INFI in 2018

B

Balls Deep

Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
342
I lurk more than I post and read threads pretty regularly that roll through. The more time that goes by I see, the less references to infi steel when discussing favorite or recommended steels and am surprised at the lack of YouTube reviews especially from respected knife channels on Busse knives in general. I'm curious to know how infi fans feel that the steel is holding up in the era of more prominent CPM steels with proper heat treatments. One of the few comprehensive comparison reviews I can find shows a rope cutting test of about 100 successful cuts before losing reliable cutting, which the reviewer says was about half of what cpm 3v in a similar grind could do. My understanding is that infi primarily shines in it's extreme chipping resistance, so larger choppers are the ideal application.

Part of the reason I'm also asking is that as I slowly crawl through graduate school one of the goals that keeps me going is buying a dream fixed blade following graduation and I'm definately looking at the Busse's in the private exchange as a proper reward knife.

Please let me know your thoughts when you can!
Thanks,
Balls
 
I have quite a few INFI, CPM 3V, A8mod, Cru-Wear(family), Z-Finit, etc. steels. I like Infi because it is tough, easy to sharpen/gets SHARP with ease, and good corrosion resistance. That said, it does not hold a great edge for cutting, but does hold a good edge for chopping. Also, when taken down to 20 DPS edge, I get edge deformation. So I convex the edge, or keep it at 25DPS, and it still performs very well.
CPM 3V is a favorite of mine. I have knives in it from 3 inch blade to 22 inch blade. But, like all steels, it's performance is VERY dependent on it's heat treatment and blade geometry. I have quite a few 3V blades with "Delta" heat treat. It performs very well in all areas, but compared to other 3V HT's, I find I don't like the way it sharpens, it is not quite as user friendly. There are other low temper HT protocols for 3V I prefer, but you sacrifice a little edge stability for ease of sharpening, which is fine with me. That said, I have 3V blades that have some awesome HT's, Delta and otherwise, and I would probably choose all of them over Infi.
CPM Cru-Wear family of steels is awesome! I find with a good HT, it has the benefits of the best 3V HT's, but with a small sacrifice in corrosion resistance. I find it does very well at resisting edge deformation, holds a great edge, and is still quite easy to sharpen, and gets very sharp easily. Tough choice if I like it better or not as much as 3V, but then again, it depends on the heat treatment.

BTW, what size of blade are you looking for? It could help a lot letting people know that, to give their option/opinions. Anything under a 9 inch blade, I'd definitely go with either CPM 3V or Cru-Wear(family). My favorite between 5-9 inch blade is in 3V, but I do have one in spectrumwear that is right up there, as well as a Carothers HDFK, and Busse that are good. I would probably put them in that order too. For above 9 inch blade, I would have a tough time deciding between INFI and 3V. My favorite blades in that size are in INFI and 3V, an they all perform well.

Apologies for the length of the message.
 
Busse makes excellent knives, and Infi is really tough steel. But it's not so great at edge wear. 3V will have better wear resistance, but not likely to be as much better as your friend says.

It's better to start with what tasks you want your knife to do, unless you're just a collector, and then match the steel/heat treat to that purpose. Then decide on the size, ergos, looks, fit and finish to narrow down your choices.

3V is a really tough steel with good edge wear. It has taken some of the gloss off Infi. But there are a lot of really excellent steels that well do better on edge wear.

Vanadis 4E is almost as tough as 3V, but has better edge wear. M390 is excellent at edge wear. Elmax is really tough for stainless, and has excellent edge wear, almost as much as M390. Tradional steels can be excellent with a good heat treat. Your choices are almost infinite, but start with what you want the knife to do.
 
We truly live in the golden age of knife steels. There are various steels to fit any knife nut’s needs. I am a fan of both 3v and Infi. I feel they are in different classes of steels though. I would place Infi along side 5160, 52100, S7, A8, L6 and the 10** steels to name a few.
3v,4v, Cruwear, Z-wear and others in their own class.

That being said, I slightly prefer Infi over 3V. I find it easier to sharpen and less prone to micro chipping from my use. 3v has a considerable advantage in wear resistance. If cutting abrasive materials was the task of the day, 3v would be my choice.

