TOPS Land Attack Rethinks the Trench Knife

TOPS is offering their updated take on the classic trench knife with the new Land Attack. This burly blade redraws the knuckle duster element to preclude accidental grip binding.

The trench knife concept originated in WWI, a conflict in which trench warfare and, by extension, close quarters combat became ubiquitous. A trench knife was a dagger- or bayonet-style edged weapon with a knuckleduster built into the guard – a useful addition to be sure, but one that brings with it some additional risks. In a situation where the knife needs to be dropped, the user’s hand can get caught in the duster, and they may very well not have time to disentangle, let alone defend, themselves in a hand-to-hand combat scenario where time is valued at the level of milliseconds.

TOPS CEO Leo Espinoza designed the Land Attack to address this issue, but let’s take a look at the blade first. It is a wild one, a 4.36-inch modified tanto with a heavy snout and an equally sizable recurve on the primary edge. It’s a nasty piece of work all around, and we mean that as a compliment. It’s made from 1095 carbon steel as per TOPS SOP, and, given that the slab thickness here is a quarter of an inch thick, the Land Attack should be more or less bulletproof when it’s on the job.

Espinoza’s stroke of genius here is twofold. First, he opened up the finger guard, so that the user’s hand is no longer heavily bracketed on the knuckle side of the piece. Next, he moved the lower part of the duster forward. into the lower third of the handle rather than at the very back end; the forward section will accommodate three fingers, while the area behind the second duster element anchors the little finger (or ringer finger, if you’re holding this thing in a reverse grip. Pretty clever stuff, and TOPS topped off the package with a Kydex belt sheath, as is their wont.

The Land Attack is available now.

Knife in Featured Image: TOPS Knives Land Attack

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