I'm getting a Seal Pup, what should I know?

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kgriggs8

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I have owned a few SOGs in the past like a Vietnam era MK-I and a few others. I know SOG makes a quality product and at one time was a industry leader in new designs. They have been pretty quite lately (at least to me). I read a bunch of good things about the Seal Pup but was wondering if there were any bad points I should know about.

I don't have many fixed blades at all, almost all my knives are single bladed folder from Spyderco and Benchmade. I don't do a ton out outdoor stuff that would require a large fixed blade. I do a little camping, some boating, very little fishing, some diving and snorkerling, and that is about it. I am not a hunter anymore and I am not in the military so I am not planning on useing it for self defense or anything. It is just going to be a general hard use (as I define it) fixed blade. I do plan on making it my dive knife for when I want a fixed blade instead of the 93mm Spyderco rescue that I normally carry in and around water.

You may ask me why I bought a knife that I don't know anything about. The answer, it was only $16! I am buying from someone on another forum along with some gun mags and holster. For $16, I can't imagine I can go wrong!
 
Bad points? You're getting a $50-60 dollar knife from a good company for well under $20 and you're worried about its bad points?

Oh man... Why can't I have problems like this?

Okay, bad points.

For starters, there's people who harvest Seal Pups for their Kydex fur. Probably the worst "bad point" is their diet. Seal Pups like eating fish, squids, and enemy divers. Feeding them can be a messy, expensive business. There's a lot more involved than just buying a big bag of Ralston-Purina Puppy Chow every couple of weeks.

...and eventually, your Seal Pup will grow into a Seal 2000, which is 12 inches of Navy-issue scariness.

Seriously, the Pup is a very nice knife in a handy size. The handle is well thought out, comfortable, with a good guard. For me, the Pup's handle is more comfortable than the Seal 2000. The Elite's black blade wins it high marks in my book, too. The only "bad point" per se is the rasp back on the Elite. It's not really a serrated back, or a saw. A full length set of sharp serrations on a Seal Pup would be a very cool thing. It would make the Pup a cross between the SOG Seal 2000 and the SOG Pentagon. The late Al Mar designed his SV-IV survival knife with a full set of serrations (not a saw) on the back. But it was a very big, very heavy knife that nowadays has an even bigger and heavier price tag.



"...and at one time was a industry leader in new designs."

If I worked for SOG (which I don't) I'd object to the use of the past tense, was which implies SOG isn't an industry leader in new designs now.

...but that's just me. ;)
 
"AUS6 is not a very good knife steel but for $20..."

I thought it was AUS-8 not AUS-6 but I may be wrong.

Anyway, I got it and I am very impressed. I have never seen one in person before and the pics never impressed me. To be honest, it looked like a cheap knock off of itself if that makes any sense. I have seen them before and thought, big deal. I should have given SOG more credit because when it arrived, I was happy.

It is one of those knives that is just the right size. Not too big and not too small. The serrations look to be very useful. The edge came very sharp and I like the fact that it has a pointy tip. A lot of knives have thicker tips to avoid breaking but they end up not being able to penetrat as well as they should. For me a knife is half edge and half tip. The only time I don't want/need a sharp pointy tip is in a boating knife. I have a Spyderco Rescue that works as my boating knife. I never got why dive knives always had blunt tips. The handle is something that impresses me because it is so simple yet well thought out. It is some kind of heavy duty plastic and if secure in the hand. I thought it was alloy at first like the MK1 I had but it is hard plastic. It gives the impression of toughness and all business. For the intended duty, I think the handle makes a lot of sense.

There are several bad points but I have not used it yet so this is just from inspecting my lightly used knife. It has a finish that seems to wear easy. There are places where the finish was worn off by the contact with the kydex sheath. The steel not what I am used to even though it will probably work just fine. Spyderco puts nice steel into almost all of their knives so I have become used to getting at least VG-10 or better. The kydex sheath seems a little loose. There is a thumb strap that makes sure it stays in place but without it, the knife would fall out of the sheath if turned upside down. The thumb strap is backwards for me and can not be reversed. I like to flick the thumb strap with my thumb while grasping the knife with my four other fingers. This sheath makes you pull the snap with your index and thumb which is slower.

I got a great deal on this knife so my complants are not about value for money. I was judging it as if I had paid retail. For $60, I think it is a bargin but it is not perfect. Tweak the sheath a bit and improve the steel and I think the knife will benefit.

In sum, this is a knife I wouldn't have given a second look if it were not such a bargin. I got a great deal and I jumped on it. I was able to see in person what this knife is all about. It is a serious tool that was designed to be used. I like the fact that SOG didn't feel the need to add anything extra to the knife that was not needed. The handle is comfortable in all grips due tot he shallow finger grooves and inline design. It is like the rest of the knife, designed to preform a task not to impress. That may be why I never was impressed with it in pics. It is a good knife, not a great knife but it is a good knife at a lot of tasks.
 
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