Tom Brown Tracker

[RealPreppersWearPurple]

This is my first major knife purchase. I have a lot of others, but they're more for fun and work. Switchblade, butterfly, ect...
It's the full size one with the Rocky Mountain handle. It's $329 retail. I bought it off Craigslist for $200. Never been used. I'm pretty excited about it.
I've got the Kydex sheath. I'm considering getting the Hedgehog for it eventually
I looked through the first 10 pages here and didn't see any mention of it. I'm curious what you guys think of this blade.

[SARKY]

Hey, since you're up in Seattle.... BenchMade country, do you ever come across Bench Made Balisongs with the titanium handle and weehawk blade? I'm trying to replace the one I gave to a buddy of mine who was headed to the sand box. I went to my local knife shop and they told me Bench Made is no longer making that model.

[RealPreppersWearPurple]

I've never heard of it. You should try calling them to see if they have any around. you can also start doing regular searches on Craigslist for it

[RealPreppersWearPurple]

Does anyone have this knife? Have you ever used it? Have any concerns about it! Think it's a complete waste of money? Want one? Anything?

[wtrfwlr]

Hey, since you're up in Seattle.... BenchMade country, do you ever come across Bench Made Balisongs with the titanium handle and weehawk blade? I'm trying to replace the one I gave to a buddy of mine who was headed to the sand box. I went to my local knife shop and they told me Bench Made is no longer making that model.

Yes it is worth a call to the factory. I ran into this once with a Browning model 309 that I really wanted to replace but it was discontinued. A call to the factory and a helpful sales rep. told me that an outfit in Montana regularly buys out discontinued inventory. A call to them and I was hooked up with a new Browning. Sorry I do not remember the name of the place.

[crashdive123]

Does anyone have this knife? Have you ever used it? Have any concerns about it! Think it's a complete waste of money? Want one? Anything?

Out of the choices you gave regarding the Tom Brown Tracker....
No
Yes
Cost vs use
Pretty much
Not really

[RangerXanatos]

I don't have the knife nor have I used one. I would like to try it though. From what I understand, the factory grind is horrible and needs to be modded to make it useable. It's also very big and heavy. People also say the best feature of the knive is the quarter round. While I would love to have one, I doubt I would get much use out of it. It's too heavy for me to take everywhere. But some people are just awesome with the knife. Check this guy's video's. Here uses the Tracker in a lot of them. http://www.youtube.com/user/OperationalExtras/videos

[kyratshooter]

I do not purchase items with the names of either Tom Brown or Bear Grylls stamped on them.

As for the design of the Tracker, it fails to meet any of my knife needs or requirements, any of which CAN be met at 10% of the price of the Tracker.

[finallyME]

I don't have one. I think $200 is a lot for a factory knife (and you got it cheap). If I was going to spend that much, I would look at a custom knife so that I get exactly what I wanted.

Since I haven't ever used it, I don't really have an opinion on it. Some people like it, and some hate it. It seems to be a polarizing knife. I have seen on other forums very spirited discussions about it. When I first saw it, I wanted one. But, not having the money kept me from getting it. My current big knife is a Cold Steel SRK in Carbon V. I bought it at a PX in Kuwait for $45 in 2003. I strapped it to my flack jacket and carried it everywhere for a year. Here at home, I think it is HUGE, but many here would think it is mid sized. To each their own. I think if I ever got a knife like the TBT, then it would be because I made it myself.

Most here on this forum don't have it (I'm guessing). Why don't you do a review on it and tell us what you think about it?

[RealPreppersWearPurple]

Crash, what are your specific problems with it?
Ranger, it's far from the sharpest knife ever, but it's not that bad. I like heavy knives. I'm young and pretty big so I can handle the extra weight here and there for now. One of my clients want me to cut down some 9" round trees for him. I'm gonna give it a whirl with the Tracker. Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff.
Kyrat, what are your requirements for a knife?

[kyratshooter]

I do not have requirements for "A" knife.

No one cutting instrument can meet all my needs and I do not expect some hybrid that does not have a clear opinion of what it is to meet them. It has nothing to do with how big you are or how big or small the knife is. I do not try to remove splinters from my fingers with an axe or chop trees with a pocket knife or do either one with "something in between".

9" trees with the Tracker???

Just because you can does not mean you should, or that the Tracker is the best, second best, or third best tool for the job.

"If it was all you had it is nice to know you could", correct?

If all I had was a rusty railroad spike I woud eventually chew through the tree. Beavers do it with their teeth, I don't. I would prefer a good axe if the Homelite is not handy. They were actually made for that job.

The only real use/purpose for the Tracker was to trap a worshipful market share.

[crashdive123]

Crash, what are your specific problems with it?

Out of the choices you gave regarding the Tom Brown Tracker....
No
Yes
Cost vs use
Pretty much
Not really

Pretty much as I listed in my previous post, but if you like it and it works for you, then it works for me.

[Rick]

One of my clients want me to cut down some 9" round trees for him. I'm gonna give it a whirl with the Tracker.

Take a lunch and some water.

[crashdive123]

Or an axe.

[Rick]

Well thank you, Mr. Obvious....(wish I had thought of that, dang it!)

[crashdive123]

Well, I have been accused of having a keen grasp of the obvious.........some of the time.

[RealPreppersWearPurple]

A use my axe, but being how heavy the knife is, I'm gonna give it a whirl for fun

[Seniorman]

FINALLYME - "My current big knife is a Cold Steel SRK in Carbon V. I bought it at a PX in Kuwait for $45 in 2003."

Speaking of the Cold Steel SRK, when I lived in Los Angeles, a man I knew who lived full time up in the Sierra in a fairly remote area, carried a C.S.SRK all the time. Being out in the mountains and woods constantly, surrounded by the Sequoia Nat'l. Forest, it was always on his belt. He was a retired Army Special Forces operator who had served 13 years with Special Forces teams.

I asked him about the SRK and he told me that it was a good knife that served his purposes around his small acreage in the mountains just fine. He also used it when hiking, camping, and hunting deer and Black bear up there. Worked for him.

As for the O.P's. question about the T.B. Tracker, I've only used a borrowed one in camp once and it felt too heavy and awkward for my tastes. Perhaps I've just spent too many years using my traditional knives. I'd find a better way to spend my money.

S.M.

[hunter63]

[QUOTE=RealPreppersWearPurple;336214]Crash, what are your specific problems with it?
Ranger, it's far from the sharpest knife ever, but it's not that bad. I like heavy knives. I'm young and pretty big so I can handle the extra weight here and there for now. One of my clients want me to cut down some 9" round trees for him. I'm gonna give it a whirl with the Tracker. Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff.
Kyrat, what are your requirements for a knife?[/QUOTE]

You mean if you had a choice?.... Just because?...Why in the world would you want to do that?

What is the job?...that dictates the requirements.

[RealPreppersWearPurple]

There's 5 cypress trees in bad shape on a rental property. He wants em down. I'm gonna attempt to get one down with the knife, take one down with my axe that i sharpened today and take out the other 3 with a chainsaw. I know what you all are thinking, "Why is this idiot not going to cut down all of em with the chainsaw?"
The answer is because I'm an idiot. I want to give it a shot with the knife, just to see how it holds up and how well, if at all it works(I doubt it will). I want to fell one with an axe, for practice. I work for this guy hourly. I obviously won't be charging for my time when I cut down the 2 trees in the less efficient manner. That wouldn't be right.