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=421014Actually 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.
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