Hey +Tactical, send it to us. We'll test it and get you taken care of.

Sorry tac, but your sacrifice helps us all. Keep up the good work brother

For more than 200 Bucks, that knife shouldn't stay bent....

i dont particularly like schrade but at 29 dollars they can give you 1095 steel, a descent sheath, a farrow rod, and a sharpener. tops gave you a poorly heated treated knife, a bad sheath, and whistle. why tops?

Your intros are some of the best on youtube, and different every time. Well done, sir.

Tops knives are overpriced 1095 period, would never consider purchasing one of them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and suggestions with me, I appreciate it sir Tac.

Damn!! And I had my eyes set on getting one of these. Thanks for reviewing this knife bro. Just found one for $300 Canadian.

Sounds pretty freaking frustrating, Tac. Great info. Great review!

Hehe well you had the same experience we had in our test with this knife brother. It is a disapointment in all departments in my opinion. Great vid man. Snake

Mine had a warped blade from the factory. Took it back to the store for exchange, all 4 blades they had were warped to the side. I also agree with you on the handle. It feels good when you pick it up for the first time, but after doing some chopping you really begin to hate all choils and hooks that serve only to give you hotspots. Funny enough, your earlier review from a few years back is what sold me the blade.

In all honesty playboy, it did a pretty good job through your brand of testing. You do put all your blades through some serious shit. I do know a guy who swears by that knife as his favorite big blade knife. But everyone's different. Great testing bro!

actually I don't think it's bent tac. I think the steel is a little bit thicker one on side than the other

I bought a Silent Hero from Tops at Shot Show last year. I really liked the design and could live with the handle. I brought it home and batoned a small cedar log. It had a little twist in the grain but nothing crazy and nothing I haven't tackled with "lesser" knives many times in the past. It bent the blade. I contacted Tops and they eventually replaced it and scolded me for abiding their knife. I've got this SXB Skullcrusher here for the Gauntlet and immediately chipped the edge on a preliminary test that a Gerber Strongarm flew through with flying colors. On the flip side my Tahoma Field Knife had been outstanding. Tops has failed to impress me more times than not though so your results don't surprise me much.

Hope all is well in your camp Tac. I know this is an old initial thoughts review... what eventually became of this knife, or how did bent and chippy show scenario turn out? I did see the follow-up you did with regards to TOPS sending out a 2nd knife (new/revised version), but what was the verdict so to speak on the first one you had? Did you keep (ie. still have) the second improved version?

Bent tip and chipping on pine, looks like an uneven grind to boot. Thanks for saving me $200.

From Tops site: This warranty becomes null and void if the knife is abused. TOPS WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER: Loss or theft Broken knife tips, chipped or dull edges Scratched / chipped coatings from use Oxidation of the steel (rust) Natural irregularities in genuine leather sheaths, or variations in the coloring of our Black River Wash knives. Damage caused by throwing, misuse, abuse, alterations, improper handling, neglect, accident, improper sharpening or normal wear. Factory Seconds or Refurbished Blades. In some cases, use of a hard baton to split wood, will qualify as misuse. We do not warranty use of any 1/8" or thinner knife for chopping / batoning. Esee will replace any broken knife, no questions asked.

That's disappointing man. Still a cool knife though. Hey Tac what method do you use for sharpening recurves? Is a rod the preferred method?

Do the Tops US combat knife and zero dark 30. I'd really like to see how well they slash and penetrate when stabbing something.

That's a Very Disappointing Knife. Tops Needs to Send You a New One, Schrade Would! Great Review, Thanks Tac! I'll save a lot of money and get the Jessica-X!

The hook on the Fiskars X7 and XA3 is about perfect. Yes it needs to be well rounded, and not that sharp edged metal hook.

I think it's a bad heat treat because I dropped mine tip down onto concrete and literally the tip only had some scratches in the coating. You should call tops and have them send you a new one. Also, I wrapped the handle with paracord and that really takes the hot spots away. PreparedMind has an Armageddon and put it through a lot and held up really well.

i watched this a few times and i always die laughing when he said: i got this for 3 yrs and i didnt want to use it ahahahahhaha

I don't think it is bent, it looks good to me and even if it is ever so slightly bent it will still work

Man i used to drool over this knife above other else at its blade length....but now, not no more, thanks for the test!

It breaks your heart when that happens, but on the bright side you don't feel as bad beat the crap out of it now.

