Well, I bought a Fusion Bowie (model FX01) yesterday and did some testing with it today for my review. It broke under normal use. Let me explain what happened...
1. The knife was sharpened to paper-slicing sharpness. Not hair-shaving, just enough to cleanly slice paper.
2. I cut through three or four cardboard boxes.
3. I started to baton the knife through a 4" diameter (slightly smaller around than a CD) pine branch. No knots in it. My baton was another piece of pine, maybe 1-1/2" in diameter (a little thicker than the handle of the knife). The edge was against the pine at about 2" forward of the guard. I was batoning it about an inch forward of that. On the fifth whack, the blade broke. It was a clean break, straight line. This was batoning a knife with a piece of wood through another piece of wood! I don't have any photos right now, but the Bowie broke with some simple batoning.
4. I had my wife call Customer Service (I'm sick and busy with work) and explain what happened. The CS lady said that the Fusion line isn't covered by SOG's lifetime warranty and that the Fixation Bowie isn't expected to perform like a high-dollar knife. But I could send it in and they'd see if it was abused.
She also mentioned the sheath, which is pretty low in quality ( my opinion). The fit and finish was poor, and the knife could be shaken out of the sheath when upside down (yes, even with the snap in place). The CS lady told her that if there was a problem with the sheath, I could order another one. I don't want to pay for another poor-quality sheath; the sheaths in the store were all of this quality. I handled six Fixation Bowies and I picked the best one of the bunch!
On the breakage: It happened exactly as I described it, and I'm really annoyed that I don't have a camera right now to get photos. I don't think batoning through pine (a pretty soft wood) is abusive or voids a warranty, especially considering this is advertised as a military-quality knife (just more affordable). Yeah, it's probably a bad heat treat, but the CS lady didn't even suggest this; it was more of an implication that I shouldn't have done that with my knife.
On the lifetime warranty: From what I've read, every Fusion product also carries SOG's lifetime warranty. If that's not true, then fine. But I'm not talking about a knife that I bought years ago and am just now having trouble with; I'm describing a knife that I bought YESTERDAY and isn't covered by a warranty.
On the "not expected to perform like a high-dollar knife" comment: Bull. What's it supposed to perform like then? It's a military-inspired design, so I'm assuming it's made for some sort of outdoor or rigorous use. If it can't go through a piece of wood that every other fixed blade I have can, then why is it advertised as such? I've got $10 Moras that have done this simple task, and even my $8 Opinel can be batoned through the same pine without breaking. My $20 Bushman continues to cut anything I can throw at it, no matter how hard I beat it. But I paid $32 for the Fixation Bowie and it's not expected to perform at the same as higher-end knives, yet it doesn't perform like lower-end ones?
If what my wife says is true, and I have no reason to doubt that, it sounds like Customer Service thinks very poorly of their own products. Not covered by warranty? Not expected to perform? Implications that it was abused, despite being told the full story? Again, bull. My only other warranty issue with SOG was with a Twitch XL, which they went above and beyond to make sure I was 100% satisfied. I was so happy and though very highly of SOG and its products. Today, I carry the same amount of disappointment with the Fixation Bowie.
EDIT: Not sure if I'm sending it in for work. Whenever I hear that the knife isn't expected to perform under the use I had for it, then leave it up to the company to determine if it was abused, I know I'm getting stuck with a) a repair bill if I want it fixed, b) a $32 broken knife if I don't want it fixed, or c) a shipping bill either way, just so they can look at it.
I'm not swearing off SOG products, but I can guarantee I'll never buy another one of their Fusion line wares again. Hopefully Chris or somebody else can shed some light on why my Fixation Bowie is regarded as not up to the quality as the company's other goods, and why simple batoning is too much for it to handle.
1. The knife was sharpened to paper-slicing sharpness. Not hair-shaving, just enough to cleanly slice paper.
2. I cut through three or four cardboard boxes.
3. I started to baton the knife through a 4" diameter (slightly smaller around than a CD) pine branch. No knots in it. My baton was another piece of pine, maybe 1-1/2" in diameter (a little thicker than the handle of the knife). The edge was against the pine at about 2" forward of the guard. I was batoning it about an inch forward of that. On the fifth whack, the blade broke. It was a clean break, straight line. This was batoning a knife with a piece of wood through another piece of wood! I don't have any photos right now, but the Bowie broke with some simple batoning.
4. I had my wife call Customer Service (I'm sick and busy with work) and explain what happened. The CS lady said that the Fusion line isn't covered by SOG's lifetime warranty and that the Fixation Bowie isn't expected to perform like a high-dollar knife. But I could send it in and they'd see if it was abused.
She also mentioned the sheath, which is pretty low in quality ( my opinion). The fit and finish was poor, and the knife could be shaken out of the sheath when upside down (yes, even with the snap in place). The CS lady told her that if there was a problem with the sheath, I could order another one. I don't want to pay for another poor-quality sheath; the sheaths in the store were all of this quality. I handled six Fixation Bowies and I picked the best one of the bunch!
On the breakage: It happened exactly as I described it, and I'm really annoyed that I don't have a camera right now to get photos. I don't think batoning through pine (a pretty soft wood) is abusive or voids a warranty, especially considering this is advertised as a military-quality knife (just more affordable). Yeah, it's probably a bad heat treat, but the CS lady didn't even suggest this; it was more of an implication that I shouldn't have done that with my knife.
On the lifetime warranty: From what I've read, every Fusion product also carries SOG's lifetime warranty. If that's not true, then fine. But I'm not talking about a knife that I bought years ago and am just now having trouble with; I'm describing a knife that I bought YESTERDAY and isn't covered by a warranty.
On the "not expected to perform like a high-dollar knife" comment: Bull. What's it supposed to perform like then? It's a military-inspired design, so I'm assuming it's made for some sort of outdoor or rigorous use. If it can't go through a piece of wood that every other fixed blade I have can, then why is it advertised as such? I've got $10 Moras that have done this simple task, and even my $8 Opinel can be batoned through the same pine without breaking. My $20 Bushman continues to cut anything I can throw at it, no matter how hard I beat it. But I paid $32 for the Fixation Bowie and it's not expected to perform at the same as higher-end knives, yet it doesn't perform like lower-end ones?
If what my wife says is true, and I have no reason to doubt that, it sounds like Customer Service thinks very poorly of their own products. Not covered by warranty? Not expected to perform? Implications that it was abused, despite being told the full story? Again, bull. My only other warranty issue with SOG was with a Twitch XL, which they went above and beyond to make sure I was 100% satisfied. I was so happy and though very highly of SOG and its products. Today, I carry the same amount of disappointment with the Fixation Bowie.
EDIT: Not sure if I'm sending it in for work. Whenever I hear that the knife isn't expected to perform under the use I had for it, then leave it up to the company to determine if it was abused, I know I'm getting stuck with a) a repair bill if I want it fixed, b) a $32 broken knife if I don't want it fixed, or c) a shipping bill either way, just so they can look at it.
I'm not swearing off SOG products, but I can guarantee I'll never buy another one of their Fusion line wares again. Hopefully Chris or somebody else can shed some light on why my Fixation Bowie is regarded as not up to the quality as the company's other goods, and why simple batoning is too much for it to handle.
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