Two kinds of people hate the tracker. 1, those who just don't like large knives, 2, those who don't know how to use (and/or sharpen) it. I love all 3 of my T1s. As for finer work, it wasn't meant to be a carving knife; It was meant to be a bull in a China shop. That said, it still does just fine carving ember notches, shaving timber, you name it. I do think the SXB is a far better knife than the tracker, but that's only because I prefer very large knives. I'll take a dragon in the village over a bull in the China shop.
I got the Tops SXS (smaller version). It is an amazing blade, though it doesnt have the weight an excel at chopping like the tracker does (2.2 lbs for the full size tops tracker). The Tops SXB looks like a beast.
I use to chalk up the design to a movie prop...then I actually tried it out. In 2018 I bought a Bark River Trakker and went to work and absolutely loved it! The design makes you think outside the box and use it more as a tool than just a knife. Now I own a WSK, so you could say I'm a complete convert!
@@BloodGrooveKnives This is a bit hard to explain but the WSK feels like a professional tool in the hand. Very comfortable, solid grip and the balance with a tapered tang is spot on. Dave Beck's heat treat is amazing, I can use it on very hard woods and the edge just needs a stropping after. Bark River Trakker is a great knife but not the same level as Dave's work IMHO. If you look up "Bushcraft Costa Rica" channel I have a series of videos dedicated to the WSK and one on the Bark River Trakker as well.
@@bushcraftcostarica808 Thanks for your input. Just looked up the price of Dave Beck’s WSK, and that’s not an option after all. Will check out your videos though. Thanks.
I agree, love em….can’t treat it like other knives, they are in their own category. Best ever for building fire and camp construction….love all the sizes….I believe the saw more useful than people think, and works well with green wood….
I have all the Tops Tom Brown trackers in the series. Plus the SXB and SXS. The tracker pattern is my favorite style of blade. Very unconventional but effective none the less. I put up a video a while ago explaining how I carry and use them. I have other knives I carry but I always have a tracker pattern on me. If I had to recommend one of the series the T-2 is the most “Bushcrafty”. It’s been a few years but I had a knife you were interested in buying. Ultimately the deal fell through. Glad you are well and Great review!
Feel like the people that give it hate ....do not know how to use it...there is alot of hype that goes into knives..as into everything...but if you know how to use them ...then you know there is a place for this knife. Thanks for all your knowledge you share sir🙏 whether i agree or not...ive got respect for you🤘
I have one. It's actually not bad, when you know a little more about it.. but it's more a bow knife, meaning it's built for making a bow in the wild. But it is definitely not the only blade I use.
Good video, keeping open minded consider changing your technique for making feather sticks and you will find it will excel over all other blade shapes, the saw teeth I have learned it to be extremely useful not only for notching grooves for cordage but processing material for tinder bundles & tenderizing meat. The Tracker knife doesn’t baton the same as what you would for other designs as well, try placing the “ULU” forward hatchet portion on the piece of wood you wish to split on a slight angle of the handle up a bit and baton the concave spine, this will solve the problem you have with the saw chewing up your baton. The way TOPS built the Tracker WSK is why the knife doesn’t perform with striking a Ferro Rod that’s a fault that falls on the knife maker not the knife . I have modified mine taking out the Faults to really make it a knife with super powers even added an Arrow Wrench into the blade by drilling a hole in the diameter of an Arrow shaft, after all the design was intended to make a bow in the field seems only logical it should the ability to make a well built arrow to go with it. ua-cam.com/video/shAkKSc9Vl0/v-deo.html
Plus you can feel like tommy lee Jones or benecio del toro in the hunted.without making one on the fly like Benicio did in the movie he whipped one up in about 15 minutes
@@AlaskanFrontier1 I always wanted a tops surv tac 7 or the 5 even.really looked interesting.I still want a tbt also just a fun knife is the one you have the bigger version ?
I like my T-1 but I really like the EJ Snyder Skullcrusher. If you get a chance, give one a try, they put the notching saw in a different position on the spine and I prefer it. Plus, it chops better than the tracker.
@@AlaskanFrontier1 For sure! I ran across mine a year ago and I'm assuming that TOPS had just shipped them at the time. I think I got it at Smoky Mountain Knife Works.
