Operator 7 Blackout Edition

Awesome knife feels really sturdy and sharp. My go to when I’m needing sharpness, size and durability.

Balanced, good weight. Razor sharp out of the box. Hand filling, grippy scales that improve with wetting. Tops knives are on the right track. Keep designing, keep moving quality first. Thank you for a great product!

I might never really put this knife to an abusive test of its limits, but the Tops Operator Seven Blackout Edition looks like it could stand up to almost anything I can dish out. The spine of the blade is an impressive 5/16” thick and the handle fills the hand. At the same time, the craftsmanship and balance are exceptional. This is not an overly large knife, about the same size as a Ka Bar, but so much more ruggedly built. If you want a medium sized (7.5” blade) knife which is super rugged, this is your huckleberry!

This is a beast of a knife, weights more than my 12" Bowie. My only negative (if it were a negative) is the belt clip sheath. Beefy knife needs a beefy leather sheath, that can extend or shortened.

I have been waiting for this knife ever since I saw a video with it on youtube at shot show. This is definitely a big beefy knife The handle is made beautifully The knife is as sharp as can be This really is a beast of a knife. The sheath is super tight and fits better than most of my other knives. The seller was great They kept in contact with me They shipped it out the next morning They even emailed me a few pictures. There is no better customer service than what was provided. You will not be disappointed. Just a small update: 4/8/ 2019 I also picked up a steel eagle because Tops Knives are great. These two now sit along side my Busse Combat, these are the three I'll always have and take with me. I'll never need any others.

First impressions out of the package were that this knife is very well balanced for its size. It's weight is not as hefty as I had anticipated. This knife is built to be a work horse! I mean whatever you need it for. Bushcraft, survival, even self defense at it moves about swiftly for its size. This blade is full tang with a super thick spine! I know there exist many schools of thought on batoning but this knife is certainly built for that kind of rough play out in the woods so definitely have at that. Some knives not so much but this is one of them. This is my first venture into tops knives as I've always been a cold steel simp but not pleases with thier recent offerings since the departure of Lynn Thompson. I'll definitely be going after more of these as far as feeding my fixed blade addiction.

This knife is well built, very sturdy. It's a little heavier than I was thinking but it's quite thick so it's to be expected. The knife goes for $240 on TOPS website so its discounted very well and ships quickly. The case is also very sturdy, you need to put a little effort into pulling it out of the case. My picture is my operator 7 next to my ka-bar. The only reason I took a star off is because the steel is 1075 rather than 1095. Most tops knives are 1095. But it's such a minor difference you wont notice. The clip on the case can twist so you can have the knife sit vertically or horizontally on your belt. It's a great knife and will be a wise choice for the zombie apocalypse.

This semi-review is based on receiving the TOPS Operator 7 Black-Out Edition. I have read some reviews warning about (fake) Chinesium copy-cats on Amazon & eBay. Upon receiving item i carefully inspected every millimeter of this knife & also took some pictures and emailed TOPS Knives to confirm knife markings & also seller just to be sure i'm not getting a knock-off. The CS people at Tops Knives kindly confirmed seller and blade to be the Real Deal model. My first choice was the Acid-Rain finish as i dislike traction-coating on blades, but could not find anyone that had it in-stock online and even called a bunch of dealers so i settled for the Black-Out Edition instead. I figured i could always gift it to my son when i can get my hands on the Acid-Rain model. The Operator 7 is truly a "One Knife One Life" blade, the heft of this blade is spot-on, surprisingly the weight was not as i expected (it's not heavy at all) it's perfect! The blade design is one of the most aesthetic designs for a combat/survival blade. I'm positive this blade will perform better than expected for it's purpose build, a Combat/Survival/Hunting knife.