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Matt Graham is Back with TOPS Earth Skills Machete

March 5, 2020

TOPS is releasing the Earth Skills Knife, a new machete design from a returning collaborator.

The Earth Skills Knife is the second TOPS model from Matt Graham, an outdoorsperson who previously worked with the company on the Little Bugger wharncliffe fixed blade. The Earth Skills Knife is a very different beast. Obviously, it falls into a much larger size category. Its blade runs to 8.25 inches in length, and has a barong-style shape. Made from 1095 carbon steel like most outdoors TOPS models, the Earth Skills Knife has a scandi grind and comparatively thin blade stock – about .125″ thick.

All of these traits add up to a tool designed for the work of a traditional machete: chopping, brush clearing, and other general outdoors cutting chores. As the name implies, the Earth Skills Knife aims to help users accomplish those tasks that always go hand-in-hand with outdoors and survival-style activities.

Graham took simple ergonomic precepts for the Earth Skills Knife handle and added his own little twists. There are all the expected elements: a finger guard, a flared pommel, a swelled-out midsection; but everything has been given a bit of extra emphasis: the pommel is particularly pronounced, and the handle swells both from the bottom and the spine. The Earth Skills Knife has an extra large lanyard hole located on its pommel, and it weighs 11.9 oz.

The Earth Skills Knife comes outfitted with an unusual sheath as well. Graham took inspiration from Native American sheath designs for one that is purpose built for a cross-draw withdrawal. It’s also meant to be positioned a little differently, situated below the belt and off of the hip towards the back.

This is one of the first releases to come out of TOPS in 2020. In January we saw more than a dozen new knives at SHOT Show, so if past years are anything to go by we should expect a steady stream of releases throughout the year.

The Earth Skills Knife is available now.

Knife in Featured Image: TOPS Earth Skills Knife

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