Have you ever had a chance to get your hands on a Beck WSK? That would be the ultimate evolution of the Tracker style. Personally, I love my TBT's. I sort of look at them like a brand English Army Issue Parang, in that the Parang is designed to be modified by the end-user both in the handle and edge geometry. Personalization is key with the TBT's. They are easily modified to be exactly what you need them to be, and most of us do that right away to the original edge geometry. And of course, you have made that one uniquely yours. Love that. Keep up the great work brother!
Sadly no. But I should check it out! That's good to know, customizing gear is something I do love, you have to make it suit your needs and that's that.
I believe its designed to be a one tool option (which is not realistic for most of us) and it does excel at that compared to other designs ... but in reality for what people would be looking at this for... you would be better off with multiple tools: say a cold steel shovel for your axe machete work, a silky gomboy or 170 saw, a mora kansbol, and a leatherman surge. With this type of combo you could acomplish much for survival uses. However in my mind were this excels if your truley limited in space and weight and have little options of carrying more cutting/digging tools
I have yet to see anyone get the tracker right. You spent a bunch of time talking about the saw back. Even tho you said it's just for notching at the end, that is all it is for, notching quickly. If your going to chop with it, you will never get the best out of it without a pinky lanyard and choking waaaay back on the handle. Also the only spot to feather with it is the misunderstood "guthook" it is a 1/4 rounder for feather and making arrows, bows or staves. This knife makes some of the best feathers ever. I have been told that the teeth makes a fine fish descaler too but I have yet to try it
I find fhe worst thing about it to be more to do with the community being silly. He was asked fo design a tool that he would want if he could only carry one tool/knife into the woods. Is what it is. Me personally, I don't know. I'm not a skilled outdoorsman. It is obviously purposefully designed but it's heavy and the vast majority of the time you carry more than one tool in.
In my experience, people who don't like this tool just really don't understand it or how to use it properly. If I had to be lost in a wilderness with only one tool, this would be the one.
Greetings from Switzerland ... Got one and its a nice Knife when you know how to work whit :) Btw, you know the Knifes from Wander Tactical ? The Smilodon or the Uro and the Godfahter..Test it ;)
The Cold Steel SRK, and he Esse 6 eh? You my friend have great taste in knives! In any case the Tom Brown Tracker isn't really a knife, it's more of a wilderness survival tool. Pair it with a knife like the Mora Garberg and there's not a lot you can't do. The TB takes some time to learn how to use though.
The larger tracker is way better. Tops tells you to use the blade . The spine is not heat treated, and your fire steel should have a striker connected anyway.
Two kinds of people hate the tracker. 1, those who just don't like large knives, 2, those who don't know how to use (and/or sharpen) it. I love all 3 of my T1s. As for finer work, it wasn't meant to be a carving knife; It was meant to be a bull in a China shop. That said, it still does just fine carving ember notches, shaving timber, you name it. I do think the SXB is a far better knife than the tracker, but that's only because I prefer very large knives. I'll take a dragon in the village over a bull in the China shop.
I got the Tops SXS (smaller version). It is an amazing blade, though it doesnt have the weight an excel at chopping like the tracker does (2.2 lbs for the full size tops tracker). The Tops SXB looks like a beast.
I use to chalk up the design to a movie prop...then I actually tried it out. In 2018 I bought a Bark River Trakker and went to work and absolutely loved it! The design makes you think outside the box and use it more as a tool than just a knife. Now I own a WSK, so you could say I'm a complete convert!
I agree! They are very unique tools more than anything!
Which do you like better, the Bark River or the WSK?
@@BloodGrooveKnives This is a bit hard to explain but the WSK feels like a professional tool in the hand. Very comfortable, solid grip and the balance with a tapered tang is spot on. Dave Beck's heat treat is amazing, I can use it on very hard woods and the edge just needs a stropping after. Bark River Trakker is a great knife but not the same level as Dave's work IMHO.
If you look up "Bushcraft Costa Rica" channel I have a series of videos dedicated to the WSK and one on the Bark River Trakker as well.
