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New Survival Knife From TOPS !
- Thread starter pitdog
- Start date
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- Apr 25, 2007
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- 3,458
My thoughts exactly.
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2007
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- 934
It must work for him. Maybe we are all missing something? The one thing that I find so interesting is how so many people here are quick to dismiss this as a terrible design when no one has felt it in hand or used it.
His resume trumps most of the members here IMO from what I have read, and yet by reading the comments here, you would think he is a mall ninja with no outdoor experience. It is amazing to me.
The knee jerk reaction has been seen here more and more... Kinda tarnishes what this forum is supposed to be about. Rant over!
Paul
His resume trumps most of the members here IMO from what I have read, and yet by reading the comments here, you would think he is a mall ninja with no outdoor experience. It is amazing to me.
The knee jerk reaction has been seen here more and more... Kinda tarnishes what this forum is supposed to be about. Rant over!
Paul
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2005
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- 11,135
My knee jerk reacton is based on the many many designs Ive seen and used that didnt or did work right. Yeah it might be the greatest blade ever created, but I am gonna lean the other direction. There is nothing that tells me that this isnt just another novelty blade aimed at a particular market.
Survival knife? I hate that term. Give me 4inches of screamin sharp tool steel, with a comfy handle, and Ill fair just as well as ANYONE who uses that thing.
Survival knife? I hate that term. Give me 4inches of screamin sharp tool steel, with a comfy handle, and Ill fair just as well as ANYONE who uses that thing.
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- Aug 10, 2006
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- 7,250
Something about that knife reminds me of this:
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2008
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- 7,283
I like this reply. Survival knife is a term that shouldn't really be used. If in that situation, the knife you have with you at THAT time IS the so called survival knife.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2008
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If you removed the coating, back up blade, sub hilt, flat hammer and gave it some natural canvas micarta handles it would look much better. I still don't think I would purchase one but it would look less tactical-mall-ninja-covert-operator and more like an outdoors man's knife.
As far as TOPS knives go, I commend them on having numerous designs with varying functions and crediting the designers but personally I find only a few designs that appeal to me and even fewer prices that seem like a good deal.
As far as TOPS knives go, I commend them on having numerous designs with varying functions and crediting the designers but personally I find only a few designs that appeal to me and even fewer prices that seem like a good deal.
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2007
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- 12,294
Something about that knife reminds me of this:
Ha,Ha...I was thinking the very same thing when I took the dogs this morning, that episode just came into my head !
I must admit that I sometimes do the same thing, although not to that degree, as soon as you realize that YOU can design whatever knife you want and the maker will bring it to life you are suddenly like a kid in a candy store !
You start to think " this is going to be THE knife so I'll have this on it and I'll also have that on it just in case, before ya know it you have the dumbest design ever layed out on graph paper in front of you.........or is this just me !
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
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i begged for Number 001, but the nerve of those guys, they wouldn't give it to a vector...
....i've handled other TOPS knives with its components.
http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?products_id=307&osCsid=7378fj30v3ued254krmtugsgm2
it's 5160 and 3/16" - which i totally applaud - i have never liked 1/4" knives as much as thinner-stocked blades.
i've made some knives in 5160 and in my opinion, there is no need to go thicker than 3/16" outside of knives destined for rampant abuse beyond whatever could happen in the field.
i've never understood why BUSSE made their INFI knives so thick either.
if it is a super steel, why not make it thinner in most cases?
anyways.... i love BUSSE's and don't want to detract from them....
i agree completely.
i could never get myself to buy the TOPS brand for years because of all the little details that they rain down on them - it's a dilemma that most of us here as advanced survival types get into i think, ...being able to get by with sand-dipped dental floss if we have to - but once i used a TOPS Anaconda i was sold.
i got a TOPS Steel Eagle 105 for my flying kit and i have been addicted to TOPS ever since.
it's just perfect for me. the only thing i am adding is the new ECO Hawk that i designed for TOPS recently.
http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?products_id=183
i also own a 5/32" stock one-off Firestrike that is just an absolute laser scalpel.
i wish they'd make a Tom Brown in thinner stock, but i have seen TOPS grind the 'Brown's choil edge down to razor-thin for a friend and that is one killer blade, let me say... it has done all sorts of things in the hands of many tough users.
TOPS ain't for everyone.
....but some folks don't realize how good they are, or how nice the folks at TOPS are though, when so many other knife companies are filled with some real grouches that i don't like dealing with. - luckily, there are plenty of good knife companies, some of them completely Made in the USA, which i prefer, so we have plenty of outlets and options as knife consumers.
that's good enough for me.
vec
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2007
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- 12,294
i begged for Number 001, but the nerve of those guys, they wouldn't give it to a vector...
i've handled other TOPS knives with its components.
http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?products_id=307&osCsid=7378fj30v3ued254krmtugsgm2
it's 5160 and 3/16" - which i totally applaud - i have never liked 1/4" knives as much as thinner-stocked blades.
i've made some knives in 5160 and in my opinion, there is no need to go thicker than 3/16" outside of knives destined for rampant abuse beyond whatever could happen in the field.
i've never understood why BUSSE made their INFI knives so thick either.
if it is a super steel, why not make it thinner in most cases?
anyways.... i love BUSSE's and don't want to detract from them....
i agree completely.
i could never get myself to buy the TOPS brand for years because of all the little details that they rain down on them - it's a dilemma that most of us here as advanced survival types get into i think, ...being able to get by with sand-dipped dental floss if we have to - but once i used a TOPS Anaconda i was sold.
i got a TOPS Steel Eagle 105 for my flying kit and i have been addicted to TOPS ever since.
it's just perfect for me. the only thing i am adding is the new ECO Hawk that i designed for TOPS recently.
http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?products_id=183
i also own a 5/32" stock one-off Firestrike that is just an absolute laser scalpel.
i wish they'd make a Tom Brown in thinner stock, but i have seen TOPS grind the 'Brown's choil edge down to razor-thin for a friend and that is one killer blade, let me say... it has done all sorts of things in the hands of many tough users.
