For those of you who like this style knife

bishop85gt said:
Id love to see what Cliff has to say about the Tracker.
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It is a pretty silly design which is not only incoherent but even the focused aspects are poorly implemented. As a glaring example, look at the angle presentation of the forward "chopping" section and compare it to a small hatchet. Not to mention the severe balance issues of what is essentially a small hatchet which a horrible amount of metal in the handle. If someone brought me one of those knives and asked me to rework the edge to make it cut better, I would suggest they take the $5-$10 and buy a decent 12" machete as that would be a much more effective use of the money.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
It is a pretty silly design which is not only incoherent but even the focused aspects are poorly implemented. As a glaring example, look at the angle presentation of the forward "chopping" section and compare it to a small hatchet. Not to mention the severe balance issues of what is essentially a small hatchet which a horrible amount of metal in the handle. If someone brought me one of those knives and asked me to rework the edge to make it cut better, I would suggest they take the $5-$10 and buy a decent 12" machete as that would be a much more effective use of the money.

-Cliff
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See told you.:D I have to agree with him.
 
I have a 8 dollar cold steel panga that I have used very harshly and it still works good and would out perform a tracker anyday. The tracker is a nice knife but its truely a handycaped survival item. Its good but its in such a small package it just half asses everything. its not good for any one purpose except pulling your pants down. The saw on the Tops model is worthless.

ps. tom brown sux:eek:
 
The saw on the Tops model is worthless(SubaruSTi)
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Not totally:

It's a excellent example of what NOT to place on a knife..
 
looking good scott. I did a bunch of TRacker reprofiles too and they worked MUCH better than before. How did that Predator feel?
 
Guys, I can't believe what I'm hearing! Of course we love the Tracker. IT'S A KNIFE. And we love all knives, it's just that we love some better than others, as, apparently, is the case here. Whew! Glad I straightened you guys out. :D

Doc
 
blgoode said:
looking good scott. I did a bunch of TRacker reprofiles too and they worked MUCH better than before. How did that Predator feel?
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It is lighter then the TOPS being more like 3/16" thick at the spine where the TOPS is 1/4". The grinds are better on the Predator, not as thick.
Scott
 
i`ve got both a red scorpion six predator and a tom brown tracker coming . i`m gonna try using both
 
I am just glad I have my Becks :thumbup: Dont like the Predator looks but thats just me. Hell, there all fun :D

The best thing about the Becks is its 0-1 and the saw works FAST
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Guys, I can't believe what I'm hearing! Of course we love the Tracker. IT'S A KNIFE. And we love all knives, it's just that we love some better than others, as, apparently, is the case here. Whew! Glad I straightened you guys out. :D

Doc
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Hey Doc, to be politically correct and follow Doc-ettiquette, i must say:

I love the Tracker the least. ;)

-Some folks quickly embrace it due to it's association with Tom Brown.
-Others dismiss it immediately, based on looks, first imrpessions.

I have been staring at that darn knife for a couple years now, and can't figure out what I would do with it??
Maybe it's me, just a traditional blade bigot. :eek:
 
if i could afford a reported $2000 knife i would get a dave beck wsk . as it is the two i mentioned in the above post cost me $600 aussie dollars in the end (410 USD)
 
I love my BEck but it aint a 2000 dollar knife! I was lucky and got mine when he was still taking orders about 3 years ago.
 
Hang on to it Brian. You definately have a piece of history.
Scott
 
Razorback - Knives said:
I've been getting alot of requests for mod jobs on the TOPS Tracker, mainly reprofing the edge. This one is the Red Scorpion Predator. The customer wanted the handles changed to red linen micarta. I got covered in pink dust but it's finished. Thought i'd share a pic.
Scott

predator.jpg
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Nice looking handles. I have a few more guys that have been asking for different handle scales. If you are interested cut me an email and I will refer them to you.
RS6-BLADES
 
I'm suprised some tracker people haven't jumped on this thread.

For the record, I've taken several TB courses, I also have a freind who has the original beck wsk, and no, I've never liked it (or TB really, but thats another thread)

To me, that's a rather awkward shaped blade. What is that blade type used for?
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every part of the knife suposidly has a different pourpose, from what I remember its something like this:

edge closer to the hand: for delicate carving and plaining / draw scraping for bow tuning.

hook between the smaller edge and ax-like edge: this is for rounding out dowles for arrow making and other things

ax-edge: for chopping of course, also for hide scraping

saw: ment mostly for cutting square notches in trap parts, as I understand not intended for heavy sawing.

concave profile of spine with rounded edges: this is for resting your forearm on when using reverse grip for tom's "wolverene" fighting style or whatever, also for pounding on when batoning (unlike regular batoning, you sink the axe part of the knife in the wood and then pound on the middle to force it through)

hole in the axe part of the blade: on the original, this was for straightning and sizing arrow shafts.

handle: is designed long and slightly curved to be choked up on for delicate work and gripped at the end for chopping.
 
