Any Opinion On a TOPS Knife?

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Fixed blade knife

I have no personal exp with the tops brand of knives. Have never heard anything negative about them, but before you spend your money, please contact "cold steel special projects" and request on of their catalogs & a dvd demonstrating their products. I have been using various cold steel products since the early 1980's.
 
I wouldn't buy a Cold Steal product unless you're practically being given it. (Yes, I have owned and given them in the past. I was young and easily influenced.)

TOPS works with a wide variety of knife designers. My only complaint with them is that almost all of their knives are 1095.
 
I own a couple of TOPS and have handled many more and they are excellent quality. You can't go wrong spending your money there.

GURU1911, many people are very satisfied with their CS products, but the knives from TOPS are superior if nothing more than for their differential heat tread. Whether a user considers them enough better for the money depends upon what use they might put the knife to.
 
TOPS stuff is pretty good in my limited personal experience (I carried one of their smaller, 4" or so blade knives for quite a while as a fixed blade utility knife), though at the price point they want for knives like the Anaconda you have a number of other options that are worth looking at (Strider and Grayman, for instance, as well as custom builds from various makers).

Cold Steel . . . meh, never been real impressed with their stuff. For their prices you can get a much better blade for woods/survival sort of use just ordering a Leuku pattern blade from places that carry Scandinavian knife making supplies and throwing your own handle on it.
 
My personal choice in knives

Gentlemen: I can respect your opinions & choice not to purchase cold steel knives, but please respect my right to choose "yes"

until the other knife companies produce a "dvd" available for public viewing which subjects their products to the same identical testing procedures to prove the quality of their products, i will continue to purchase "cold steel" knives.

Clyde e. Fischer (charter member international knifemaker's guild) told me face-to-face--"other than the knives i have forged in my shop, the best factory production knives are made by cold steel"
clyde & i were close friends from 1977 until his death in 2001.

Therefore, decide for yourself as to what you will purchase, but decide wisely before parting with your $$$$$.
 
until the other knife companies produce a "dvd" available for public viewing which subjects their products to the same identical testing procedures to prove the quality of their products, i will continue to purchase "cold steel" knives.
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Really? The DVD was what convinced you to buy knives from LT?
 
Guru1911 said:
until the other knife companies produce a "dvd" available for public viewing which subjects their products to the same identical testing procedures to prove the quality of their products, i will continue to purchase "cold steel" knives.
Click to expand...

Until Cold Steel stops voiding their warranty if you do anything with your Cold Steel knives that you see Lynn Thompson doing in his "Cold Proof" DVDs, I will continue to avoid them like the plague.

To the OP:

TOPS knives are excellent quality. Well made, come with an excellent factory edge. They also do a ton of custom make collaborations and have a very wide product line to choose from, including some truly bizarre knife styles. I think they're like Cold Steel in that way, only with better and more consistent quality.

1095 is perfectly good steel, you just have to understand that it's high carbon steel and will rust if not properly cared for. Their gunkote-like finishes are generally pretty good, and their micarta grips are nice.

My only gripe with them is that they're fairly spendy for micarta and 1095.
 
My only gripe with them is that they're fairly spendy for micarta and 1095.
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+1
The quality is good but given the materials they do seem priced higher than compareable offerings.
until the other knife companies produce a "dvd" available for public viewing which subjects their products to the same identical testing procedures to prove the quality of their products, i will continue to purchase "cold steel" knives.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 
I got a plain edge TOPS Ferret in a recent order a few days ago, just to look over and see how well it worked. I'd though a small fixed blade like that would make a good pocket carry, with the kydex sheath anchored to my belt with a short loop of 550 cord. See http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?cPath=12&products_id=73 if you aren't familiar with this blade.

My wife promptly claimed it as her own and hasn't given it back... she wears it on its bead chain as a neck knife.

Oh well. Serves me right for ordering little knives.

lpl
 
until the other knife companies produce a "dvd" available for public viewing which subjects their products to the same identical testing procedures to prove the quality of their products, i will continue to purchase "cold steel" knives.
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Gotta say: on an internet filled with silly, your post is my winner for the day. :) Reputable knife companies don't have to make DVDs to sell their quality product- but when it comes down to it, D. Hoskins will make a knife to your specifications that will be better than any similarly sized CS product. And he doesn't sell or give away DVDs, but he does have pictures if you need visual illustrations. :rolleyes:
 
Heat treat and grind are high on my list. I dig 1095 with a good heat treat, it stay sharp, but sharpens easily when needed. Rust is not a big deal if you oil or use your knives, either keeps the orange off.

TOPS makes good knives, but most are too thick and ground poorly. Most of the time I reach for something from ESEE when out and about, and for stocking emergency kits. Here's a place for TOPS and ESEE knives at reasonable prices:

http://www.knifeworks.com/ESEECutlery-1.aspx

I've carried big knives, but never really needed one for anything but splitting wood to get at the dry insides during wet trips. I now carry either my ESEE-6 or a Tom Brown Tracker in place of a hatchet, like I said for splitting logs, but 99% of the time my ESEE-3 or a Spyderco Delica is the perfect size for "survival".
 
TOPS in my experience has good knives, a little overpriced and their sheaths at times can be kind lame.

ESEE is another place to look for similar products at better prices.
 
other options

There is an Isreali knife company called Dustar that makes a knife called the Arad -1 it has 7 inch blade of D2 steel and runs around $200. A few years back Tactical Knives magazine did a write up on the knife and beat the crap out of it.
 
I've used D-2 steel and it is one of the best for staying sharp that I have come across. I am seriously considering the Isreali knife instead of the TOPS. Thanks for the info.

Pap
 
Yes, that statement about the thickness of their knives is true. Even their small knives start as realllly thick stock. Like, some are ground from 1/3" or 1/4" 1095, and for a knife that's only got a blade a couple inches long, that can be a little excessive.
 
until the other knife companies produce a "dvd" available for public viewing
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and as long as demonstrator PROMISES to wear a different style of shorts as Mr. Cold Steel does in his videos....
couldn't help my self..
To be fair one of my favorite knives I own is a Ozark trail fixed blade from wal-mart, $8.00.
 
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