people who have it what do you think??? Can someone explain the infi thing to me is it really that great and that much better. To justify the price increase don't take it the wrong way. Just wanting to learn more I'm sure I'll order one anyway thanks for the help also was there any news on when the bowies comin out????

Hi joebobz,

I don't think that any of the SS4's have shipped out yet so you may have to wait a few days to get peoples impressions. I will say for a fact that INFI is an outstanding steel and worth it if you can afford the price.

I will amend that statement enough to say that you will probably notice much more of a performance increase when comparing any other knife steel to the Yards SR77 or the Swamps SR101 than you will notice comparing SR77 and SR101 to INFI. They are all very high performance steels and can handle whatever you throw at them.

Regarding the release of the bowie...I sure hope they ship in time to take down the Christmas tree. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

BTW, welcome to the kennel. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Joebobz welcome to the yard! If you do a search on INFI you may find Cliff Stamps comments (he tests knives to destruction for fun). Basically INFI is high carbon tool steel that is corrosion passive and tougher than old boots. It's probably the best knife steel out there right now. Buy the INFI Scrapper when they come back into stock! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Here's his webpage: Reviews of knives, sharpening equipment and related products

Man, the scrapper4 is a deal and a half. It will likely hit $199 on the secondary market the day they ship... as was the case with the INFI-Coot.

generall, as you harden metal, it becomes more brittle and prone to chip/shatter, and less likely to bend/deform. One must generally compromise, as you want maximum hardness (edge retention and general tuffness to distroy whatever you are working on) without taking catastrophic damage to the blade (chip/shatter). Too soft and the blade will wear quickly and not hold its edge,.. too hard and your at chip risk.. simple right..

INFI is able to reach superior hardness while not approaching brittle/chip risk and staying 'soft' enough to bend rather than chip... a bend or roll can be sharpened/smothed back, a chip is metal lost and does not come back..

INFI is especially well suited for large blades, which are generally made at low hardness as a catastrophic break (as in, in-half) is very likely wiht a brittle blade... in this case, INFI offers superior hardness, again without the brittle risks...

In a small knife, the benifit of INFI is smaller, but you still get an easy to sharpen knife, of superior toughness, and if you pry on it... she is less likely to shatter and send your hands into your work, and into your pieces of blade...

The reason Busse has an unconditional guarantee is that their knives are almost impossible to damage unless you intentionally try to damage one (it usually takes a large vise and a pipe over the handle of the knife).

Infi is a large part of that strength. It's a steel that is very stain resistant, it can be hardened to a high level while still allowing a great deal of elastic deformation.

The other part of that strength is design, the choil and handle are designed to reduce stress risers.

The Street Scrapper 4 has both parts. It's Infi, it has a well designed choil and under the mudder handle it has nice round curves to eliminate stress risers.

Do you see why it's a big deal?

A similar Busse would cost around $300 but Busse isn't making the leaner meaner street any more so you would have to buy one on the secondary market for closer to $500.

I'm sure that the Street Scrapper 4 isn't built to exactly the same standards as a Busse but it has got to be pretty close.

It's too bad you missed them.