Tom Brown Tracker, Gray Micarta Handle, Black Blade, Kydex Model TBT-010

I purchased this from Amazon and it arrived very promptly with all the certification, the owners manual, a sheath, and a TOPS whistle. The blade was rust free and the factory edge was suitable for chopping but not shaving sharp. A lot of people really don't like this knife but I think probably the biggest reason is the obscene price. I can't know what the price is at the time you are reading this but for me it was considerably lower than TOPS' asking price and I was able to partially pay for it with gift cards so it felt more reasonably priced at the time.I'll be reviewing the knife in sections:Handle- The linen Micarta is comfortable and I really like it more than the canvas micarta some of my other knives have. The only thing about the handle that is odd or takes any getting used to is the three handle possitions.Chopping edge- This knife chops better that the hatchet I have. You have to chop with it correctly in the third handle position so that the angle the knife hits the wood is similar to that of a hatchet. I also use the chopping edge to sort of baton through larger logs.Draw Blade- the draw blade functions well. It makes feather sticks very well and although the manual recommends covering the saw teeth with buckskin to protect your hands I have used it without buckskin for brief periods and been fine. If you don't have buckskin then some bark or a bandanna work fine. The draw blade will also baton small sticks which helps building certain fire configurations.Gut Hook- I haven't gutted anything, it seems okay enough... not as good as a dedicated hook but it would still work. I have also kind of ignored the hook portion and batoned with the full length of the blade and had no friction problems.The saw blade- this saw isn't great for wood processing, it isn't built to cut down large trees and even a small branch you'll just want to chop off. The saw edge is great for notching sticks when building traps and snares. Before using this knife I struggled with trapping but this knife makes it a lot more easy going.The sheath. This sheath is just the worst. I hated the knife at first because the sheath has very very little friction retention so I was constantly checking to see if it had fallen out. The combined frustration of constantly checking the sheath and wondering what could happen when a 2lb knife falls out the sheath attached to your waist made me hate carrying it. Its a very heavy knife so great friction retention might be difficult to achieve but it seems like they didn't even try when designing this. I ended up constructing a leather one of my own which is what I began to enjoy carrying and using this knife.I now love this knife as a one knife trying to do it all sort of tool. But you might be just as well off with a leatherman or a couple of dedicated tools. Superficially- it looks pretty sweet and can be a conversation piece.

An avid knife collector, my life long quest for the ultimate knife began at the age of six when I got my first. An Old Timer three-blade pocket knife. Since that time I have been fascinated with the beauty and versatility of a finely crafted blade. The Tom Brown Tracker is quite possibly the best all-purpose Wilderness Survival Knife (WSK) one can buy. The Tracker outshines my survival knife, k-bar and bowie knife in all categories I can think of. Although I have never been involved in a knife fight I doubt I would choose the tracker as an offensive weapon like in the movies. My interest in the Tracker began when I watched "The Hunted" almost five years ago. No surprise there. Like the movie infers, I thought it was a cool looking fighting knife so I was hesitant to invest in a blade that I would never use for what I thought was its intended purpose. Earlier this year my interest in the Tracker was rekindled after I visited the world's largest knife store on vacation and to my dismay then didn't sell it! When I got home I started my investigation; this is what I found:1. Critics either love it or hate it2. Those who love the Tracker embrace the versatility of this multi-functional survival tool3. Those who hate the Tracker dismiss it as a Hollywood gimmick4. I could find little to no feed back from real people, including Amazon.com feed back5. This is not a fighting knife, at nearly 2 lb. it is way too big to be wielded in an offensive manner although, it is very intimidatingOn with the chlorophyl...Pros-Chopping blade strikes with the heft of a hand axe with the control of a machete-Carving blade cuts, carves, shaves, slices, and splits as well as it claims too.*-Saw teeth, while short, are very effective at eating though wood-Saw teeth are also excellent to scrap magnesium and striking flint for fire starting without dulling your blade-VERY SHARP and you can easily maintain the edge by using a honing rod after use, this will decrease the frequency of using a sharpening stone*Cons-*At 1/4 inch thick the Tracker's blade cannot do everything, smaller more intricate tasks will require a thin blade-*You will need to keep the blade lightly oiled when not in use, the 1095 high carbon steel holds an excellent edge but will oxidize quickly-Black epoxy coating on the blade is showing signs of scuffing or scrap off after moderate use-When cleaning the Tracker don't use an abrasive surface, this will lead to the aforementioned epoxy scuffing-The sheath is designed to be carried as a right hand draw in the scout position, I am left handedI gave the Track Five Stars because I am extremely satisfied with my over all purchase. The Amazon price was by far the lowest I could find. This knife has done everything I have asked it to do. How can I complain?If you plan to spend the rest of your life living comfortably in the society you have grown accustom to, than you really don't need this knife. But, if inside you is the primal urge to leave modern civilization behind and scrape out your existence among the trees and animals on the wilderness then I highly recommend that Tom Brown's Tracker become an essential piece of your equipment. It's not the only tool you will need but it will more than handle many of the common survival tasks you will have to accomplish while living off the land.Is Tom Brown's Tracker the ultimate knife? I don't know but, it has satisfied my quest for an imposing, versatile and beautiful blade. At least for now...

Nice knife just what I expected real comfortable in my hands!!

i was amazed to read how many uses this knife/tool has.so far i havent put many to the test, but it does very well as a hatchet, especially green wood (obviously)i have finished and cleaned a goat with both portions of the blade.its a little hard to skin an animal with the hatchet part, but it is possible.i know i know, thats not its purpose and i realize that.lucky for me, i made a paracord lanyard out of gutted paracord and weedeater thread, with a small side release buckle.while running across rocks trying to out-flank a herd, the knife shook out of the sheath and fell between some rocks.if not for the lanyard stopping me, i would have back-tracked for some hours in search of my $200 knife, and it possibly wouldnt have been recovered.kinda my fault because i had the sheath clips on the back of my belt, which was flimsy 1 1/2" webbing, allowing it to flop around more.the sheath doesnt seem to hold it too securely, but then again, its a rather heavy blade, and im sure the manufacturer didnt want to make it difficult to remove.however, i think i might use a heat gun to tighten it up a little more......might just be my sheath?anyways, im not complaining, just noting for others.love this knife. i feel confident in this being my only piece of equipment if i had to choose just one.