- Joined
- Oct 26, 2001
- Messages
- 1,438
Hello all,
First off, let me say that I have read several of Tom's books and found the quote about his knife or rather what I see as the arrogance around it to be very off putting and have avoid picking one up for years, partially as a result of this feeling on my part. Also, having said that I'd have preferred to get my hands on the David Beck version, because, no offense to TOPS I prefer a saw that actually saws, versus notches. Since that was not to be, I found myself at one of my favorite outfitters yesterday and after much deliberation decided to pick up the TOPS version of the tracker.
Okay. Technical details aside. Now on to the knife. First off, I read through the little manual that comes with it, and have to say I think Tom and TOPS did a pretty good job putting that together. I took the knife out and used the curved portion of the blade to take down a small (1" diameter) ash tree. Took about 8 strokes, with a good forward grip. No problem. I have to say, I specifically targeted the curved portion of the blade after viewing several reviews on youtube by a respected maker who claimed that he was basically only chopping with the quarter rounder tooth. Having grown up splitting wood I felt that one could do better, and am even more convinced of this after having done my chopping test.
On to fuzz sticks. I started with the curved portion of the blade, which works, but requires significant energy output and mild blue language. The use of the flat portion of the blade produced amazing results quite quickly.
In the kitchen, I haven't tested the knife much yet, but did find that the curved portion makes a serviceable pizza cutter. A neat, yet unintended (I suspect) feature of its design. I usually test my knives for sharpness as apple peelers and the flat portion of the Tracker does work in this regard, but not well. Kids don't try this at home, I'm missing part of a thumbnail now. So I'd have to say for kitchen chores it has limited uses.
Now the most contentious part. The Saw. As stated before I like sawbacks, that actually SAW, but those are few and far between. I've found that Aitor makes a nice one and the sawteeth on the back of Gerber Silver Trident are better than most IMO. I do, however, own several other TOPS sawbacks and knew going into things that it wasn't designed to cut through larger sticks. Up to about 1/2" diameter it will go through, at least on the ash I tested. Larger than that, it does make very nice symmetrical notches, which as the literature states, is its intended function.
I haven't yet had a chance to test the 1/4 rounder but I suspect that it will function as intended.
Lastly,
handles. I personally have very large hands and found the flat, thick micarta on this knife to conform to their size and grip perfectly. Those of you with smaller hands may disagree. TOPS is now making a slightly smaller version of the knife for folks with smaller hands, but for me personally it was just a little too small, and for a price difference of only $20 where I shop, it was worth it to pay more for the comfort.
So, overall
Positives: Well designed, functions well within design parameters. Sharp as all get out. Well made handle.
Cons: Quasi-functional saw. Sub-optimal for kitchen work. Larger knife not suitable for smaller hands.
Borderline traits: heavy beast, 1095, which means it will stain/rust fairly easily if not taken care of.
In summary, great knife for survival and camp chores, probably for skinning/gutting as well, though I haven't personally tested this capability. I would definitely recommended carrying a smaller knife either in a BOB or on one's person to perform more delicate chores, but for most of the major stuff this knife will get the job done.
Lagarto.
First off, let me say that I have read several of Tom's books and found the quote about his knife or rather what I see as the arrogance around it to be very off putting and have avoid picking one up for years, partially as a result of this feeling on my part. Also, having said that I'd have preferred to get my hands on the David Beck version, because, no offense to TOPS I prefer a saw that actually saws, versus notches. Since that was not to be, I found myself at one of my favorite outfitters yesterday and after much deliberation decided to pick up the TOPS version of the tracker.
Okay. Technical details aside. Now on to the knife. First off, I read through the little manual that comes with it, and have to say I think Tom and TOPS did a pretty good job putting that together. I took the knife out and used the curved portion of the blade to take down a small (1" diameter) ash tree. Took about 8 strokes, with a good forward grip. No problem. I have to say, I specifically targeted the curved portion of the blade after viewing several reviews on youtube by a respected maker who claimed that he was basically only chopping with the quarter rounder tooth. Having grown up splitting wood I felt that one could do better, and am even more convinced of this after having done my chopping test.
On to fuzz sticks. I started with the curved portion of the blade, which works, but requires significant energy output and mild blue language. The use of the flat portion of the blade produced amazing results quite quickly.
In the kitchen, I haven't tested the knife much yet, but did find that the curved portion makes a serviceable pizza cutter. A neat, yet unintended (I suspect) feature of its design. I usually test my knives for sharpness as apple peelers and the flat portion of the Tracker does work in this regard, but not well. Kids don't try this at home, I'm missing part of a thumbnail now. So I'd have to say for kitchen chores it has limited uses.
Now the most contentious part. The Saw. As stated before I like sawbacks, that actually SAW, but those are few and far between. I've found that Aitor makes a nice one and the sawteeth on the back of Gerber Silver Trident are better than most IMO. I do, however, own several other TOPS sawbacks and knew going into things that it wasn't designed to cut through larger sticks. Up to about 1/2" diameter it will go through, at least on the ash I tested. Larger than that, it does make very nice symmetrical notches, which as the literature states, is its intended function.
I haven't yet had a chance to test the 1/4 rounder but I suspect that it will function as intended.
Lastly,
handles. I personally have very large hands and found the flat, thick micarta on this knife to conform to their size and grip perfectly. Those of you with smaller hands may disagree. TOPS is now making a slightly smaller version of the knife for folks with smaller hands, but for me personally it was just a little too small, and for a price difference of only $20 where I shop, it was worth it to pay more for the comfort.
So, overall
Positives: Well designed, functions well within design parameters. Sharp as all get out. Well made handle.
Cons: Quasi-functional saw. Sub-optimal for kitchen work. Larger knife not suitable for smaller hands.
Borderline traits: heavy beast, 1095, which means it will stain/rust fairly easily if not taken care of.
In summary, great knife for survival and camp chores, probably for skinning/gutting as well, though I haven't personally tested this capability. I would definitely recommended carrying a smaller knife either in a BOB or on one's person to perform more delicate chores, but for most of the major stuff this knife will get the job done.
Lagarto.
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