That's a bummer, I'd be pissed too. I'd send that back to TOPS, it looks like something went wrong at heat treat. They're warranty is pretty good, they'll test the temper.

Knife looks really cool and I love a recurve chopper but... looks like the quality isn't there, thanks for saving me some $ man!

WTF I see it! What did Craig and the guys say? Was it taken care of? I was just going to add it to my collection. Was it a bad heat treat let me know brother. I have seen you test on harder woods and wow I was blown away

Dude, I absolutely love watching your reviews & vids. Great feedback & your comments are great. Keep em' coming!

Send it back brother, TOPS will replace it they're pretty good about warranty work. Looks like the HT could be a little off which can happen with larger blades.. The chip could be from grind geometry or overheating the the thinner part of the edge where it occurred during the diff HT.. Either way, great vid brother thanks for sharing.

DAMN, you really came close to stabbing your self in the chest doing that tip test lol

looks like the tip might have been over heated during the final grinding and ruined the temper there.

please look at condor knives next. They make some really badass knives for cheap like the moonshiner but I wanna know if they will hold up.

its the grind that makes it look slightly bent at the tip

looks to me that you have a old wire reel for a base. they have metal rods through them to hold the two ends on. that where your knive damage probably occured

You are the best . I laughed so hard . I could totally relate . when you get something you wanted . and its not what they say it is . great video thank you.

I don't blame you for being disappointed with this blade reviewed, I would be pissed off.

Neat video Tac. It doesnt look bent to me it just looks like the bevel is WAY off which makes it looks lopsided, but it could be me. Im pretty disappointed by the performance of this blade, I have a few Tops knives and they are always good. There is always a lemon I suppose, Id send it back. Hey you like big mamba jamba knives you should check out the Becker BK21 Rhineheart kukri, I know a lot of people doesnt like kukris and Im usually one of them but I got this one and its BADASS, thinking you could do a decent review since there isnt a whole lot of reviews for it yet.

Sucks that the edge rolled and the blade bent a little, I don't care for that sheath either... I own the Tops Smoke Jumper, it's been a great knife with a fantastic factory kydex sheath.

People expect to much from steel. Even Narsil broke, and that was a magic sword forged by a dwarf master smith. It may be bent, but not much at all. Don't let it bum you out so much. With all the torque from such a long blade combined with a fairly thin tip, it doesn't surprise me that it bent slightly. You must have hit something hard to dull that spot; it wasn't even in contact with the wood you were batoning.

Thanks to your review I will be passing this one up ! Thanks again and good job !

+Tactical It is bent, but don't let that get you down. Custom knife makers are always having to deal with warpage from heat treatment. Its not really that hard to fix with 3 round shafted screwdrivers and a bench vise. Put 2 of the screwdrivers adjacent to the warp on one side and one on the other side half way between then tighten the vise bending a little at a time. Retouch the edge where it rolled, add some grip tape to the handle and you are back in business and good to go for the chop off.

I have an Armageddon. But I don't do tip testing with it..Too expensive! Tops makes some really good products though.

I'm sorry I only watched a few of your episodes so I don't know but is there a reason you always have your face covered not judging just asking also do you do any episodes on Condor knives and if not maybe you could?

Contact Tops and see if they'll replace it. I'm interested to see how they handle their warranty.

What a bummer brosifus! That sucks dude! Such a beautiful blade!

I truly appreciate your honesty. You just saved me 200$. I bet you were sick when you noticed that bend and nick. Sorry bro.

Best review ever? Man, Tac, keep 'em comin'! Well done, friend. :) (and yeah, saw the bend when you first sat it up there for us to see. gosh).

Hey Brother. Hopefully TOPS will come to your aid but maybe not. Apparently they are used to these issues.Here are the top warranty exclusions:TOPS WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER: Broken knife tips, chipped or dull edges Scratched / chipped coatings from use

sounds like the heat treat on that tip wasn't up to par....maybe an anomaly to just yours, if its the heat treat then tops might cover it.

maybe the heat treat on the tip was bad i would call them they may replace it some knifes are just lemons

Sucks to have a new blade let you down. Those spools like the one you were batoning on do have steel through bolts, usually 4, that protrude on the ends. Nontheless, that 1095 shouldn't have taken a bend over what you did. Did you contact Tops?

well at least the tip is sharp and didn't snap off which means they did a good heat treat. i think that tip geometry is not the best for stabbing wood.

Yeah its bent, bummer.... Have you ever tried an SP53 from Ontario made from spring steel? Its my favorite big chopper with a lifetime warranty!

