TOPS Camp Creek S35VN Fixed Blade Knife Discussions | Drop

Feb 22, 2019

Currently found on SMKW for $124.99 with free shipping, regular price. And current promotion, includes a bonus Gerber Paraframe mini knife and Shard multitool P. S. plus 10% to sign up with their mailing list, if you haven't already So, I guess, thanks for showing me an interesting knife to look for elsewhere 🙄 Didn't know Tops had started branching out into S35VN

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Feb 22, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

KavikThanks for all that good information. This is a very tempting knife. The neck of the handle looks a little bit skinny but I think the width of the handle makes up for that. It’s not as beautiful as the WE Vaquita, but it does have a full length handle to hold onto...and is a pretty cool looking little fixed blade.

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

DougFLA123I've read good things about the ergos, even if it is a little funny looking Definitely a different animal from the Vaquita hahaha Don't love the coloring in the scales, but I'm thinking they might be a good test for RIT dying. And if that fails miserably, should be a fairly easy set of scales to replace with wood I'm curious to feel the weight distribution with the skinny middle and wide blade. Might be good for small hacking and chopping

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

KavikSo, You are buying this one (not here I assume)? Any regrets on the Vaquita? Have you made your own finger choil for it? The Vaquita is so great looking...I would get it in a heartbeat if I could get a full four fingers on the handle (even though I know that would change what the designer was trying to achieve).

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

DougFLA123That's weird, I had edited that last post last night to include a couple more comments, but it reverted back to the original 🤔 Yes, i did but this one from SMKW. And speaking of WE knives, i also got an email that WhiteMountainKnives got the Civivi Wyvern back in stock.... So, despite my comment to you in another thread about needing to slow down, i bought that yesterday too lol I haven't done any modding on the Vaquita yet. I've been swamped at worked for the past couple of months, working all kinds of extra hours. Only knife related thing I've managed to do lately was adding an extra bit of anodizing to my Buc after the Dao arrived and I decided they need to be more visually different: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/9808/talk/2346106?utm_source=linkshare&referer=94FC7J

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

KavikYes, SMKW with the 10% discount makes this very tempting! I’m glad you mentioned it. The bonus Gerber Paraframe and Shard are already off the table (as of today). I guess they run 24 hour bonus deals.

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

DougFLA123You snooze you lose i guess lol I dunno, i didn't even see it advertised before it showed up in my carr That's okay, it's only a $10 value for a knife AND Keychain multitool I'm sure the knife is nothing to worry about missing out on lol

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

KavikYes, the Gerber wasn’t a deal breaker. I just bought the Tops Camp Creek elsewhere for $112.49 with signup bonus. I feel like a traitor because I like Massdrop a lot, but what are you gonna do.

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

DougFLA123What are you gonna do? I'm not gonna give it a second thought lol Too many of their deals aren't anything special lately. No reason to be blindly loyal, just treat it like any other comparison shopping between retailers

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

KavikYes, true...but they can read this and get their feelings hurt. : ) I’m waiting to see if they edit out the price I paid. : )

Feb 23, 2019

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Feb 23, 2019

DougFLA123I never see them respond to mentions of lower prices anymore (used to be sometimes they'd drop the price here, but not in a long time)... But I've never seen them censor discussions about competitor pricing

Feb 23, 2019

Feb 23, 2019

KavikThanks to your post I got an incredible deal on this knife!

Feb 23, 2019

Feb 23, 2019

DougFLA12310% finder's fees can be sent via paypal to the email address in my profile 😂🤣🤣

Feb 23, 2019

Feb 27, 2019

KavikI received my Tops Camp Creek today and it is really nice. It passes the effortless slicing of a piece of paper test, feels great in hand and if the number on the blade is a serial number it’s got a cool one of those...Y-456. I also think the handle color is is very nice...much better in person than in the pictures. I do kind of wish it had a finger choil for choking up. The great thing about a fixed blade...no detent, centering, or blade play issues! : )

Feb 27, 2019

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Feb 27, 2019

DougFLA123Lucky! I ordered mine first and it's still not due to arrive until tomorrow lol Glad to hear you like it, that makes me look forward to it even more

Feb 27, 2019

Mar 12, 2019

KavikDid you end up liking the Tops Camp Creek? Fixed blades are a little frustrating because you can’t fiddle with them like a folder.

