Flash II vs Trident

C

case42

Joined
Jul 21, 2006
Messages
7
Hi All,
Been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I'm looking at picking up one of the SOG AO knives for EDC...looking for something in the 3.5"-4" range and I like the Flash II and the Trident. I have heard a lot about the Flash II, but not so much about the Trident. Is one of these knives regarded as being better than the other, better mechanism, more reliable, etc?? I'm leaning toward the Trident, but I like all of the good things I've read about the Flash II as well. Anyone have both?
Thanks in advance for any/all help! :D
John
 
The Trident is my EDC. It's light weight, strong, deploys like lighting and is fairly aggresive looking. The groove allows for quick cuts of string and even paracord without having to deploy the blade.
The one downfall, IMO is the break in. Because of the S.A.T the blade tends to have a little wiggle from the factory. It does not affect the performance of the blade but it can bug ya like it did me. You can find a delicate balance between too loose and too tight by adjusting the pivot hex and a little lubrication (WD-40 or such).

Cheers!
 
Try handling both before buying (probably the best advice whenever you're faced with an "either/ or" knife choice).

The Trident's handle has several strips of deep traction notches along the top and bottom which are outstanding for controlling the knife when wearing gloves. They might be a bit hard on bare hands, though. The Flash's handle has a smaller, smoother set of grooves. Also, the handle on the Flash is a substantially different shape with a "swell" for the middle and ring fingers followed by a taper for the little finger. They may have the same mechanism, but they're two very different knives.
 
i`ve owned both and loved both equally . buy both , two knives are better then one (except when you give one to your girlfriend and she loses it)
 
I've owned a SOG Flash II in the past, and I currently own a SOG Trident, and its my EDC. I find the Arc-Lock to be more to my liking, and the overall shape of the handle is much more comfortable then the handle on the Flash II. If you're left handed, or want to carry a knife on your left side, the Flash II is probably more suited for you, because the lock can be disengaged from either side, similar to Benchmade's Axis lock. The lock on the Trident is not really suited for a left-hander as much because of the way the Arc-Lock is set up.

Either way, both knives are very nice, and worth the money. There might be a little blade play at first, but the quick way to fix that is to first apply some Militec and then tighten the pivots some. That fixed the problem for me. Anyway, I hope that helps.
 
Thanks so much for all of your help! I would really like to handle them both before I buy, but unfortunately there aren't any SOG distributors near me...I think, from all that I have seen and read, that the Trident folder will be a better choice for what I'm looking for though I DO think that I'd like to try the Flash II and maybe even a Meridian in the future...though I'm having a bit of a hard time getting over the styling of the Meridian...ahhh so many knives so little money :D ...guess I'll just have to get them one at a time!
Now that I've decided on the Trident (for now), I have to decide which blade configuration to get...I wish they had the black blade in a plain edge version...perhaps I can live with the combo edge :)
Thanks again for the replies!
 
case42 said:
I wish they had the black blade in a plain edge version...perhaps I can live with the combo edge :)
Thanks again for the replies!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that I've seen a black-bladed plain edge on the Trident, I could be wrong though. You could always buy the Trident with the satin finsih and put duracoat on the blade to make it black.....just a thought though.
 
Baphomet said:
I'm pretty sure that I've seen a black-bladed plain edge on the Trident, I could be wrong though. You could always buy the Trident with the satin finsih and put duracoat on the blade to make it black.....just a thought though.
Click to expand...

hey that's a pretty good idea! I wonder if Norrell's Moly Resin would work...By the listings on their website they do have a plain black blade, but it's only in the Trident Tanto
thanks for the idea!
 
I just recoated the blade on my Kabar Short Tanto using a latex based paint that I got at Home Depot. All you need to do is first apply a thin coat of primer, wait 2 hours, and then apply the paint/enamel with a small paintbrush. The stuff I bought took about 2 hours to dry and worked well.
 
I have the trident tanto with the TINI coating and it really is a great knife. It did come more than razor sharp, snaps open wickedly fast, and locks up really securely. I looked into the Flash II as well and found the trident to be a much better design with more features. I also prefer the larger size but that's just personal preference.
 
yeah I like the slightly larger size as well...a bit better for my application...did you like the tanto edge? I've never owned one and haven't heard all that great things about them on here...but I guess I would consider it if it was worth it...though like I said, I've never owned one so... :)
 
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