NEW Tops Knives | Shot Show 2023 - This Knife Has a CRAZY Story

rubber chicken, yeah, yeah, so he put the pod inside a rubber chicken and then that's what he carries it with, so he took it out, tied it like a rope around it and carried it around his neck, so he has

this

chicken chicken and then there's a Tracker four in there that might be the best thing ever. It is wonderful. It's just that it's an example of the Enigma that is Bushcraft. Kelso. He's such a good guy. I have to meet him someday. What a man. Yes, next one.

this

one really caught my eye when we first saw things yeah so Shadowhunter will be a re-release for us it's an old model I think this model was retired before it even started at the top and stuff.

It was about nine years ago, so this is an older model that we're bringing back. The main differences on this one is that the handle is adjusted a little and the blade is a little longer than the original, so I think that's the only one. To begin with the only thing that was wrong with this

knife

was that the first handle was quite blocked, it was quite wide and didn't have much of a radius so it felt blocked um but I feel like we fixed this handle being a little thicker , a little rounder and a little narrower, so you lose a lot of that blocky feel.

Yes, that fills my hand perfectly. I would have no problem wearing it for hours on end. Yeah, it's a great Camp Knife hunting

knife

, um, but like I say, it's a re-release for us, it's one that Leo always really liked, um just for the aesthetics of it and he decided it was time to bring it back, yeah, Well. I'm grateful, yeah, Leo always brings really cool things to the table, he knows what he's doing, he's a real Treasurer, he definitely knows what he's doing and then comes this thing that's big, yeah, very, so the armed 6.5 was designed by a guy named Josh Navarrete, he's a designer, he's a custom builder from Oregon, he's a Fortune Fire champion.

I think he was the first Hispanic to win on Forged in Fire and I don't remember what season he won. but there were like three or four, so he was already on the program. um he's done it again a couple of times, but it's kind of his thing, mostly big leaves, wide leaves, um, big handles, um, just. strong, you know, and that's what Leo liked because he can accept that too, so we were very happy with that. The other cool thing about Josh is that he's running this program where he's trying to help vets who have PTSD or just other issues that they're trying to solve, so he's created this program where they can come to his store , use their tools, use equipment, use materials and build a knife and, um, it's just a way to get them out of the stress of their lives and you know, just push through the frustrations for a few hours and do something and build something that's yours, so it's cool, it's a cool

show

, um, and that's who we are.

I'm excited to be a part of it too, yeah, so I mean I'm happy to support something like that, especially when a guy pulls out a knife like this, yeah, yeah, it's like you're saying big, but like me, I don't know. . I don't know how big you would have to have a big hand with a glove, you would have to be to fill that without having room here like it has a lot of room for all of that, yeah, and it is too. I can almost see this used as a kitchen knife almost yes, it has a high sharpness, it will be very sharp considering how big it is, um, yeah, that one will be great.

I really like the handle on that one, yeah. I mean, with this you get everything you ever wanted from a knife, you get a great knife that can do all your cutting jobs, it's big enough for even the biggest hands and you're supporting veterans in need all the way. yeah I mean that one yeah that one is going to be really cool yeah so we have a folder yeah so we've been working with mazarine

knives

in Italy they actually built the scandi mini folder for us so this one was the first folder they made first, the mini scandi folder um So obviously based on our mini scandi knife, uh, it has that modified scandi sharpening, it has all that, um, but not everyone wants a scandi folder, so we basically start with Leo.

Talking to Mazarin about this, Leo said: I want to keep the same handle, but I want to make a couple of modifications. Let's change the leaf a little. I'll give it a sharper sharpening. Make it a clip point. and then we're going to take a pocket clip and take it deep, oh look, that's going to look like a pen in your pocket, it's going to stay so low, yeah, and that was kind of the idea that we wanted to make the clip pocket out a little bit smaller, make it a little bit deeper and then just a different blade, so yeah, and I've heard conversations, this is Imac steel, it'll be out of Lmax too, yeah, which one.

