Hi Vic,

I just picked mine up this evening from the depot...£73.00 in duty charges...but it was worth it. I think this would be one you would like.

The knife is no way as handle heavy as the BATAC LE felt and at .22 thickness feels just that bit more "substantial" than the 3/16 thickness on other Busse blades I have such as the Jackhammer or SJTAC.

The size of the handle was a worry for me but having it "in hand" the increase in depth towards the pommel is not as negative a point as I imagined on creating a handle heavy effect. The way this works is to offer protection to your fingers if using the pommel to "hammer".

The increased depth acts like a birds beak type pommel in so far as if you took a straight line vertically from the base of the pommel when hammering it would pass below your fingers wrapped round the grip...so if you missed a strike with the pommel you would not catch your fingers....BUT...unlike with a birds beak pommel which can cause pinky bite when chopping you can get a very solid grip on the back end of the grip for chopping...much better than the TAC design of grip affords...and using a tight three finger grip ( leaving the pinky finger off the handle ) you have a knife with considerable chopping ability for a 5 inch blade.

I would say that the .220 thickness blade makes the knife feel comparable to a 7 inch blade when held this far back...probably similar to the Sarsquatch although I have'nt got one...but from my knives it is more effective than my Jackhammer or SJTAC in this type of grip and not quite at the level of weighty feel the SFNO LE gives using a standard grip....but that knife has a hefty sabre grind blade.

All told this knife is a different species to a RMD....this chopping ability puts it into the ASH LE type category....more than a Skinny Ash...not quite as much as an Ash CG...the satin finish makes it perfect for food prep as it is very easy to see that the blade is clean...and it comes razor sharp with a nice convex grind which does not feel too thick for slicing.

I have shooting comps all weekend but will try to get some pics done and give it a comparable review with knives such as the RMD and my 3B2 and JH. Might throw in a Bushcrafter as well. I have very good first impressions though....