Ahhhhh, sometimes I’m so tired to be wise. I try in fact to be wise any hour of my life, but being wise is just…well, you know.
I know, I know…doing bushcraft and using a knife in the bush is matter of being precise, humble, prepared, silent…just like Ray Mears i.e.. And I agree, completely, believe me. But how funny is to use a knife in the bush being arrogant, beating like a jackhammer (especially if is not my own knife) on the blade and doing a lot of noise…just like Bear Grylls <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

And that’s was I done, at least for two days, testing this Bushtool II by R. Evans




The knife is the 2nd generation of the very first Bushtool (that I own): it’s very similar, just a bit shorter on the blade and whit a third hole in the handle (done to adjust a screw, I didn't used it)




Ok, weather is good enough today


That’s a war area, on the WWI that was a fighting zone, still today it’s possible to see hundreds of bomb’s craters


My first test is carving woods, nothing special


[img]http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/4889/img4965lp.jpg[/img]
well done, I just would like the blade 2mm thick instead 3 mm for carving, it will be perfect for this kind of jobs.

Next, we’ll move on a small lake’s area
[img]http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7742/img5013gh.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8439/img5021j.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8439/img5021j.jpg[/img]

Lots of woodpecker here
[img]http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/971/img5002a.jpg[/img]

I want to cut a wood just batoning, again a la Bear Grylls, using another piece of woods as a hammer
[img]http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/7028/img5017s.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4408/img5018iz.jpg[/img]
No problem at all, the cutting ability of this knife is great.

to be continued...

Ok let’s move again, here we are on the top of the Mount Grappa, at the War Cemetery. On the first pic you may see the Piave River right down to the valley







This tunnel, long approx 400 metres, under the top of the mountain: it was done on 1916 by the Italian soldiers to live during winter and move safely from the East to the Ovest faces of the mountain


That tool was used on the WWI to move up and down persons and material from the mount to the valley, and the contrary of course


Down there the road we had some 30 minutes ago


Another stop, Mount Miesna, next to the Piave River


Let’s continue with the test, I want to split this log
[img]http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/9580/img5073q.jpg[/img]

So I decide to beat the knife whit a stone (1 kg approx) on the butt and on the spine
[img]http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4228/img5082mo.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8643/img5076zt.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/8835/img5079u.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2533/img5081y.jpg[/img]

The log don’t want to split, its’ very very hard, I just may separate some small wood pieces
[img]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5299/img5083b.jpg[/img]

So, I decided to baton this smaller log for the fire
[img]http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/6220/img5092wa.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/8360/img5094n.jpg[/img]
done without problems.

Now I want to truncate this log, always using the rock as an hammer on the knife’s spine
[img]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9813/img5089d.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/3175/img5090li.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/338/img5091o.jpg[/img]
its' not the best way to use a knife, but again done, still no problems.

How about the edge after all this hammering? Well, this is where the knife impressed me, no problem at all doing feather sticks
[img]http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2439/img5096l.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9158/img5097ga.jpg[/img]

to be continued

Can I leave without doing a camp fire? Of course, not




My “bushcraft madness” it’s over, so let’s cover whit some sand the fire as a real wise guy before leaving


Last shots, the knife show some sign of the ordeal, yes



but the edge, excluding two small nicks next to the point (probably I touched some rocks), is always in great shape




Conclusions: there are hundreds of good knives out there, and I own some of them. What I like especially about this particular knife is the razor sharp edge and how the knife hold an edge, also after some heavy works. I like the metal butt also, as it allows me to use the tip of the knife as a scalpel. The handle is maybe not the best I experienced, anyway is still one of my favorites. I didn’t like so much the shorter blade, I understand that probably is better for some precise works, but always I like a blade 1 cm longer for bushcraft. I would like to see, on the contrary, this knife with a blade of 6-7” long, to improve the ability to clean branches and split woods; the combo whit a short fixed blade should be great to cover 99% of my needs in the woods, in my opinion.

Hope you enjoy, ciao
Alfredo

That's a great review and great photos as well . Looks like that little knive can handle it too and would be a good small bushcraft knife for sure . Might have to look into those !

Nice review Alfredo, but do you think you could compare it to a Srap Yard Knife for some of the finer tasks at least, like fuzz sticks and maybe carving notches in the sticks. We already know how Scrapyard blades work for the heavy stuff.

Nice pics

Fredo--- Skunkhunter is correct; a comparison between Bussekin knives and others is acceptable on this Bussekin forum, but featuring other peoples' knives is not. I am locking this thread, so in the future you might want to remember that this is a Busse Company forum, and show them the respect they deserve. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />