The Tom Brown Tracker is...okay.

rustyrazor said:
the perfect quote for this knife right there... I've handle and used one a fair bit. it's like a street and trail bike; not amazing at anything in particular, but it's pretty good if you need one that will do most anything.
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Pretty much. :)
 
stabman said:
I understand why many of the knives get sent out thick behind the edge and with obtuse edge angles though.
One of my buddies will do things like dig a hole in a bunch of rocks/gravel with his knife.
He'll sharpen it afterward, but if the edge was all chipped to hell, he'd probably be unhappy.

The way the Tracker came to me, you could dig in gravel to your heart's content, and it would perform about the same.
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I see that. However, every guy I've known that does that kind of thing doesn't seem to care if the edge is all mangled up. Or at least that's what I assume when looking at other peoples knives. :D
 
retzius said:
I think the Tracker T3 is the best designed model. The T3 is the size and heft of the T1 but has the thinner stock of the T2 and is made in ATS-34. I would really like to see a shootout between those two...
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After using both, the T3 is what the T1 should have been. Losing 1/16" of thickness cut almost a pound of weight, as well as making a much better cutter.
 
It seems like the Red Scorpion Six version was really good (at least compared to the other one), but it seems that they are out of business. I remember specifically that it didn't take any sharpening out of the box, the ledge/hook area was something that would work better for a quarter-rounder, and the saw on the back was actually a saw (it seems the one on the regular Tracker is something more like a wire-breaker section that will work as a notching saw- would have been better if the tops of that area were at different angles instead of being flat, then it would have been both in a more workable way).
 
cchu518 said:
Post testing do you think you will keep it in the rotation of use?
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I'd say yes; it will depend what I'm planning to do on an outing that will dictate when it comes out.
If I knew I was going to be chopping a bunch, and needing some machete capabilities, I'd bring the Junglas, or the knife I made.

The Tracker fits in the pack easier than the Junglas, and works pretty well. The braided paracord Baldric sling I made for it makes carry convenient as well.

Knowing me, it will often be a case of bringing it along with whatever other knife/knives I am bringing. :D
 
Mine, with factory edge, worked pretty well on clearing bushes. Its compact design made working in the tight confines easy. And, it was a lot of fun:D You've really got me curious about the weight. I'm going to weigh mine when I can as I always felt it was lighter than 28 oz! (not that I don't trust you:D)

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jdk1 said:
You've really got me curious about the weight. I'm going to weigh mine when I can as I always felt it was lighter than 28 oz! (not that I don't trust you:D)
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When you weigh it, please share the result. :)
It will be good to see what kind of variation there may be.
 
NeverMore1701 said:
Looks like a rather inefficient design to me. Tries to do too much with too little.
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The operative word being looks.

There is a famous YouTube review of the knife, by a famous, long-winded individual.
He never even held the knife.
He based his "review" on how it looked and was portrayed in a movie.:rolleyes:
 
stabman said:
The operative word being looks.

There is a famous YouTube review of the knife, by a famous, long-winded individual.
He never even held the knife.
He based his "review" on how it looked and was portrayed in a movie.:rolleyes:
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If I know who you're talking about, his opinion is worth less than nothing.

I'll admit to having less than no experience with the knife in question :foot:
 
NeverMore1701 said:
If I know who you're talking about, his opinion is worth less than nothing.

I'll admit to having less than no experience with the knife in question :foot:
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It's an okay knife.
It is rather heavy for the overall size; my dad commented on that yesterday when he got a chance to try it out.

It all depends on what one is looking for in a knife. Yesterday, we felled a huge dead tree that looked like it could fall on the spot my brother was preparing for his wife to put a tent (she doesn't like hammocks).
It turned out to be far more solid than we thought at first; it was dead (REALLY dead; no leaves, and most of the bark had fallen off), but ended up seasoned rather than rotted.
It took a combination of a saw (too small for that magnitude of tree), and a Condor Golok machete.

