Even despite Livesay's trademarked "Something Wicked This Way Cometh" BS, I like the practical looks and design of the Livesay HKR ... looks like a usin' knife I could live with and would probably decide to keep (if I owned one). RTAK looks good too. (I already have a Busse and Dozier Ranger, so I don't own either).
The TOPS stuff with sawteeth and holes everywhere looks, uh, well, (how do I say "gimmicky" without offending the sometimes delicate sensibilities of TOPS owners) ... shall we say "overdone". But with nice micarta handles.
IMHO, sawteeth are a nuisance in use on a knife spine. The ones I've tried didn't really saw much, the teeth were not designed to do so with any effectiveness ... spaced too far apart, and are way too wide, and this looks to be the case on TOPS as well. (see tooth design of saws sold for purpose). The teeth DO get in the way from time to time (more likely to saw YOU a bit than be used for sawing on wood), and they tear up the club you are using to assist the chopping by whacking the spine. And they are THE single most likely thing to actually cause the blade to get stuck inside something you stab with a knife (wild pig, perpetrator, etc).
You'd be much better off with the Livesay and a $20 Gerber folding saw (lightweight, works), or any of a number of other saws on up the price spectrum.
Livesay says he differentially tempers his blades, draws the spine back to springy range, leaves the edge at Rc59. This is a good thing, all else remaining equal. I found this on his page once, can't find it again, page needs work and spelling help.
http://members.tripod.com/~Newt_Livesay/index2.html
Both companies use 1095, a very very basic (carbon, moly, & iron) steel that takes a very good edge, holds that edge about medium in slicing, holds it well in chopping (generally tough). But makes an appropriate cost effective blade for heavy use that includes chopping and some thoughtful prying.
Also take a look at the new BK&T (Camillus) Magnum Camp Knife. 0170-6 is a better steel than 1095, starting at 1095 and adding a bit of chrome and vanadium: vanadium improves grain structure (refines, keeps grains small) during quality heat treat, and chrome improves controlled hardenability during heat treating ("deepens" hardening, which can have two meanings and I'm not clear which it is... could mean "uniform" which I think is the truer, could mean "harder", which is unnecessary since both are very hard as quenched and are tempered anyway).
(Cold Steel uses 0170-6 but gives it a fancy name "CarbonV".)
Downside, they don't differentially treat these at Camillus.
Good knowledgeable reviews elsewhere on Magnum camp via Darrel Ralph. Jerry Fisk (co-designer) is the ABS king among some other kings.
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rdangerer@home.com
[This message has been edited by rdangerer (edited 07-21-2000).]
[This message has been edited by rdangerer (edited 07-21-2000).]
