OT: TOPS Tracker

I've not seen the movie as it's only just been released over here(U.K.),,,however after seeing the trailer on T.V. i saw the knife and did a quick search on the net for it and came up with the Tops version,,,along with the time Tom Brown spent designing it,,,which came across as being quite impressive(i know he's trying to sell them)
Then i came across the Dave Beck version on here and all i'll say is there are plenty of people on here who have taken delivery of it and they can't say enough good things about it or the excellent service they received from Dave Beck himself,,,surely if it was as impractical as this thread suggests someone who owns one would be on here saying so,,,also given Tom Brown's pedigree in his particular field i'm a little sceptical that he has got it wrong with this particular knife,,,the Tops version i think deserves criticism but the build quality of Dave Becks knife seems to be impressive to those who have bought it.
 
I actually think it looks like a very nice knife - I like the idea.

I am in the process of building a shed in my garden which will become my Knife Making Workshop (I will fireproof in Bruise):)

Once I have developed enough skill - these are the type of knives I want to learn to make, it's no khuk but then it was not designed to be. Very cool looking and I think it is the way forward for knife making, too much pretty stuff on the market and far too much crap. This knife looks darn useful and I will save my pennies everyday for about 5 years till I can get one :D

By then I will have all the HI khuk styles and some but I doubt I will ever learn to make a decent khuk.

B
 
Tactical Knives magazine just did an article on this knife by Jerry VanCook. Many others have been published also. Have to agree with Yvsa that it could be a good thing in well trained hands. But the sales boom on these indicate nothing more than another fad.
 
"If you look at it from an ultralight packing/SAR/Tracking point of view, it makes sense and compliments that type of travel perfectly. Yeah sure, you could carry multiple tools, but then again, dropping weight/extra gear to bounce around/get lost/break typically can be overrun by compromise."

C'mon....If by "ultralight packing/SAR/Tracking" one means running around in the jungle like Tarzan equipped with nothing but a loincloth and peculiarly and manditorily, a single blade, maybe.

This weighs all of 2.5 oz with sheath, has a 2.5 inch blade which is just shy of 1/8 inch thick. The full length, internal tang is about 1/4 inch by 1/8 inch where it exits the handle at the butt and is riveted to a keeper--hardly flimsy.

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IMO, it is much better suited to carving trap triggers, gutting skinning small/med game, etc. That 2.5 oz of additional weight is likely less than the weight of mud stuck to ones boots after a decent rain. (Oh yeah, it costs less than $30 with shipping.)

The Tops version weighs in at 28 oz, and that probably doesn't include the sheath.

Don't tell me this has anything to do with "ultralite", something else is going on. ;)

My 15" AK weighs in at 22 oz, and with scabbard, frog, and K&C, it weighs in at 32 oz, a whopping 14% more than the presumably naked Tops blade. What does the Tops sheath weigh?

I won't bother to make a similar point about the options for lightweight saws. And please, nobody bring up the old nonsense about sawing through the aluminum skin of a downed aircraft that mysteriously was prohibited from carrying any tools.:)
 
And I've profiled mine so that it has the more obtuse bevel up front, and the razor sharp part from the CoP back to the cho. This is a knife with two different knnife edge geometries blended seamlessly into one blade, as opposed to the machinist tricks performed on the Tracker.

To each his own. I don't doubt that the blade is viable or useful, it IMHO lacks some spirit and design couth.

Keith
 
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