Detailed report on the Halfbreed Blades Emergency Rescue Knife the ERK-01 TOPO

A Detailed Report on the Halfbreed Blades Emergency Rescue Knife the ERK-01 TOPO

After spending considerable time in the field with the Halfbreed Blades Emergency Rescue Knife the ERK-01 TOPO, here's what I have to report.

At first glance, the Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO is obviously "A saw back knife". There are saw back knives and saw back knives and in my experience with saw back knives which dates back to over 40 years ago, I would say there are only 3 manufacturers who currently make  a saw back knife which can actually saw anything. 

The first manufacturer who comes to mind is AITOR. Let's face it ,from a commercial point of view they were probably the first, and it is the design which is featured upon their iconic OSO line and that too of the Jungle King series along with another early AITOR combat knife (now discontinued), the Aitor Combat TEC.

The Aitor saw can quickly notch either dead or living wood.

This design was a proprietary one and I have to say cut exceptionally well both artificial materials, green and dead wood. Some of my subscribers also tell me it also cut through animal bone very well too! 

The next saw back design that I found worked very well for dry materials is from FKMD as seen on their Spartan Leonida Combat Survival Knife.  This design cuts through rigid plastic sheeting, plywood, MDF and other similar materials with ease and actually less drag than the AITOR saw but of course removes less with each stroke due to small teeth.

Seen above the FKMD Spartan Leonida Combat Survival Knife, there is some retention of "sticky" material. This is probably one of the first knives to feature on "BushCampingTools" and I have actually reviewed it extensively on the channel and this blog over the years. It certainly satisfies all the features of what a combat survival knife should embody.

Finally, the third design can be found upon the spine of the Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO Emergency Rescue Knife.

This saw design is more akin to a coarse "rip saw" design where a large amount of material is removed during each stroke however, there is due to the coarseness of the teeth arrangement, more resistance in each stroke when compared say to the FKMD design and the AITOR, however, this is simply physics, as we can not remove "more" without an added resistance. Provided one can apply such a "resistance", then this saw design cuts very well too and of course much faster than the other designs I have highlighted here.

Something the Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO Emergency Rescue Knife saw can do which the others can not; the saw back can be used in some circumstances to break fencing wire, provided the wire is relatively taunt to begin with, via the principle of cold work hardening until material failure. One performs this simply by entrapping the wire within the saw teeth. Yes, it is NOT a dedicated wire cutting notch as seen in some combat knives, which by the way can not cut razor wire, only barbed wire and fencing wire.

Of course the FKMD can do likewise albeit via the barbed wire cutter function of the knife and scabbard combined and something it does well too.

The Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO Emergency Rescue Knife has a full non flexible tang as this knife is intended to be also used as a small pry bar. Certainly there was zero flex in the handle as I applied a force of greater than 70kg (full body weight until my feet were off the ground). 

I do not know what loading would cause failure, and do not plan to destruction test it as that would be nonsensical as it would only be a sample size of one and thus statistically not valid. However 70kg across one's hand is an awful lot considering it is not the bar of a bar bell you're hanging on to!

Having a tip which can actually lever something is pretty darn useful IMHO and certainly there is ZERO danger of breaking a knife tip as there simply isn't one to break. Recently on @BushCampingTools I demonstrated how to extract wood for tinder via first the saw, making a deep notch and then using the lever tip to break off strips of hard (in this case) oak, with nothing more than this knife, I'd say this makes the knife extra versatile. Sure it looks awkward with a blunt tip but it is really a tool, not a weapon. 

In terms of comfort and grip, the deeply scalloped G10 scales on the Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO Emergency Rescue Knife are very grippy and very comfortable even without wearing gloves and no hot spots for my paws.

As with all saw back knives, some care is required regarding insertion and removal from the scabbard as clumsy insertion or removal, one will quickly find they are destroying their Kydex scabbard fairly rapidly.  However, do not despair as there is a quick work around for this and something which also involves recycling, yes you read it right "recycling"!

Here's how: Cut out a thin strip of relatively thick PET plastic

 from any one of the bazillions of PET bottles laying around, bend it with your fingers to fit the inside 

This small insert totally protects the kydex from being "eroded" from these vicious saw teeth! I have used the same insert for hundreds of insertions and removals without need to replace it as yet.

of the Kydex sheath (I have also done this for my AITOR knives with saw backs in  the leather scabbards. 

I also slightly modified recycling of old credit cards to line the inside of my FKMD wire cutting scabbard with a small piece of credit card plastic to prevent that saw back from damaging the scabbard. 

If you're like me and actually use your knives a lot then these small hacks work like a dream and will continue to work until knife manufactures can come up with a better idea. 

Although saying all of that in regards to the Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO Emergency Rescue Knife, such a tool may not be getting extricated from it's scabbard on a regular basis and as such, the longevity of the kydex would not be in question.

Now how about those deadly serrations on the Halfbreed Blades ERK-01 TOPO Emergency Rescue Knife?

Simply put they cut like some atomic knife LOL!

See my videos if you have any doubts here about a serrated edge's cutting power.

I cut 11mm dynamic climbing rope (made to be abrasion resistant)  several times and the rope was cut before it reached the end of the length of serrations.

 How about that funky Teflon coating? Is it tough? YES indeed, it is very very hard wearing and can take high abrasive forces. Yes it does wear because if you use the saw enough it will wear off on high contact areas. has it worn off from the blade though? no not yet. ALL coating regardless of what they are made from or how they are applied will wear off if you USE that knife. FACT. 

What about the Factory Edge?

The factory edge came mirror polished and the hardness stated as HRC 59-60. I have no reason to doubt this based upon the great edge retention seen after using this knife extensively against very hard hardwoods and dirty forest materials for both cutting and chopping actions. When it came to touching up the edge I simply used either a ceramic rod or a ceramic flat stone. 

Job done.

In Summary

 It's heavy enough to chop with, you can definitely pry stuff with it, the serrations cut like a cosmic knife and those saw teeth really cut. I'd say in summary this is a very versatile knife/tool that I would have no problems to grab if it was the last thing I grabbed as I went out the door. It's a kind of cross over survival type knife, although saying that halfbreed Blades does in fact also manufacture 2 types of survival knives, one a drop point and other a tanto type point. As with ALL saw back knives one must be careful not to injure themselves due to the very sharp protrusions on the spine.

BCT