Hello all! First time posting on the SOG forum. First though, a little information about my situation. I've carried a Kabar USMC knife and a SAK Huntsman for all my hiking/backpacking, fishing,camping and canoeing for the past 34 years, and never looked back. My wife of 26 years started getting into the hike and fish adventures in the last 6 years. During that time she learned knifecraft with a Mora Stainless Clipper model and honed her skills. This past summer she said she wanted a more "professional" knife of her choosing. I told her that I had several USMC kabars laying around, but she said that although the kabars looked old school and "ruggedly handsome" dangling on my belt, they were too big for her. I told her to search for her own knife but the only rule was that I had to approve(since I'm the experienced knife guru in the house) to make sure that it is of decent quality. After searching and looking for about two weeks, she saw the Seal Pup (standard version with nylon sheath) at Dick's sporting goods. It was love at first sight, touch, and feel. She wanted it right there and then, but the only problem was that : 1) although I've heard of SOG for a long time, I've never owned one, and 2): I saw that was made in Taiwan. I told her to hold up on the purchase for 2 days while I researched as much as I could about it. So, after reading all the reviews I could find, and watching every YouTube video about it, I finally told her to get it. Immediately we took it for a spin at cleaning fish, making kindling, cutting all different types of materials, learning to work with the serrations, and everything that an all purpose utility knife could be used for. Furthermore this is the only knife in my household that sharpens like a demon with the Smith's pocket pal sharpener that she bought to keep in the sheath pocket since she doesn't know how to use a diamond plate (credit card size) like I carry. She loves it, and I'm impressed. She keeps it in her get home bag (which is also her outdoor venturing bag) Now, my questions to all of you experienced SOG users in here are: did she make a sound choice? Any issues with the Taiwan manufacture? Please feel free to educate me with all your knowledge and experience regarding this knife. Thanks in advance!
Educate me on the SOG Seal Pup
- Thread starter h minus
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From what I read, the SOG Seal Pup is an excellent, tough, sharp out of the box knife which is extremely well priced (<$50). I don't have the Seal Pup, but have many other SOG knives, my favorite the Autoclip. Never had issues with SOG's over decades of use. Sounds like she made a good choice.
Welcome to the SOG subforum. I have a 2006 Seki Seal Pup as well as a current Seal Pup Elite. The SOG Seal Pup was introduced in 1995 as a smaller version of the SOG Seal2000 which SOG submitted to the US Navy for testing. Manufactured by Kinryu of Seki in highly corrosion resistant Aus6, the Seal Pup became one of the knives issued during BUDS (USN Seals training). Both the Seal2000 and Seal Pup are on display at the US Navy SEALS Museum. The Seal Pup remains one of the knives that military personnel choose to carry on their own. The Seal Pup became one of, if not the most popular SOG knife because although it followed the "SOG" blade design which goes back to the Vietnam War era Special Forces knives, in it's reduced size it was recognized as a highly utilitarian outdoors knife capable of many tasks. In 2006, SOG started to switch manufacture from Seki Japan to Taiwan and 2007 was the last year of Seki made Seal2000s and Seal Pups. The Seal Pup was sold first with a nylon cordura sheath, then a few variations of kydex sheaths. After 2008 there were the expected buyers reservations about the new Taiwan made knives, but the Seal Pup and new Seal Pup Elite has been widely accepted by users as continuing to be rock solid as earlier SOGs have always been. SOG improved the design a little, offered both partially serrated and fully plain edge, satin or black Tini blade and switched from Aus6 to Aus8 as the blade material. SOG offers a kydex sheath and a nylon sheath with a sheath pocket. The latter sheath has received a lot of acclaim for it's simplicity, lightness and suitability for various mounting methods. I find the sheath pocket ideal for a SOG Multitool, a combination that will get you through just about any situation. I consider the current Seal Pup and Elite to be excellent knives in that price category.
Current Seal Pup Elite plain edge on top, older Seki Pup on bottom.
Seal Pup in Iraq.
Current Seal Pup Elite plain edge on top, older Seki Pup on bottom.
Seal Pup in Iraq.
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You made an excellent choice! Me personally I would have gone for the Satin Plain Edge Elite but I also own the regular model and both are a great value. It is lite. It is tough. The Steel is forgiving yet holds a good edge the way SOG does it. I EDC a pup regularly.
Welcome to the SOG subforum. I have a 2006 Seki Seal Pup as well as a current Seal Pup Elite. The SOG Seal Pup was introduced in 1995 as a smaller version of the SOG Seal2000 which SOG submitted to the US Navy for testing. Manufactured by Kinryu of Seki in highly corrosion resistant Aus6, the Seal Pup became one of the knives issued during BUDS (US at Seal training). Both the Seal2000 and Seal Pup are on display at the US Navy SEALS Museum. The Seal Pup remains one of the knives that military personnel choose to carry on their own. The Seal Pup became one of if not the most popular SOG knife because although it followed the "SOG" blade design which goes back to the Vietnam War era Special Forces knives, in it's reduced size it was recognized as a highly utilitarian outdoors knife capable of many tasks. In 2006, SOG started to switch manufacture from Seki Japan to Taiwan and 2007 was the last year of Seki made Seal2000s and Seal Pups. The Seal Pup was sold first with a nylon cordura sheath, then a few variations of kydex sheaths. After 2008 there were the expected buyers reservations about the new Taiwan made knives, but the least the Seal Pup and new Seal Pup Elite has been widely accepted by users as continuing to be rock solid as they have always been. SOG improved the design a little, offered both partially serrated and fully plain edge, satin or black Tini blade and switched from Aus6 to Aus8 as the blade material. SOG offers a kydex sheath and a nylon sheath with a sheath pocket. The latter sheath has received a lot of acclaim for it's simplicity, lightness and suitability for various mounting methods. I find the sheath pocket ideal for a SOG Multitool, a combination that will get you through just about any situation. I consider the current Seal Pup and Elite to be excellent knives in that price category.
Current Seal Pup Elite plain edge on top, older Seki Pup on bottom.
Seal Pup in Iraq.
Thank you sir for a very in depth response. It answered everything I needed to know. And also, thanks for everyone who chimed in with their own experience. Friendly crowd in the SOG forum. I think I might pick me up a Seal Pup to further acquaint myself with the SOG blades. Thanks again guys!
Wow Sac troop that's good to know. Thanks bud!
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I've owned a plain edge Seal Pup Elite since they came out (like 8 years I would guess). They are pretty good general purpose knives for hiking and so forth. It hadn't been used in a while, so I dug it out of my knife bin and put it on my bookcase shelf "ready for use".
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I carried a Seal Pup Elite during 2 tours in Iraq as an infantryman. Never let me down. Your wife made a great choice.
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:thumbup:
Sorry for the late response guys, I've been gone awhile. Thanks for all the responses since my last post. I'm glad to see a lot of service members posting their experiences with the SOG Seal Pup in recent conflicts for I myself was an Airborne Infantryman of a previous generation. In my service days I carried a Kabar USMC on my LBE. Every grunt did in those days. I still carry one every time I go in the great outdoors. Seems like my wife has made a great choice and she still tickled with her SOG. I have peace of mind knowing her knife is "grunt endorsed" because we vets all can agree that grunt work is the ultimate test for a utility knife. Once again, I thank you all
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Glad you and she are happy!