TOPS KNIVES Prather War Bowie 7.25in Clip Point Fixed Blade Knife - PWB-01

At 0.25" thick, this knife is one heck of a chopper yet has a great tip for piercing. It still feels light in hand, but capable enough for hard survival work. I really like the design and the lines of this knife. Unlike a lot of other TOPS knives, this knife doesn't have any extra sharp edges or protrusions from the blade. It is just a "tactical" chef's knife-style design. The micarta handles are superb: the corners on the handles have all the sharp uncomfortable edges removed, yet the micarta provides plenty of good traction. The integral guard is excellent, and the jimping at the spine is both in the perfect spot for those of you who, like I, like to place their thumb on for extra control. The jimping texture is also spot-on. It provides traction, but won't shred your skin. The knife blade looks ridiculously wide in pictures, but in hand, it feels normal. The balance point is right at the integral guard. The pommel is well-thought out, because the micarta handle scales stop about 2-3mm short of the end. This allows the knife's pommel to be used either as a improvised hammer or as a potential impact weapon. The swedge is not overly narrow or really even close to sharp as I feared making it useful for batoning. The fit and finish is excellent. While I haven't hard-used the knife yet, it appears to be very wear resistant. The factory edge comes shave-sharp.If you want an actual full-tang survival or fighting knife and don't mind high-carbon (think: not rust-proof but easy to sharpen) steel, then this is the knife for you.NOTE: The sheath is crap as others are saying. I knew this when I bought the knife [pretty much all nylon sheaths are junk and other reviews on Amazon confirmed this for this knife's sheath], so this review excludes the sheath. The sheath has lots of slop and poor retention. While if you had all the velcro in place, it wouldn't simply bounce out, it will flop around a lot. Also, the sheath is bulky and has lots of extra unnecessary fabric. I'd give the sheath like 2/5 or 3/5 stars on it's own. I was not disappointed because I knew this going in, and I bought it solely for the knife. Since, at the price point, I was going to have to have a sheath made for this class of knife anyway (see Ontario RTAK II or even Cold Steel Trailmasters and Laredo Bowies come with inadequate sheaths--though the Secure Ex is OK), and so it was not a deal-breaker.

The knife is balanced perfectly. It’s so big, it practically waves like a Roman Gladius, and was designed to stab like one, as well. Heavy enough for chopping/shaping wood, but nimble enough for food prep, it’s always ready for a fight. With a lanyard, Prather has demonstrated how it can be wielded with the pommel in the center of the palm, slashing or stabbing, tied to the wrist. Yes, the provided sheath sucks…but well worth the $100 price is a custom kydex, snap-in retention, sheath available in multiple camo colors and molle/belt attachments.You could use it for hunting/cleaning game, but there are many other designs better suited for that task. This is a real working tool, with a massive ‘cool-to-own’ factor. I’ve had mine for nearly 8 years, and given two as gifts. You WON’T be disappointed!

Let me start by saying that it is obvious a lot of thought went into designing this knife. However almost no thought went into its sheath.Back to the knife itself, it is a fantastic combination of function, ergonomics and aesthetics. This knife is what I would call a tactical/utility knife. Yes, Mr. Prather was obviously focused on the tactical end but in some ways this knife has a little more utility in it than a Ka-bar. The blade has a very nice nearly flat grind that goes up ~80% of the face, this allows for a minimal edge bevel and flat area at the spine to facilitate sharpening. The cutting edge itself came functionally sharp with a fairly even bevel and no burrs or catches.The ergonomics are excellent. The coffin style handle with rocky mountain textured micarta scales allow for a comfortable secure grip. And my XL sized hands have plenty of room even with gloves on, I would expect nearly anyone would find the handle comfortable because of its neutral design.Last but not least this knife has lots functional aesthetics. The extended clipped blade helps keep the blade a reasonable weight and balanced well. The ricasso forms a lower finger guard, this is one of my favor features on the knife. And it has the tang slightly exposed for a pommel.On to the sheath, in short if you want nice sheath take the ~$70 will save by buying the knife here instead of from TOPS directly, have one made. The sad part is with a few changes the sheath could be a good because it is far from "cheap". The material is very good ballistic nylon, its MOLLE compatible, and has been assembled very well. If you plan on just strapping this to your pack, the sheath is just fine and should be very durable. For the rest of us, the handle straps are a double fail. They are both to long to get useful compression on the knife, and Velcro is a poor substitute for a snap. The sheath is way bigger than it needs to be. The molded insert makes this knife a right side carry only. And the eyelets in the handle area are placed in nearly useless locations. Being honest I'd bet this sheath is a generic one Tops just has the insert molded for this knife and pushes it out the door :(In summary, the knife itself is a solid 5 star product. The sheath is a 2 star product that makes me desire a no sheath (~$20 off) buying option.I included the picture mainly for a size reference to a full sized Ka-bar.

pretty awesome knife. chops and cuts well, also can stab well too. its a nice size, not too big not too small. kinda just right I guess for a general utility knife in the woods. Only cons that keep it from a true woodsman knife is no sharp spine, and the blade is coated. But, it doesnt need that and is perfect as it is in my opinion. Its a solid knife. 1095 isnt my favorite steel, but this knife design is pretty awesome and is a good size for a knife.

Ich habe mir das Tops War Prather Bowie bestellt .Das Messer ist von der Firma Tops Knives USA. Das Messer wurde super schnell geliefert und ist von unglaublich guter Qualität ! Natürlich gibt es preiswertere Messer aber nicht in der selben Qualität. Es liegt sehr gut in der Hand dank dem ergonomischen Griffstück .Das Messer ist schwer aber das macht dem Spaß keinen Abbruch . Es wird auch eine Nylonscheide mitgeliefert welche gut verarbeitet ist und an jedes Molle System angebracht werden kann. Das Messer ist ein richtiger Allrounder , man könnte es als Bushcraft , Trekking , Survival oder als Combat Messer benutzt werden. Ein super Bowie Messer !! Eine Klare Kaufempfehlung !!!