Thanks Pete for the very informative and detailed description and pics of the HG55. It has a certain flow to it that I really like, not sure just what it is but it kind of reminds me of a #1 ish fighter type knife.
Doug
You're welcome.
A fighter, for sure. The upswept tip has been described to me by a friend of mine @ Ft. Campbell as being ideal for quietly dispatching sentries and such. Nice to know...but I've never been the operator type, however I like the style.
At the same time it has a utility potential there, too. Especially with the bombproof tip like what
bubbaskyjacker
should be getting any minute now
. It most definitely could be called upon to breach doors, shuttered windows, cargo crates, etc. The squared off butt can be used to hammer, or more likely, to be hammered upon and be driven into something to bust open like a wedge-- another built in use of the distally tapered tip & swedging. It'll easily pierce the target, to get a foothold, and then use the brute mechanical advantage of the thicker flats to force it apart...pure genius.
The handle is kinda coffin shaped, sorta triangular in 3 dimensions but with the familiar Busse couple of palm swells and it makes for very effective draw from a sheath and a secure locked in fore-ward grip. The shape lends itself to a multitude of holds, reverse & normal. You don't have to commit to any single grip-- very flexible.
It has a relatively small footprint compared to other Busse. It is quite short in profile from spine to edge. So it would pack with other soldier kit pretty economically.
The washboard CBT and fuller, of course, is the most striking visual element. Once again, it seems to me it would cut down on resistance with piercing & withdrawing. There's small, full length CBT. Large full length CBT. And combo CBT/bombproof tip. Note the different fuller size also in the pic below.
The stock is quite thick along the midline, and I found my edge too obtuse for my <mainly> slicing usage so I dropped the edge a lot. Freehand I'd say it's ca. 15 dps. I don't usually measure it too much, I just take it's to where it's scary sharp to my fingertips. And it took me more than a minute
on this particular model of MO 55. I had to hog off a good amt. of INFI on the bombproof tip and I wore my DMT diamond plate nearly smooth doing it.