Killa Zilla II vs Battle Mistress?

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emt1581

Joined
Dec 28, 2011
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I've wanted a Busse kukri for years. But lately I'm coming around to one of the Battle Mistress variants.

For those that may own both, which would you grab to face the unknown? Might need to hack the heads off zombies, take out a bear, prepare lunch, etc....

Eventually I'll most likely get both, just trying to figure out which to zero in on first.

Thoughts? Experience? Pics??

Thanks!
 
Not sure if my comparison was the best, as I had a KZII cg, and a FBMLE. The FBMLE bit deep, but tended to get stuck a bit more. KZII was a bit thicker behind the edge. I thinned mine out and hand shaped the scales to my tastes.

Now, I have a WTF BG. Even more blade height and same Fusion handle.

My FBMLE was special, as it had a swedge and edge done by Bill Siegle. With a hand shaped handle as well.

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Bigfattyt said:
Not sure if my comparison was the best, as I had a KZII cg, and a FBMLE. The FBMLE bit deep, but tended to get stuck a bit more. KZII was a bit thicker behind the edge. I thinned mine out and hand shaped the scales to my tastes.

Now, I have a WTF BG. Even more blade height and same Fusion handle.

My FBMLE was special, as it had a swedge and edge done by Bill Siegle. With a hand shaped handle as well.
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Thanks for sharing. What is WTF? Sounds like the KZ is the front runner for you.
 
emt1581 said:
Thanks for sharing. What is WTF? Sounds like the KZ is the front runner for you.
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The WTF is like a Mistress on steroids. Taller blade, and 1/2 inch longer in the blade??

ZKdgcz4.jpg


I think I actually preferred the fusion handle for extended chopping (like on the FBMLE and the WTF BG. The drop in the rear of the handle helps avoid twisting in the hand better.

The newer Khukri design, the HUCK and HUCK Fin seem like they would be great as well, but I have not tried one.

The KZII has a bigger handle, and some dont like it. I have a XXL hands, and there was almost too much room for my hand.
 
Murman said:
I had 2 hucks and a huck fin. Cheaper than kz. Also had a ffbm.
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Haven't seen the hucks/fin. But I'm a big fan of utility/function so if it's practical and a user, I'm all for it.

EDIT: The "fin" isn't my cup of tea. Neither are the grooves in the huck blade. I have to wonder how easily it cleans up after heavy use.

Thanks
 
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Bigfattyt said:
The WTF is like a Mistress on steroids. Taller blade, and 1/2 inch longer in the blade??

ZKdgcz4.jpg


I think I actually preferred the fusion handle for extended chopping (like on the FBMLE and the WTF BG. The drop in the rear of the handle helps avoid twisting in the hand better.

The newer Khukri design, the HUCK and HUCK Fin seem like they would be great as well, but I have not tried one.

The KZII has a bigger handle, and some dont like it. I have a XXL hands, and there was almost too much room for my hand.
Click to expand...

I really like the handle ergos on the FBM as well as the blade size/shape/thickness. But I saw a chopping vid where the KZ was chipping right through a log and the FFG BM kept getting stuck.
 
I have the CGFBM, FFBM, KZ2 L.E., TTKZ, Huck CG, and the WTF BG. They are all amazing. The KZ2 and Huck allow for a more neutral grip that accommodates a wider variety of tasks.

Of the fusion handle variants listed above, the CGFBM is best suited for the full potential range of tasks (mainly due to its thickness, length, and weight)
 
Battle mistress all the way. The Zilla is a chopping machine. You earn it working that piece. Mistress on the other hand. Is easy to hold, and coux into many dirty task's.
 
I prefer straight blades for general camping chores. FBM is great all around knife. I owned several kukris and none of them was as good as any of my BMs. Though - now I have HUCK on the way :D
 
Khuks are great choppers, usually better than a straight blade of the same dimensions. However, the straight blade is more useful in every other way. So it is trade off.
 
I did not find my Test Team Killa Zilla to be a great chopper, or even a particularly good one. Nowhere near as good as my FBMLE, anyway.
 
JohnTheTexican said:
I did not find my Test Team Killa Zilla to be a great chopper, or even a particularly good one. Nowhere near as good as my FBMLE, anyway.
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Yes, one of the Chief complaints was the overly thick, obtuse edge geometry of the test team version. They needed a thinning, regrind.

The KZII I had, I significantly thinned behind the edge. It was still robust.

My FBMLE bit deeper, but also is some of the chopping seemed to get stuck a little more.

Had I not sold it, the KZII was going to get a little more thinning from me, in the primary grind.





I forgot to add, I also had a Basic 11, which I did a asymmetrical edge on. That was my go to outdoor knife. Light, faster, less work to swing longer.
The only issue it had with that one, was that the original Basic handle mold was a smidge small in hand for some things for me. I was not a super fan of the pressed grooves on either side of the grip. They almost gave too much traction to the side of the handle!!!

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emt1581 said:
I've wanted a Busse kukri for years. But lately I'm coming around to one of the Battle Mistress variants.

For those that may own both, which would you grab to face the unknown? Might need to hack the heads off zombies, take out a bear, prepare lunch, etc....

Eventually I'll most likely get both, just trying to figure out which to zero in on first.

Thoughts? Experience? Pics??

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you're not looking into a Huck or Huck Fin? From the way it looks, it seems to be a step up above a Killa Killa.
 
The TTKZ original grind was a terrible chopper. The KZII wasn’t that much better. With their meat behind the edge thinned, they are beasts. I ordered a Custom Shop TTKZ with a grind that a member here posted years ago. It’s basically a Blended FFG/Saber that runs 7/8 or 8/9 up the blade to the spine. I think the user was AZTim or something like that. Garth was not comfortable removing the amount of metal that I wanted from the TTKZ.
 
KZII for me. But I modified my handle by replacing the handle with a full desert ironwood handle that goes all the way to the butt. Its my favorite chopper and alot of bang for the buck;)
I can get a hand and a half on it for safe chopping.
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