Here's the latest installment of knife/edged tool shootouts. There is much controversy surrounding Survival "Gurus" and their knives, so I figured, "Let's compare a few".
The knives pitted against one another are all from the same company, TOPS KNIVES. We've got the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker T3, Joseph Teti's Surv Tac 7 and the Hawkes Hellion Survivor 2020, whew, that's a mouthful.
Lets get the specs and the first impressions out of the way and get on with the field use.
*All three knives have the black traction coating and micarta scales.
*Personal note regarding my shootouts. You will no longer see nice shiny, new blades. I'm using each blade for at least a few hours prior to starting the shootout so I can get a proper feel for them. Adds alot of work and time but makes the shootout more accurate and realistic.
Hawkes Hellion - 9" blade length(8 working inches), 3/16" thick, made from 5160 steel.
Surv Tac 7 - 7" blade, 1/4" thick, made from 1095.
Tracker T3 - ~5.5" blade, 3/16" thick blade of ATS 34.
First Impressions: All the knives in this shootout appear to have very busy blades, sharp edges and sawteeth everywhere. I like that though, I'm really into "survival" knives.
Hellion - Beast of a knife. Very comfortable, full handle, can choke down on it to increase leverage while chopping, balances just forward of the guards. Didn't come very sharp, reluctantly shaved hairs. Looks and feels like a very fun knife, the type that puts a smile on your face when you fondle it.
Surv Tac - Very tall, narrow handle with exposed screws, not the most comfortable, seems like it will bug me during use. The handle is quite long though, so you can choke up or down a little. Neutral balance, feels very light in the hands. I really like the blade shape and style, very pointy and sharp all over. Came very sharp, appear to be a decent "all rounder".
Tracker - Very comfortable handle, balances right where the micarta ends, feels light in the hands. Came very sharp and appears to be a good all around tool as well.
Pic of the knives before the shootout.
Sheaths/Accessories:
Hellion - Ballistic nylon sheath, MOLLE compatible with 2 pouches on the front. Seems to be decent quality. Comes with a whistle and paracord leg tie off.
Surv Tac - Ballistic nylon sheath, MOLLE compatible with 1 pouch on the front. Liner is easily removable, I assume that's so you can safely use the knife as a pry bar without taking your sheath off. Comes with a light stick, magnesium/ferro rod, sharpener, whistle and paracord leg tie off.
Tracker - Kydex sheath with metal clips. Can wear standard or scout style. Scout style is very comfortable, don't even notice the knife on your belt. Comes with whistle.
OK finally onto the testing. Took long enough. First task as always, carving. These trolls are getting old aren't they? How about chickensticks next time. lol
Hellion - Feels good in the hand, but is a little front heavy and the grind is too thick, as most TOPS knives are. No hot spots during carving and is good enough to get the job done, nothing to write home to mom about.
Surv Tac - The handle is somewhat uncomfortable due to how tall and narrow it is and the top guard digs into the webbing of your hand a bit, but not bad enough that it's a deal breaker. It carves decently for a 7" blade that's a quarter inch thick. I like how the neutral balance makes it feel light in your hand. I also like how there is a flat spot on top of the blade between the sawteeth and edge, can do real detailed work with the tip.
Tracker - Most comfortable and versatile carver, feels great in your hand. Only drawback I see with this one is the typical thick TOPS grind.
For standard carving tasks, I would reach for the tracker out of these 3 anytime.
Here is an example of how the thick grind is negative. This is the first cut I baton into a piece of wood to make a notch. See how much it spreads and messes up the material around the cut. Not that big of a deal, but does add extra work cleaning up and tuning notches.
Now we're onto fire prep. These are survival knives so this is a very important task.
I started with 3 pieces of seasoned wood. Batonned and processed them down into typical fire prep sizes. Tinder, kindling and fuel.
Hellion - Worked great for batonning, but struggled with making shavings and processing wood down into really small pieces. The knife was very sharp but during use it seemed to want to break wood instead of cutting it. It didn't make shavings very well at all, seemed to be "fighting" the knife the whole time. I have no idea as to why this is.
Surv Tac 7 - It is a wonderful batonner, just the right length and the thickness helped split the wood fine. The double edged tip really helped with processing the wood down into very small, pencil lead sized pieces. Blade made fine shavings, not pretty, but they work.
