At the urging of fellow dogs, and thanks to the generosity of sumoj275, I was finally able to experience the impressive slashing and chopping power of the Busse B11 and compare it to the Busse Bushwacker Mistress. First, let me be up front. I am a huge fan of the BWM. I own three of them, one fully convexed. I decided not to use the fully convexed one, which I ground thinner than I would for any person other than myself. After all, some folks don't have a belt sander to fix minor edge damage should it occur. Both the B11 and the BWM in this chop off have coated blades with very sharp convex final edges.

[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
The BWM is 3/16" thick compared to the B11 at 1/4" thick. But the full flat grind and Res C handle make the B11 much lighter. It weighs about a pound on my scale, compared to 22 oz for the BWM. Balance point on the B11 is further forward than the BWM, but is so much lighter, it's still faster in the hand.

[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]

That light weight makes the B11 a better machete than the BWM, especially on limber vegetation. It slashed woody brush and palmettos cleaner and easier than the BWM.
[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]

I figured the BWM would come into its own in the chopping contest. Wrong again. The B11 bites deep and that forward balance gives it plenty of power in the stroke. The BWM took 30 chops to go through the wood. The B11 did it in just 25.

[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
[Linked Image from i173.photobucket.com]
In summary, the Busse Basic 11 is a better bushwacker than the bushwacker. But I like them both.


Horned, dangerous, and off my medication.