rat doesn't really have a comparable model, but the Bandicoot is like the MrS. If you want INFI you could also look for an INFIcoot on the exchange. Or try to find a ScrapYard Street Scrapper 4 (SS4). It's a similar profile with a Res-C mudder style handle with dumpster divin' INFI.
Whew! Sorry to ramble on so much. There is a lot to learn about this stuff and the more I babble the more I commit to memory. Good luck with your search. The gang over here on the Busse and Swamp Rat fourms is great. Don't hesitate to ask any question. YOu may get your balls busted a bit, but that's part of the fun.
call it a cult if you will