YMMV, but I like these styles of blades or rather I really had the hots for Mr. Becks rendition of the Tracker, unfortunately the prices place them in a category which IF I could lay my hands on one I'd have a real problem using it in the woods.

I do own 2 Tracker and 2 Predator variants (this way I don't feel bad about abusing one of each) and have a Horan copy being made as we speak, (which will be used).

The Tops is a serious tool like an anvil, reminds me of my Beckers, overly robust and heavy; whereas the Predator appears more refined and seems more balanced for use as a throwing implement. FWIW I prefer the "grip" feel on the Tops over the RS6.

As noted by others, neither of these knives chop near as efficently as my old 18" survey machete or the CS magnum kukuri; shoot even my old vietnam era Gerber Guardian II dagger in L6 tooled steel will out cut and chop either of these unusual tools, (abeit far more dangerous to use in this manner than the wsk copies).

That said I have yet to do much damage to either Tracker or the Predator save their finishes. The Tracker is far more difficult to sharpen than the Predator, but then I don't have any real sharpening tools other than the Spyderco and Arkansas stones. Both knives are capable of producing notch cuts in wood for trap and snare building, but again neither comes anywhere near my Gerber Gator Sport saw (2 blades - course and fine) for real sawing.

As noted by razorback tho - they will on occassion rip ya up and will snag frequently on things ya rarely want them to, if ya don't respect and mis-use them.

Hope this is of some benefit to readers,
mike
ps - btw, very nice re-profile job there RB
 
I have a RED Scorpion Six Predator, and I really like it a lot. I have only taken it out into the field once, and on that trip used it a little bit, but not as much as I had hoped.

I didn't buy the RS6 Predator with intentions of using it to replace all my edged tools. The general WSK design captured my imagination several years ago, and I always wanted to try one out. As I couldn't afford an actual Beck WSK, the RS6 Predator was the most similar design that I could afford.

I purchased the RS6 predator knowing that the piece wouldn't be the end-all to conventional knives, hatchets, and multi-tools I am accustomed to handling. I see the Pradator as a fixed-blade multi-tool. As with all multi-tools, it will perform a variety of tasks, but isn't the ultimate best tool for those tasks. One the extended weekend trip where the RS6 blade was my companion, it did everything I asked it to do. I didn't need to make figure 4 traps, but I did need a number of tent and tarp stakes, which the knife carved and notched nicely. I didn't need to split wood, but I did baton the knife through a few pieces just to try it out, and that action was no problem. I tried a little bit of chopping with the RS6, too. Although it was far from the efficiency of chopping with a hatchet or machete, you can use it for chopping in a pinch.

I wouldn't say the WSK design is the 'ultimate' outdoor blade, regardless of who makes the incarnation. It is a multi-tool jack-of-several-trades (not all trades); master of none. You could say that about almost every knife out there.

I will say that my RS6 Predator is well made and fun to play with. It is different from the more conventional blades in my collection, and I find that refreshing. I don't dislike all my other knives, it's just that the RS6 WSK encourages me to think outside the box of edged tool implementation. I look forward to using it much more next year.

Thanks for the great tool Aaron!
 
ninjajoe said:
concave profile of spine with rounded edges: this is for resting your forearm on when using reverse grip for tom's "wolverene" fighting style or whatever, also for pounding on when batoning (unlike regular batoning, you sink the axe part of the knife in the wood and then pound on the middle to force it through)
.
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For the Record the "Wolverine" fighting knife was another Dave Beck design that Tom used in the school. Hate to see Dave not get the credit for another knife that was at that school. He may start claiming design rights to all fighting blades if this occurs. lol
RS6-BLADES

hikeeba-- Thanks for the honest review and comments, and your welcome. I think it is a great solution for an overall knife to be used, if you only had one thing to take with you. If not I would love to be able to carry a chainsaw, bull dozer, and crane for shelter construction, but they just don't fit in my pack.
 
For the Record the "Wolverine" fighting knife was another Dave Beck design that Tom used in the school. Hate to see Dave not get the credit for another knife that was at that school. He may start claiming design rights to all fighting blades if this occurs.
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I think he should. From the posts I've read and a freind's dealing with him (my freind wanted a wsk, but couldent affoard it. He talked to Dave, and Dave said he could leave the handles without the final polish and do the same with the blade, he knocked like $50 or $100 off the price, that's good coustemer service:thumbup: ) Dave seems like a really nice guy. It’s the nice guys that often get taken advantage of. I think Tom has been a real dick (I would choose a stronger word, but that wouldn’t be appropriate here), when it comes to the knives and Beck.
 
I have been staring at that darn knife for a couple years now, and can't figure out what I would do with it??
Maybe it's me, just a traditional blade bigot.
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I can't think of a better knife to carry...........for wedging in the dinosaurs mouth that is trying to eat me. :D For everything else I'll stick to my trusty plain blades.
 
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