TOPS Knives

nemesis

nemesis

Joined
Nov 5, 2005
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Anyone have opinions on TOPS knives good, bad, or indifferent, I have been looking at getting the Tom Brown Tracker, Walkabout, and a Desert Hawk. are they worth the money?

Does anyone have pictures they are willing to post of any of the 3 or all 3.

Thanks for the help.
 
Many reports and cutting tests indicate that the Tom Brown tracker isnt realy very good at anything.

Tops knives are well cosntructed, BUT IMO a 1", 1oz blade of 1095 isnt worth $80.
 
mr.trooper said:
Many reports and cutting tests indicate that the Tom Brown tracker isnt realy very good at anything.

Tops knives are well cosntructed, BUT IMO a 1", 1oz blade of 1095 isnt worth $80.
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where did you read these reports? i was considering buying one or a similar model. but if they suck then ill save my money.
 
Doesn't the redoubtable Cliff Stamp have at least a brief review on the Tops Tracker at his web-site?? Haven't checked...got to rush out now...but I think he does.
 
I own a Tops Tracker as well as many other WSK style knives. The Tracker is a good all around field knife. Don't let others tell you otherwise. Anything that is sharp is good for field use. Furthermore, this knife can be used for more than just sharpening things. Please review the numerous threads on this. Don't ask the opion of others until you have made up your own mind and have researched the topic. There are many ignorant people posting responses who don't have the first clue about knives, knife collecting, and knife uses. Good luck on your search.:mad:
 
FEDKNIFELOVER said:
I own a Tops Tracker as well as many other WSK style knives. The Tracker is a good all around field knife. Don't let others tell you otherwise. Anything that is sharp is good for field use. Furthermore, this knife can be used for more than just sharpening things. Please review the numerous threads on this. Don't ask the opion of others until you have made up your own mind and have researched the topic. There are many ignorant people posting responses who don't have the first clue about knives, knife collecting, and knife uses. Good luck on your search.:mad:
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yes i generally dont give 'opinion' polls much credence. however, not im not real familiar with the wsk. i think it looks cool and since i first saw one in that tommy lee jones movie i have wanted one. i had intended to try on in the field and form my own opinions. but magazine reviews are notoriously positive in reviewing anything, and was interested to read an opposing point of view. thats all...
 
I owned and used a TOPS "Tom Brown" Tracker for a while and it had some utility. I especially liked using it as a draw knife. After some time, however, I found while it did a lot of cutting chore, it really didn't do those chores as well or as efficiently as I required.

I'd encourage anyone who wants to try one to do so but, for me, it was not a keeper.
 
GoodGuy said:
I owned and used a TOPS "Tom Brown" Tracker for a while and it had some utility. I especially liked using it as a draw knife. After some time, however, I found while it did a lot of cutting chore, it really didn't do those chores as well or as efficiently as I required.

I'd encourage anyone who wants to try one to do so but, for me, it was not a keeper.
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thx, a very objective point of view.:thumbup:
 
It is a specialized knife for a specific suite of survival techniques. Not for everyone and not for a casual stroll through the woods. Someone recently pointed out that even Mr. Beck made a small fixed blade to carry with the WSK, for ordinary chores for which the larger knife would be clumsily inappropriate. After all, in the kitchen, you don't use a carving knife for paring.

Evaluate your sources. If a negative report comes from someone whose opinion is based on someone else's opinion or on the knife's strange appearance, ignore it. I don't mind anyone pointing out that negative opinions exist, but if possible, I'd prefer a link to them, to be able to evaluate the validity of those negative opinions myself.
 
I own a TOPS tracker and I like it a lot. Here is my run down.

The chopping blade is good and does it's job. There is some difficulty with chopping sometimes because of the placement of the quarter rounder, which is used for straightening wood for traps and arrows. This may cause unnecessary damamge to an important part of the blade.

The weight of the knife is hard to get used to because it is so heavy, but that heaviness has its advantages in different tasks. The knife can take a beating and give one as well.

The saw back could use a lot of improvement. It does very very well for a "notch" in wood to make traps, but not much else. Plus, I have never had trouble batoning the knife for splitting wood, which is a point I heard someone raise about the placement of the saw back. Some thinks it would be in the way, but if you have decent aim, it won't be any problem.

Throwing the knife I would not reccommend. It just seems too heavy, and could use some rebalancing for such a task, so what you saw happening in "The Hunted" is not going to happen unless you are an expert knife thrower.

The smaller blade portion works good for smaller cutting jobs, although the weight of the knife comes into play again. It can be a little hard to manuver, but this is not to say it is impossible to work with. It will cut, and it will cut good, and it will get the job done.

The black epoxy coating on the knife is great. It has held up very well and through some very stressful conditions. The blade itself is a little hard to sharpen, but again, it is not impossible. It sharpens decent with some work on angles and holds its edge well.

The handle could have used a little more contour, nevertheless, it is still comfortable in its grip. I like micarta handles because they are easy to grip even when wet. Wood tends to get a bit slippery in my opinion.

Overall I would grade the tracker between B+/A-. Now the Roger Linger WSK is another story. Better balance, handle, saw, chopping, etc.

Hope this helps. I highly recommend trying the blade
 
It's been my experience that, with a specialized knife like the Tracker, you really won't know whether it will work for you or not until you try it. It's pricey. On the other hand, if you try it and don't like it, it's pretty easy to trade away or sell (and get a fair amount of your $$$ back).

I successfully traded my used Tracker for a used TOPS Armagedon. I found I liked the Armagedon better.

Bottom line... the risk of buying and trying one isn't that great.
 
I've got 3 Tops knives(Sky Marshall, Coyote Blue and Blue Otter) and I love them. They're not fancy knives but they do the job, and well too!!! I chop a lot with the Sky Marshall and I'm always impress with the edge it keeps. There's other Tops Knives on my list, but never the Tracker, doesn't feel right in my hands...Cheers!!!
 
You never hear of anybody breaking TOPS knives and the only negative comments are always aimed at the Tracker.Check out Woods Hoods forum for more possitive comments on TOPS knives!
 
The only legitimate negative comments I've read are that some of their blades are perhaps too thick and lend themselves more to tactical destruction than effective cutting.

That's not really a negative, it's a case of needing to match your knife to your own needs, which is the same problem I think people have with the Tracker.
 
Thanks for the info i appreciate it, i think ill go ahead and get one with in the next month, so i can try it out for myself. by the way what is a "WSK" still not used to some of the knife talk im getting there though.
 
I've had a Tops Tracker and while the quality of the knife was good, I didn't care for the Tracker itself. One thing people need to keep in mind with this knife, is it's designed to be a do all knife. While it won't do any one thing really well, it will allow you to get by doing lots of different things. While I like this style of knife, the Tracker just didn't fit me. I have small hands and I could never get a good solid grip. Granted, you could always reprofile the handle yourself for use. If I was going to go for a WSK design I would lean more towards the Rainbow Six Predator. While I've never handled this blade, it has received good reviews from people on the board and seems to have a better profiled grip. Hope this helps.
 
WSK stands for Wilderness Survival Knife. This was the term used by Dave Beck when referring to his "tracker" knife, after Mr. Tom Brown decided he had the name "tracker" copyrighted mfor his own purposes.
 
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