When it fell, it got snagged in some trees, and we had to free up the base more so it could be maneuvered free of them.
That's where the Tracker entered the picture, because with it's thick stock and extra stout tip I was able to pry out some chunks of wood to free it up.
Although a saw was still involved...the Tracker didn't do it all on it's own. ;)

But it actually came in handy then, and even that stupid notching saw helped in cleaning up the cut area so I could see what had to get done next (that was without a doubt the toughest dead tree I have ever come across...one of the only times I wish I'd had an axe with me).
 
Yep. It can actually do quite a bit. Plus, you gotta love a knife designed to be used as a hammer on the flats of the blade. It's an absolute beast in every way, but is capable of some real finesse with the proper technique. From the 3 position handle to the hand hold on the blade, to the 3 or 4 different edges, it is designed to do it all. It may not be the best for each, but it will take care of anything that needs cutting.
 
I had a customer who kept bringing one of those in. He reprofiled it several times to no avail then had us resharpen it so many times I lost count. Finally I took a good look at it and decided that the heat treat on it sucked. Told him where to go to have it redone. Didn't see him for awhile until he came in one day. Told me he took my advice and had it heat treated by a professional shop in town. Then he told me I was right lol. After the new heat treat it worked like it was suppose to. Before it wouldn't chop worth a damn and dull quickly. Cutting something felt like you were sliding a plastic card over what you were cutting. Afterwards it chopped and cut no problem - but he still sold it cuz he found something better lol. After all that time and effort he sold it in the end.
 
k_ozdragon said:
I had a customer who kept bringing one of those in. He reprofiled it several times to no avail then had us resharpen it so many times I lost count. Finally I took a good look at it and decided that the heat treat on it sucked. Told him where to go to have it redone. Didn't see him for awhile until he came in one day. Told me he took my advice and had it heat treated by a professional shop in town. Then he told me I was right lol. After the new heat treat it worked like it was suppose to. Before it wouldn't chop worth a damn and dull quickly. Cutting something felt like you were sliding a plastic card over what you were cutting. Afterwards it chopped and cut no problem - but he still sold it cuz he found something better lol. After all that time and effort he sold it in the end.
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I wonder if he had a counterfeit one.
The heat treat is one of the things mine had correct right off the bat.
That horridly dull edge stayed as it was for months of use.
And the ability to shave hair has remained now (once I got it how I wanted) after three outings involving hours of chopping use (although it doesn't shave as easily as before chopping all that wood, but still...).

There are plenty of counterfeits out there, and with the serial number on mine being more than 21000, enough have been sold to make fakes worthwhile.
 
I asked him that right away and he told me it was purchased from an authorized online dealer. He also borrowed a friends which wasn't as bad as his. I still think it wasnt as good as a Ka-Bar BK but it was still better than his. Tops does their temper on an open furnace with no temperature control, vacuum, or gauges. I could see how a bad temper could easily happen. The knife really was much better after he had it redone. I guess he just sold it cuz he was tired of messing with it.
 
stabman said:
Factory tour! :)

[video=youtube;JR7KLWx6aYg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR7KLWx6aYg[/video]
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Lol yep. Favorite part is when they show them cutting paper with the knives and saying "no knife leaves here until its been tested and approved on paper" yet I've *never* seen a Tops do that out of the box. Easily one of the worst factory edges I've seen on a knife.
 
k_ozdragon said:
Lol yep. Favorite part is when they show them cutting paper with the knives and saying "no knife leaves here until its been tested and approved on paper" yet I've *never* seen a Tops do that out of the box. Easily one of the worst factory edges I've seen on a knife.
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Actually, the TOPS Mini Axe (with G-10 scales...more of an axe shaped knife than an axe) I recently got shaves arm hair with every spot of the blade.
Push cuts paper and slices with extreme ease. :thumbup:

They CAN sharpen quite well at the factory, which makes it more odd that they often don't. :confused:
 
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