Tracker - Came up somewhat short on batonning due to its short blade but it's still a capable knife. Also worked well for making shavings.
All 3 knives can take a beating and ask for more, but when everything is said and done the Surv Tac was the best knife for fire making.
Chopping. Same downed, green tree from other shootouts. This seems to be a pretty tough wood, not sure the species.
Hellion - Decent chopper, chopped through the wood in no time and threw big chunks. Forward balance and being able to choke down on the handle helped no doubt. Did give me a little hand vibration while chopping.
Surv Tac - Not really a good chopper for its size at all. Has a neutral balance and no belly. It chops better than nothing though.
Tracker - Weakest chopper in the group. Able to choke down on it helped some, great chopper for its size though.
Overall the Hellion was the best, it does have a 9" blade afterall.
Checking out the "saws". These saw backs aren't gonna help you saw much, but they can be used to help make notches, scrape things, strike ferro rods, etc. Use your imagination some and you can find alot of good uses for em. Or just check out some Tracker Pack members youtube videos, lol.
Cleaning Critters. This test didn't go as planned, rifle detonating in my hand and all, so I wasn't gonna include it, but might as well. Wanted a critter per knife, but sometimes ya gotta take what you can get. All 3 knives have an edge and a handle, so they'll all work for skinning and preparing critters to eat, some better than others obviously. The Hellion was quite unwieldy for this, it's about the size of the squirrel. The Surv Tac is also too big, but I like how pointy it is, easy to pierce skin and flesh. The tracker is just about the right size, I think it would work pretty decent for a game skinner.
The knives after everything is said and done.
I really enjoyed doing this shootout, got to play with some steel that I've been wanting to get my hands on for quite a while. Going into this I thought I would like them all equally. I can honestly say though I don't really have a use for the hellion, about the only good thing it does is chop. I really liked the looks of the Surv Tac but things you just can't know from pics on the internet such as handle shape and size make me incompatible with this knife. It's usable, and I'd be fine with it, but I'd rather have a knife that's very comfortable to use. The Tracker surprised me, it's alot of knife/tool in a small package. It isn't the best at everything but it's very versatile, comfortable to use and carry. It's also made of stainless so it's low maintenance. I think the Tracker T3 is a keeper.
I hope you fellas enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed doing it. I look forward to the following discussion about it.
The knives pitted against one another are all from the same company, TOPS KNIVES. We've got the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker T3, Joseph Teti's Surv Tac 7 and the Hawkes Hellion Survivor 2020, whew, that's a mouthful.
Lets get the specs and the first impressions out of the way and get on with the field use.
*All three knives have the black traction coating and micarta scales.
*Personal note regarding my shootouts. You will no longer see nice shiny, new blades. I'm using each blade for at least a few hours prior to starting the shootout so I can get a proper feel for them. Adds alot of work and time but makes the shootout more accurate and realistic.
Hawkes Hellion - 9" blade length(8 working inches), 3/16" thick, made from 5160 steel.
Surv Tac 7 - 7" blade, 1/4" thick, made from 1095.
Tracker T3 - ~5.5" blade, 3/16" thick blade of ATS 34.
First Impressions: All the knives in this shootout appear to have very busy blades, sharp edges and sawteeth everywhere. I like that though, I'm really into "survival" knives.
Hellion - Beast of a knife. Very comfortable, full handle, can choke down on it to increase leverage while chopping, balances just forward of the guards. Didn't come very sharp, reluctantly shaved hairs. Looks and feels like a very fun knife, the type that puts a smile on your face when you fondle it.
Surv Tac - Very tall, narrow handle with exposed screws, not the most comfortable, seems like it will bug me during use. The handle is quite long though, so you can choke up or down a little. Neutral balance, feels very light in the hands. I really like the blade shape and style, very pointy and sharp all over. Came very sharp, appear to be a decent "all rounder".
Tracker - Very comfortable handle, balances right where the micarta ends, feels light in the hands. Came very sharp and appears to be a good all around tool as well.
Pic of the knives before the shootout.
Sheaths/Accessories:
Hellion - Ballistic nylon sheath, MOLLE compatible with 2 pouches on the front. Seems to be decent quality. Comes with a whistle and paracord leg tie off.
Surv Tac - Ballistic nylon sheath, MOLLE compatible with 1 pouch on the front. Liner is easily removable, I assume that's so you can safely use the knife as a pry bar without taking your sheath off. Comes with a light stick, magnesium/ferro rod, sharpener, whistle and paracord leg tie off.
