TOPS is taking a crack at a slipjoint with their latest release, the Tex Creek. Although it is outside of the usual TOPS wheelhouse, the Tex Creek has the house style in spades – due in no small part to being designed by company CEO Leo Espinoza.
Say, what is it with traditional knives being named after rivers and creeks? Maybe, back in the earliest days of folding knife design, some craftsman put the finishing touches on one of the first every slippies and sat to think about what to call his newest creation. Just when all marketing hope seemed lost, he looked out his window at a nearby river – and inspiration struck, and a centuries-long tradition unknowingly started.
They’re certainly best known for their fixed blades, but TOPS has worked in folders for years and years. The Tex Creek is the smallest in their current batch of folding models, with a blade length of 2.38 inches – notably smaller than even the Mini Scandi 4.0, but right in the pocket for a day-to-day slipjoint user. It can get used a lot, too, as its drop point blade is made from M390 super steel.
The handle is pure TOPS, with its scalloped green G-10 scales and undulating grip area, with three distinct regions for the fingers. It’s a handle design borrowed directly from the Tex Creek fixed blades, and while not a one-to-one emulation of that knife’s grip, the family lineage is clear. There’s no pocket clip on the 1.3 oz. Tex Creek slippie, but it does come with a leather pouch for convenient pocket carry.
The Tex Creek slipjoint is out now.
Knife in Featured Image: TOPS Knives Tex Creek Slipjoint
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