So who REALLY designed the first Tracker (HUnted) Knife?

D

DavyKOTWF

Joined
Oct 1, 2014
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46
Tom Brown said he did. Said he was thinking about what would be the perfect survival knife and came up with it.
Then there's Robb Russon, who said HE designed it.
Then there's Dave Beck who said HE did.

I'm wondering WHO was the FIRST? :confused:
 
Tom Brown designed it. He gave the designs to Dave Beck who then refined it, and actually produced a working model. Dave Beck's now labeled WSK, is amazing in terms of fit and finish.
 
The Beck WSK is an amazing knife, the thinner stock and perfect balance make it feel weightless in use.

Tops botched the design so badly, with 1/4" stock and a grind fit for a cheap hatchet...
 
MatthewSB said:
Tops botched the design so badly, with 1/4" stock and a grind fit for a cheap hatchet...
Click to expand...

I handled one of these recently, and would be hard-pressed to disagree. It's an awkward length too.
A knife like this should have thinner stock (no thicker than 0.200") and have much higher grinds for actual cutting and chopping ability. Of course if you're a REALLY GOOD tracker, you can sneak up on your quarry and knock it out with the flat of the blade instead - maybe more mass helps in that case. :D
 
MatthewSB said:
The Beck WSK is an amazing knife, the thinner stock and perfect balance make it feel weightless in use.

Tops botched the design so badly, with 1/4" stock and a grind fit for a cheap hatchet...
Click to expand...

I own a TOPS Tracker and use it just about every weekend. Beck's WSK is also 1/4", the same as the TOPS version. Until you've used the knife in an outdoor setting, or until you actually own one, try not to make bold statements regarding its usefulness. I agree that not everyone will like the knife or the design, but some people, including me, find it more than useful for most of my outdoor needs.
 
I've always wanted to give one a try. Even if it's not great at anyone thing. Like the looks of it too
 
Okay. Then there's this: "I happen to know something about Robb Russon, the original designer of this knife for Tom Brown. Because I am Robb's son, and I was there (a teenager) when he designed that knife, and also the skinner shown on the WildWoodSurvival page. I remember distinctly his collaboration with Brown to design "the perfect survival knife", and as mentioned above, the original design was done in D2 stainless to protect the knife from the elements. My father prototyped the knife and had a verbal agreement to be the sole provider to Brown so that he could sell them to his tracking school customers. I still have a few of the blanks my father cut in preparation for the "big order" that never materialized--both of the survival knife and the skinning blade. I have been a knife maker myself for over 20 years, taught by my father, and was shocked when the movie "The Hunted" came out, to see my father's knife in a movie. Then I read an article in Blade Magazine about the movie knife attributed to "Tom Brown's design". TOPS did not design this knife, and Brown had no right to take my father's design and then walk away into the sunset to profit from it. My father got no credit and not a penny for his work to make the original design and the prototype. I'm outraged that people like Brown have no scruples and won't give credit where it's due. My father is too old and tired to pursue a legal case against Brown. But he should have gotten something. So you can all speculate about where that design originated, but Robb Russon, an unknown craftsman from nowhere, was the genius behind it."
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/483915-Tom-Brown-s-Tracker-Knife
 
The guy who wrote that little gem, is notorious for necro-posting on every Tom Brown Tracker related thread. He conveniently does not have any proof besides a posting on a website describing an obscure article from 1982. When I see an actual knife that the guy made, or at least drawings with a signature, maybe a picture of his father and Tom Brown standing together, maybe then i'll believe that. I can claim all day that my father invented the Hefty Bag, while probably quoting an obscure site with a magazine reference, and that does not make it so.
 
Dacus_Nomadic said:
I own a TOPS Tracker and use it just about every weekend. Beck's WSK is also 1/4", the same as the TOPS version. Until you've used the knife in an outdoor setting, or until you actually own one, try not to make bold statements regarding its usefulness. I agree that not everyone will like the knife or the design, but some people, including me, find it more than useful for most of my outdoor needs.
Click to expand...

No offense was intended.

