Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,053
I have had the pleasure of working with a few knives made by SOG in the past and I have always been very happy with their performance. Recently I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to check out one of their newest knives. I have spent the last few days working with the most recent addition to SOGs Elite series of knives, the new Tigershark Elite, and I've sure had some fun with it
I was impressed by the sheer size of the package alone, and even though I had read the specs on the SOG website more than once I was still not quite prepared for the knife I was about to pull out of the box. Grabbing the handle and feeling the comfortable contours and very sure grip of the molded Zytel handle instantly brought a smile to my face, and pulling the blade from the cardboard sleeve broadened it. The Tigershark Elite has a black TiNi coated blade with an over-all blade length of 9 inches, so even with the 2 inch section of very wicked serrations and the 1 inch choil it still has a full 6 inches of plain edge for clean cutting and chopping. The blade is .25 inches thick and is 1.6 inches in width at the widest point. It has wonderfully precise grind lines, and the same scalloped spine that has become SOGs hallmark. However this spine has a rasped texture that offers more positive control when using the thumb ramp and choil, or when holding the knife by the blade to do more tedious detail work.
The edge is, as is customary with their knives, extremely sharp and shaved hair from my arm as cleanly as a straight razor.
Also in the box are a couple of new additions to the Tigershark; a wrap-around steel hand guard and a heavy pointed pommel that come packaged separately. These are easily attached via slots in the handle and the protruding tang by following the enclosed instructions and they are held in place with six socket head screws which are tightened using two L shaped hex keys which are included in the package.
With the guard attached the knife takes on the appearance and feel of a small saber. The sheath is made of black nylon and has hard plastic sheeting sewn in for reinforcement in hi-stress areas. It has a large stone pouch on the front, and metal grommeted eyelets at the base of the belt loop, and at the tip to provide multiple carry options.
The sheath of this knife has an extra wide belt loop that easily slips onto a modern pistol belt without having to disassemble one end of the belts fastening assembly. The button snap of the retention strap is not too easily released but can be worked with the tip of one finger. There is no struggle when drawing the blade as it pulls out very quietly with little resistance and is returned just as easily. On the belt it wears very comfortably and, though the presence of the knife is noticeable, it does not feel excessively heavy. With the handguard attached the retention system is one of the most secure I have ever seen; it absolutely secures the knife in the sheath and allows for very little movement. However without the guard in place it is somewhat less secure.
You can tell just as looking at the Tigershark that it is a knife on the cutting edge of tactical technology, and feeling the edge quickly lets you know that SOG is still producing some of the worlds sharpest blades. It cut through double layers of heavy weave nylon webbing with ease and cut through canvas as if it were just a sheet of cotton.
Using the thumb ramp and choil I was able to comfortably choke up on the blade and do detail work like cutting stakes and sharpening points with the part of the edge just in front of the serrations with a surprising degree of control.
and the rasp spine allows for good control when holding the knife by the blade. It also works well with a fire steel as I have already demonstrated with another knife from SOG's Elite line.
The physics are such that the balance point is exactly where the handle meets the blade and even with such a large blade using it in this fashion wasnt awkward at all.
I was impressed by the sheer size of the package alone, and even though I had read the specs on the SOG website more than once I was still not quite prepared for the knife I was about to pull out of the box. Grabbing the handle and feeling the comfortable contours and very sure grip of the molded Zytel handle instantly brought a smile to my face, and pulling the blade from the cardboard sleeve broadened it. The Tigershark Elite has a black TiNi coated blade with an over-all blade length of 9 inches, so even with the 2 inch section of very wicked serrations and the 1 inch choil it still has a full 6 inches of plain edge for clean cutting and chopping. The blade is .25 inches thick and is 1.6 inches in width at the widest point. It has wonderfully precise grind lines, and the same scalloped spine that has become SOGs hallmark. However this spine has a rasped texture that offers more positive control when using the thumb ramp and choil, or when holding the knife by the blade to do more tedious detail work.
The edge is, as is customary with their knives, extremely sharp and shaved hair from my arm as cleanly as a straight razor.
Also in the box are a couple of new additions to the Tigershark; a wrap-around steel hand guard and a heavy pointed pommel that come packaged separately. These are easily attached via slots in the handle and the protruding tang by following the enclosed instructions and they are held in place with six socket head screws which are tightened using two L shaped hex keys which are included in the package.
With the guard attached the knife takes on the appearance and feel of a small saber. The sheath is made of black nylon and has hard plastic sheeting sewn in for reinforcement in hi-stress areas. It has a large stone pouch on the front, and metal grommeted eyelets at the base of the belt loop, and at the tip to provide multiple carry options.
The sheath of this knife has an extra wide belt loop that easily slips onto a modern pistol belt without having to disassemble one end of the belts fastening assembly. The button snap of the retention strap is not too easily released but can be worked with the tip of one finger. There is no struggle when drawing the blade as it pulls out very quietly with little resistance and is returned just as easily. On the belt it wears very comfortably and, though the presence of the knife is noticeable, it does not feel excessively heavy. With the handguard attached the retention system is one of the most secure I have ever seen; it absolutely secures the knife in the sheath and allows for very little movement. However without the guard in place it is somewhat less secure.
You can tell just as looking at the Tigershark that it is a knife on the cutting edge of tactical technology, and feeling the edge quickly lets you know that SOG is still producing some of the worlds sharpest blades. It cut through double layers of heavy weave nylon webbing with ease and cut through canvas as if it were just a sheet of cotton.
Using the thumb ramp and choil I was able to comfortably choke up on the blade and do detail work like cutting stakes and sharpening points with the part of the edge just in front of the serrations with a surprising degree of control.
and the rasp spine allows for good control when holding the knife by the blade. It also works well with a fire steel as I have already demonstrated with another knife from SOG's Elite line.
The physics are such that the balance point is exactly where the handle meets the blade and even with such a large blade using it in this fashion wasnt awkward at all.
