General - The New generation steel heart knife from Busse combat Line. New generation means few things, primarily this refers to the new, improved eHandle, finish
details & the new sheath. This is the second largest blade in Busse Combat Line. Blade length is 7.5, which is not small at all :), but will make a difference if we're talking of
BM or something in that caliber. Anyways, Battle Mistress is an overkill for many tasks, or
one may not feel like carrying 20 oz. knife on a particular day, so, the "lighter" & "smaller" Steel Heart will be there ;). Seriously, Steel Heart will handle an absolute majority
of the tasks with no problems whatsoever, well, if the cutting application requires something like a surgeons scalpel & you only have Steel Heart, that might be a problem, but the
skills will do ;) Other than that, INFI made SH E will be more than sufficient almost always. Heavy chopping
doesn't pose much of a problem with SH E. Especially that it is equipped with eHandle now. Of course BM will do better in that area, but once again, the choice depends on you & the
tasks anticipated. Or you can have them all with you ;)
Overall - That's a great knife & tool :) For some tasks it's better suited than it's other, bigger or smaller brothers, for others it may not. However IMHO it'll do almost
everything a person needs on an average camp trip :) I'd still pack my BM & some other blades with me but if you only have only NO with U, UR still fine, without any complications
;)
Finish/Handle
- One more difference is that, the new on the generation Busse Combat knives the finish is applied to the whole metal surface, i.e. blade spine & tang are not exposed anymore, this offers even more protection to the steel, though INFI has a good corrosion resistance to begin with. Also the finish itself has been changed in new combat knives, it's somewhat crinkle & reduces the glare even more that the earlier types. So far it seems to be very durable, after intensive chopping/whacking/cutting there's no damage to it.Handle - It is a new, ergo-handle style. Made of micarta, black or Tan are the options. To many(including myself), the old style handle looked more appealing, however after receiving a new SH E and NO from Andy Prisco's Sharper Instinct. & handling them for some time I can assure you, eHandle is more comfortable and ergonomic than the old style handle, like on my old Battle Mistress.
The Blade
- 7.5 Inches long, and 0.25 inches thick in stock, drop point INFI steel blade, immensely strong & holds a great edge. SH E has the Busse Combat line characteristic Semi-Convex edge grind. I've had few chances to see it's strength & the ease of resharpening. BTW, Busse web site is up now, you can visit them at www.bussecombat.com. For more information about sharpening Busse semi-convex knives visit bladeforums.com. Just do the search & you'll get all the information you need. Once again, if you don't know much about INFI steel it's worth checking bladeforums.com & Cliff Stamp's article Busse Battle Mistress.Sheath
- It used to be a plain kydex, but now it's more complicated :) In short, new combat line knives come with Cordura sheath & the liner is some kind of polymer, probably the polypipe. The knife is secure, though rattles a bit, one great addition to the sheath is the pocket :) It'll hold something like a multitool, DMT diafold sharpener or donno, whatever you need. Click here to see BM 710 in the sheath pocket :)Specifications:
- Model - Steel Heart E;
- Blade - 190.50mm(7.5")
- Thickness - 6.35mm
- OAL - 292.10mm(11.5")
- Steel - INFI steel at 58-60HRC
- Handle - Micarta
- Acquired - 07/2000 Price - 297.00$
- Warranty - Unconditional Lifetime;
Last updated - 05/19/19