For the record, I've 'actually' used both knives 'in an outdoor setting'. The Beck WSK was 3/16" ATS-34 and felt like a lightsaber in the hand.

The Tracker 1 just isn't ground right for the thicker blade to cut well (ESEE-5 is the same way). Tops did it right when they did the short run of Tracker 3, from 3/16" ATS-34 just like the real thing. Not sure if it is the thinner stock, shallower grinds, or both but the T3 cuts very well. My wife has one and loves it, it's her "go to" woods knife. I'd have one too, if they didn't shrink the handle just enough to ruin it for my hands.
 
Straight from Beck's Website.

The Model "C" WSK

* This is the same pattern used for the TRACKER knife seen in "The Hunted".

* 1/4 x 6-1/4" high carbon tool steel blade. 12-1/4" OAL. 1 lb 13 oz approx

carry weight.

* Available only with the original hand-cut, non-clogging saw tooth hatchet

back.

* Full-length tapered tang, Loveless bolts & lined lanyard hole.

* Available with your choice of either a wet-sanded satin or blued blade finish.

* Handle material of your choice.

* Comes with a black leather std. scout type sheath which can be worn

vertically on the side, or by using the attached "scout" loops, can also be worn

horizontally across the small of the back (w/saw teeth down for better grip),

or cross draw on the front (w/the cutting edge down. Available in Black only.

Model "C" Gen2 WSK Price = $1000.00 (plus shipping).


I could be wrong, but I own several Beck knives, and i've never seen one produced in ATS-34. All of his knives that I own, or have seen, have been made of 01 Tool Steel.
 
You are correct, that one is probably one of the best you can buy. They start at about $1000, and can take up to 4-6 months to get. It's an investment that will most definitely hold its value.

The red scorpion model is relatively decent, just not quite up to spec even compared to the TOPS model. For the money, the TOPS version is probably has the best cost to use value. There are literally hundreds of youtube videos comparing the many different variations of the Tracker styled knives.
 
Dacus_Nomadic said:
I could be wrong, but I own several Beck knives, and i've never seen one produced in ATS-34. All of his knives that I own, or have seen, have been made of 01 Tool Steel.
Click to expand...

The WSK I used was 3/16" ATS-34. It was old, one of the earliest made probably.

Model "C" Gen2 WSK Price = $1000.00 (plus shipping).
Click to expand...

The spec's quoted are for the second generation, this design is a few decades old now I'm sure there have been all sorts of changes.
 
Dacus_Nomadic said:
The guy who wrote that little gem, is notorious for necro-posting on every Tom Brown Tracker related thread. He conveniently does not have any proof besides a posting on a website describing an obscure article from 1982. When I see an actual knife that the guy made, or at least drawings with a signature, maybe a picture of his father and Tom Brown standing together, maybe then i'll believe that. I can claim all day that my father invented the Hefty Bag, while probably quoting an obscure site with a magazine reference, and that does not make it so.
Click to expand...
I'm the guy who wrote that "little gem". Maybe you should actually do some research before you trash me and my father. You want drawings? You want letters? We have it all. All of the actual correspondence sent by Tom Brown to my father back in 1981 and 1982. My father never met Tom Brown, it was all done through letters and phone calls. So you can choose to put down Robb Russon, or you could take an honest look at the material I have posted on my website, and the interview with my father telling the whole story. I also show drawings and bits of the letters in that interview. The "obscure magazine reference" was printed in Tom Brown's OWN actual newsletter in 1982, where he credits Robb Russon with making the first knife. Why would I invent all of this? My father has not made a penny for his design in 40 years. I'm just trying to get the truth out there. Talk to Dave Beck yourself--I did. He got a knife from Tom Brown that had been made by Ed Lombi, and Brown asked Beck to make a new version of it, which he did. Beck is a great knifemaker, and even improved on the design, but it was not his original concept. Where did Ed Lombi get the design? From the knife prototype made by my father, which is where it all started. Now Brown and TOPS are laughing all the way to the bank.
www.utahknifeworks.com

SURVIVOR Story | Utah Knife Works

www.utahknifeworks.com www.utahknifeworks.com
 
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