Hi Dann,
There's lots of history here, so let me try to explain.
The 5th knife we ever produced was the Tigershark (without looking it up, this was about 14-15 years ago). It had a Kraton handle with a distinctly pronounced crossguard, a satin-finished high carbon steel blade (SK-5), and featured a rolled grind.
After producing some other knives, we made the SOG Tech I & II. Around 1992, the SEAL Teams (more specifically, the Naval Special Warfare guys) were going to hold the infamous knife competition of which you all have likely heard. They, of course, had very distinct requirements for what they were looking in a knife. The SOG Tech II came close, but did not possess a low-reflective blade and a nearly indestructible handle (remember the Tech had Kraton handles; imagine that Kraton handle "on fire"! Yuck, what a mess that would be!). So, picture the SOG Tech II with a gray powder coating, glass-reinforced Zytel handles that also incorporated the gently flared crossguard, and 2+" of serrations for added cutting capabilities. Bingo! You now have the SEAL Knife 2000. And that's what they ended up wanting.
Not too long after the inception and production of the SEAL Knife 2000, people were asking for a smaller version of the SEAL Knife. We listened and the SEAL Pup was birthed. Some think the ultimate all purpose military/field knife. Please also note that the SEAL Knife and SEAL Pup have flat grinds. These knives were about 1993-1995 additions to our product line.
In the evolution of the Tigershark, we added the gray powder coating about three years ago and sometime after that, switched the blade from carbon steel to AUS6 (to match the SEAL Knife) for better corrosion resistance. But that wasn't enough to "bring it into the SEAL family." About two years ago, in talking with US Cavalry, they ordered some Tigersharks (as just described in this paragraph) with 3" of serrations and used the name, SEAL Master (I'm uncertain if US Cavalry or SOG came up with that name). SOG decided to put the serrations on the production model of the Tigershark and also seriously considered changing the name of the knife to the SEAL Master, but chose instead to retain the Tigershark name. Here's an important point: In the latest version of our catalog, we made a distinct effort to group knives in clearer categories (such as "Designer Folders" which included the Vision family and the JetEdge family). At that time, we chose to "officially" include the Tigershark into the SEAL family.
Now, let me clearly point out some differences remaining that keep the Tigershark different than the SEAL Knife and the SEAL Pup. First, it has a rolled grind, while its two smaller "siblings" have flat grinds. Second, it has a Kraton handle while the SEAL Knife and SEAL Pup have Zytel handles. Third, the Tigershark has a very pronounced flared crossguard, while the two "littler" ones have less prominent and one-sided guards. Also along this line, the Tigershark's crossguard has the Kraton molded around the flared steel. The blade, guard, and tang is all one piece of steel. The SEAL Knife and SEAL Pup, though full-tang knives, do not have flared steel within the guard.
I think this is everything and I hope it's helped. Dann, if you have further questions or if I can clear things up for you, please let me know.
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