I received a new Busse Basic #5 recently and thought I would share my initial impressions. Granted, this review is prior to any field testing and I have no intention of trying to destroy my one serious fixed-blade knife.
GENERAL IMPRESSION: Waiting for the knife was more difficult than waiting to go find a tree after chugging a 7-eleven moster gulp while riding in an AMC Gremlin with bad shocks. Once the knife arrived I forgot all about it. It came in a plain, off-white carboard box that concealed a treasure inside. First impressions were that the knife and leather sheath were both high-quality and superbly finished. The handle fit my hand just right and I really like the black (epoxy?) blade finish. Good balance and "natural feel" while holding the knife.
SHEATH: The sheath for the #5 is a leather pouch type sheath with no restraining straps. Gravity and friction hold the knife in. I held the sheathed knife upside down over my couch and shook it vigourously, but the knife didn't fall out. Good for the knife and the couch. It is not a perfect fit between the blade and sheath (blade bumps around slightly), but I believe this helps to prevent slicing the sheath to pieces when the knife is drawn or sheathed. There was some wear on the inside top of the sheath after drawing it several times, but hey that's what makes leather look good. Overall, a quiet, attractive, servicable carrier as good as leather sheaths from Buck, but not as nicely finished as the leather sheaths from Fallkniven.
HANDLE: Perfect. By far the best synthetic handle material I've ever felt. I don't like Kraton at all, but I do like the "gripability" of a rubber composition. The thumb grooves on the sides facilitate horizontal slices and numerous grip positions. If you are careful, you can choke up on the handle and place your forefinger in the groove between the talon hole and edge for really fine cutting work (just don't try stabbing anything or you'll only be able to count to 9). The shape of the handle is perfect for my hand, but may be small for you lobstermen and dock workers. You can comfortably and safely grip the knife for slicing, whittling, icepick stabs, and reverse grip Kung-fu posing in front of the mirror. My only concern is after I submerged the knife I noticed that water did go between the tang and handle material. I don't know how much or how far back it went, but this could conceivably encourage corrosion. It did seem to dry out (unable to squeeze any water out) in a few hours and was never much water to begin with.
BLADE: I like the black finish, but don't engage in too many night operations where blade reflectivity is a no no. As far as protecting the steel, time (and oxidation) will tell. The coating can be chipped (I'll get to that later) and marred, but this is a tool, not a showpiece. The asymetrical edge grind took a little getting used to, but I am learning to like it. The theory behind it seems sound and the information provide in previous posts by Cliff Stamp was very helpful. It doesn't "feel" as sharp as a V ground blade when you run your thumb along the edge, but it is very sharp and is a very smooth slicer. With the current sheath, the talon hole has no apparent function other than looks and as I understand it, is more of a trademark now. The blade is a beefy 1/4" thick and could even be used to pry a beer can from Jerry's hand. I can't conceive how I would ever damage it short of outright abuse or nuclear war. I do like the slight curvature of the overall knife which results in a much more natural "feel" and pays homage to the god of Ergonomia.
USE: So far, paper, cord, plastic, racquetball, cardboard, wood, and dinner. It slices smoothly through paper with no snags. Again a subjective evaluation, but I think the convex edge helps it to glide along. The slices "felt" smoother than even my "disconcertingly sharp" Spyderco Native. Slices easily through rolled up magazines, cardboard, 1/4" dowels, plastic peanut butter jars, an old racketball, two pieces of chicken, 4 zuchinni, carrots, and an onion. The only downside is the blade thickness. It is much thicker than a pocket or chefs knife and is thicker than any other fixed blades I have seen (which is not saying much). For deep cuts through cardboard, produce, and the like, the thickness of the blade slows it down. But how many kitchen knives do you see that are "Nuclear Tough". Just another example of different blade geometries for different functions.
DAMAGE: I decided to stab through an empty plastic peanut butter container (No, I don't know why) sitting on the floor. Well, it worked. The knife went through the lid, through the bottom, through the carpet, through the pad, and into the concrete. The tip (by the tip, I mean the very tiny pointy tip edge) was slightly bent and about a millimeter of the coating flaked off of the the spine. The tip edge was pushed back into line by free handing a fine stone from my sharpmaker (I know Cliff, I need to get a steel) and is as good as new. Not too bad for an inadvertant stab into concrete. After all the testing, the knife is not shaving sharp, but I don't shave with knives. It still slices paper, wood, cardboard, nylon cord, and leather easily and that's what I intend to use it for.
CONCLUSION: I like it, the price is right (I got it for an incredibly low price
), if you want a 5" fixed blade knife buy it. If you buy one and don't like it, send it to me and I promise not to complain (I'll even pay the postage, but you will not be refunded your money. Pretty good guarantee, huh?) I'll write more in a year or so after I've had a chance to really use it.
