TOPS Brakimo Review

TOPS Knives is a renowned manufacturer of high-quality blades designed for various purposes. They work as a hunting, camping, self-defense, and tactical knives. The blade materials used in TOPS Knives include 1095 high carbon steel and premium handle materials, making it a long-lasting and reliable tool.

Not only that, TOPS Knives pushes the boundaries when it comes to innovation, design, features and elements that determine specific needs of various users in different fields.

The TOPS Brakimo fixed-blade was designed by the bushcraft expert Joe Flowers to undergo the harshest outdoor conditions. The name ‘Brakimo’ comes from the Brazilian Matis tribe from the 1970s. It is the number one official knife of Bushcraft Global that takes outdoor adventurers and enthusiasts into the Colombian jungle to learn survival skills.

The knife consists of 1095 high carbon steel blade with a scandi grind and tungsten finish. The handle is made out of OD green canvas Micarta, and comes with a Kydex sheath. The knife is full tang with a lanyard hole.

The blade of TOPS Brakimo extends up to 5.25” with the entire length as its cutting edge, which is great because it has excellent edge retention. It is also tough and adequate enough for bushcraft survival activities.

The 1095 high carbon steel means it is hard enough, but has low corrosion resistance and more prone to rust. But you can easily overcome it with proper and regular maintenance and cleaning.

The blade shape is perfect for bushcraft and survival use. It has enough belly, and the drop point combined with the thin blade thickness of 0.18” means it can also be used as an EDC. The blade width of 1.42” gives it enough space to make precise cuts. It is very useful for cutting ropes, chopping cardboard and thin fabric. The scandi grind further enhances the knife’s performance when it comes to bushcraft and survival usage. It is easy to sharpen, even for beginners, and can make shallow cuts like a chisel. It can also break up the chip with deep cuts.

Another advantage of the scandi knife is that it prevents the blade from slipping off its target, and bits into the surface without getting stuck. That makes tasks like carving wood a breeze.

The 1095 high carbon steel has a significance in its numbers itself. The number one refers to carbon. It means the first element used in this steel is carbon. The number 0 means there is no second element. The numbers 95 refer to 0.95% of carbon present in it. It has an RC of 56-58.

The blade finish is Gray Tungsten Cerakote, which is a thin protective ceramic coating that bonds well to steels. It enhances the blade’s strength and prevents it from chipping easily. It is especially beneficial for bushcraft tasks.

The handle of TOPS Brakimo is 4.78” long with a large lanyard hole. The handle width of 1.18” with the thickness of 0.63” makes it easy to grip with an average sized hand. The bend near the end of the handle curves around the base of the palm to ensure a firmer grip, so that the knife does not slide out of the hand.

The green canvas Micarta handle on the TOPS Brakimo further provides a very secure grip. It also makes the handle very ergonomically friendly, even if the handle or the hands are wet. The Micarta is a linen cloth textured material amongst the resin that provides anti-slip properties. At the same time, it has a smooth texture.

The handle is also tough and sharp, which means it will not easily break. You can also use it with a gloved hand in extreme cold, and with sweaty hands in hot weather.

Micarta is a commonly used material for knife handles because it is cost-effective, strong and resilient, and provides great aesthetics.

It is screwed together with two large screws embedded inside the handle that do not come in the way of knife handling. The bend in between the two screws further elevates a stronghold.

Since Brakimo is a bushcraft knife, we tested it in the outdoor field by shredding dry wooden sticks. It was able to perform the job for a longer time without giving way. It sliced pieces of wood without much effort and made precise cuts as expected. The 1095 high carbon blade showed excellent edge retention, toughness, strength and hardness.

The drop point blade with 0.18” of thickness was able to do precisely what we wanted. As expected, the handle did not slip out of hand, and the blade followed the hand’s command. It also showed excellent coordination and weight balance between the handle and the blade.

The modified Scandi grind proved to be useful when none of the wood dust or ships got stuck to it. That required little cleaning in between and sped up the task at hand.

It produced wooden curls without requiring cleaning, maintenance, or the need to sharpen the blade. These were soft wooden sticks, so the task was pretty much a breeze. If you are out camping and in the need to start a fire, you can easily prepare small wooden curls to start a small fire.

It is also easy to carry. The Kydex sheath holds pretty well to the belt loop or the backpack. The Brakimo easily slides in and out.

