I'm curious, it seems that for the most part standard uses for camp knives will have something to do with chopping, slicing or cutting wood or food. We've all seen the pictures and videos of INFI, SR-101 and SR-77 chopping on metal and rocks, but someone almost always cries "unrealistic" or intentional abuse. It seems to me that wood chopping is something that just about any modern steel can handle without much problems. So what are extreme circumstances that are considered legitimate that would set the Busse-kin lines apart from other knives?

You might be suprised how easily some knives from other makers chip during normal use !

kaizen jerry pretty much doesnt think anything is abuse. i cant remember him turning anyone down although im sure its a case by case basis. i know there have been some dolts who shot their busses with a gun, best stories are the ones where people pry through cars to rescue people.

and pitdog is right i've seen and heard of tons of bark river failures as well as some other big names...

I know a few folks that are on various SAR teams that carry Busse blades. I would imagine they would not hesitate to pry a car door open or chop whatever lies in their way when trying to rescue a subject. Often times when we hang out for some trees n quiet, Busses are chopping, being battoned, being thrown, used for digging. You name it really. Bottom line to me, Busse blades will take what you can dish out and if for some freak of nature they fail, they have the best waranty policy.

I chip the edges on my machetes all the time. No sweat. The Kalamazoo makes them easy to repair. Most steels will either chip or roll when they encounter very hard material. If anyone ever made a steel so tough and hard that neither could happen, we would never be able to sharpen it. Is chopping into the ground abuse? Hit one rock and you'll have some kind of defect in the edge. Usually with INFI, it can be steeled out. With other steels it may chip out a big chunk.

I would consider most SAR/Military uses to be legitimate uses of a Busse-tough blade. Hacking through car doors, prying doors open, cutting through walls... pretty standard stuff for these knives <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "SAR"? Also, is that the reason for some of the Busse model names (SAR4, SAR5)?

Search and Rescue.

Diamond plates/wheels. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> We already have knives that are too hard to sharpen with stones, in the form of ceramics. It's just that they're not tough.

Intentional abuse of a Busse family knife, to me, is pretty much limited to things like shooting it, or attacking rocks. A knife is not a masonry chisel, or ballistic armor. Other things that are kind of "emergency use only" are chopping through sheet metal, or batoning with a rock or hammer. The knife will survive at least for a while; but NO steel will stand up to that indefinitely. Jobs like splitting wood and digging and prying on stuff, which are fairly abusive of a lot of knives, are what the Busse family aims at. You don't make a quarter inch thick, spring tempered slab unless you plan on people doing extreme things. It's not a pocket knife, it's not a razor.

When I was in the big sand box and riding around in the hummer one of my biggest fears was being trapped in the hummer in the event of a wreck. Some friends flipped the hummer and it went into a canal and one drowned along with some others who tried to rescue him. I never tried it, but I have always believed I could have cut my way out of the hummer's ballistic glass. That stuff will take some huge rounds, but I think the ratweiler would have cut it with some work. It may have been impossible, but it was a comforting notion.

I never try to abuse my tools. I use them as they were intended to be used but find solice knowing they can do what they were not intended to do. To me, it would be like using my rifle barrel as a cheater pipe and then complain when it doesn't shoot right anymore. So far the Busse folks have not made a filet knife, but thats not so say that one could not filet a fish with one. The same goes for saying they have never made a shovel, hammer, crowbar, or screw driver set. But they have produced some stuff that could work in a pinch. And god bless them for it.

I guess the most extreme use I have put a Busse kin blade to would be splitting wood at the camp site, which we all know is not even a warm up for these slabs of super man killing kryptonite tough steel.

JT

Actually, yes, they did. In 3 different sizes. D2 ground by Jerry:



And don't forget the Bird Dog:

Just when I thought I knew everything. Thanks Andy. I bet a person could filet a whale with either of those. I guess I need to brush up on my Busse product history. Crow tastes good with a little ranch dressing.

I stand corrected.

JT