Jeff
[This message has been edited by JDS (edited 03-29-2000).]
[This message has been edited by JDS (edited 03-29-2000).]
Man, this thing needs a spellchecker on it.
[This message has been edited by JDS (edited 03-29-2000).]
GENERAL IMPRESSION: Waiting for the knife was more difficult than waiting to go find a tree after chugging a 7-eleven moster gulp while riding in an AMC Gremlin with bad shocks. Once the knife arrived I forgot all about it. It came in a plain, off-white carboard box that concealed a treasure inside. First impressions were that the knife and leather sheath were both high-quality and superbly finished. The handle fit my hand just right and I really like the black (epoxy?) blade finish. Good balance and "natural feel" while holding the knife.
SHEATH: The sheath for the #5 is a leather pouch type sheath with no restraining straps. Gravity and friction hold the knife in. I held the sheathed knife upside down over my couch and shook it vigourously, but the knife didn't fall out. Good for the knife and the couch. It is not a perfect fit between the blade and sheath (blade bumps around slightly), but I believe this helps to prevent slicing the sheath to pieces when the knife is drawn or sheathed. There was some wear on the inside top of the sheath after drawing it several times, but hey that's what makes leather look good. Overall, a quiet, attractive, servicable carrier as good as leather sheaths from Buck, but not as nicely finished as the leather sheaths from Fallkniven.
HANDLE: Perfect. By far the best synthetic handle material I've ever felt. I don't like Kraton at all, but I do like the "gripability" of a rubber composition. The thumb grooves on the sides facilitate horizontal slices and numerous grip positions. If you are careful, you can choke up on the handle and place your forefinger in the groove between the talon hole and edge for really fine cutting work (just don't try stabbing anything or you'll only be able to count to 9). The shape of the handle is perfect for my hand, but may be small for you lobstermen and dock workers. You can comfortably and safely grip the knife for slicing, whittling, icepick stabs, and reverse grip Kung-fu posing in front of the mirror. My only concern is after I submerged the knife I noticed that water did go between the tang and handle material. I don't know how much or how far back it went, but this could conceivably encourage corrosion. It did seem to dry out (unable to squeeze any water out) in a few hours and was never much water to begin with.
BLADE: I like the black finish, but don't engage in too many night operations where blade reflectivity is a no no. As far as protecting the steel, time (and oxidation) will tell. The coating can be chipped (I'll get to that later) and marred, but this is a tool, not a showpiece. The asymetrical edge grind took a little getting used to, but I am learning to like it. The theory behind it seems sound and the information provide in previous posts by Cliff Stamp was very helpful. It doesn't "feel" as sharp as a V ground blade when you run your thumb along the edge, but it is very sharp and is a very smooth slicer. With the current sheath, the talon hole has no apparent function other than looks and as I understand it, is more of a trademark now. The blade is a beefy 1/4" thick and could even be used to pry a beer can from Jerry's hand. I can't conceive how I would ever damage it short of outright abuse or nuclear war. I do like the slight curvature of the overall knife which results in a much more natural "feel" and pays homage to the god of Ergonomia.
USE: So far, paper, cord, plastic, racquetball, cardboard, wood, and dinner. It slices smoothly through paper with no snags. Again a subjective evaluation, but I think the convex edge helps it to glide along. The slices "felt" smoother than even my "disconcertingly sharp" Spyderco Native. Slices easily through rolled up magazines, cardboard, 1/4" dowels, plastic peanut butter jars, an old racketball, two pieces of chicken, 4 zuchinni, carrots, and an onion. The only downside is the blade thickness. It is much thicker than a pocket or chefs knife and is thicker than any other fixed blades I have seen (which is not saying much). For deep cuts through cardboard, produce, and the like, the thickness of the blade slows it down. But how many kitchen knives do you see that are "Nuclear Tough". Just another example of different blade geometries for different functions.
DAMAGE: I decided to stab through an empty plastic peanut butter container (No, I don't know why) sitting on the floor. Well, it worked. The knife went through the lid, through the bottom, through the carpet, through the pad, and into the concrete. The tip (by the tip, I mean the very tiny pointy tip edge) was slightly bent and about a millimeter of the coating flaked off of the the spine. The tip edge was pushed back into line by free handing a fine stone from my sharpmaker (I know Cliff, I need to get a steel) and is as good as new. Not too bad for an inadvertant stab into concrete. After all the testing, the knife is not shaving sharp, but I don't shave with knives. It still slices paper, wood, cardboard, nylon cord, and leather easily and that's what I intend to use it for.
CONCLUSION: I like it, the price is right (I got it for an incredibly low price
Jeff
[This message has been edited by JDS (edited 03-29-2000).]
[This message has been edited by JDS (edited 03-29-2000).]
Man, this thing needs a spellchecker on it.
[This message has been edited by JDS (edited 03-29-2000).]