The handle felt kind of thick for large hands, but still pretty comfortable and offered great ergonomics. You can say that the knife is good for its price.

This task required batoning, and was a test of the strength and resilience of the knife, and to see how easily it tarnishes under pressure. Luckily, we did not have to baton the wooden plank all the way through. The planks came off pretty easily and in a fine line and equal sizes. That also sped up the task, and we were done chopping five planks in under 5 minutes.

The handle did not put too much pressure on the palm of the hand and did not create any hot spots. It also did not tarnish or slip in the presence of hand sweat and oils. However, if you continue using the knife with sweaty or oily hands, its finish will come off. Therefore, proper maintenance is essential. But we were able to carry out an entire outdoor task without needing to do that.

This was the result of the chopped woods, and we were quite impressed.

Similarly, we carefully carved sharp edges of soft and thin wooden sticks for feather sticks, and Brakimo did a fine job.

Another interesting thing about Brakimo is that it comes with a TOPS whistle. You can say this is a complete outdoor package for survivalists. You can loop it around one of the holes in the sheath, which makes it easy to carry. You can use it as an emergency signaling tool if you are in the middle of a jungle or woods, which is what survivalists are taught during their training.

The finger choil prevents your hand from slipping under the blade, which is a good safety feature, especially when chopping wooden sticks.

The drop point scandi grind along with the thin blade also makes it easier to use as a kitchen knife. We prepared pork chops and steaks for the grill, and Brakimo did an excellent job preparing everything for us. It had enough sharpness to slice through raw meat and skin an animal. So you can also use it as a hunting knife.

B.O.B (Brothers of Brushcraft) is also a bushcraft knife by TOPS with 1095 carbon steel blade, Micarta handle, and Kydex sheath. The uncoated cutting edge of the blade provides great retention. It also has jimping along its spine, something that is missing in Brakimo.

The BOB however, does not have a lanyard hole like the Brakimo. It is only slightly smaller than Brakimo with less than 5” of blade length. However, it does have a drop point blade shape and scandi grind, and has the same hardness and ease of sharpening as the Brakimo. However, it is slightly more expensive than Brakimo and considered more compact and versatile, but is slightly heavier than Brakimo.

When it comes to aesthetics and appearance, TOPS BOB is a good knife. However, Brakimo wins in the department of function and performance. Considering that it is cheaper than BOB, I would go for Brakimo.

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TOPS B.O.B Prices
		Check Price at Blade HQ
		Check Price at Chicago Knife Works

Morakniv Garberg is a Swedish fixed-blade bushcraft knife. It is much cheaper than Brakimo, easy to sharpen and comes with a sharp factory edge right out of manufacturing. However, its sheath is not durable, the carbon steel blade is prone to corrosion, and the stainless steel blade can easily chip.

However, it is easy to sharpen in the field, and the Cerakote coating protects it from corroding too quickly. You can use Morakniv Garberg as a kitchen knife, but not for very tough outdoor tasks. It is not suitable for harsh batoning, unlike the Brakimo.

So here too, Brakimo wins when it comes to quality, performance, and features.

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Morakniv Garberg Prices
		Check Price at Blade HQ
		Not available at Chicago Knife Works

TOPS Brakimo is an excellent fixed-blade bushcraft knife that is able to withstand harsh outdoor survival tasks. The fact that it was used in survival training says a lot about its quality and durability. It can withstand hard batoning, can make feather sticks and chop planks of wood with ease.

The blade of Brakimo is hard and has enough edge retention. At the same time, it can make precise cuts. The Micarta handle is ergonomically friendly and does not corrode easily from water or sweat. It provides a slip-free and comfortable hold. The blade and handle composition is such that it is easy to maneuver. Although it does not have jimping along the spine, it does come with a finger guard that protects your finger from sliding under the blade.

The 1095 steel is easy to sharpen. However, it did not need sharpening or cleaning during the field test. The scandi grind proved to be helpful when no wooden chips got stuck in it. The drop point made it a good kitchen knife and was able to prepare raw meat and skin animals.

The TOPS Brakimo also comes with a black belted Kydex sheath and a whistle. The sheath is just as easy to use and maintain. It is ambidextrous and easy to carry. It will fit easily in an average to large-sized hand.

Overall, we really liked the knife and would highly recommend it for bushcraft survival tasks.