The ATM and the Grim Ripper are bulletproof. The 5×6.35mm bottleneck on the Grim Ripper is again bulletproof. I shy away from relatively thin tips on choppers. Nothing can do everything. Jmho

Oh hell noooooooooooo.....that sucks bro, thought that blade was going to be the shizzzzznit but damn it just shit the bed. Sorry bro, hope Tops hooks you up and treats you right on this one. Good info and sweet vid Tac!

Oh how I miss these knife reviews lmfao

if it is ever so slightly bent, its not hard to fix at all

Damn that sucks. Let us know how it turns out. I've never had a bad blade from tops.

If that tip is bent it's so slight it can't possibly matter. Also there is no reason I can think of to stab a block of wood and twist the tip out..... a knife for chopping and cutting.

It should not of bent tops grinds are sometimes off but did you ever check it before use I have never seen that happen before and I have stood on my brothers of bushcraft and it didn't bend it is still my favorite bushcraft knife out of all my bark rivers my ambush and my others to long to list them all but they are easy to break the tips on in a few models like the silent hero there a and vex grinds are great though and hey they will probably replace it because that was not abuse of a knife at all I wish they would switch some blades over to like an a2 steel though or something a little tougher than 1095

Damn what a total bummer! I really expected more! Guess it's no sxb.Tac this would be a great time for your viewers like me to see how Tops steps up and handles the life time warranty! Just know that Esee would absolutely send you a new knife. And I'm a Tops guy myself! Thanx Tac keep doing the Damn thang!

Time to find a new big chopper for the bug out bag?

That's a wicked classy intro, Tac, but compared to the proper video's volume, it's kinda loud. Maybe tone it down a notch or two for future episodes of the show?

Hey man, I make custom knives by hammer forging them. And one thing that always catches me off guard, it the hammer blows near the spine of the knife and it will look bent Or curved but it's not. It's an optical illusion. So I would clean up the coating and then check to see if it's straight

Tops famous differential heat treat different on every knife sorry you got stuck with that Tac besides 1095 should not bend anything like that its bloody spring steel which is inexpensive making these knives very overpriced IMO - hope your day went better after this Tac

I have had my Tops Condor Alert for about 2 1/2-3 years now. I once dropped my knife on concrete tip first, yeah I about cried, but it chipped the concrete and ever so slightly bent the edge of the tip, easily fixed with a stone. Mind you, I dropped it at about four feet. My favorite feature about this knife is the fact it has a very stout tip, slightly thinner then what's on the Schf9. Let us know if you contacted Tops and how things go, curious to see what they do...

It's all good, mine bends to the left too bro...wait...were talking about knives right?

Half saber and half full flat grind, nice looking

Damn Tac! Sorry bout that man. Would not expect that to happen with a tops blade.

Tac I do like your honest reviews bro! Keep on doing it!

I think this is one of the nicest looking blades out there, I can't believe it failed your testing, Tac! I'm sure I saw you tear up a bit at 10:15, must have been the smoke, right :)? Keep up the good work, I love your videos, looking forward to the Chop Offs!

its cool seeing the old buggout stop

You experienced the reason why I don't like to do the tip test either. It's unrealistic to stab a piece of wood with the tip of any blade, that's just not what they are made for. I know, so folks wanna know that if they have to stab a zombie in the head will the thing break or will it kill the freaky looking dude, right? Well when that time comes I want my blade to start intact, and it won't start intact if I bust it on a tree during testing... Now, if the mfr says that they will cover a warranty claim after breaking or bending it when stabbing wood, well in that case stab on friend, stab on. Otherwise we are just asking the thing to do something it was never designed for, and we cannot expect something to perform in a way that it was not designed to perform. Its like getting upset when my stupid little Kia Rio gets stuck during an off road mud run - I was just asking it to something beyond the specs and I got what I was really asking for.

see when I first seen the Armageddon tops Armageddon Chris Trainor from preparedmind101 he had stripped off the black coating, And I wanted one since then and without the black coating on it!an I wanted to get one and bring it back to the original shiny Steel and it looked bad ass, I don't like personally the black on the tops Armageddon. I understand that it helps protect the blade itself or whatever but I just don't like it. I mean I like seeing that you know the little bit that you had done and everything and it probably the way Chris Traynor had it I don't think that it wouldn't have had had held up the way it did with the black coating on it on the knife he would have had more burs and flat spots and probably messed up the blade pretty bad I don't know I really don't know he didn't do anything but it looks badass without the coating on it, the reason why I don't know if anything would have happened is because I'm sure he did the testing without the coating on it but I don't think I watch that show on KZfaq when he did outdoor testing!...... Now as of right now I think that because of what I just seen but it seems like it's a nice knife and just looks really nice and it comes really sharp and maybe is expensive wall mount now that I think about it...

