TOPS Brothers of Bushcraft Knife

[Grizzly Adams]

I know there have been several threads on this knife. I simply wanted to do a simple review for you guys who have not tried it or maybe considering it. I had read about it at various places, but when I was at the Hardwoodsman meet I got to handle one. Thanks One Legged Josh, you cost me $111.90. After playing with it I definitely wanted to add it to my collection of blades.

First off I searched around for the best price on this knife and found it to be here. $103.95 + $7.95 for shipping
http://www.knifeworks.com/topsbobkni...dexsheath.aspx
I ordered it on a Wednesday night and it was at my door on Saturday morning. This was the first time I have ordered from them and I can definitely say I will shop there again.

The blade is very sharp right out of the box. I am pleased with the quality, but I am not surprised as every TOPS product I have has been of great quality. The notch that is cut into the pommel for the fire steel works pretty well. It does not work as well as a awl on the Swiss Farmer, but much better than the scrapers that come on most steels. The fire-steel that comes with it I do not like as well as my "Lite My Fire- Army" steel. This is not a deal breaker as my LMF steel fits the sheath just fine, so no biggie.

This weekend I did a quick over night campout at our family farm. I used the knife for making split wood prep for my Emberlit stove, as well as feather sticks. After doing the prep to boil tea, and make bannock, it was still sharp enough to slice paper and shave the hair on my arm.

I haven't had a chance to try out the bow drill socket on the handle, but will give that a try soon. I will report back on its success or failure.

Here are a few pics from today:







My verdict so far is that for under $125, I don't think you can go wrong. Don't get me wrong it is no handcrafted custom knife, but it is a great knife for the money. If you are on a budget, I think that you would be happy with this knife. It will not be replacing my Tracker, but it definitely has its place in my kit!

I will report back on edge retention, ease of sharpening, and how the bow drill socket works! Thanks for reading!

[Howie]

Over all I would agree with you, it chops, it splits, it cuts. its a knife. It does resharpen easilly, esp if you convex it, or might be better called a scandi-vex? Then its a feather stickin', try sticken' machine!

A few complaints, be interested in yours and others thoughts with use:
sheath sucks. significantly dulls the blade with use. belt clip sucks even more (problem soved-on waiting list for a good J leather replacement)

bow drill socket is too far off the end of the knife to get a really good bearing hold.
would like to see that centered of the handle. even if it means you have to pay attention when you take it out of the sheath to do this. I know thats asking o lot from toadys socitey

the shango notch, a gimick would rather have the extended tang without it. the back of the blade works better, problem solved

the supplied FS another gimmick, thank goodness it lasted less than one splitwood fire, and an LMF army fits perfectly, problem solved

Other than that, i really diggin the knife, the only other knife to get me going was my GRK and a mora clipper

[stronghorse]

Seems like a nice find. Looks like it should do well as a chopper also.

[Grizzly Adams]

Over all I would agree with you, it chops, it splits, it cuts. its a knife. It does resharpen easilly, esp if you convex it, or might be better called a scandi-vex? Then its a feather stickin', try sticken' machine!

A few complaints, be interested in yours and others thoughts with use:
sheath sucks. significantly dulls the blade with use. belt clip sucks even more (problem soved-on waiting list for a good J leather replacement)

bow drill socket is too far off the end of the knife to get a really good bearing hold.
would like to see that centered of the handle. even if it means you have to pay attention when you take it out of the sheath to do this. I know thats asking o lot from toadys socitey

the shango notch, a gimick would rather have the extended tang without it. the back of the blade works better, problem solved

the supplied FS another gimmick, thank goodness it lasted less than one splitwood fire, and an LMF army fits perfectly, problem solved

Other than that, i really diggin the knife, the only other knife to get me going was my GRK and a mora clipper

The sheath is no that bad to me. I agree that leather would be a smoother fit. I still am using the kydex sheath on my Tracker, but I am on J's waiting list for a leather jacket for it. I am sure that I will eventually get one for this knife as well. All in all though it does its job, and is a no maintenance piece.

The FS that came with it doesn't shower sparks like my LMF one does. I agree that my LMF Army fits perfectly in it as well.

Good luck and thanks for the feedback.

[Longbow29]

Sigh.....

I allready have enough TOPS knives.....

And money is short.....

Then this pops up!

LOL...

[Panzer]

I am with you Howie. Same observations.

I need to remove the shango, convex the blade and have J make me a sheath.

[rhino]

As I also have much disdain for the kydex (plastic) sheath I ordered a dangler leather sheath from Beo-wulf (Robert Jones). Should be a huge upgrade

[Mr Moon]

Got one about 2 days ago and was pleased. Had no problem starting and fire and it seems to be a good fit to the kit.

[codeman1798]

Hi all,

Not wanting to show off my ignorance, but what is a "shango notch"?



Cody

[Grizzly Adams]

Hi all,

Not wanting to show off my ignorance, but what is a "shango notch"?



Cody

Its just a fancy way of saying you have a notch in the handle to strike a firesteel.