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TOPS Knife Reviews

(as posted originally in the TOPS Group)

In this discussion forum, we'll be reviewing a variety of Tops knives. As one of the leading knife manufacturers in the US, Tops produces a HUGE variety of knives. Manufactured in Idaho, the Tops products are high-quality and their 1095 blades represent the epitome of modern blade craft. In this forum, we'll discuss the good, the bad and when applicable, we'll suggest changes. Enjoy!

Tags: Knives, Reviews, Tops

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 6, 2014 at 9:07

Reply by Chris Stookey on November 19, 2011 at 16:45

Today we'll be taking a look at one of many of Tops Knives medium-sized fixed blade knives; the Wolfhound.

Specifications

O/A Length: 8 1/2"
Blade Length: 4"
Thickness: 5/32"
Steel: 154cm RC 58-60
Handle: Blue/Black G-10
Color: Satin
Sheath: Leather

Blade: The Wolfhound is a little unusual for Tops Knives in that it has 154cm steel. Most of the knives produced by Tops have 1095 High Carbon steel. At 4" long (though the knife is a full-tang design) and 5/32" thick, the blade is quite durable and sports a bead blast finish. This is the only fixed blade knife that I own that has 154cm...though I have plenty of folding knives that utilize that steel. The blade grind if "full-flat" in a modified clip-point recurve shape. One of the interesting features of the Wolfhound is it's relatively "tall" profile dimension; 1 1/4". This may not sound very big...but when you factor in that the blade is only 4" long...spatial relativity comes into play. Keep this in mind when you read on...

The knife features a broad front finger choil that is "bare" (meaning sans jimping). If you look at the overall shape of the knife, you'll see that it's designed for the choil to be employed much more often than is the case with many other knife designs. Conceptually, front finger choils are designed with the idea in mind that the knife's owner will use this feature when performing cutting tasks that require them to "choke-up" on the blade in order to obtain more control for "precise" work. The Wolfhound's design is such that I found myself using the choil almost all the time. The additional breadth of the choil made it very comfortable to use...and in spite of the lack of jimping, I didn't experience any trouble controlling the blade.

Like is the case with the front finger choil, the spine of the blade lacks jimping or a thumb ramp. I have to admit that I see this as a rather blatant deficiency and am surprised that Tops would overlook this. Again, while I had no trouble controlling the blade, spine jimping would have made this a "better" knife.

Handle: The Wolfhound is built with full-tang construction. Black and Blue G10 handle scales are screwed onto the tang over beautiful red spacers. This color combination makes the knife particularly attractive. All edges of the handle are well-rounded, providing a very comfortable grip. The G10 scales are smooth...though not to the point of being slick. The machining is well-executed and no flaws are visible.

The actual design of the handle is odd. As mentioned under the "Blade" section, the Wolfhound is designed for it's owner to utilize the front finger choil nearly 100% of the time. While it is possible to position the hand from the G10 "back", doing so makes this a 3-finger knife and leaves a huge part of my hand "hanging in the wind". The good news is that the profile of the handle is well-oriented to the natural curvature of the hand. Personally, I would much rather have seen the G10 scales continue up towards the blade...so that the finger choil area was included within the primary real estate of the handle.

Sheath: Made from top-grain leather, the sheath is a simple design with a traditional snap handle retention device. The sheath is well made and it's stitching is perfectly executed. It is designed to slide onto (and off of) a basic belt. Nothing particularly advanced or unusual. Given that the knife steel is 154cm, the leather sheath is much less problematic than it would be for a knife made of high carbon steel.

I found that the knife rode "lose" in the sheath...and while it never came out, I don't like that it slaps around in the retained position. Additionally, the snap strap tends to curl pretty aggressively...and with the relatively tall blade profile, the knife displayed a proclivity for slicing into the strap during removal and insertion.

In The Field: The Wolfhound is a surprisingly effective knife. You'd think that the lack of jimping on the spine and finger choil...and the relatively short handle...would make this knife awkward to use. This would be the case had I kept my hand located within the G10 area. I tried this for a while...and it just didn't work for me. So...I switched to "always" using the front finger choil...and this change made a world of difference.

The blade shape isn't really geared for piercing...in spite of the sharp tip. The blade's curvature and full-flat grind make it one of the very best slicing tools that it has ever been my pleasure to use. Though too small to baton with, the Wolfhound tackles all of the tasks that you'd normally use a 4" blade for with aplomb. Simply effective. The recurve on the knife's edge certainly improves slicing action, though it is a little bit more work to sharpen. The 154cm blade steel holds an edge well while exhibiting excellent overall durability. In fact, it performs so well that I'm surprised that more fixed blades don't use this steel.

The knife is quite compact and while it may be classified as "medium-sized", I really consider it to be more of a "small" medium...or perhaps a "large" small. How's that for doublespeak? In any event...the knife is compact and very easy to carry. A nice kydex sheath would improve this scenario.

Second Kind of Cool: Aesthetically, the Wolfhound is an attractive knife. The combination of colors and textures makes it one cool piece of steel. It's shape is fairly unusual...and the curvaceous lines draw the eye as well as being a comfort to the hand. The looks of the knife are...as shallow as this may sound...what originally compelled me to buy it. Fortunately, the performance of the knife proves that, in this case, beauty is more than merely "skin deep". On a 1-to-10 scale with 10 being the highest possible score...I'd rate this knife a 7.5. The odd handle design, lack of spine and choil jimping...and B-grade sheath design keep this knife from scoring as well as it should have. Of course, Tops Knives did an excellent job with quality control...so the Wolfhound is, as we all expect, a high-quality knife.

Overall Take: The Wolfhound is a small-medium sized knife that performs nearly as well as it looks. If Tops addressed the few deficiencies that I've cited in this review, they'd have themselves a true piece of steel magnificence.