Huh??

Runs With Scissors

Runs With Scissors

Joined
Dec 3, 2000
Messages
3,002
Last night I was playing with my knives (big surprise) and thinking that it would be a good time for me to send some of them off for warranty repair and such. Among these knives I'm preparing to send off is my TOPS street Scalpel which has been a hell of a sturdy little knife, stood up to trememdous use and abuse, but did lose quite a bit of aesthetic value over the summer. So, I log onto the website at topsknives.com to get warranty info and so forth. drawn by the "what's new" (http://www.topsknives.com/whats_new/whatsnew.html) sign I clicked on it and saw mostly a page of very big, mean skeery lookin' men doin' lotsa mean skeery lookin' things with big mean skeery lookin' knives.

but.....the one that took the cake....was a VERY VERY skeery lookin' fella with a VERY VERY skeery lookin' knifeblade pinched between his massive biceps and forearms. uhmmmmmmm...please pardon my ignorance folks, but what's the purpose of this? is it like some strange exotic defensive technique that us civilian pacifist types wouldn't recnognize?

like mental strategy?

"arrrrr...ya' mess wid me an' I'll cut my arm off and still tear ya' ta ribbons!!"

"inspite of my extraordinarily healthy looks, I'm actually dying of many horrible, vile, and painful bloodborne pathogens, if you don't leave me alone I'm going to slice myself and bleed all over you ensuring a long, gruesome, and most painful death!"

hmmmmmm....it just now occurred to my it just may be a promo- pic done in......strange taste....

what do y'all think?
 
:D :D

I also like how they've ironed that patch right on to the big fella's arm. :D:D
 
Things that make ya go hmmmmm.

I get a kick out of the guy cutting the rappel rope!

"Hey FRED! Remember when you thought it would be funny to superglue my jungle boots to the floor?"

The ones that have me really curious are the not one but TWO pictures where the guys are prone, with an M-60 in one hand and their TOPS knives in the other.

Huh?
:D
 
VERY skeery lookin' fella with a VERY VERY skeery lookin' knifeblade pinched between his massive biceps and forearms. uhmmmmmmm...please pardon my ignorance folks, but what's the purpose of this?
Click to expand...

He is demonstrating the incredible sharpness of Tops knives.

Now, forgive my ignorance, but what or who is SG Five?

On the other hand, Datu Worden's looking good, as always.
 
"and now to help demonstrate the incredible sharpness of TOPS knives, our big friend Gronko is going to sever his forearm for us. While viewing this demonstration note the precision and ease in which the blade slices through Gronkos' epidermis, dermis, and what very little subcutaneous fatty tissue he may have. please also note how the blade slides through his iliac and radial arteries like a sharp knife through a stick of warm butter.........."

I thought "SG-5" was a science fiction show on television? kinda like Star Trek on steroids? Pretty high testimonial to TOPS knives when a sci-fi space traveller uses a TOPS knife instead of just borrowing Luke Skywalkers light-saber ya' know......:D :D
 
My favorite is the pic of the guy with the knife in one hand and the M-60 (machine-gun) in the other, lookin' all big and bad. You may or may not know, but an M-60 is near impossible to control with one hand. I know, I have been to the M-60 crew served weapons school, and have carried it on many a combat patrol. I'm not an expert by any means and I can shoulder fire it; but one handed? Come on! And what's the knife for? If you can't hit your target at 1100 meters you can throw the knife at it? I don't want to totally cut them down. I know it's just marketing, but TOPS should know some people can see through the B.S. If I am wrong, then I am sorry. But can someone get me in touch with that guy so he can teach me a thing or two. Great knives though!
 
USASFP, the knife is to clear weapon jams! It is an M-60! :D

I thought the page was very good, whats wrong with sensational?
 
Oh yeah, I forgot the Pig is the jam king! I don't know if I would want to go haking at the ejection port with a knife to clear
"Stove Pipes". Either way the picture is still cool. If I didn't know any better I wouldn't have picked it apart.
 
Guys,

LOL!

Try two things:

A) Use your sense of humor.

B) Understand that when product shots are made, it's a good idea to actually show the product. These aren't training photos, just depictions of environments where the knives are actually used, and the kind of guys who use them. But gotta show the knife, ya know?

The guy with the knife on his bicep is using it as background against the blade to make the profile clearer in the shot. It's a standard technique for photos and videos with knives in them. (It also demonstrates that the guy using it actually takes the time to condition himself for his job as highly as possible -- no donuts or potbelly on that one. Can all of you say the same? ;)). He's from SGFIVE. More about them in a minute.

Second, with the M-60 shot, obviously you can see the knife better when it's in his hand, rather than in the sheath buried in the sand underneath him.

Now, it just so happens that real spec operators from all the US Branches, and many SWAT teams from around the globe use and trust TOPS Knives. (No, I don't work for TOPS). They do it because of the reputation of the owner as a guy who's "been there, done that" way more than any of 'em, and they know he won't put out products that will fail on them. The very fact that TOPS can get busy Spec Operators from law enforcement and military to willingly sit for their product pictures sends a strong message about their regard for TOPS products, doesn't it?

