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I look at the Tops Tracker and show you the features that I like about this knife. Is it a good knife for bushcraft? You decide after watching my video.
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0:00
Hey guys, so I'm out in the woods today and I wanted to talk about and show you probably
0:28
some of the most controversial knives out there today. So many misconceptions, so many prejudices against this blade and you know, with knives
0:41
it's all about personal preference but if you're out here trying stuff, you may have
0:46
a different opinion. So I want to show you how I use mine and this is what we got today
0:55
The Tracker. So what is there to say about the Tracker? It's a crazy knife for sure when you look at it
1:04
It looks like something out of a Star Trek movie, like something a Vulcan would use or
1:09
maybe a Klingon, it's like a Klingon knife. But the great thing about this knife is that it has a lot of multiple purposes to it and
1:20
it's a tool so how you use your tool is everything. It's not just the design of the knife, it's how you use it, how you work with it and if
1:31
you know how to use it. So I want to go through and show you how I use it and I'm not here to persuade anybody
1:36
I really don't care if you don't like this knife or not, it's one of my favorite blades
1:40
It's probably the knife that I've had the longest and I've used the most
1:46
So let's get into it. Okay, obviously one of the first things about this knife that you notice is the size
1:53
It is a big blade, it is high carbon steel, I believe it's a quarter inch thick, it's
2:01
a beast. And with any big knife, of course, the advantage is that it is a great batonner
2:09
So if you want to slice this baton into this wood, you've got a nice beefy blade that can
2:15
handle it. Now this is a dead standing maple that I found
2:22
She's starting to get a little punky on the inside. But this would handle it even if it was oak
2:35
Alright, so you guys don't think I'm playing tricks on you. This is a piece of oak and it is very sturdy, very dry
2:50
So we're going to baton through this just to kind of show you that it really doesn't
2:56
matter what the wood is. Where's my baton at? So the course of the purpose of batoning for all the new people is that you're getting
3:34
to the dry center of the wood. I'm about to hit a knot
3:41
Let's just go right through that knot. Not very straight grain, but it's dry wood
4:01
And I can't do that with a much thinner profiled knife. The great advantage of a big knife is it's ability to baton
4:13
And I'm not carrying an axe today, or a hatchet, which I do have and I do use
4:20
Sometimes it's just easier to carry a bigger knife. So another really unusual feature on this knife is that it has this curved blade at
4:35
the front and a straight blade at the back. And the two join and make a little bit of a curve
4:42
And what that does is it creates a spot, a nice sweet spot for drawing the knife and
4:52
creating thinner curls. That's exactly what it does. It's a draw knife
5:03
Now it's probably counterintuitive for most people to take a knife and draw it up towards you
5:13
And certainly you have to use a little bit of caution when doing it
5:28
But it's very controllable. So I want to show you the curls that's coming off that blade
5:44
That's the ultimate goal with curls, is something super thin, super curly
5:51
We call them Shirley Temples. You want lots and lots of those because those are going to take a spark
5:59
Fat lasagna noodles will not. This does. So that's a great advantage of this blade is that with that curved part, I very easily
6:11
and quickly can make a bunch of that. So what I'm doing is I'm creating a little bit of an area to catch all these curls
6:28
So I'm going to do that. So I'm going to do that
7:28
And I'm going to do that. And I'm going to do that
7:34
And I'm going to do that. Alright, so the ultimate test of doing your curls is how well is it going to take a spark
8:04
off of fire steel. And you will know immediately if your curls are thin enough, dry enough
8:22
So I'm going to place my fire steel right down into the nest
8:34
Almost
8:52
There we go. So, you know, people who say that fire steels don't work and that it's a magic trick
9:02
it's much crap. If you practice anything well enough and get good at it, you can do it
9:16
So the other feature of this knife that's really kind of unusual are these saw teeth
9:20
on the back. And if you look at them, they don't look like traditional saw teeth
9:25
So most people say this is a really horrible saw. It's like, why even have this on here
9:30
It doesn't make sense. And that's understandable because the teeth on this thing are just huge
9:36
But what I've learned from this is, and the way I use it is, I don't use it as a saw
9:43
It's really not a traditional saw in that sense where, you know, you have nice fine teeth like
9:52
on your Bako or your Silky or whatever else you use. You know, those have real fine teeth and they're designed for a very specific purpose
10:07
And so are the teeth on this because, in my mind, this is a notching tool
10:13
And that's really what it's designed for. Let me show you how that works
10:18
So now, if maybe you're doing some kind of shelter building or you're doing traps
10:25
building some type of trap, now your wood has a way of joining or laying in there
10:32
creating kind of a tongue and groove effect. Is it something that I use a lot? No
10:40
You know what I use it probably the most for? This front notch right here is deeper than all the rest
10:46
I use that as a pot hook. And it's a great way of picking up a pot out of a fire and keeping my hands away from it
10:53
So is that a real reason to have this thing on here
10:57
No, probably not. It's not that specific and you really don't need it
11:01
But I like it and it works. Yeah, that's a better notch
11:12
See that? Yeah. Another thing with the Tracker is that it has a lot of forward weight to it
11:24
because it has that big curved blade right here. And that, I think, in my mind, is very similar to a hatchet
11:37
Very much hatchet-like. You know, there's not a whole lot more to say about this blade
11:55
It's one of these things that either you like it or you don't. And no one's going to convince you that this is the best thing in the world
12:02
There's a million knives out there. They all do a great job
12:06
It's really personal preference. And when they see it, initially, they just hate it because it's ugly
12:13
and they don't understand it, they've never used one. It's heavy, so on, so forth, whatever
12:19
But, you know, if you want to give it a try, go for it. So we're done looking at the Tracker for today
12:25
Thanks for joining. I hope you enjoyed the video. It was a lot of fun putting together
12:31
Give this knife a try, see what you think about it. I really like it, and I think you should get one too
12:37
There's something on the lens. Get that right there. Good. All right, there we go
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