Cold Steel VS SOG

Spyderco! LOL on a serious note if cold steel and sog where the 2 last knives on earth i would pick up that cold steel, f&f on sog is horrible and they just felt cheap, or the flash 2's and trident i have held felt that way. The Tri ad lock on the cold steel folders however is a great solid design, I believe both companies use aus 8 steel, and the coating cold steel uses on there blades leaves a lot to be desired, but between the 2 I'd take a cold steel folder all day long, I've owned a few recon 1s and they are pretty tough knives ,If cold steel would use better blade steel and coat there blades with something like spyderco's dlc then IMO they would be one of the best knives on the market, gotta give credit where credit is due.
 
I would go with Cold Steel. They seem to be better built, more durable, and a good variety of "tactical" knives [which can be a pro or con] however SOG have pretty good assisted knives although sometimes those are a hit-or-miss from what I have heard.
 
Cold Steel easily, great lock, great price, and a forgiving steel for the improv sharpener. SOG worries more about marketing their product that the actual product itself. Next they'll make the blade in the shape of "SOG" which will come with blade play of course.

WARNING: This post is an opinion, not fact.
 
Short story is that Cold Steel knives are better. Ergonomics, durability, and better price. Never liked SOG multitools either.

The black coating on CS knives might be changed from the past few years. The coating on my Mini Recon never had a mark on it aside from metal contact...months of cutting and poking lots of cardboard, hard plastic, wood, and a couple large rooms worth of old, gritty carpet didn't even change the texture one bit.
 
I don't have any experience with SOG. I missplaced my endura a long time ago & I got a Voyager. That turned into a Recon Tanto, an Oyabun, Kobun, Brooklyn Crusher, and a walkabout cane, and a Trail Boss. Their marketing is humorous, but they do make durable stuff.
 
The only SOG I ever had was the Vulcan TiNi and I returned it right after I opened the box. The blade was pretty nice but the handle was crap. There was blade play with the pivot fully tightened and all the screws were extremely cheap. For a $100 knife (and what I thought was one of their higher quality products) I was very disappointed. Ordered a Spyderco Para 2 to replace it.

I have the Cold Steel Recon 1 tanto, Ti-Lite Zytel, and Trueflight thrower. All of them are solid products, nothing amazing but they certainly work and are good for the price.

I'd go Cold Steel.
 
Wood work messed my recon 1 up a bit, but coating is of no concern to me. If anything I think the scratches add character.
 
I'd say it would have to be model specific. Sog gets a lot of criticism and a lot of it is deserved. However, they do have a few gems here and there. The Elite series with VG-10 steel and the arc lock are top notch knives. Very good quality and strong. I really like all my Cold Steel blades but I have had rust issues with their AUS8, some of them even new out of the box.

Dollar for dollar I think Cold Steel is the better value but don't discount Sog completely.
 
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Depends on the knife...I've also had rust issues on some CS knives AUS-8, while my SOG Seal Pup Elite has not given me any issues and I find it's a great knife for the money...used it to clean deer to batonning...tough and holds a great edge. I really don't understand the hate towards SOG...I've found their fixed blades to be very competent for the price point.

Would have to give CS the 'edge' on folders though IMO.
 
Another vote for Cold Steel, here, although the SOGs come with neat certificates of authenticity that you can place next to your knives as you stare at them and wonder what possessed you to buy them! Now I just got a couple of SOG fixed blade knives -- a SOG Agency and a SOG Tech Bowie -- that I heard good things about from Nutnfancy. The selling points were, essentially, their looks. In other words, the blades are gorgeous!

For folding knives, however, the Cold Steels are the best. I like the CS Hold-Out and the Voyagers. Even though most folks like the flat grind knives, I like the hollow grind knife blades found on the tantos. Sure, they're heavier, but I like the balance, the strength and the weight of the tantos. I also dig that secondary edge. Check out the reviews on YouTube!
 
Between those 2, something else. Both of those are bottom of the barrel brands as far as I'm concerned. You can get a Kershaw that will be a much better knife, probably for less money.
 
Between the two, I'd vote Cold Steel too. Only got one SOG knife, one of the early Seki-made Government models (in the leather sheath). A decent enough knife, but I think SOG have slid a long way downhill since then.
 
Gush, this is just perfect!
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Cold Steel big time. I had a Twitch XL, which was a nice knife except for the famous SOG bladeplay but CS makes a solid well built knife across the board. CS's AUS8 is better also.
 
Bigfatts said:
Between those 2, something else. Both of those are bottom of the barrel brands as far as I'm concerned. You can get a Kershaw that will be a much better knife, probably for less money.
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Not in my experience, Kershaw can give you better edge retention but not necessarily ergonomics, durability, decent pocket clip, decent lock mechanism, loc-tite, etc. Since the 90's they have always seemed to be more about cool features and fashion than being a solid tool.

I would take a $38 Voyager over a Blur, Leek, JYD, Needs Work etc. that had a new magic steel which never needed sharpened.
 
I love my cold steel stuff, sog's feel cheap in hand to me. People bash Cold Steel's marketing a lot, but SOG has a LOT more of the "We are the best and everyone else sucks." kind of attitude in their ads from what I've seen, going so far as to call a kershaw leek worthless.
 
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