Lately my Infimandu sharpened to 19 dps has performed great and is my new favorite belt knife. Infi has more competition than it did a decade or so ago but for many it is still the gold standard for “hard use” blades.
 
I think infi with the factory edge in a larger blade can take a lot of abuse, I've definitely not been gentle to mine. I do have a very thin convex edge on one blade that has chipped because my idiot friend was swinging it around like a drunk hobbit and hit a rock. But they are easy to sharpen and hold an edge for what I need.

That being said, I agree with everyone else that there are a ton of new steels out that are amazing. I also like m390 and 3v delta. Just remember one thing though, if your moron friend breaks your knife somehow, Busse will cover you with their amazing warranty. Not sure the rest of the manufacturers/makers would.
 
My dream outdoor
ATJ999 said:
I have quite a few INFI, CPM 3V, A8mod, Cru-Wear(family), Z-Finit, etc. steels. I like Infi because it is tough, easy to sharpen/gets SHARP with ease, and good corrosion resistance. That said, it does not hold a great edge for cutting, but does hold a good edge for chopping. Also, when taken down to 20 DPS edge, I get edge deformation. So I convex the edge, or keep it at 25DPS, and it still performs very well.
CPM 3V is a favorite of mine. I have knives in it from 3 inch blade to 22 inch blade. But, like all steels, it's performance is VERY dependent on it's heat treatment and blade geometry. I have quite a few 3V blades with "Delta" heat treat. It performs very well in all areas, but compared to other 3V HT's, I find I don't like the way it sharpens, it is not quite as user friendly. There are other low temper HT protocols for 3V I prefer, but you sacrifice a little edge stability for ease of sharpening, which is fine with me. That said, I have 3V blades that have some awesome HT's, Delta and otherwise, and I would probably choose all of them over Infi.
CPM Cru-Wear family of steels is awesome! I find with a good HT, it has the benefits of the best 3V HT's, but with a small sacrifice in corrosion resistance. I find it does very well at resisting edge deformation, holds a great edge, and is still quite easy to sharpen, and gets very sharp easily. Tough choice if I like it better or not as much as 3V, but then again, it depends on the heat treatment.

BTW, what size of blade are you looking for? It could help a lot letting people know that, to give their option/opinions. Anything under a 9 inch blade, I'd definitely go with either CPM 3V or Cru-Wear(family). My favorite between 5-9 inch blade is in 3V, but I do have one in spectrumwear that is right up there, as well as a Carothers HDFK, and Busse that are good. I would probably put them in that order too. For above 9 inch blade, I would have a tough time deciding between INFI and 3V. My favorite blades in that size are in INFI and 3V, an they all perform well.

Apologies for the length of the message.
Click to expand...

My goal would be 5 inches, no longer than 6. Bark River does a pretty excellent job of doing many different steels in many different styles and I've heard good things on their 3v and 4v heat treats. Busse knives seem to really blur the line though between knife and art and some of their shapes are just so beautiful. My thought is that from what a know a shorter knife may not be the best application for infi.
 
I agree with ajt999, in that size knife I'll go with D3V, 4V or cruwear. I will say infi sharpens easy for me but in a knife that size, you will likely need to reprofile anything from busse as it will be too thick to cut anything.

Good point from unwisefool though, Busse's warranty and customer service is unmatched.

One thing is will add, Busse's infi knives, from my experience, generally have great handles
 
You've received some sound advice from the guys above, and I would agree with them. I've owned a fair amount of INFI, but I don't really use choppers and most of my fixed blade besides one machete and my BK9 are seven inches and below. As such, my collection slowly evolved from INFI to mostly 3V now as it fits my purposes much better. I find it tougher than I ever need and with great edge retention. From what you are describing, I would look at Dark Timber knives (midtechs). They are gorgeous and very functional and all in 3V. I own a few Honey Badgers and 1911s and they are almost all I carry into the woods these days.
 