@@bushcraftcostarica808
Thanks for your input. Just looked up the price of Dave Beck’s WSK, and that’s not an option after all. Will check out your videos though. Thanks.
I agree, love em….can’t treat it like other knives, they are in their own category. Best ever for building fire and camp construction….love all the sizes….I believe the saw more useful than people think, and works well with green wood….
I have all the Tops Tom Brown trackers in the series. Plus the SXB and SXS. The tracker pattern is my favorite style of blade. Very unconventional but effective none the less. I put up a video a while ago explaining how I carry and use them. I have other knives I carry but I always have a tracker pattern on me. If I had to recommend one of the series the T-2 is the most “Bushcrafty”.
It’s been a few years but I had a knife you were interested in buying. Ultimately the deal fell through.
Glad you are well and Great review!
I personally love it. It does all and more for my use.
From what I have been told the saw back was designed for notching wood for traps and mostly scaling fish scales.
Feel like the people that give it hate ....do not know how to use it...there is alot of hype that goes into knives..as into everything...but if you know how to use them ...then you know there is a place for this knife. Thanks for all your knowledge you share sir🙏 whether i agree or not...ive got respect for you🤘
Exactly! Thank you!
I love the smaller ones. Just a bit more control and still. A Beast
I have one. It's actually not bad, when you know a little more about it.. but it's more a bow knife, meaning it's built for making a bow in the wild. But it is definitely not the only blade I use.
Good video, keeping open minded consider changing your technique for making feather sticks and you will find it will excel over all other blade shapes, the saw teeth I have learned it to be extremely useful not only for notching grooves for cordage but processing material for tinder bundles & tenderizing meat. The Tracker knife doesn’t baton the same as what you would for other designs as well, try placing the “ULU” forward hatchet portion on the piece of wood you wish to split on a slight angle of the handle up a bit and baton the concave spine, this will solve the problem you have with the saw chewing up your baton. The way TOPS built the Tracker WSK is why the knife doesn’t perform with striking a Ferro Rod that’s a fault that falls on the knife maker not the knife . I have modified mine taking out the Faults to really make it a knife with super powers even added an Arrow Wrench into the blade by drilling a hole in the diameter of an Arrow shaft, after all the design was intended to make a bow in the field seems only logical it should the ability to make a well built arrow to go with it. ua-cam.com/video/shAkKSc9Vl0/v-deo.html
Darn, thanks for the tips and tricks!
Man, there is so much win in that blade.... until that is you see the sawback, lol.
Thanks for the vid!
You got that right!
Working on getting one
Plus you can feel like tommy lee Jones or benecio del toro in the hunted.without making one on the fly like Benicio did in the movie he whipped one up in about 15 minutes
Ahaha thats true
@@AlaskanFrontier1 I always wanted a tops surv tac 7 or the 5 even.really looked interesting.I still want a tbt also just a fun knife is the one you have the bigger version ?
I like my T-1 but I really like the EJ Snyder Skullcrusher. If you get a chance, give one a try, they put the notching saw in a different position on the spine and I prefer it. Plus, it chops better than the tracker.
I'll have to see if I can track one down. They are kind of elusive.
@@AlaskanFrontier1 For sure! I ran across mine a year ago and I'm assuming that TOPS had just shipped them at the time. I think I got it at Smoky Mountain Knife Works.
Have you ever had a chance to get your hands on a Beck WSK? That would be the ultimate evolution of the Tracker style. Personally, I love my TBT's. I sort of look at them like a brand English Army Issue Parang, in that the Parang is designed to be modified by the end-user both in the handle and edge geometry. Personalization is key with the TBT's. They are easily modified to be exactly what you need them to be, and most of us do that right away to the original edge geometry. And of course, you have made that one uniquely yours. Love that. Keep up the great work brother!
Sadly no. But I should check it out! That's good to know, customizing gear is something I do love, you have to make it suit your needs and that's that.
Well you said it right a number of times, the TB Tracker is a tool best used to make other tools or bows even, it’s not much of a knife.
