General - Another second generation knife from Busse combat Line. As I have mentioned in my review of Busse Steel Heart
Second Generation Combat Knives have improved handles, better coating & sheath. I guess Natural Outlaw is exactly in the middle of Busse Combat Line. With the 6 inch blade & OAL of
11.5 inches it is a great choice for those who want Busse knife, but consider Battle Mistress or Steel Heart kindda oversized for their needs. By no means Natural Outlaw should be underestimated. Well, just as anything from Busse though. The man likes to
build tank like knives. Anyways, NO will do fine with any skinning, dressing, light/medium chopping, etc. Since it's lighter & shorter than the Steel Heart it can be more desirable
for hiking & backpacking, since the weight is very important in that case. Well, depends on the user.
Overall - I think this is a great, heavy duty knife. May not be the best choice for finer tasks, but will satisfy most of your knife needs :) If you want a Busse knife, but SH E
seems too big to you, then there's a Natural Outlaw from Busse :) The whole inch(!) shorter.
Finish
- As a second generation Busse combat knife, NO has that crinkle finish which reduces the glare better then earlier versions. Personally I don't really care that much about glare, but for certain people in certain situations, it's very important, after all those are combat knives. One more important thing with the finish is that now all second gen. knives have all metal covered. No more exposed tang & blade spines. I assume you won't expect the edge to be covered ;)Handle
- As all second gen. knives NO comes with the new E type handle. Material - micarta, black or Tan are the options. I've handled the new handled knives enough to say that they're much more comfortable & improve the performance compared to the older, straight handled Busse knives, though aesthetically I like the stright handles better :)Blade
- 6 Inches long, and 0.25 inches thick in stock, drop point INFI blade, very strong & holds a great edge. NO has the same Semi-Convex (asymmetrical convex) edge that is standard on all Busse combat knives. I've mentioned in other reviews & there is plenty of information on the net regarding the Busse asymmetrical edge, it's much stronger than standard V grind & easier to sharpen. For more information about sharpening Busse semi-convex knives on the www.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
- Second gen. knives have second gen. sheathes too :) It has many improvements. Instead of plain kydex new knives come with Cordura sheath & the polypipe liner. 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 - Natural Outlaw;
- Blade - 152.40mm(6")
- Thickness - 6.35mm
- OAL - 285.75mm(11.25")
- Steel - INFI steel at 58-60HRC
- Handle - Micarta
- Acquired - 04/2002 Price - 300.00$
- Warranty - Unconditional Lifetime;
Last updated - 05/19/19