During WWII, the British military developed a framework training program to help soldiers survive when evading or being captured. It was called SERE, short for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape.
SERE teaches that a fixed-blade knife is one of a soldier’s most valuable tools. It’s so vital that in the early 1980s, Al Mar and Colonel Nick Rowe designed their SERE Operator knife specifically for those applications. While that knife has seen numerous production runs (and iterations) since then, it has been defunct for some time now.
Thankfully, Al Mar and Tops are now reviving the SERE Operator in all its glory for 2025. Best of all, it remains largely true to the original in form and function.
Had an interesting convo with Mark about this one. While Al would be pleased that it is being made in the USA, we aren’t sure how he would feel about the finish. The Warrior pedigree is definitely present in a TOPS knife, but Al Mar is/was known for their exquisite finishes. So the knife checks some important boxes, but not all. That said, I really like the knife, and I like the emphasis that AlMar is going to be putting into getting classic designs out that are made outside of China.
Read the whole thing at GearPatrol.com
https://www.gearpatrol.com/outdoors/al-mar-x-tops-sere-operator/
Read the full article here