Tops Tom Brown Tracker

The Koster WSK is another fine interpretation of the design. It looks like a monster. I would not mind finding one of the old Jensen Elite EVOs. Peter Jensen had some awesome spin off's of the Tracker design.
 
Just for fun. Iam going to make tracker knife more like the Dave Beck model but with a different and to me more comfy handle.
whether the blade edge is up or down with this handle design it is more comfy on my hand than the Becks handle design.

I have a roughed out shape of mine.

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Bryan
 
Have you checked out the Cryptid by Dervish knives? I saw one in a thread in some other part of the forum and the design reminded me of the tracker but with way better lines and aesthetics no saw on the back but oh well.
Brian
 
Jollyroger3, Thanks man, I took it to be glass blasted today. Here is what the green handle one looks like now.
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The pic with the orange and the green handled one looks kind of cool too.
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Bryan
 
Jollyroger3, Thanks man, I took it to be glass blasted today. Here is what the green handle one looks like now.
IMG_1228.jpg


The pic with the orange and the green handled one looks kind of cool too.
IMG_1224-1.jpg


Bryan

Very close to perfect Bryan, I knew if anyone could pull off a cool WSK it would be you ! Only thing I'd change would be to increase the height of the grind nearest the handle as that is the real fine cutting part ( not that your won't cut like a laser anyway,LOL ), check out this pic to see what I mean !

Tracker.jpg
 
pitdog, wow near perfect lol thanks for the kind words.

Yea I see the difference in the hight of the grinds.

I take it you like the higher grind???

Bryan
 
There is a reason you do not see Dave's current WSK's with the higher hollow grind. All WSK's post 2003, with the exception of his (very recent option) movie knife repro WSK, have the stronger flat ground draw knife.
 
Hi all,

Yesterday I did a little bow drill practice, using my version of the tracker knife.
I have a 1/2" solid pin that is drilled out and works perfect for use as a bearing
for keeping the spindle rotating in the hearth board.

Well anyways if you click on the pic the video should play and you can see what happened.



Thanks for looking.
Bryan
 
Jollyroger3, Thanks man, I took it to be glass blasted today. Here is what the green handle one looks like now.
IMG_1228.jpg


The pic with the orange and the green handled one looks kind of cool too.
IMG_1224-1.jpg


Bryan


Sicily ,

I'm in the process of making my own WSK , and I'm stumped at how you came about the process of grinding the quarter round / gut hook part . On my SIXTH attempt , and trying to get more info about this little part .

Thanks , buddy .
 
I did a search and found plenty of old threads with 90% positive comments about this knife. What I want to know is how is the TB Tracker holding up for you 5 to 6 years later if you still have it? I am planning on purchasing one. I have the TB Scout, which is awesome. Do you still hold the Tracker design practical? Looks practical to me, but some extended hard use opinions would be great. Thanks!

They hypes died down but it still has a very devoted following that seem to be exceptionally good at proving its worth. Many that do like it, move on to get the WSK.
I'd like to snag one on the cheap cheap just to see its worth, but at $200 its a tough pill to swallow for a knife I probably wouldn't like
I'm sure Nutnfancy's video did a lot to hurt it, but theres a lot of people who take it right out of the box and just start wailing on the nearest hardwood.
 
There are some places with extensive reviews by long time users. Some move on to the custom WSKs, but some stay with the TB1. Many alter the TB1 a little or a lot, but there are still plenty seeing long term use, it appears. It seems to me those who learn to use it as designed, which is not like most knives, appreciate the uniqueness and have a lot of fun. Those who buy and try once or twice, keep the used market going. I don't think it's a general "skills" thing at all, but a WSK skills thing. Some people see it as a challenge and find its use rewarding and some decide quickly they're happy with something else. As far as the Tb1 "holding up", as in toughness, just handle one. You'll hurt yourself before hurting it. If that's part of the question.

I didn't think much of the design at first, but warmed to the WSK design after being forced to listen to the unending praise heaped upon it by my buddy, who's had one for a year or two now and still adores it. Like The Cow was saying, I watched the exchanges and grabbed one at a good deal and I'm having fun. It is not a "knife of the month club" knife. Do some Internet searches and you'll find some hard core Tb1 lovers out there. It's got a lot going on, but many see a method to its madness:)

As for Nutn, after very few "reviews", I value his opinion about as much as I value the opinion of the average driver, average voter, average talk show host... Also, I've tried to disassociate the knife from Tom Brown or the movie. It avoids possible stigma unrelated to the tool.
 
Two old posts of mine.

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I'd spotted some fatwood a while back and decided to take my TOPS Tracker with me today to process a little~

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This was some good fatwood !

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So most people see pics like these and say " Yeah it's a half decent chopper but try some fine stuff !"

So just for those people:D~

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My Knatchet compared to a Tracker.

Got my Knatchet that John (JK Knives) made today and lets say I'm really impressed !
John's fit and finish just seems to get better with every knife he makes.

When John first posted pics of it many people mentioned the Tom Brown Tracker knife as if I was trying to make an improved version of that. This was not the case at all, I was just trying to come up with a tool that I could use for camping and woods bummin that would be able to do more or less any tasks I required from it.
However as people were mentioning the Tracker I thought I'd post a couple of pics comparing the two as a size guide......

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The Tracker is 1/4" stock, the Knatchet 3/16".....

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The front section has a rounded spine so that it does not destroy battons if you need to batton with it......

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I am really impressed with the grind that John has put on this one, I told him that I wanted it convexed without a secondary bevel, check this out....

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Made the customary fuzz stick and it worked real well, can't wait to give it some more testing soon !

PC250016-1.jpg
 
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