I think the reason we're seeing less and less of INFI discussion, is the relative exclusivity of it in comparison to the competition. 3V for instance, is rather prevalent relatively ,and it achieves a very high level of toughness in a package which holds a better edge. INFI simply isn't the end all be all for toughness anymore, and you see that in the fact that there are other steels which are tough to a similar degree, that can also hold smaller edge angles under impact strains. Making them attractive alternatives to INFI

Furthermore, Busse as far as I am aware, hasn't been putting out the caliber of quality you can see from it's competitors in that price range. While it was lauded as having the toughest steel once, now a maker who focuses more on their attention to detail and QC and uses 3V is a very strong competitor to them
 
I think also that many folks are wising up to the whole "if your knife doesn't have ______ steel it's crap" extreme hype angle anymore. We don't even poke fun at Cold Steel videos anymore, we're so burnt out on hyperbole. I think there's more collective community recognition of the fact that steel is only one of many factors that impact suitability of a given knife for an application and that you don't have to max out the toughness aspect unless you actually need the knife to survive that level of extreme abuse when another knife with steel and heat treatment that yield a toughness a tiny bit lower, but still well above the relevant range of strain the tool is likely to experience...with better geometry or other features that make it desirable for the intended context of use, or for less money...well, it still ticks all the boxes for what it's gonna' be used for. And if it's a better overall match, it's a better overall match.
 
I felt the same way for a while; stopped hearing about INFI and not too many photos online anymore. Then I visited the BUSSE sub forums and was quickly reminded the love everyone has for those beasts lol. Maybe it's becoming a little more niche than it used to be. It's a hard toss up for me because I love how 3V has performed especially with these new heat treats. But INFI will always hold a special place in my heart lol.
 
Poor wear resistance in the very little experience I have with it. That said, I think the main thing that keeps it from being popular is Busse's sales model. I'm sure it works well for them and they sell all they can, but it sure can't make their popularity grow with the general knife enthusiast population.
 
If their knives were available all the time instead of a limited run for a few weeks maybe you would hear more about them.They get snapped up , and eventually resold for much more than the original price, unless you get lucky or get a user. the website is useless; anything on there is always sold out.It took our own CM a friggin year to get a battle shark. Jerry should've just made him one for god sake ;he would've gladly paid him for it.He should send him a free one for waiting a year on one of his products.I think they should take 5 to 10 of their most popular models, like the ASH, Battle Mistress, for example,and make regular runs of them, available all the time. Come on Busse knock this exclusive crap off and get those blades into the hands of more people.....
 
ATJ999 said:
I have quite a few INFI, CPM 3V, A8mod, Cru-Wear(family), Z-Finit, etc. steels. I like Infi because it is tough, easy to sharpen/gets SHARP with ease, and good corrosion resistance. That said, it does not hold a great edge for cutting, but does hold a good edge for chopping. Also, when taken down to 20 DPS edge, I get edge deformation. So I convex the edge, or keep it at 25DPS, and it still performs very well.
CPM 3V is a favorite of mine. I have knives in it from 3 inch blade to 22 inch blade. But, like all steels, it's performance is VERY dependent on it's heat treatment and blade geometry. I have quite a few 3V blades with "Delta" heat treat. It performs very well in all areas, but compared to other 3V HT's, I find I don't like the way it sharpens, it is not quite as user friendly. There are other low temper HT protocols for 3V I prefer, but you sacrifice a little edge stability for ease of sharpening, which is fine with me. That said, I have 3V blades that have some awesome HT's, Delta and otherwise, and I would probably choose all of them over Infi.
CPM Cru-Wear family of steels is awesome! I find with a good HT, it has the benefits of the best 3V HT's, but with a small sacrifice in corrosion resistance. I find it does very well at resisting edge deformation, holds a great edge, and is still quite easy to sharpen, and gets very sharp easily. Tough choice if I like it better or not as much as 3V, but then again, it depends on the heat treatment.

BTW, what size of blade are you looking for? It could help a lot letting people know that, to give their option/opinions. Anything under a 9 inch blade, I'd definitely go with either CPM 3V or Cru-Wear(family). My favorite between 5-9 inch blade is in 3V, but I do have one in spectrumwear that is right up there, as well as a Carothers HDFK, and Busse that are good. I would probably put them in that order too. For above 9 inch blade, I would have a tough time deciding between INFI and 3V. My favorite blades in that size are in INFI and 3V, an they all perform well.

Apologies for the length of the message.
Click to expand...

Nice info. Got any good convex 3V knives around or under 5”?
 
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