TOPS steel

John Phillips

John Phillips

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Jan 13, 2020
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I’ve always appreciated TOPS designs, quality and price points for a lot of their knives. Does anyone know if they are or think they should branch out into using a steel other than 1095? Would love to see something with strong corrosion resistance. Anyone with me?
 
I'm with you, and so are the folks at TOPS. Their website in includes filtering options for 1095, 5160, 440C, and 154CM.
 
I thought they did: I've got one with N690 under the hood...

...Or is that just another fancy name??
 
No.

TOPS has the best 1095 of any current production company IMO. Their heat treatment is spot-on.

I've seen too many other companies try to branch out and grab more marketshare by offering too many different steel options, and all it does is end up driving up costs across the board. TOPS is already on the pricey side of 1095 offerings. Don't try to fix what ain't broken.
 
Last edited:
HP2114B said:
The MSF isn't actually a TOPS product. It's manufactured by Maserin in Italy, thus the N690.
Click to expand...
Geez... You need a scorecard; to be able to keep track of the players these days.
Nor surprising: My Korean-built Chevy; was made in a Daiwoo plant.
 
I don’t own any Tops knives but I’ve come close to buying two - the Delta Dart in 5160, and the Desert Nomad in 440C (stainless) - both neat designs imo.

I agree (with shane45-1911 shane45-1911 ) that they should stick with the simple stuff that works and that they understand so they aren’t constantly having to jack up prices to keep up with trendy steels.

Also I’ve seen several examples of amazing edge durability in their 1095 over the years - particularly in recent YouTube videos by the DBK kids.

Tops should keep doing Tops.
 
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