It just looks like a little edge rolling. For what you put the knife through, it really isn't that bad. Take a steel to it!

That is why i don't test expensive knife when they come out of my pocket. I would keep them lock up and safe.

Nice review brother Tac. Sorry to see your blade bent. Tops will make it right. I highly recommend their Bush Crafter Kukuri 7. It will blow your mind. It is a well thought out design that really works.

Omfg, I'm laughing so hard I'm pissing myself... Let me know if you'd like to have some real INFI steel in your hands:) Love the vids!

As always, cool review. And on a brand that people say is top(s) quality. I recently got my first tops knife before I watched this, would I reconsider after watching this... Maybe. I have not put it through its paces yet so hard to say from personal use. But I'm a little more wary to use it like the beast it seems to be.

I wouldn't do those kind of tip tests on blades longer then 7 inches it's in the nature of leverage at that leghnth

love the new intro man!

Mine cane to me bent out of the box!!! The knife's design is less to be desired! You don't make a 10" blade with a thin tip like that! And the knife is not really benefitting the 1/4" spine as most of it is full flat grind!!!Another reason why I personally like big choppers with saber grinds like the BK9 for lateral and tip strength! Thanks for the video brother Tac! I am glad I gave my Armageddon away!

truly a heartbreaker

My best chopper & batoner is the condor hudson day.

Random question floating by, would you ever try doing a "Budk mystery bag" unboxing? Or another weapons bag thing

Yeah looks like you may have bent it ever so slightly on the blade edge side.

Really dig this intro Tac. Ps you rock at knife reviews keep it up

with that tip test dude you gotta think a ten inch blade puts a lot of leverage on the tip its not a crow bar but it performed really well at every other task that its intended for i think stabing is a good enough tip test. any way love the reviews tac would like to see cold steel marauder bowie chop some shit .

Greetings from Canada Tac!! Was wondering if you could do a review of the Anvil Bladesmiths Bull Shark G10, partial serrated blade. I don't see any KZfaq reviews of it, so you'll be the first! :) it seems to be a decent pocket EDC blade. You can find it on Amazon Cheers!

Tac I'm with you 100% men because I always liked and always wanted to buy the tops Armageddon always wanted it love Blade the way they ask me the whole handle that everything everything about it I loved it and seeing it and you know you really didn't do much and Bend the tip got a flat spot and thank God I didn't spend that $300 cuz I would have bought it straight from tops themselves but I am sure that they do have a lifetime warranty so send it back and get a new one!! But still like I said you know I really f****** pissed too man cuz I mean think about it manually you said for $300 or 200 something dollars 1095 high carbon steel I mean it should not have been or even caught a flat spot like that you really didn't do anything anything hard that would even do that.

I think you got a lemon Tac. That thing should NOT bend from that light tip testing, and the edge should NEVER roll/chip out in soft wood! It looks like it has a nice convex edge to boot! Bummer. Definitely send it back for replacement, then repeat the test to verify your findings.

Tac you rock. By far you are one of my favourite reviewers.

It looks like a too heavy version of the Tops .170 machete.. I think this is too thick and heavy for the size..

dont looks bent?,. that ini mini tip test wont bent a kitchen knife,. bummer for the edge roll tough,. cool vid,

Not for nothing TAC but 1095 is not a very hard steel it does have some give and flex that is why it makes for very good survival knives, it will bend and flex without breaking and that is good, unlike the boutique steels like D2, ATS 34 , 1056 etc . 1095 is rather flexible. You should strive to be more flexible in your thought remember "a warrior should never have a favorite weapon"- Musachi.

Well, let´s put it this way: Cold Steel is offering their Warcraft Tanto with a 12 inch blade for around 240 bucks - in CPM 3V. For an expensive blade of over 10 inches, I would go with 3V or 5160/6150 (more for something like swords), nothing more, nothing less. For a cheap machete of something, 1055 is ok.

Great honest review. :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)

I cant notice a bend, but I mean, it's steel, not adamantanium or adamantite.

that whistle is the bomb. choo choo