Tough Guy Equipment

Review and photographs by Danielle Breteau

Pros:

The Packaging: I know, I know. Who cares about the packaging? But wait, it comes in a suede and sheepskin-lined zippered pouch. Nice touch!

Appearance: Looks great. It’s a tough, sturdy looking knife with a great design and ergonomics.

Finish: Good meaty blade with a magnetized powder coat that is sprayed on and then baked for good measure. This finish is on both their black and tan models. The ergonomics of the handle and blade are very comfortable and feel exceptionally solid but then all the TOPS Knives I have owned or tried have that solid you-can’t-break-this feel. 

Function: I’m not going to cut open a soda can or saw through the tree in my front yard to test this knife because that is not what I would use it for, unlike some kitchen knives. This knife will be carried day in and day out and be used for either self-protection, skinning something I want to eat or opening boxes. I usually assign my knives a job in the beginning and try not to waver. It confuses them.

This is not a spring-assist knife. It has a nice sized thumb extractor allowing the user to readily crack open the blade just enough to get that hand-flick-open dynamic for quick and immediate access. I noticed that when I pushed on the thumb extractor, the blade exited the housing and stopped at what felt like a natural safety point, as if it had a hesitation. This, I found out, was intentional because it is a tip-up design. This keeps the blade from falling open when removing it from your pocket. I liked it because I don’t like knives that float freely from the housing, they feel wishy-washy to me. This natural break area is at the perfect point for the transition from thumb pressure to wrist flick moment.

As a woman, this MIL-SPIE 3.5 Tanto is a bit big for me to carry around as a daily pocket carry because I wear fitted pants. My knives need to be a bit slimmer. This would not be a problem for most men whose pants are baggier and have larger pockets.

Cons:
The handle gets a bit slippery when wet and I’m sure blood would be even worse so if there is a downfall, that might be it. Then again, I don’t swim with my knives and if I have to kill something, I will only need to use this knife once. It’s that tough. ASJ