Rogue Wolf

[Mistwalker]

I've read a few comments over the past months about TOPS' "typical, tacticool, overly-thick, steep-ground" knives. One comment in particular caught my attention in the Mil-Spie thread. Maybe I'm just one of those rare nuts who just likes to look at knives, period...but when I find a company that has great steel and a great heat treat I tend to dig through every thing they make just to see what all is there. Odds are they will make something, or in this case a few things, I really like. Now granted that does take a bit of digging on the TOPS site since they do make so many different designs. But if you do take the time to look at everything they make you'll notice they aren't really stuck on a particular style or grind but have a lot of different ones for a lot of varying tastes. This one in particular came to mind when I read Marcello's comment and I thought that if maybe that was the general notion people have of TOPS maybe I should try to find a couple of the less-thick, less-tacticool, non-steep-ground models and play with them a little.

This one is the Rogue Wolf. Over-all it is 9.75 inches long, has a 4.5 inch flat ground blade made of 3/16 thick 1095 steel. It has a nicely contoured handle, and the scales are G-10.

It comes with a kydex sheath that has one of TOPS' metal belt clips. As I mentioned before I've never been crazy about metal belt clips but the TOPS version is better than a lot of them I have seen. I like how they give a nice thumb push for drawing the knife quietly.

The knife is a good size for a field knife, not overly large but big enough and has a full handle. It's pretty comfortable in all of the grips I use, and the angle of the blade lends itself to inverted edge techniques as well.

 

[Mistwalker]

It has TOPS usual excellent fit and finish, and I like that is has the tang extension.

The jimping on the spine give the thumb a good purchase in push cuts, and it has a really well tapered tip. It should have great penetration if needed.

It came with a really sharp edge and has done well in the cutting tasks I've thrown at it. It had no problems slicing through this hard dried bamboo....

did well at making fuzz sticks...

and slices potatoes thin enough to make potato chips...

So...you see Marcelo, not all TOPS' knives are overly-thick, steep-ground, or tacticool, they just happen to cover that market too... because it's there .


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[jack lowe]

nice review mistwalker! i have one of TOP'S C.A.T fix blades. it's got almost the same blade size as my H.E.S.T. but weighs almost 2 ounces heavier. that ROUGE WOLF looks very nice!

 

[Tostig]

Good review. I just bought a Tops Milspie III that I am quite fond of but it has one hell of an obtuse edge , nothing a few hours of re-working wont fix.

Your new knife looks like it will serve you well

Tostig

 

[caine]

Looks great. I carried a Steel Eagle in 2003-2004 Iraq

 

[Mistwalker]

Good review. I just bought a Tops Milspie III that I am quite fond of but it has one hell of an obtuse edge , nothing a few hours of re-working wont fix.

Your new knife looks like it will serve you well

Tostig

I've got a mil-spie 3 too, the edge on it is definitely a bit thicker than this one as is the tip. I think it was intended to be pretty robust in some pretty rough use. I've yet to find "the perfect production knife"...but the search is fun and I do find some great ones in the process.

Looks great. I carried a Steel Eagle in 2003-2004 Iraq

Thanks bro, which steel eagle, the first one? I have a 111A I have been working with. It's pretty large with a 12 inch blade I think.

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[TheGame]

Not the normal tops knife, that is for sure. You sure do make sure to give every knife a chance, Mist. Great review :thumbup:

 

[Mistwalker]

Not the normal tops knife, that is for sure. You sure do make sure to give every knife a chance, Mist. Great review :thumbup:

Well...you know how it goes...in the search for the perfect knife you have to try a lot of them

Thanks man, glad you liked the review

 

[caine]

I have a #111 also its awesome I think. Steel Eagle I carried is this one.

 

[Mistwalker]

I have a #111 also its awesome I think. Steel Eagle I carried is this one.

Cool, that Tanto version looks like it has a wicked tip!

