Choosing a TOPS knife...

[FixedBladesPlus]

So, I've been looking at TOPS knives since my quest for the "final" survival knife to add to my collection (the "next one" is always going to be "the last one"). I can buy them online for about 40% off the Tops website price. I'm considering these three:

Moccasin Ranger ($160)
Tex Creek XL Rockies Ed. ($145)
Smoke Jumper ($150)

Anyone have any experience with these knives (hoping for a comment about these knives, specifically, but I'd love to hear about your experience with Tops overall). The Apache and Moccasin are 0.25" thick, while the TEX XL is 0.19" thick. All of the blades are on the 6.25" to 6.75" length. All are 1095 w/the Tops heat treat.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Corton93]

TOPS makes solid knives, them and ESEE are the most common safe bet starting options for "survival" or "bushcraft" knives imo.

Of the 3 you listed my preference is the Tex Creek. I just prefer a drop point vs clip point in case you do have to baton or something..

I also prefer a thinner blade stock vs quarter inch. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate .25 blades, got plenty, but think they are overkill for 99% of situations, and also usually have worse cutting geometry.

 

[ShaiHulud]

.

 

[JWright214]

Out of those three I would pick the ESEE Laser Strike.

 

[luethge]

The Tex Creek has a very small handle - pics don’t seem to illustrate this well. The blade is nearly perfect, the handle feels like is 2/3 the size it needs to be ( that’s also an unsolicited opinion from someone with large hands ).

 

[wharncliffe]

I have five TOPS knives and the Moccasin Ranger is hands down my favorite of them. In my view, it's the most practical design for most of the things want to do with a large fixed blade.