crappy finish on a new SOG

cowboyup0669 · Apr 8, 2010

I recieved a new SOG Seal Pup Elite in the mail today. I got this one for my girlfriend to use on a trip this weekend as I used to have one and knew it would be a good fit for her. Like I said, I used to have one and was very impressed with it, so much so that i gave it to my baby brother in the Corps to bring to Afganistan with him (I'm told his squad mates are jealous!)
Si I open the box, pull the plastic, remove the cardboard sleeve and see the blade-
Underwhelmed.
The black finish which was very slick and smooth and shiny on my old one is flat and unfinished looking. Rather it looks sprayed on- poorly.
The pasping on the spine is just as disapointing being shallower and just not as aggresive as on my bro's knife.
The blade is just as sharp as my old one came, the shape is the same, the handle and sheath are the same, but the finish quality is not what I have come to expect from SOG.
If She didn't need a knife to use camping this weekend I would consider sending it back but as it is I got her a knife because she needed a knife. I got her a SOG because I have learned to trust the quality and I wanted her to have a good knife.
Honestly, I was a little embaressed by the finish after I raved to her what a nice, slick, good looking, well made knife it would be.
Is SOG dropping the ball and phoning it in now or did I get a dud?
Peace
John

cowboyup0669 · Apr 9, 2010

I talked to customer service today. The nice young woman I spoke to told me to send her pictures of the blade and she will review them. I sent her pics of the new Seal Pup Elite with my older but still in nearly new condition Super SOG Bowie so she could see the comparison in quality. The finish on my bowie is exactly like the finish on my old Seal Pup Elite and that is what I expected when I ordered the new one.
I have faith that she will see what a dramatic difference there is and SOG will make good. I have /do owned several SOG products and have yet to be unhappy.
Peace
John

ml100 · Apr 10, 2010

Don't expect too much.
I have a Bowie 2.0 and a Seal Team Elite. The Sog web site says they would have the same finish. But it's exactly as described by you.
The Bowie with a shiny black, nearly indestructable finish, the Seal Team Elite with a grayish, dead coating the wears off getting ligther and ligther.

rramjet · Apr 10, 2010

Unfortunately, that is exactly the Tini coating on my new NW Ranger, kind of dead looking! I expected the same iridescent coating as on the Super Bowie or like on my Trident tanto folder. Instead, it is a mat finish that looks like it was sprayed on. Disappointing. I wonder why the change?

Chris@SOG · Apr 12, 2010

There are a couple reasons for the change in coating finish. I'll list the most relevant here.

We did have some issues with the shiny black coating not adhering the way we wanted to the blade. This was a quality issue that we had to address. Second was that the SEAL Pup and Pup Elite knives are use by military personnel and they had requested a duller finish and we not big fans of the previous shiny finish.

rramjet · Apr 12, 2010

I suppose that makes sense where the military would prefer a mat finish. Chris, is this new finish durable? The iridescent finish sure looked durable on Carney's Super Bowie.

ml100 · Apr 14, 2010

rramjet said:
I suppose that makes sense where the military would prefer a mat finish. Chris, is this new finish durable? The iridescent finish sure looked durable on Carney's Super Bowie.

It wears of over time going from black to gray.

Chris@SOG · Apr 15, 2010

Yes, the new finish is very durable. It will wear like in the photo above but it adheres to the steel significantly better.

drefan · Apr 15, 2010

(cowboyup0669 here- I had to change my profile because I was having huge problems with my other password)
Chris, thank you for addressing my issue. It does make sense that for military uses a matt finish would be prefered.
I would like to make a couple points here though-
1) There is nothing posted anywhere that I have seen about this change in the Seal Pup Elite. There is a reference on SOGs website about a matt finish on the Seal Team Elite but as of now nothing regarding the pup. Your customers might apreciate this knowledge in advance to ordering a product, expecting one look and recieving another. Based on my past experience with this particular knife, I honestly thought I recieved something defective when I saw the new finish.
2) I sent an email complete with pictures to the person I spoke to on the phone almost a week ago. I have yet recieved no reply. This is disapointing customer service and does not instil me with a feeling of confidence should I have a problem with another SOG product. This is not the first problem I have had with SOGs customer services lack of communication- some time back I had an issue with a broken handle on a SOG tomahawk that was almost brand new. I gave up on that quickly in frustration and gave the pieces to my brother in law because he thinks he can fix it to his satisfaction. My loss, his gain. I was chopping through a three inch log when the handle broke.
While I have several other SOG products and have been satisfied with them and have recomended them to others, I personaly have found SOG lacking in customer support and question wether I will be buying or recomending SOG products in the future. I feel that if I had not known about this forum I would still be waiting to find out what the issue was with my new knife.
This is in contrast to another knife company who's product I recently ordered. I had an issue with the edge bevels being uneven and a resulting dull blade. I e-mailed them and within an hour recieved an e-mail from them with instructions as to how to proceed and a phone number in case I had further questions.
These are just the observations of one slightly frustrated customer, take them for what they are worth.
And again, thank you for your reply on my post. I now know that at least the knife I purchased is not defective and it can be used with the confidance I have come to expect from SOG products.
Peace
John