I,ve been looking at WSK (wilderness survival kukri) shaped knives lately, I think it would be a great knife with a Resiprene-C handle, just wondering if Scrap yard might make one sometime?

I have looked at three company's that make them but they're $200+.

Anyone that has used one any pros/cons? let me know..

Tbaugh7,
I have handled 2 of them in my time...one was a tops tracker and the other was a WSK designed by Dan Koster of kosterknives.com

The WSK tracker isnt a bad knife at all, but it didnt grab me the way I thought it would...Granted I was loaned the knife by a customer for a sheath so I didnt get to play with it much, so take my opinion for what it is worth

The WSK by Koster I also got in for a sheath AND I did in fact get to play with it alot...The saw works well for notching and the edge stays working for alot longer than it should...If I didnt have a sewing machine in my future I would own one right now

btw

mark Terril also makes a WSK AND a USK...Both have been well recieved and Mark is good people!!

Here is a pic for anyone who hasn't seen one

I've looked at Dan Koster's knives thats what got me thinking about getting one..
But I'd like to know how useful they are?

Tracker WSK?? Useful but the design ISNT what it could have been...Seems to much of a tradeoff having all of that stuff on it so that it doesnt do anything really well...does other stuff ok I guess..that is just my opinion though

Yea I dig the Koster design and again Dan is good people...I still plan on getting one prolly next year, but $$$ is always tight around Casa leatherface so I will have to wait for a bit..

On the Koster rated from 1-10 with 10 being the best

Chopping....7

Cutting....8

Draw knife...7

Saw/notcher...10

Finger thingy...Makes holding it a breeze even with wet hands (yea I tested it with wet hands)

large handle...Chopping/slashing=better reach...10

kewlness...10
Cons?? yea that finger thingy makes ya wanna twirl it around and the gut hook cuts the crap out of ya <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />


That Redscorpion 6 blade is well thought of, from what I have read on the forums...I dont think they made but around 1000 of them

I have one of Dan Koster's WSK's. I like that Dan took the idea and made his own innovations with it. The other one's out there all are relatively the same Beck design with the same blade dimensions. Dan is the only one that's tried to improve on the original idea. Check out a photo and his "upgrades" here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=421014

Actually leatherface, twirling it like a six shooter is one of my favorite pass times (I'm doin' it right now). If you choke up on it it'll chop as good as anything (just ask the 2x4 I annihalated); there's a forward throw to his design like a khukri. It has 2 finger holes to steady/secure it while using the draw knife. He does his with convex edges, unlike the others mentioned. I do have one "con" that leatherface didn't mention. Because Dan fluted the pomel end of the handle, you can't throw it like Benecio del Torro did in the movie "The Hunted", and sink it 8 inches into an unsuspecting tree. It's not much of a thrower like the other models with a straight handle. Depends on your "survival" needs I guess.

So, if Scrapyard was even going to consider such a blade it'd just have one "suggestion" that none of these knives mentioned have addressed. I'd use a 5160 steel (or sr-77) like these pros did, but I'd Duracoat the blade, like Scrapyard does. The design is great, but as it is a "survival knife", having a steel that can rust so easily is a minus. Dan has "pre-rusted" the steel by treating it (I think he bead blasts it), but I'd like to see a nice crinkle-coat on it so I could abuse/neglect it a little more. The Topps one is a stainless 440 I believe, but those steels aren't as tough or wear-resistant as tool steels. They've effectively made a knife that "looks" like a survival knife, and chinsed out on the materials to keep the cost down. It may be that they don't have a heat-treating protocol for tool steels that is up to par with companies like Scrapyard. All I know is that I wouldn't put my self in a situation where I HAD to rely on a TOPS Tracker. I would with Koster's. Too bad he's not in a position to crank them out, cuz there was a feeding frenzy the last time he put a bunch up for sale on bladeforums.com, and they all disappeared the same afternoon. He then took a whole bunch of orders that will take him a year to fill. People want a knife like this, and noone's making them. Good call TBaugh7. bladeforums.com

A WSK sounds like a cool idea until you realise that all the curves, gut hook and the saw are labor consuming therfore driving the cost up. So you're looking at well above $200 tag plus possibly getting sued by Tom Brown. Not a good thing, especially when your company is just starting out.

Well, I believe Tom Brown actually stole the design almost curve for curve from Dave Beck, and Tops didn't seem too worried. Roger Linger, Mark Terrell, Tops, and Red Scorpion 6 have all made variations of this design. I happen to think Dan Koster's is the most origianal, but noone owns a design. If they did, noone would be able to make Bowies, right, or Khukuris, or camps?

That aside, I think a top quality WSK has a niche, despite the cost to market. Dan's WSKs sold for around $200, and he's a one man show. Besides, he sold them in one afternoon on bladeforums.com. I would think that if a company would jump on this they could put out great quality ones for at least that, and sell every last one of them. If like minded/quality companies can sell out of their 9-10 inch blades for $250-$400, it proves that price doesn't trump quality. People want quality. And this particular knife has a whole niche crowd that wants something better than what Tops and Red Scorpion 6 has cranked out. There are already plenty of companies that crank out lost cost/quality stuff, and they've got plenty of those models lying around for sale. Which proves that low cost/quality isn't neccessarily what everyone is shopping for.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the tracker Tom Brown's design in the 1st place? He had many knifemakers bulid it for him including Dave Beck who was the last one to make it. Since the latest tracker was much more refined version, Dave beck decided to call it WSK. Anyhow, this has been debated several times so there's no point in rehashing the story, especially on this forum. As far as I know, Tom Brown has all the rights to the Tracker design and he's going after RedScorpionSix, this maybe why Aaron decided to only produce 1000 Predators. I don't really care much for this kind of knife. Yes, I've owned them and used them. I can do just fine with a simple, timpe proven design like the BOWIE from ScrapYard.

Greens

IIRC...


The "Medicine blade" design is Tom Browns

The Tracker is Dave Becks...2 different knives

Dave beck owned the trademark to the name tracker and let it lapse..Tom Brown bought the name and used it for the knife that TOPS is making

Dave Beck has publicly stated that any knifemaker that is worried about being sued by Tom Brown, can make HIS knife no worries


I am getting a pattern in for the Red Scorpion 6 blade...will holla if I hate it

How different are they really? we can call it many names, medicine blade, tracker, wsk, predator, the list goes on but it's still the same overall design, is it not? If Tom Brown had not came up with the so called medicine blade, would the tracker/wsk or whatever exist today? I doubt it.

Well, eveyone has the right to their opinion. I've formed mine based on actual experience, and my actual experience with an actual (not theoretical) WSK is that it's the most versitile, useful design of a knife I own. With just a WSK I can build an entire base camp, and then skin, gut, quarter, and debone anything I drag back to it. The only other knife I much "need" around is a 3 incher, or folder for lighter stuff. I have a 3in. Karda design piggybacked on the sheath for my WSK, and it's all I need.

This is the only forum I've ever come across a naysayer before. But I'm still not sure what the criticism is; that there are alot of curves, costs around $200 for good ones, and that other people made them besides Tom Brown? There are no actual downsides to this knife design; that's why it has a cult like following with crowds of people who'll pay for a good one. The last Beck I saw sold went for $2500. What this knife design needs is a company that builds quality blades to actualize it's potential as the end all be all knife.