Why so little love for TOPS?

I can think of a half dozen Tops knives i really like, just weed through the over the top stuff and you'll find some nice designs. Right now i'm interested in the Dragonfly, the BOB and the Prather Bowie. I have a Tops Power Eagle 12 on the way to me in the post!
 
The Dragonfly is not a small knife. The handle is 5.25" long and will melt in your hand...
 
tholiver said:
I can think of a half dozen Tops knives i really like, just weed through the over the top stuff and you'll find some nice designs. Right now i'm interested in the Dragonfly, the BOB and the Prather Bowie. I have a Tops Power Eagle 12 on the way to me in the post!
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The BOB is a great blade; most comfortable knife I own.
 
BigBert said:
Any chance you have handled either a Becker BK16/17 or the Tops BOB and can offer a description?
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I have these and it feels better than most
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The only TOPS knife I have owned was too thick to be useful. To me they seem like they are all made for mall ninjas or people that should be using an axe instead of a knife.
 
Tops are great knives you just have to find the one that fits you. Here is custom Long horn Bowie that I re worked and had a custom sheath made for it. Under neath all the black coating and tacticool stuff are some real solid designs. The Tahoma field knife and Tex Creek XL are sweet new offerings that are worthy of a second look.

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Theres a few patterns I like. The majority of them feel a bit too tacticool. Their new Hog 4.5 looks really good.
 
SCWillson said:
I am quite happy with my TOPS Tibo, which I believe was designed by a BF forum member. It strikes me as an ergonomically improved Izula. The steel seems to hold an edge just fine.
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According to the TOPS website, the Tibo is designed by Brian Griffin...









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I like the looks of the Dragonfly and BoB (fieldcraft) but cannot decide between the two.

Does anyone here own both or at least handled both? I'm leaning toward the DF but have heard nothing but great thugs about the BoB.
 
Most of their knives are overthought. Some of them are pretty utilitarian though.
 
The Dragonfly is the knife I have. In fact, I have THE prototype that they made and used for photo shoots. I bought it at SHOT last year. Really dig the knife. Gets VERY sharp, nice thin edge, FFG. I like it quite a bit . I just could not recall the name earlier. I was out at the barn, away from the safe. I went looking for a BOB. The last day of SHOT Tops sells everything off the table. The BOS's were all gone. The Dragonfly was there. It was the only one. For what it cost, it's a great knife and value.
 
BigBert said:
Any chance you have handled either a Becker BK16/17 or the Tops BOB and can offer a description?
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The handle of the Tops BOB Fieldcraft is much more comfortable and hand filling than the BK 16
I have medium sized hands and the BK 16 is thinner (not shorted) and less there for a fist grip
The positive side of the thinner is it makes for a very quick grip changes and is very nimble in my hand
Also the hole of the bolt for the grip is uncomfortable
I will get some heat shrink tubing to put over the handle, as it shrinks it will mold directly to the shape and also cover the hole
 
Salt said:
I like the looks of the Dragonfly and BoB (fieldcraft) but cannot decide between the two.

Does anyone here own both or at least handled both? I'm leaning toward the DF but have heard nothing but great thugs about the BoB.
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I like the blade shape of the BOB but not the thickness
I would check out the CUB as it is a similar (puukko) shape but 1/8th
 
I like their very interesting range of designs

TOPs seems to access different designers
There are a fair number of members here that have their knife designs in TOPs
 
neeman said:
I like the blade shape of the BOB but not the thickness
I would check out the CUB as it is a similar (puukko) shape but 1/8th
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I agree. I absolutely love everything about the BOB, but wish it were an 1/8" thick....that's why the Dragonfly has really sparked my interest.
 
Does anyone have experience with the Lite Trekker? Looks like a great blade design, but that handle looks a little funky to me. I can see that grossly oversized lanyard hole being annoying, it looks like that's right where my pinky would want to rest.
 
neeman said:
The handle of the Tops BOB Fieldcraft is much more comfortable and hand filling than the BK 16
I have medium sized hands and the BK 16 is thinner (not shorted) and less there for a fist grip
The positive side of the thinner is it makes for a very quick grip changes and is very nimble in my hand
Also the hole of the bolt for the grip is uncomfortable
I will get some heat shrink tubing to put over the handle, as it shrinks it will mold directly to the shape and also cover the hole
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't very clear in what I was asking. I was hoping for a comparison between either the BOB/BK16 and the Dragonfly. I agree that the BOB is much more comfortable than the 16 primarily due to the 16's shorter length.
 
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