Next question from Gollnick, you can learn more about SGFIVE here: http://www.sgfive.com .

SGFIVE is one of the most highly recognized and respected law-enforcement training groups in the world, headed by Mark A. Burnell (he's the big guy with the mustache in the pic holding the Operation Badger knife to the chart on the wall.). Mark is a veteran SWAT team member and leader (originally LA SWAT, now Idaho Falls), who has trained law-enforcement groups worldwide, including the Mongolian National SWAT team. Mark was also hired by NATO to spend over a year in Bosnia and Croatia, personally heading up all retraining for the entire national police forces over there in professional law-enforcement techniques. In fact, on his site, look at the references/clients list. It's damn impressive.

He is truly capable bad-ass (he'd hate me for saying that, but it's true), but in fact is one of the nicest, most laid-back guys you'd ever wanna meet. A true people-person. Also great sense of humor (as are all his staff). No tough-guy syndrome, just does his thing well, and doesn't worry about it. He has the track record to stand for what he does. He doesn't even do any real marketing efforts -- it's all word of mouth from his clients. When your clients are so happy they recommend you everywhere, you're doing something right.

Guaranteed they were laughing a bit and having fun with the bicep shot, and then were surprised that Mike Fuller put it on the site...LOL.

Anyway, check out SGFIVE, and hope this sheds a little light on the situation.

Best,

Brian.
 
Lanning,I think the guy is down to the last three rounds in the belt,he is obviously the last man of his recon team left alive.He is awaiting the final rush of the battalion sized hunter killer team.After expending his remaining ammo,he will throw the M60 at the onrushing hordes,with a manly yell I might add,he will then use the knife to "hack his way through a wall of human flesh"thereby allowing him to reach the extraction point alive,and alone.Ahh,heroes,aint they wonderful.:D
 
BTW, if you haven't already, try out some TOPS knives...my own experience with them has been outstanding. I own a Steel Eagle 111 in hunter's point, and have tested and used many other of their blades in real-world environments (not my backyard).

They take massive abuse and keep coming back for more. And each piece is truly unique and effective in its design and functionality.

You'd be surprised at how many of the little design details that others think are "just for the cool factor" have actual tactical applications.

Best,

Brian.
 
well.....I done went an' done it this time! When I started this thread I considered it basically a kinda lighthearted thread. I know sensationalism sells, and the burly tough men cutting rapelling rope and wielding machine guns sell knives alot more better than the pics of "Average Joe" cutting boxes, parachute cord, or whatever with them. I just did find a couple of pics to be well....more sensational than most, Not to mention I really WAS curious about the shot of the big guy holding the knife that way, I'm very much a neophyte here and was really wondering if there were some practical purpose to that besides just looking good.

So......today I finally ended a game of phonetag with TOPS about sending in my scalpel for refurbishing. They were very polite, professional, and downright pleasant. Right up to the point when the nice lady paused and asked if I was the gentleman that posted the thread about their pics, and asked me what was wrong with them!:o :o

It was apparent right here that the lady saw NO humor in this thread. I explained to her that yes, I am the cuplrit and I never really meant to hurt any one's feelers. When she asked what I thought was wrong with the pictures (I was treading lightly at this point and trying to end this misery as soon as possible) I simply stated that I thought that particular picture was just kinda odd in the way that the big fella looked like he had plans to sever his arm or something. I went on to further explain that in another thread where a person asked if TOPS makes too many models, I'd basically said "they make a good knife, and as long as quality is consistent, no they aren't making too many" http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=167954 (I'm paraphrasing a bit here)
The lady seemed truly offended that I had poked fun at them and asked that I please take their commitment to Customer Satisfaction into mind before poking fun at them again. I asked her if she saw the thread where I had more praise for thier product, and they said they didn't have a computer, and had just heard about this one from a customer that had reported it to them.

So, in a nutshell...I'd like to apologize for anyones feelers that I hurt through this thread, and state that I will DEFINITELY WITHOUT A DOUBT think long and hard before making another thread like it. I guess it was one of those things that seemed funny at the time.:(

I'd also like to say up front, right here (I'm the big guy up front with the curly blond hair and the honkin' big nose) that I am very impressed with my Scalpel, as well as the other models I've played with in the shop. I've heard nothing really negative about them, and feel that they are producing one hell of a nice product.

Now I guess that I should hope that someone reports this post as well.

(I really don't like makin' other folks feel bad)

Anyways, I'm off, Y'all have a good 'un!
 
RWS,

I wouldn't worry about. In the end, I think everyone got a good laugh out of the whole thing, and maybe everyone learned something, too. LOL! I guess the rule might be, "Know first about someone before you make fun of 'em..." or something like that....

Rest easy, all is fine.

Best,

Brian.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top