TOPS MSK 2.5 or Becker BK14?

T

THExKRAKEN

Joined
Jan 15, 2013
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I'm looking at getting one of these knives (If the 'ol lady will let me). I'm looking at carrying one of them as an EDC neck knife. I always carry more than one blade, but I think it might be time to cut it down to just two. One of those knives being an edc fixed blade to carry around the neck, the other would be something like a SAK or a traditional slip joint. That being said, I'm looking at these two knives. Their size and price range are fairly similar. I know the Becker knives have a pretty big following and I know they're good knives and people generally have a good experience with them. I just don't know much about TOPS knives. Does anyone own the MSK 2.5 who can attest to its quality?
 
I don't have an msk but I do have a tops travelin man2, a bk11 and a bk14. I scout carry the three of them. I don't like neck carry unless I'm wearing it outside the shirt and then its generally accompanying a larger knife and I'm generally in the woods. All three carry well behind the waist band as well or dropped diagonally in a cargo pocket. The travelin man 2 is 3 3/4" blade length while the other two are 3 1/4". I edc the 11 most of the time but the travelin man2 is compact enough to carry discretely but big enough to be useful for most tasks you'll encounter, the only reason the 11 wins most of the time for me is it's because its part of a belt kit I made outside of that its a toss up for me with the exception the travelin man 2 wins out in food prep the extra 1/2" is nice for that. Another option I carry in nyc is the tops ferret, once you get used to working with the small blade it makes a fantastic edc.
 
The travelin man 2 looks pretty nice. Fairly similar to the Bk14. I've been browsing through the TOPS website looking at their 1-3" fixed blades and the Crow Hawke looks pretty cool. I also looked at the Ferret. I also have their Scalpel on my amazon wish list (among many other knives).

The Bk14 has been my next knife to get for a little while now. I like its size, it seems like it would be able to tackle more cutting tasks than the MSK. I also like that it cold be used as a last ditch self defense weapon, more so than MSK. It is a bigger knife so it weighs more. The specs between the two are pretty close, so it wont be too big a deal. My hands are small to medium so I'm pretty sure both would fit comfortable enough.

At this point I'm leaning towards the MSK, just because of its size. I think that if I were to pull it out and use it in front of some people it would be less threatening than the Bk14. Mainly because the Bk14 has a wider blade.

But then again, the Bk14 has been next in line and it's a little less expensive...

Bah!!! I always seem to have this problem when I'm in the market for a new knife. I can just never make a decision.
 
I ended up getting the Bk14 over the MSK. I think it was a better choice overall. Mainly because of the fan following of the Becker knives. There are more testimonials from people praising these knives. I'm sure that TOPS makes excellent knives. I think the full flat grind will serve my needs better than the scandi grind the MSK has. The price was also a contributing factor for me. All in all I think I made the right choice. The MSK will probably make its way into my collection at some point.
 
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