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

DougFLA123Sorry, forgot to come back here to comment. I really like the design of it. Very comfortable in the hand, very well made. Seems like it will make for a pretty nice knife. But, yeah, i don't often have uses for fixed blades, so it'll be a while before I really put it to work lol I got blade Y-460, btw. Not as fun as 456 😝 Only real complaint I have so far is in the leather and D-ring used on the sheath. Both are around twice as thick as they need to be. Looks all badass and tough as hell, but in reality it's just overkill. Doing nothing but adding weight and bulk. The Kydex part is nice, but I may replace the rest. Also, i tried contacting Tops to ask about their heat treating on S35VN, couldn't find any info on that on their site or any retailers, but they haven't bothered responding. Kinda disappointed in that part

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikP. S. After holding this type of knife in hand, loosely based off a Nussmek knife, just last night I got tempted into snagging a used Black Scout Survival Feather Stick knife off of LuvThemKnive's monthly YouTube sale video. Anxious to see them side by side

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikYes, It’s very comfortable in hand! I imagine it’s great for batoning, making feather sticks, etc. I don’t understand the thick leather and the D-ring used on the sheath either or the color mismatch. They could have used something like this, see below, and have it look like it wasn’t an afterthought...a sheath with a clip plate attachment (accept kydex instead of molded plastic)

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikYou got this knife? It’s a beauty! I didn’t know he had a monthly sale. How much?

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

DougFLA123I actually like the idea of the hanging swivel sheath, something a little different than many of the other clip ons (though that would've worked fine too). But it's just holding a knife, it doesn't need to be doubled up 8oz leather Yup, that's the one! This one is used, that he was selling for someone else, for $60 A lot of the stuff goes for really good prices, but they sell fast. I emailed him 4 hours after the video was put up, and only managed to snag that one, out of the 3 that I wanted to buy

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikWow, great price for a very cool looking knife! Hopefully it’s in great shape!

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

DougFLA123Yeah, hopefully! Looked decent in the vid. Obviously used, but not trashed. And at less than half price, including the original box and sheath, plus an extra kydex sheath the original owner made for it. I'm optimistically hopeful 😊

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikIt’s going to go great with the Tops Camp Creek and the WE Vaquita! All cool little fixed blades! I was watching the LuvThemKnives video...it is long! He seems like a great guy but his voice annoys me a little bit! It’s a struggle getting through his videos! I’m ridiculous! 🤣

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

DougFLA123Lol he does talk a lot sometimes. But what he's been doing lately is great. Half the video this time was about the metallurgical and hrc testing he been doing with a couple other guys to see if the manufacturers are really giving us what they claim I skipped ahead to the sales, then went back and skimmed through the rest

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Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikIt’s very scary that some of the steels aren’t what they say they are!

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

DougFLA123Yeah... Not necessarily very surprising when we're talking about the cheap knockoff kind of brands...and apparently the requirements for calling something D2 have always been a little shady (which is why people sometimes talk about "chinese D2"). But I've always kind of thought that the average person can't tell the difference between most of these steels anyway, so I'm skeptical of any claims by any brands that aren't well known and highly regarded... Especially when they seem too cheap. Which is why I was SHOCKED that the TwoSun stuff all came back as actually being what it was labeled as lol I think the bigger thing here is the HRC testing. If for no other reason then that we all know buying a no name Chinese brand that says m390 for $50 is probably not m390 lol But in general we don't have to question if a big brand is giving us the wrong steel, so we buy with blind faith, and they give us what we expect in terms of steel types....but even the best steel in the world can be worthless if it didn't have the proper heat treat for that type of steel Just as an example from their sheet : There's a Steel Will Cutjack in m390, they advertise at 59-60 HRC. Other sources indicate m390 should go at 60-62. They tested it at 58. So, below advertised, and quite a bit below what others consider "ideal" Or the Spyderco Endura, VG10, advertised at 60hrc, tested at 57.9 That's a huge difference, from a company that most wouldn't have even questioned

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

KavikReally interesting stuff! That was cool that the guy mentioned by LuvThem Knives would take a tiny “bite” out of a blade and test the steel!

Mar 12, 2019

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Mar 12, 2019

DougFLA123They're actually not doing destructive testing for the steel type. It's something called an XRF analizer. Not as accurate, but apparently close enough to compare to known lists The divot you see on the tested blades are from the Rockwell Hardness testing But, yeah, super cool that both these guys are putting in all this work just for the fun of it, too help us all out. That's partly why I like the idea of helping him out and trying to buy the knives he shells out for for testing (i dont care if they have visible test marks up by the spine, doesn't effect the usefulness of the blade)

Mar 12, 2019