First, I have to say that the person who did that video did an excellent job! Two years ago, I would have probably been convinced by this video to try it out, but that was back in the day that I was really moving towards a 1 large knife solution. I've since sort of withdrawn from that concept and far prefer a combination of tools.
From looking at the video here are a few critiques I have of the knife in question. The number one thing is that sharp point on the underside of the handle separating the finger notches. I don't mind a finger notch, but if it is present, I far prefer it to be a smooth gradation. A perfect example would be the style of finger notch that Scott Gossman uses or those on the BHK bushcrafter. When you have too pronounced a point on the finger notch it really interferes with a reverse grip which is something one would use on this knife, using the very back of the blade for detail work.
The second thing I don't like is the notched ramp. I hate thumb ramps on knives and always find that they interfere more than the comfort they supposedly provide when using the knife in a standard hammer grip. As correctly pointed out by the video presenter, that overly large choil acts as a good forward finger notch allowing you to choke up on the knife. Its obvious that the video presenter also had to contort his grip to accommodate the ramp. On my Scrapyard SOD, I removed both the ramp and finger guard in front of the choil. It made the knife alot more lively and comfortable to use when choking up on it. If I had this Tops Anaconda, I'm pretty sure that the first thing I would do would be take that knife to the grinder and grind that ramp off.
The video presenter made mention of the teeth forward of the spine being used to facilitate notches in a fireboard. I make fire by bowdrill regularly and I am about 95% sure that teeth like that on a 1/4" spine would be useless for making your notches. Nope, sorry, I haven't tried it. But then again, making a notch on your hearth is a pretty easy task and one best done by cutting with the edge of a small knife or batoning the notch out with the edge of a large knife. Cutting the notch out works well with a fine saw like that on a SAK, this being the preferred way to start a notch. However, those big spine serrations would not be very good. The presenter also said they can be used to cut wire and I will believe him that this serves a good purpose. I respect that fact that the serrations are limited in terms of the area they cover on the spine and seem to be well positioned.
Batoning - this knife is clearly going to be great at this activity. Personally, I prefer a thinner blade for batoning, but it will work no problem. The tanto edge here is helpful because it both maximizes the length of the spine and contributes to a thick tip that will not break while batoning. This knife is clearly a batonning machine!
Chopping - I have to say that the performance of this blade look rather mediocre. I know, he was using seasoned hickory. Lets just say that my impression is that a short machete (12") or mid-sized machete (18") would out chop this knife in spades on the type of wood the video was testing the knife on. The machete, while longer, will also be lighter. Personally, I'd far prefer to have my ESEE-lite machete as the tool of choice if I were chopping that sized wood, and then I'd prefer a small hatchet for larger limbing.
Tanto point. I prefer a drop point or straight spine configuration for aesthetics. But it really is the aesthetics. As indicated above, I think the tanto offers some good characteristics when paired with this style of knife. The tip will be extremely robust and facilitate batoning. The position of the tip, paired with that blade length, also makes it really good at poking stuff with good control. I probably wouldn't buy an American tanto-type knife like this, but I concede the value of it as raised by the video presenter.
If I were to recommend alterations to the blade by tops my suggestions would be: 1) re-shape the handle making a smoother finger notch; 2) get ride of the thumb ramp; 3) get rid of the serrations on the spine; 4) make it out of 3/16" thick stock rather than 1/4". Of course, all of these suggestions are just my preferences. Again, I'd more likely bring a small axe and knife with me, a lite-machete/knife than I would a one knife solution. However, I recognize that there are lots of folks fixated on the one knife solution. Even if I went that route, I think I'd go with a mid-sized blade like the ESEE-6 instead. Not a good chopper, but neither is the Anaconda as well demonstrated!
