Busse Steel Heart II

[Sand Man]

Does anyone have the Steel HeartII and what do you think?
Worth the money?

Looking forward to the knife test in December with the Busse and Dogs. I have enjoyed Bladeforums quite a bit. Thanks Mike and Spark.

 

[grnamin]

I just purchased a Steel Heart II from the folks at the Busse Combat Knife Company exhibit at the New York Custom Knife show today. It has a better design than the one I had back in '96.
-more ergonomically shaped handle
-shaving sharp
-heavy blade
-kydex sheath: high ride type, could be more smoothly finished on the edges. I would prefer a low ride model
-black ceramic coating is supposed to be better than the old one
-really good workmanship-->even grinds on both sides
-designed not to fail under any conditions. You could gut a tank with this knife.
-I would like to see the handle made with G10 instead of micarta and the blade with a clip point false edge.
-cost at the show (tax included): $287

I haven't tested this one in the field yet. I'll do that next week while on a camping trip. I think it's worth the cost. This is really meant to by my "in-between" knife until I get my Battle Mistress.

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Greg Namin
The world is 75% water. The rest is drop zone.

 

[bald1]

Greg,
Since you just bought it, was it made from A-2 like your '96 vintage was, or INFI?
Have you owned a MadDog? If so how do they compare?


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-=[Bob]=-

 

[JohnG]

Greg,

I also picked up a Steel Heart at the show--it's a big sucker, and I'd agree with all your points.

We await your field test! I'm especially interested in how you feel about the handle, which I think, just from casual comparison with an ATAK, may be less ergonomic for extended use...

 

[DonL]

I'm curious, as Bob is, whether these are the new INFI Steel Heart II or the A2 version. I've had my name on a waiting list since mid-May for one of the INFI models and I'm wondering how long the wait will still be.

 

[grnamin]

The Steel Heart IIs available at the show were A2's. JohnG, the new model SH II has a better handle than the old one I purchased back in early '96. More ergonomic. I did a paper cutting test last night. Hadn't used the SH II to cut anything yet. It's still shaving sharp. I was able to cut cleaning through a falling piece of legal pad paper with one swing. I read about this test in a post about an article in the Wall Street Journal in this forum. Pretty darned sharp knife. I didn't think I could swing it fast enough to cut the falling paper because of the overall blade weight, but it worked! Gotta test it again after chopping some wood or something. More tests to come.

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Greg Namin
The world is 75% water. The rest is drop zone.


[This message has been edited by grnamin (edited 11-10-98).]