It's new to us, we've never, ever thrown a knife without stealing, yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about lmax, no, I'm not familiar with it, uh, Leo's been playing with the Prototype. He is very tough on his

knives

, especially the prototypes, so he beat them. He probably used the tip in ways you shouldn't like. When he tries it out, he'll use it in the shop for things he'll use it for any tool. he needs and uh so it's held up pretty well so that to me says good things about lmax it looks like it's pretty strong it looks like it's holding a lead pretty well um so far so good with that one and we should be getting our first batch in two or three months there will be half green G10 panels and half black G10 panels.

I really like it, I'll definitely be in line for that one yeah and lastly this might be my favorite knife

story

in the hi

story

of knife stories so I have to listen to it so there's a guy out there named Ed Calderón and, if you don't know who he is, he's probably better known because that's the Manifesto, if you don't know who he is, look it up. A lot can be said about him as an introduction but look him up if you don't know who he is you should anyway the way this knife came out most of his knives are based on his experience when he was younger before he was a police officer like when he was a child and his mother always carried a kitchen knife with her.

Usually he was like a fruit knife, you know, with a hawk design and occasionally he would carry a paring knife and things like that. So he has that feeling with a lot of his knives, there are other companies that make things for him that are based on that fruit knife and when he came to us, he did it, we did a training class and part of that training class . involves stabbing pigs with knives and, um, just learning what a knife can do to meat that's similar to people's and he has a lot of military experience, so he just has police experience, okay, but his experience was in Mexico at altitude. of the war on drugs and everyone he talks to, trains and works with, everyone relates more to combat veterans than police officers in terms of the equipment they used, the tactics they used, the things they they had to do, so it was like a war. area and those cartels are some of the largest organized crime networks in the world oh yes, so it's war, yes, it absolutely is, and that's why he likes smaller, more discreet knives and equipment that's easy to hide for that you can just dress normal and do your thing.

The funny thing about this one is that at some of the

show

s that he's done some of the training that he's done, he always goes and buys a knife that's inexpensive and uses it on the pig to show people that they don't necessarily have to have a 400,000 knife, you need to know how to use the equipment that you have and so if you want that knife, buy it, but learn how to use it, it's kind of the thought process of it, so and uh, there's a company that he bought a knife and he used it and it was basically a name that could be similar to this but in a different language and it worked really well on this pig, but it was a really inexpensive kitchen knife. talking like 12 dollars um and a lot of times you buy even cheaper knives and they do well um because again, as long as you know how to use it, that's the main thing, but basically it's a long story short, that's why. this is called the pioneer, everything fits its style, it is discreet, it actually looks like a steak knife or a paring knife, but in a subtle way we have part of its logo and engraving on the handle, there it is called the sneak.

Reaper, so he's kind of like a skeleton in Us in a crawling position, like he's sneaking up on someone. The main thing that makes this not a kitchen knife is the handle, so the cutting the Groove is basically for. You can index it when you hold it with the blade tip down pointing towards you so your index finger lands right there so you can use it in stabbing motions and there are a lot of other things you can do. but basically this is your preferred grip if you have to use a knife for that kind of thing, but it also makes it very easy to maneuver, change and hold it in other ways, it always falls into your hand. and so it's another way of indexing without actually looking at what you're holding, so it looks like just a little paring knife, but this thing is Swift, yeah, this is carried every day because of that, but you can't take it off either.

The DNA of a paring knife like this would still be great for chopping bell peppers at lunch or whatever 100 100 and that will always be its thing you should be able to use it for other things yeah the tool is a tool and then it has a nice very flat Kydex holster, yeah, I mean I'm thinking even inside the waistband, yeah, and we may still have some modification on that holster, I don't know yet, but the idea was to be able to try to get you fit however you want, carry it inside, outside the waistband, take off the clip, put it in your pocket, you know, multiple ways to carry it, I really like this knife and that story makes me very happy, born from a 12. paring knife yes , absolutely fine, this is a big year for Tops and this is just a taste, there is a lot more, so if you want to see what more

tops

are coming out this year, check out bladehq.com in the next section.

Go well Greg, thank you very much, I appreciate it, it's been a pleasure, yes, see you around.