Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,017
Back in June I saw the prototypes of a new lightweight TOPS knife at Blade that caught my eye. It had a 1/8 inch thick drop-point blade, a full flat grind, a full handle, and is a collaborative work between our Joezilla and Leo Espinosa of TOPS.. They finally hit the market back in September and I put in the order so I could check it out myself.
Specs from the TOPS website
O/A Length:............................8 3/4"
Blade Length:.........................4 1/4"
Thickness:...............................1/8"
Steel:.......................................1095 High Carbon RC 56-58
Handle:................................... Tan Canvas Micarta
Blade Color:............................Black Traction Coating
Handle Color:..........................Sheath: Kydex w/Firestarter and Piggyback
Weight:....................................5.0oz
Weight w/Sheath:....................7.7oz
Designed by:...........................Leo Espinoza & Joe Flowers
The knife comes with the piggy-back carrier for the TOPS emergency fire starter and that's pretty cool. The fire starter is two magnesium rods and a ferro rod press-fit into an aluminum cap.
At 5 0z the knife is lightweight, but full sized and fells pretty good in the hand.
The tapered handle doesn't have any heavy features or contouring so it is comfortable in overhand and underhand grips, as well as in a pinch grip and the odd reversed pinch grip used in the chest lever technique.
I like how it has a full flat grind without the plunge cutting into the spine
The blade angles down from the handle slightly with a short straight area right in front of the handle and then a continuous curve to the tip.
I haven't done a lot of carving with it yet, but a little here and there and it handles well.
I've done a bit of whittling with it to make feather sticks for fire starting. It came with a really sharp edge and it's easy to control.
Since it comes with the TOPS emergency fire starter I thought I'd put it to use and whittle a little pile of magnesium shavings for a first stage tinder, this can come in handy in high humidity conditions. That's a common issue here, but not really a problem the last couple of weeks...as you can tell by the blaze produced by the dry wood.
The knife has an area on the spine that has been squared for sparking the ferro rod. The one I have doesn't really spark the rod all that well yet, but I am sure it will once I scrape some of the coating off right at the sparking area and clean the corner up. I'm pretty sure it's the coating on the side of the corner impeding sparking and that's an easy issue to fix.
While the fire settled down I whittled a little forked stick and then sliced up some smoked sausage and white cheddar for a quick lunch. With the thin blade and high grind the knife slices really well. The sharp edge even made quick work of the rolls without me squishing the soft bread.
I really haven't beaten on it yet, but all in all I like the knife. I like it better than some other 1/8” steel knives I have just for the full 1/8 thickness and a plunge that doesn't cut into the spine, and the full sized handle is a plus. It's so light that I have worn it for hours forgetting it was even there until I needed to cut something.
.
Specs from the TOPS website
O/A Length:............................8 3/4"
Blade Length:.........................4 1/4"
Thickness:...............................1/8"
Steel:.......................................1095 High Carbon RC 56-58
Handle:................................... Tan Canvas Micarta
Blade Color:............................Black Traction Coating
Handle Color:..........................Sheath: Kydex w/Firestarter and Piggyback
Weight:....................................5.0oz
Weight w/Sheath:....................7.7oz
Designed by:...........................Leo Espinoza & Joe Flowers
The knife comes with the piggy-back carrier for the TOPS emergency fire starter and that's pretty cool. The fire starter is two magnesium rods and a ferro rod press-fit into an aluminum cap.
At 5 0z the knife is lightweight, but full sized and fells pretty good in the hand.
The tapered handle doesn't have any heavy features or contouring so it is comfortable in overhand and underhand grips, as well as in a pinch grip and the odd reversed pinch grip used in the chest lever technique.
I like how it has a full flat grind without the plunge cutting into the spine
The blade angles down from the handle slightly with a short straight area right in front of the handle and then a continuous curve to the tip.
I haven't done a lot of carving with it yet, but a little here and there and it handles well.
I've done a bit of whittling with it to make feather sticks for fire starting. It came with a really sharp edge and it's easy to control.
Since it comes with the TOPS emergency fire starter I thought I'd put it to use and whittle a little pile of magnesium shavings for a first stage tinder, this can come in handy in high humidity conditions. That's a common issue here, but not really a problem the last couple of weeks...as you can tell by the blaze produced by the dry wood.
The knife has an area on the spine that has been squared for sparking the ferro rod. The one I have doesn't really spark the rod all that well yet, but I am sure it will once I scrape some of the coating off right at the sparking area and clean the corner up. I'm pretty sure it's the coating on the side of the corner impeding sparking and that's an easy issue to fix.
While the fire settled down I whittled a little forked stick and then sliced up some smoked sausage and white cheddar for a quick lunch. With the thin blade and high grind the knife slices really well. The sharp edge even made quick work of the rolls without me squishing the soft bread.
I really haven't beaten on it yet, but all in all I like the knife. I like it better than some other 1/8” steel knives I have just for the full 1/8 thickness and a plunge that doesn't cut into the spine, and the full sized handle is a plus. It's so light that I have worn it for hours forgetting it was even there until I needed to cut something.
.
There is a lot of smaller blades I like, too. Especially around the house and indoors.