TOPS ain't for everyone.
....but some folks don't realize how good they are, or how nice the folks at TOPS are though, when so many other knife companies are filled with some real grouches that i don't like dealing with. - luckily, there are plenty of good knife companies, some of them completely Made in the USA, which i prefer, so we have plenty of outlets and options as knife consumers.
that's good enough for me.
vec
Well said !
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- Aug 5, 2008
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- 20,082
If not survival knife what then ? it was designed to chop, whittle, hammer, saw, notch, penetrate and even has a divot for a bow drill ... sounds like pretty much what you want in a knife when trying to "survive" ... just sayin'
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
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that's funny, i can't picture what you mean by locking your wrist against your shin, brother! har!
i'm teasing.
i like the smaller hand sockets too, and i would probably preemptively, perhaps rashly, fill this divot if i had scales with it - but it is supposed to be comfy on the hand, if nothing else.
like i said earlier, i like a pretty simple long blade, although i am starting to be a geek for sawbacks after using them. - TOPS' standard saw teeth are field sharpenable, where very few others are IME.
ya gotta remember - i am the laziest person in the woods that you will probably ever meet, brethren - my tool and kit choices reflect that - but i DO own the skills for hand drill fires, etc.
at any rate - if you drop your BIC and have to resort to a fire set - the long knife with a divot actually gets you a little more stability because it elminates the flex in your wrist, which equates to a faster coal, all other things equal.
there are many ways to do it. this way is mine, with a knife like this.
i am right handed - flip these directions/suggestions if you do the set left handed, fellow-babies;
it's kind of like praying position;
(1) bow is around the shaft-thingy.
(2) left foot (i like kicking my shoes off for this) by the friction hole in the fire board.
(3) Ninja Knife
INSIDE OF SHEATH, sheath facing up, in sort of a loose ice-pick hold in the off hand (my left hand in this case) - divot on top of the shaft, sheath running under your forearm towards knee, usually the tip of the blade/sheath is pinched between your elbow and knee at the tip.(4) right leg is knee down on the other side of the fire board, board is usually angled (forward on the foot hold, closer to you on the knee chock hold) in relation to your chest because of ergonomics involved.
(5) forehead on top of your off hand adds gentle pressure and "closes the triangle" between your hand/elbow/spine in one dimension, and elbow/hip/shoulder in the other for a real steady hold. (i don't know if this is what Mister Hawke had in mind, it's just what seemed natural to me on a similar knife) - this position puts you directly in line with a vertical shaft and lets me haul ass with the bow without falling all over myself - i think it would be advantageous if i had fallen in a river or something and got hypothermic, as has happened, though i just lit a flare at that time - this definitely makes you less-separable from your primary gear, as a knife always is.
(6) as an aside, you can rock off your knee-on-the-board leg to get more weight and friction on the board if you like, when your fire set is a little damp, that can make things easier without having to start completely over and losing all that stored energy you have already warmed the board with. this is potentially a very effective way to drill holes at a perfect right angle in logs more easily ...hmmmmm. i'll have to try that.
sorry, that expanation really sucked. - this is why i probably don't teach survival...
....HTH a little bit. sorry if it did not.
like i alluded to before - this is not (strictly) my kind of knife by choice, but it would be great to have along. anyone who thinks they can get along with a short little knife hasn't been where i have been in wilderness snow and jungle with minimal tools, is all i am going to say.... i am scheduled to meet Mister Hawke at the SHOT show, and we'll have to chat, just to satisfy my curiosity and mabe make a new bud.
vec
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- Aug 4, 2007
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i figured that out when you wouldn't stop checking out my ass at the last camp-out...
....see a priest as soon as possible, cutie-pie.
:thumbup:vec
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- Mar 18, 2008
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- 9,491
Yeah I can see how I confused you. I have never been to great at typing my point across.Everyone has there oppinions and preferences, and as long as you make them work for you that is all that counts. I love watching people use the Tracker design knife as long as they know how to do it. Give that thing to me and I look like a 4 year old with it, but hand me a lil 4" knife and a folding saw and I'm the giny version Ray Mears
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- Aug 4, 2007
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Everyone has there oppinions and preferences, and as long as you make them work for you that is all that counts. I love watching people use the Tracker design knife as long as they know how to do it. Give that thing to me and I look like a 4 year old with it, but hand me a lil 4" knife and a folding saw and I'm the giny version Ray Mears
i hear ya, brother. :thumbup:
good to widen our horizons, when possible.
vec
I think some of you are comparing apples and oranges. This isn't made to replace your mora. It's a supplemental blade for nasty tasks. Chopping, root digging, limbing and that sort of thing. All the things you'd hesitate to do with a straight utility knife.
I wouldn't buy one because I couldn't afford it, but if I had one in a survival situation along with Vic Rucksak, I could make it work just fine.
I wouldn't buy one because I couldn't afford it, but if I had one in a survival situation along with Vic Rucksak, I could make it work just fine.
