Thursday, July 3, 2014

TOPS TEX CREEK HUNTER XL

Tops Tex Creek hunter XL

O/A Length: 11 1/8"
Blade Length:6 1/8" Thickness: 3/16"
Steel: 1095 HighCarbon Steel
Handle: Black Canvas Micarta
Blade Finish: Black River Wash
Sheath: Leather
Weight: 9.5oz
Weight w/ Sheath: 11.7oz
Designed by: Leo Espinoza

Today i will be reviewing one of the most functional looking options in my opinion by Tops at this time

Grading criteria: 1-really bad-10-excellent
steel: 9
ergos:8
Fit and finish:10
warranty:8
Price to performance: 9
sheath: 5

overall: 8
I consider this knife for someone who wants a good field knife for a good price.  The 1095 steel is easy to work with and holds a very good edge.  Tops has done a very good job on steel.  the fit and finish is outstanding. the ergos are good but not RMD good. although the warranty is not as good as other top companys it is still very good.  while the sheath is sub par in my opinion it still works.  overall its a keeper in my books

Steel: 9
the dif. heat treated 1095 that tops uses does not disappoint.  it keeps its edge and is easy to resharpen
i would put it on par with ESEE's 1095. An like all carbon steels you need to maintain it with a light coat of oil to keep it from rusting

Ergos: 8
The handles of this knife are comfy.  No hotspots were developed while testing.  The handles are also slightly contoured so you don't have a boxy handles like esee likes to put on there knives.  The handle is also designed to give the user maximum control of the blade without putting a choil on the blade which would sacrifice blade length. There is also oversized jimping on the spin of the blade and on the handle.  this serves its purpose and is not too sharp.

Fit and finish: 10
this knife is coated with Top's proprietary black river wash coating.  which both looks good and after some pretty heavy use it did not really wear much and after a good cleaning looked darn near brand new. i believe it is a ceracoat based coating.   the coating really impressed me.  this is superior to both esee's and busse/kin's coatings.  the fit of the knife was very good with no spaces in between scales-steel and liner

Warranty: 8
the Tops warranty is good but it only covers the original buyer and a proof of purchase is required and can be void by "abusing" your knife.  the definition of abuse is at Tops discretion.   wish that they have a no questions ask warranty like other top companys (bark river, busse/kin, and esee)
(top to bottom- DMD,Tex creek, ESEE 6)

Price to performance: 9
at 150 dollars shipped off of Amazon. This is just on the creast of what i would consider spending for a 1095 production knife.  This knife is designed very well and the 3/16 thick blade is the sweet spot for most people.
Sheath: 5
the sheath is made out of leather and the retention is by friction.  the only reason that i give this sheath a 5 is that it will not retain the knife upside down.  this is a big turn off for me because if i am doing any activity I have to worry about my knife flying out of the sheath.  if you are just hiking or walking around camp you will be fine but if you need to move around more(climb, jump, run, ect) i would recommend a spec ops sheath or a custom (Godspeed tactical,Glockcrazz,buybrown,aswelks,ect)
final notes: there is a smaller 4in bladed version of the tex creek.  so if this is not your size requirement i would look into the smaller version

If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me




Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Swamp rat Rodent 3

this is a departure from my traditional reviewing style
tell me what you think-good or bad

overview: a excellent EDC/small camp knife knife that can take some punishment

Uses that i have had good results with: cleaning fish and cutting bait,EDC,fire making,bushcraft,camp chores
ease of use: for me (i have med. sized hands) i am able to get a 3.5-4 finger grip. the micarta handles are grippy even when wet and don't look bad in the aesthetics department either

steel: SR-101 steel is a very good tough steel that can take a fine edge and hold it for a good amount of time. think the ease of sharpening of rowen/esee or kabar's 1095 but with more edge retention if that makes sense

company/warranty: swamp rat knife works is part of the bussekin family which includes busse knife co. scrapyard knife co. and swamp rat knife co. swamp rats have a unconditional lifetime warranty or directly from the website; "lifetime guarantee. All Swamp Rat Knives are covered against any and all unintentional major damage for life. Period." the consumer service department is also very polite and easy to deal with.

Sheath: the sheath is not included but you can get a good quality custom sheath from any of the excellent sheath makers out there Example-godspeed tactical,Buybrown,Azwelke,Pawpaw kydex, Glockcrazz ect.
if you buy from them tell them about this blog.

added note: the knives are made to order and take 2-4 weeks to ship but you could go on one of the many forums see if they are on sale

Monday, June 9, 2014

CGFBM review

CGFBM review
1- very bad 5-average 10-perfect
Categories:
portability-3
ease of use-10
cutting-7
chopping-9.5
batoning-9
price to performance-2



average-7

this blade is a good all arounder.  It chops like a beast and batons like a champ.  if you can get past its price and can deal its size this blade may be for you… that is if u can find one.
happy hunting



-Portability-3
This is a big and heavy blade.  at .25in thick the thing is a beast to have on your belt.  it does alot better in a pack but is still not a light tool.  if you dont want to lug around a big knife look elsewhere



ease of use(ergos)-10
The handle is SUPER comfy.  no hotspots were developed when i was chopping,cutting or batoning



Cutting-7
cutting performance was not really great.  i could not really get a good feather stick with it.  and the heavy blade made notching and other similar tasks difficult.  that being said the blade was not as sharp as it could be.



Chopping-9.5
as far as choppers go this is darn close to as good as it gets.
the blade is very well balanced for chopping and its not so heavy that you get tired quickly



Batoning-9
with the length of the blade and the thickness makes this a very effective splitter able to split some very big logs.  could not ask for something better as far as  knifes go.



price to performance-2
this is where this blade and most other busse blades suck at(and this is also why there is a thing call scrapyard knives :p)   You can get 98% of the performance for a fraction of the cost with something like a bk9,SYKC 911,R9 ect.  for me the performance does not constitute the cost but others mileage may vary.

Tasks:
camp tool-9
backpacking tool in a 2 blade system-7
Survival blade-8

average-8


camp tool-9
as a camp tool this blade is amazing.  you can do just about anything with it and a folder.  making kindling: no problem.  making tent stakes: no problem.  cutting massive amounts of bacon: no problem. Making a shelter: no problem.

Backpacking tool-7
this makes a great tool to keep in your pack because most go out with a 3 blade system- a large knife like this one, a medium sized knife(esee 6,RMD) and a small belt knife/folder(esee 3,izula, PM2 ect).  this lowers your weight by cutting out(lol punny) some weight

Survival blade- 8
 While this blade is not the best for small delicate tasks this blade would do you fine in a survival situation because it can do it and it can accomplish much harder tasks that a smaller/less robust blade could not with ease.  and in a wet environment you don't have to worry about rust as much.  as well as being able to be sharpened easier