TOPS has begun revealing its new for 2025 lineup. One of six new models they’re bringing to Vegas next weekend is the Trailhead Kukri. This is a design from Jason Swain, and it infuses the unmistakable kukri profile with outdoors-focused elements.
Actually, in many ways the kukri format has always been associated with outdoors work. It may primarily be a martial blade, but throughout its long, long history the unmistakable curved knife has found its way into the hands of pathfinders, guides, and farmers for any number of domestic and agricultural chores.
In crafting the Trailhead Kukri, Swain thinned out the neck of the blade where it meets the handle, giving it a slimmer profile compared to the average kukri, but leaving the dog’s leg crook and recurved forward edge fully intact. This one looks set to be an able chopper indeed, and it even comes with a pot hook notch on the spine, so it can keep working when the chopping is done.
More surprises are to be found on the handle, because the Trailhead Kukri is not just a kukri, but incorporated elements of the karambit as well – specifically, the finger ring, situated on the butt of the handle; it’s part of the full tang slab of 1095 carbon steel that forms the main body of the Trailhead Kukri.
This new Swain/TOPS collab looks like the kind of thing that you really need to get your hands on to understand – and people will have their first chance to do just that next weekend at SHOT Show.
Knife in Featured Image: TOPS Trailhead Kukri
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