Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,017
A while back the subject of one-knife-for-one-year came up and having done this myself under some pretty extreme circumstances myself before I follow those threads with much interest. I also began looking at my own life in relation to this subject today and wondered what I would do differently now. Previously my needs were for a very tough knife that was also capable of discrete carry in times of need. Back then, in the early 80s, I settled on the pilot's survival knife because it was the toughest small knife I could easily get my hands on. The knife market was a lot different thirty years ago. Today, with my life as complicated as it is the same requirements apply to any one knife I would carry and use for a solid year without using another knife. It would need to be really tough to meet my needs in the woods and in rough use but still have a decent edge geometry for whittling and carving, and it would need to be small enough to be discrete in my urban travels and not appear very menacing if it had to be used in public. Most of the time in recent years when I think of tough knives TOPS is always one of the companies I turn to first, so one of the knives that caught my attention was the Overlander that is made by TOPS Knives.
The specs are (as taken from the TOPS website):
Blade Length:...........4"
O/A Length:.............8 1/4"
Cutting Edge:...........3 1/2"
Thickness:...............3/16"
Blade Color:.............Tactical Gray
Steel:.....................1095 High Carbon Alloy RC-58
Handle Material:........Black Linen Micarta®
Sheath:...................Kydex With a Rotating Steel Spring Clip
Weight:...................6.8oz
Weight:...................w/ Sheath: 8.7oz
For a smaller knife it still has a full sized handle that has been pretty comfortable in the grips I used most often and I like how the tactical gray is such a neutral color that doesn't really scream tactical knife at first glance.
I like how the surfaces that meet the hand of the user in the grips I use most have been rounded or have the edges broken.
The balance is nearly neutral with the balance point being just to the rear of the first finger and the knife being only slightly handle heavy which is fine by me for long term cutting and utility work.
The sheath is a fold-over kydex sheath that comes with TOPS' metal belt clip which fits even wide leather belts, goes on and off the belt pretty quickly and easily without having to undo the belt, which is a feature I happen to like in my my sheaths for quick changes in environment. I also like how TOPS always molds a thumb-push into their sheaths for easier, and quieter, deployment of the knife.
Among the reasons I prefer tough knives is that all of the wet weather in the area I live in can lead to needing a heavy tool to access the natural accelerant, pitch-heavy pine or fatwood, I use most in wet-weather fire starting. If I am only going to have one cutting tool I need it to be a tough one to handle the digging, prying, gouging, and splitting I often do. This is where the 3/16 steel has a major advantage over the 1/8 inch thickness of other knives. The weather here is so often damp and humid that most other natural tinder will hard ignite and usually won't burn hot enough to ignite the wet wood.
This clump of horseweed would have burst into flames at the first spark on a dry day, however even after swaying in the breeze for a full day after the rain stopped the moisture content was still to high to burn and took multiple impacts of sparks in the same spot to even catch for a moment and fizzle out.
For these days it's just usually quicker to split up, or dig up some of the resin-rich pine that is so common in my area that will ignite by a spark even in the rain and burn even in the wettest conditions. This requires a tough tool to survive repeated use in this fashion.
But it also needs to be whittled into slivers fine enough to catch the sparks and ignite quickly if done in the rain. While admittedly in most uses I wouldn't mind if the grind were a little higher, the Overlander still holds it own in this area and offers decent cutting ability while at the same time retaining a strong spine.
So far it is meeting what I feel would be my needs for a one knife, anything larger would have to be stashed elsewhere at some point, and a knife I can not carry does me little good. This one is below the four inch blade requirements to meet legalities in my area, and tucks away discretely in my laptop bag or camera case, and is still tough enough to handle the rough use my life brings while still cutting well too.
.
The specs are (as taken from the TOPS website):
Blade Length:...........4"
O/A Length:.............8 1/4"
Cutting Edge:...........3 1/2"
Thickness:...............3/16"
Blade Color:.............Tactical Gray
Steel:.....................1095 High Carbon Alloy RC-58
Handle Material:........Black Linen Micarta®
Sheath:...................Kydex With a Rotating Steel Spring Clip
Weight:...................6.8oz
Weight:...................w/ Sheath: 8.7oz
For a smaller knife it still has a full sized handle that has been pretty comfortable in the grips I used most often and I like how the tactical gray is such a neutral color that doesn't really scream tactical knife at first glance.
I like how the surfaces that meet the hand of the user in the grips I use most have been rounded or have the edges broken.
The balance is nearly neutral with the balance point being just to the rear of the first finger and the knife being only slightly handle heavy which is fine by me for long term cutting and utility work.
The sheath is a fold-over kydex sheath that comes with TOPS' metal belt clip which fits even wide leather belts, goes on and off the belt pretty quickly and easily without having to undo the belt, which is a feature I happen to like in my my sheaths for quick changes in environment. I also like how TOPS always molds a thumb-push into their sheaths for easier, and quieter, deployment of the knife.
Among the reasons I prefer tough knives is that all of the wet weather in the area I live in can lead to needing a heavy tool to access the natural accelerant, pitch-heavy pine or fatwood, I use most in wet-weather fire starting. If I am only going to have one cutting tool I need it to be a tough one to handle the digging, prying, gouging, and splitting I often do. This is where the 3/16 steel has a major advantage over the 1/8 inch thickness of other knives. The weather here is so often damp and humid that most other natural tinder will hard ignite and usually won't burn hot enough to ignite the wet wood.
This clump of horseweed would have burst into flames at the first spark on a dry day, however even after swaying in the breeze for a full day after the rain stopped the moisture content was still to high to burn and took multiple impacts of sparks in the same spot to even catch for a moment and fizzle out.
For these days it's just usually quicker to split up, or dig up some of the resin-rich pine that is so common in my area that will ignite by a spark even in the rain and burn even in the wettest conditions. This requires a tough tool to survive repeated use in this fashion.
But it also needs to be whittled into slivers fine enough to catch the sparks and ignite quickly if done in the rain. While admittedly in most uses I wouldn't mind if the grind were a little higher, the Overlander still holds it own in this area and offers decent cutting ability while at the same time retaining a strong spine.
So far it is meeting what I feel would be my needs for a one knife, anything larger would have to be stashed elsewhere at some point, and a knife I can not carry does me little good. This one is below the four inch blade requirements to meet legalities in my area, and tucks away discretely in my laptop bag or camera case, and is still tough enough to handle the rough use my life brings while still cutting well too.
.
but I think I'll just leave it as is and keep it in the car kit and go with this one for a while. The Overlander definitely has a less menacing look and there are a lot of sheeple in the world...
