Excalibur's shorter, stockier little brother...
As a native of the West, transplanted to the South, I have lived my life exposed to the outdoors and all the activities it offers, along with all the gear that makes adventuring fun. I am not afraid to admit that I have enjoyed fishing and hunting my whole life and have a natural affinity for the goodies that go bang, have an edge, or light up the night. Although now I am more likely to pass up an African Safari for a Photo romp in my local woods, I still try to go prepared for anything Mother Nature throws at me. Although I don't actively attend any support groups, I am a collector of tactical stuff, leaning more towards the "grey-man" than "tacti-cool". I have been fascinated with sharp tools my whole life, beginning with one of my earliest memories of cutting myself with my mom's kitchen knife while trying to open a toy package from a cereal box when I was just knee-high to a short cow (45 years later, I still have the scar on my wrist). Jump forward many years, and I found myself examining an 65' Blackjack Oak tree (Quercus marilandica) in my yard, which had fallen victim to an ill-placed lightening strike last summer. As I do love being a gear-hound, I was hesitant to part with the (probably reasonable) amount the tree removal service wanted, and set about finding the right tool for the job. Enter the Tom Brown #1 Tracker. While I already possessed 72 knives too many (according to my wife), I felt that the disposal of such a noble specimen of nature deserved something purchased just for it. It arrived promptly at 10am, and the first time I wielded this blade, I knew that my intuition had been correct. As I ceremoniously waved it back and forth, the humming sound reminded me of a light saber, "an elegant weapon for a more civilized age". Then I realized I was standing under the bug zapper. It sliced through the air so cleanly that I could only take short breaths. After only what seemed like a blink of time, my wife came out and pointedly remarked that it was getting dark, and she couldn't see any progress on the tree, so maybe I'd better get to bed early and start again the next morning. Cut to 530am the following day. My wonderful wife fueled me with a hearty "Lumberjack" breakfast consisting of an egg-white omelet with no salt, 2 strips of non-nitrite/nitrate non-GMO turkey bacon, a 1" cube of oven-baked organic sweet potato grown by Tibetan Monks, 1 slice of non-gluten, low-carb "toast" with a micro-thin layer of organic, extra-virgin coconut oil, and 4 ounces of organic, non-chemical, immune-boosting, decaffeinated coffee...yum...(I hate diets, but what can you do when your wife buys every nutrition book ever printed)? At 534am, I stood before my nemesis. With a firm grip, I focused all my meager concentration and cut cleanly through the 4-foot trunk with 2 mighty swings (I misjudged the first and accidentally took down a telephone pole). I was astonished! Despite the weight of this knife, the balance was so perfect that I could turn the blade and reverse my swing faster than I could think about it (no great feat, but still...). I widened my stance slightly and with a back-and-forth motion that took less effort than breathing, I processed the tree as it fell. I was able to cut and split the trunk into 6 cords of firewood, divide the larger branches into 9-inch lengths for my smoker, and trim all the smaller branches into tent stakes for the next 2 years of scout jamborees. Unfortunately, even with the constant acceleration of gravity of approximately 9.8m/s/s or 32ft/s/s, it still took me the better part of 5 seconds to finish the job.The blade cut so cleanly that the ends of the logs looked like they had been sanded down with 1000 grit sandpaper, then buffed with the fur of a baby unicorn. I then examined that knife for any signs of wear. I did find a leg hair from the leg of a small gnat on one side. I flicked it off with my left index finger and the knife looked like new again. Checking the edge, I could see the even reflection of the morning sun gleaming forth. I thought, "Well, it looks good, let's see how sharp it is". I waved it over my left arm, and instantly a swath of bare skin appeared. It felt as smooth as a baby's bottom, after said baby had been to a $1000 a day spa and received the deluxe exfoliation treatment. I waved it over again, and an even 0.5 micron thick layer of my skin from my wrist to my elbow was removed. Geez, I thought, my $1 razor can almost do that. Let's find something tougher to test it on. At that moment, one of our cats came over to investigate the activity. With a few deft swipes, I shaved him from stem to stern. Amazingly, there was no sign of nicks, cuts, or razor burn. Of course, cat fur is soft...then I saw one of my dogs...much coarser hair. 12 seconds later, he was as smooth as the cat (except for the size difference, it's amazing how much they look alike now). Hmmm...seems to have held its' edge. I pointed it at a piece of paper which immediately split in half. Okay, the steel seems to hold an edge. Now I still have 2 problems...Is the knife tough enough to bet my life on? Also, I have 2 pets that are shivering because I thoughtlessly shaved them with winter upon us. I got on the Interwebs and booked travel to the Lyakhovsky Islands in the Arctic Sea of Eastern Russia. Following my trusty guide, Ivoghanstorimstknsnk Jones, I found a promising location where I used my knife to dig down through 11 layers of permafrost, rock, volcanic ash, limestone, granite, and clay, where I discovered a complete, frozen Woolly Mammoth. He was frozen solid, but by rapidly running the spine of my knife against a firesteel, I was able to raise the ambient temperature to 48 degrees, which softened the carcass. This allowed me to skin and scrape the pelt. Unfortunately, it still weighed around 800 Lbs., so I used the straight edge of the blade to carve down the Mammoth tusks to use as runners for a travois so we could portage the pelt back to civilization. From this, I was fashioned a form-fitting coat for my pets, along with 67 winter coats, which I donated to the local shelter. After all this, my knife remains in pristine condition. I took it to a kiosk in the mall to have it engraved, but their diamond bit broke when they applied it to the blade, so I'm afraid you might not be able to customize it. It is a true multi-tasker. I used a vise to secure it over a block of steel and using it as an anvil was able to finally finish my traditional Japanese Katana sword,with 512 layers of folded steel. I also have pounded out imperfections in my cast-iron cookware, although I did accidentally shatter a 12 Lb hardened sledge hammer when I missed the pan and hit it directly on the blade of my knife. Okay...so maybe I did stretch the truth a little...but... If you are looking for an excellent do-everything knife, this is it. I do have many different knives, and I use them all in different situations. I carry a Benchmade or CRKT every day for little things like opening boxes or cutting cables and cords. I have some autos that I carry in my emergency packs. I have a nice bushcraft knife that stays with my camping gear, and I have a small, but select collection of Shun kitchen knives for cooking. This is a knife that you'll want to keep in your kit for a little of everything. It has helped me prep for dinner, cut feather sticks for campfires, and cleaned trout and bass. I have used it to cut tinder and even larger branches for tinder, batoning firewood, and I've used the spine to hammer in nails in a pinch. I don't have any experience with other brands of this nature, but I can tell you that the quality on the TOPS knives are first-rate. I like the sheath it comes with, and while the price might seem a little high, ask yourself what it's worth to have a tool like this when you're outdoors. I think that is one question that answers itself. Read more