This is perfectly true, thanks for summing it up!
i like the versitility of the
t-3,and of course their better knives-for orther work,but the
t3 can do alot and survive the abuse.
i have the first model made and i just got the newer one in black 9.25 oal i ordered it this am
I believe its designed to be a one tool option (which is not realistic for most of us) and it does excel at that compared to other designs ... but in reality for what people would be looking at this for... you would be better off with multiple tools: say a cold steel shovel for your axe machete work, a silky gomboy or 170 saw, a mora kansbol, and a leatherman surge. With this type of combo you could acomplish much for survival uses. However in my mind were this excels if your truley limited in space and weight and have little options of carrying more cutting/digging tools
I think you should try and modify it in order to have a convex and thinner edge, it would make it a much better cutter
That would be interesting for sure. I don't know if I'm brave enough to try tho
@@AlaskanFrontier1 Lots of knife makers will do it for you, the results are awesome
Just bought my first Tops knife Tex creek 25th anniversary 😎
Thats pretty cool!
I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE TOM BROWN TRACKER # 1 BUT I CAN'T GET IT, DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE IT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO BUY TODAY?
I really don't think I ever seen saw backs that do work
Nope, they are too thick to work as a saw
@@AlaskanFrontier1 maybe wire cutters like the old Rambo knoves
Was that a mosquito buzzing around your work space or the state bird ????
Have you had a chance to use the Dave Beck WSK
Not yet
I have yet to see anyone get the tracker right.
You spent a bunch of time talking about the saw back. Even tho you said it's just for notching at the end, that is all it is for, notching quickly. If your going to chop with it, you will never get the best out of it without a pinky lanyard and choking waaaay back on the handle. Also the only spot to feather with it is the misunderstood "guthook" it is a 1/4 rounder for feather and making arrows, bows or staves. This knife makes some of the best feathers ever. I have been told that the teeth makes a fine fish descaler too but I have yet to try it
I believe the deeper groove is for snapping barbed wire.
Tracker is the best feather sticker ever .
It can be
I find fhe worst thing about it to be more to do with the community being silly. He was asked fo design a tool that he would want if he could only carry one tool/knife into the woods. Is what it is.
Me personally, I don't know. I'm not a skilled outdoorsman. It is obviously purposefully designed but it's heavy and the vast majority of the time you carry more than one tool in.
Good honest review.
Im waiting on one of these.
You might like my knife videos.
In my experience, people who don't like this tool just really don't understand it or how to use it properly. If I had to be lost in a wilderness with only one tool, this would be the one.
Featherstickimg equals curls with a tracker
Greetings from Switzerland ... Got one and its a nice Knife when you know how to work whit :) Btw, you know the Knifes from Wander Tactical ? The Smilodon or the Uro and the Godfahter..Test it ;)
Wish I had the money to play with Wander Knives
The Cold Steel SRK, and he Esse 6 eh? You my friend have great taste in knives! In any case the Tom Brown Tracker isn't really a knife, it's more of a wilderness survival tool. Pair it with a knife like the Mora Garberg and there's not a lot you can't do. The TB takes some time to learn how to use though.
Haha thank you, I would agree the Tracker is in a class of it own
The larger tracker is way better. Tops tells you to use the blade . The spine is not heat treated, and your fire steel should have a striker connected anyway.
That's probably true
The parang and kukri is multi use, and they been around for a very very long time. Multi use blades is a old concept not new.
It's challenging just to look at lol
Ahaha
Prefer the bark river tracker
Just Find A Tool You Like & Use It Until You Wear It Out. Personally The Tracker Works For Me & I Dont Care What People Think.
I can see that, and that's the truth!
😄 🤣 Truck Bed Liner! Aint That The Truth. I Use The Sawback To Get My Kettle Off The Fire. Thats About All Its Good For.
Ahaha well, atleast you use it
There's n wear on his knife he apparently loves to look at his
It is used for sure
Good review, drawback is ridiculous. Much better tool if it had no sawback
Yes that is very true. Kinda watersdown the credibility of the knife
I disagree. I like having the ability to quickly cut notches for various purposes. It's also great for scraping off fine wood pieces for tinder.
first!
Thanks!
A bit over priced it's the Name that makes it cost to much Wayland has an equal for less then half the price.
Sharpening is a nightmare
Definitely