Yeah, the 111 is pretty awesome. Does some serious chopping and the saw on the back really cuts some good grooves even in hard seasond dogwood.

 

[DennisStrickland]

great pics as usual mist walker.did you use the factory edge or touch it up? thanks dennis

 

[Mistwalker]

great pics as usual mist walker.did you use the factory edge or touch it up? thanks dennis

Thanks Dennis, nope that's the factory edge. It is a very well done flat grind with a very nice edge. I've yet to touch up any TOPS edge before a review...yet to touch up any edge before starting a review, during on a couple of long ones yes but never before. If I did I'd make sure to mention that.

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[s7brad]

Ya great review, I've been a fan of TOPS for awhile, at least the two I have. Pasayten and Mohawk hunter. Have to take another look at rougue wolf again. Handle seemed kinda cut short on blade end in pics when I first saw it. Mohawk is a near constant companion on outdoor activities, Pasayten sees more use in kitchen

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

That is one of the only top's that really appeals to me as a non-combative oriented outdoorsman.

Looks like it would give my ESEE-4 a good run for it's money.
How do the two compare Mist?

 

[Mistwalker]

Ya great review, I've been a fan of TOPS for awhile, at least the two I have. Pasayten and Mohawk hunter. Have to take another look at rougue wolf again. Handle seemed kinda cut short on blade end in pics when I first saw it. Mohawk is a near constant companion on outdoor activities, Pasayten sees more use in kitchen

Thank you. I really like the looks of that Pasayten a lot. I think Steve's experience at in the field cooking and general camping type cutting chores really shines through in the over-all shape and design. Is it a full 1/8 inch thick at the spine near the handle?

That is one of the only top's that really appeals to me as a non-combative oriented outdoorsman.

Looks like it would give my ESEE-4 a good run for it's money.
How do the two compare Mist?

It's giving my RC-4S a run too....but they have some different characteristics and attributes. The handle of the Rogue Wolf is more comfortable in long term use but it is also just a bit handle heavy so the RC4 chops a little bit better (which a blade that size really isn't meant to do) on the times I use it to fashion a fire bow set. I can whittle better fuzz sticks with the RW...but I'm no fuzz stick king either.

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[Alberto Salas]

That is one of the only top's that really appeals to me as a non-combative oriented outdoorsman.

Looks like it would give my ESEE-4 a good run for it's money.
How do the two compare Mist?

My same thoughts exactly!

Looks like a slightly tactical version of the ESEE-4 I would love to hear a comparision between those!


BETO
====================
Sorry for my english

 

[Mistwalker]

My same thoughts exactly!

Looks like a slightly tactical version of the ESEE-4 I would love to hear a comparision between those!


BETO
====================
Sorry for my english

I don't like doing a "this knife is better than that knife" type thing because "better" is always so subjective when comparing two hi-quality tools of similar design, and both are definitely very well made tools.

However..I will do some side-by-side photos tomorrow and let you draw your own conclusions based on your own knowledge. I'd rather you kept any judgemental opinions out of it though and keep any responses based in facts.

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[Fletcher Knives]

Great stuff as usual brother.

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks Bro, glad you enjoyed the post!

 

[s7brad]

Thank you. I really like the looks of that Pasayten a lot. I think Steve's experience at in the field cooking and general camping type cutting chores really shines through in the over-all shape and design. Is it a full 1/8 inch thick at the spine near the handle?




It's giving my RC-4S a run too....but they have some different characteristics and attributes. The handle of the Rogue Wolf is more comfortable in long term use but it is also just a bit handle heavy so the RC4 chops a little bit better (which a blade that size really isn't meant to do) on the times I use it to fashion a fire bow set. I can whittle better fuzz sticks with the RW...but I'm no fuzz stick king either.

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Ya. Its 1/8 in all the way from butt to tip, tapering off a bit at the tip. Great slicer and 154 steel holds edge well. Sorry just now got back with, remodeling house all weekend