A Litle Something New From TOPS Knives- A New Bushcrafter With A Different Look

Saw that knife on the Tops site awhile back and thought it looked like a great design. Thanks for confirming that. Great pics and review as others have already said, thanks!
 
I just saw this earlier today and said " I have to have one of those." I am glad you did a review. I will be getting one soon. Thanks.
 
I browse the Tops selection every now and again to see what is offered. For some reason I'm tempted by the xcest alpha to keep in my car. I recently was thinking the HOG 4.5 looked promising too.
 
dman62 said:
Saw that knife on the Tops site awhile back and thought it looked like a great design. Thanks for confirming that. Great pics and review as others have already said, thanks!
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When I saw it at Blade, I thought it was cool to see TOPS putting out a dedicated "bushcraft" knife for those who are into their high-quality work with 1095, and their great fit and finish, but looking for something in a less tactical profile, and an un-coated blade. I am familiar with some of Caleb's thoughts on knives having read some of his articles in SRI, I was curious to see a blade designed from his perspective. I like that it is a full sized hand-filling knife that is pretty easy to use wearing gloves. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the review and photos!


valkyrierdr said:
I just saw this earlier today and said " I have to have one of those." I am glad you did a review. I will be getting one soon. Thanks.
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Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the post!


Strigamort said:
I need to stop looking at your reviews. They've already cost me a great deal!

Good work as always. :)
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Sorry Strig, I'm a knife nut... I just like to play with knives of all types :)


rpn said:
I browse the Tops selection every now and again to see what is offered. For some reason I'm tempted by the xcest alpha to keep in my car. I recently was thinking the HOG 4.5 looked promising too.
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Personally, I like the HOG 4.5 better than the XcEST. The HOG is a bit pointier and has a full flat grind on 1095. It doesn't have the bow drill divot, but that could be easily added, and it doesn't have the storage compartment in the handle, but I am ok with that too. While it doesn't come with the kit the XcEST comes with, it does come in the same type sheath so a kit could easily be added.


GrinderMcgee said:
Scandi with convex edge? Great slicer there.
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Actually it's more of a hybrid scandi with a higher grind, and has a VERY slight concave to it with a very slight secondary bevel which could all be easily worked into a convex with a little work on stones and stropping. It is a great slicer having a higher grind than a lot of 1/8 scandies.
 
Hi Mist!

Nice review. I have been using the Dragonfly 4.5 for a month now and I really like it. It has become my "go to" bushcraft blade and, at least temporarily, kicked the F1 out of the bag.

I really like how the Dragonfly slice much better than a typical scandi grind. I can use the Dragonfly for food prep unlike a typical Mora knife.
 
Why could you not just take this knife to a stone and sharpen the primary bevel all the way to the apex, eliminating the small secondary bevel? Then you would have a true Scandi grind. Sounds simple enough.
 
McVeyMac said:
Why could you not just take this knife to a stone and sharpen the primary bevel all the way to the apex, eliminating the small secondary bevel? Then you would have a true Scandi grind. Sounds simple enough.
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I guess technically you could do that. You'd be left with a really sharp but also really fragile edge though. The primary bevel goes up so high on the blade that it's almost to the point of being a saber grind. I really prefer knives with a true Scandi grind because I find them a lot easier to sharpen in the field than knives with a secondary bevel, but with the Dragonfly--or any Tops knife for that matter--I'd just put a convex edge on it and call it good. As long as you never let it get too dull you can keep edge reasonably sharp with just a strop, and then do any real sharpening that's necessary when you get home and have better sharpening tools available.
 
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