TOPS Brush Wolf Review

The TOPS Brush Wolf knife was designed keeping in mind the diverse environments the coyote transverses. It can be used in the forest, field, hunting, harvesting, desert, swamp, and in the city.

Designed by brothers Aaron and Nate Morgan of Houghton Era Outdoors, the Brush Wolf works well as an outdoor, versatile knifing tool. It is named after a famed coyote and trickster with lots of capability.

The TOPS Brush Wolf is a fixed-blade knife 12.13” long, with a 6.5” Tungsten Cerakote sawback 1095 HC steel blade. Its scales are full tang with a lanyard hole, made out of green canvas Micarta, and comes with a brown leather belt sheath.

It has a sturdy built with wicked spine serrations. The handle has a bow drill divot on either side with a blade of right-angled spine ideal for striking ferro rods. So, we can say that it is a full-fledged wilderness/survival/bushcraft knife.

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The TOPS Brush Wolf features the traditional Nessmuk blade style and adds 90-degree spine section with soft jimping and bow drill notches on either side of the handle.

The high saber grind makes it an ideal tool for wood cutting and carving and skinning tasks with a tip swedge that provides a fine point for making holes. You can also make quick notches on the go just like the coyotes with a saw shape.

The 6.5” blade length has almost the same cutting edge till 6.25”, which further makes it easy to use. The blade thickness of 0.18” makes it suitable for precise cutting tasks like skinning and preparing meat. The blade width of 1.53” makes it easy to handle with the weight being 11.7 oz. It is a full tang fixed-blade knife, which means it would not bend unlike the folding knives and you can use it under harsh conditions.

The 1095 high carbon is well-suited to this knife, given it is made for harder tasks. The 1095 steel contains 1% carbon and has high corrosion resistance with high edge retention properties. It is very resistant to chipping, easy to sharpen and can have a very sharp factory edge. It is also inexpensive, which further reduces the price of the knife. It is perfect for use in survival knives and very desirable for heavy duty fixed-blades. A bit of oil treatment will further induce corrosion resistance.

The blade of TOPS Brush Wolf provides ample belly to work with. It meets the tip that drops at an acute angle from the spine. The Tungsten Cerakote finish creates a robust shield against heat, corrosion, and scratches. It is a ceramic-composite composition that provides chemical resistance and UV stability. It also makes the blade extremely durable.

All these features make the blade of TOPS Brush Wolf knife an exquisite one ideal for harder and harsher tasks in the field and in the woods.

The handle of TOPS Brush Wolf features green Micarta canvas with a bow drill divot on each side to aid in starting a ferro rod and lighting feather sticks. The length of the handle at 5.71” is perfect for any sized hands. An average-sized hand can fit to 5.5” with many options to grip the knife. You can hold it from far back for chopping leverage, or use the jimping to make precise cuts. You can use the middle part for general purpose cuts. The fully extended and exposed tang provides grip beyond the handle’s end for some light pounding and batoning.

The lanyard hole is practically large enough to pass through a thick paracord in the field to extend its usage. You can also use the belt of the sheath as a paracord when traveling by canoe or fording a river.

Disclaimer: never wrap the paracord passed through lanyard hole around your wrist. If you lose our grip, the knife may swing right back at you. You can however, wrap it around the top of the handle so you end up with two loops at the base of the handle for your fingers.

The finger groove is thin and light enough for easy use by anyone. It requires less pressure at the base of the spine and the middle to get any task done. Hence, you can say that the handle is well constructed and ergonomically friendly.

The brown leather belted sheath of TOPS Brush Wolf is excellent. It holds the knife deep within without exposing any part of the blade. The dangler at the top with a steel ring and leather straps enables you to reposition the knife when you fidget, crotch down or sit.

The straps on the sheath have snap closures enabling you to take the knife in and out of the belt without any hassle. The knife weighs 17.7 ounces with the sheath that you can strap around your belt, but not so heavy that your pants fall off while carrying it or sliding the knife in and out.

You can use the length of the paracord at the bottom of the sheath to tie around your thigh and keep it from swinging as you move. Or you can use the paracord and use it to form a lanyard.

The leather is definitely a great material for holding and carrying a sharp knife. It is easy to maintain and will not cut easily with the blade if handled rightfully.

We tested the knife in the woods starting with its blade. The 1095 HC steel proved to be highly beneficial for rough usage and hard wood cutting. The Brush Wolf cut through the wooden log and showed great resistance, edge retention and chopping ability. It was able to complete the task exceptionally well and in due time. It did not put too much pressure or restrain on the handle either. We stuck the tip of the knife into the wooden log and created wood chips.

Then we tested the ferro rod, and it lit up with a lightning strike. It works really well, and we were able to strike the ferro rod in one go.

Next we tried cutting rope, and it cut in a single strike. The Brush Wolf was also able to cut multiple strings of rope at the same time in a single strike.

We were able to make some notches in the dry wooden sticks using the 7 open teeth of the sawback. The only disadvantage of the sawback is that you may not be able to cut entirely through a block of wood. But you can create dents in the wooden sticks that can be used for several purposes in the field. Similarly, TOPS Brush Wolf helped created neat and fine sharp edges of the wooden sticks. This is where the smooth jimping and finger grove cam handy for precise work. The knife did not slip out of the hand when making these precise curved edges. The Micarta canvas handle showed excellent ergonomics and did not loosen its grip even in sweaty hands. Next we tried cutting a small wooden stick with the Brush Wolf, and it made very neat cuts. You have to hold down the stick and constantly cut through the stick to cut it finely. You can also use the sawback to create notches to add traction to the stick, especially when you are in the woods.