Tops Knives, New Member

M

marine dad

Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
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New member here. EDC are an Emerson PSark ive carried for 4 years and a Tops Rogue Wolf. Got a Tops SAW 02 on the way. Wondering what evdryone thinks of Tops knives....
The SAW will replace the Rogue Wolf as EDC
 
Good knives, ridiculous marketing. "Special Ops Trust TOPS Cause They're Hard to the Core." ...Really?
 
Nothing wrong with tops knives.

The only thing I don't like about some of them is all the odd holes in weird places. They seem to be doing that less and less, and I think that is a very good trend.
 
Some of the TOPS knives look pretty nice. And there are so many of them that I do not really care about!
But I do not have any because they are on average about 29% more expensive than I am prepared to pay for them. Which is unfortunate! :)

P.S. Well, probably not the whole 29%, could be only 15 or something...
 
Welcome to the forums Marine dad!
Nothing against them. I just don't find Top's designs appealing... I do agree with AntDog, odd holes in weird places.

Now that Emerson... Me Likey! :D
 
Welcome to BF !

In short:
+good quality
+made in USA
+some really good designs lately, especially the more "bushcrafty" stuff
+some of their designers are on this forum (forgot the names, sorry)
+micarta handles

-some weird names and designs (Taliban takedown, really :rolleyes:)
-loads of writing on the blades (goes with above)
-thick edges (sometimes) and not-so-cutting-friendly grinds (aka "sharpened prybar")
-pricy (IMHO)

The Pathfinder School Knife is on my list for quite a while now, looks like a really good all-round woods blade.
 
I picked up a Dragonfly a while back and it continues to impress. The blade is nice and thin and the handle is comfortable.
The only other Tops on my radar is the FMS. Its looking like a great blade for BBQ and food prep.
 
TOPS is a good company. Decent warranty and make good products.
They are a little more expensive than what they "should" be
They tend to be heavier and thicker than what they need to be
Some design choices are unnecessary, but done for the sake of aesthetics
Way too much writing on their blades
They have a really cool product selection
They have a ridiculous marketing strategy, which turns many people off to them.
 
Thx for the welcome and all the input.
My SAW 02 came today, its perfect. Small
Enough for EDC, razor sharp
 
marine dad said:
Wondering what evdryone thinks of Tops knives....
Click to expand...

I've had several, I currently only own their .230 and .170 machetes.

The machetes are amazing, the best on the market at that price point, in my opinion. Well thought out sheaths, great micarta handles, good steel - they're perfect.

Their knives are usually ground too thick, making them bad at cutting, which is what knives are for. If they reground them to practical levels, I'd buy a Tracker and an Iraq JAC in a heartbeat - both are incredible designs very poorly executed by TOPS.

Also, that spring steel belt clip they put on their sheaths is horrible. The first thing I do is remove it and drill out the 'hump' left in the kydex so that I can use a TekLok. Even paracord is better than that belt shredding steel clip.
 
I have two TOPS B.O.B. knives (one with tan micarta scales, the other black). I think they are good knives for what they are designed to do and have served me well. I am looking at the Dragonfly 4.5 ... it's on my list to have.
 
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I've got the .230 Machete. I needed to knock the shoulders off of the edge, but now it bites DEEP. Swings heavy.

 
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