Tracker - Kydex sheath with metal clips. Can wear standard or scout style. Scout style is very comfortable, don't even notice the knife on your belt. Comes with whistle.
OK finally onto the testing. Took long enough. First task as always, carving. These trolls are getting old aren't they? How about chickensticks next time. lol
Hellion - Feels good in the hand, but is a little front heavy and the grind is too thick, as most TOPS knives are. No hot spots during carving and is good enough to get the job done, nothing to write home to mom about.
Surv Tac - The handle is somewhat uncomfortable due to how tall and narrow it is and the top guard digs into the webbing of your hand a bit, but not bad enough that it's a deal breaker. It carves decently for a 7" blade that's a quarter inch thick. I like how the neutral balance makes it feel light in your hand. I also like how there is a flat spot on top of the blade between the sawteeth and edge, can do real detailed work with the tip.
Tracker - Most comfortable and versatile carver, feels great in your hand. Only drawback I see with this one is the typical thick TOPS grind.
For standard carving tasks, I would reach for the tracker out of these 3 anytime.
Here is an example of how the thick grind is negative. This is the first cut I baton into a piece of wood to make a notch. See how much it spreads and messes up the material around the cut. Not that big of a deal, but does add extra work cleaning up and tuning notches.
Now we're onto fire prep. These are survival knives so this is a very important task.
I started with 3 pieces of seasoned wood. Batonned and processed them down into typical fire prep sizes. Tinder, kindling and fuel.
Hellion - Worked great for batonning, but struggled with making shavings and processing wood down into really small pieces. The knife was very sharp but during use it seemed to want to break wood instead of cutting it. It didn't make shavings very well at all, seemed to be "fighting" the knife the whole time. I have no idea as to why this is.
Surv Tac 7 - It is a wonderful batonner, just the right length and the thickness helped split the wood fine. The double edged tip really helped with processing the wood down into very small, pencil lead sized pieces. Blade made fine shavings, not pretty, but they work.
Tracker - Came up somewhat short on batonning due to its short blade but it's still a capable knife. Also worked well for making shavings.
All 3 knives can take a beating and ask for more, but when everything is said and done the Surv Tac was the best knife for fire making.
Chopping. Same downed, green tree from other shootouts. This seems to be a pretty tough wood, not sure the species.
Hellion - Decent chopper, chopped through the wood in no time and threw big chunks. Forward balance and being able to choke down on the handle helped no doubt. Did give me a little hand vibration while chopping.
Surv Tac - Not really a good chopper for its size at all. Has a neutral balance and no belly. It chops better than nothing though.
Tracker - Weakest chopper in the group. Able to choke down on it helped some, great chopper for its size though.
Overall the Hellion was the best, it does have a 9" blade afterall.
Checking out the "saws". These saw backs aren't gonna help you saw much, but they can be used to help make notches, scrape things, strike ferro rods, etc. Use your imagination some and you can find alot of good uses for em. Or just check out some Tracker Pack members youtube videos, lol.
Cleaning Critters. This test didn't go as planned, rifle detonating in my hand and all, so I wasn't gonna include it, but might as well. Wanted a critter per knife, but sometimes ya gotta take what you can get. All 3 knives have an edge and a handle, so they'll all work for skinning and preparing critters to eat, some better than others obviously. The Hellion was quite unwieldy for this, it's about the size of the squirrel. The Surv Tac is also too big, but I like how pointy it is, easy to pierce skin and flesh. The tracker is just about the right size, I think it would work pretty decent for a game skinner.
The knives after everything is said and done.
I really enjoyed doing this shootout, got to play with some steel that I've been wanting to get my hands on for quite a while. Going into this I thought I would like them all equally. I can honestly say though I don't really have a use for the hellion, about the only good thing it does is chop. I really liked the looks of the Surv Tac but things you just can't know from pics on the internet such as handle shape and size make me incompatible with this knife. It's usable, and I'd be fine with it, but I'd rather have a knife that's very comfortable to use. The Tracker surprised me, it's alot of knife/tool in a small package. It isn't the best at everything but it's very versatile, comfortable to use and carry. It's also made of stainless so it's low maintenance. I think the Tracker T3 is a keeper.
I hope you fellas enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed doing it. I look forward to the following discussion about it.
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