kind of disappointed in sog bowie 2.0. unrealistic expectations? suggestions?

Z

ZippyDan

Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
61
ive had a sog bowie 2.0 for a while. a beautiful knife but it had seen practically no use. only time id used it was to whittle some sharps sticks for roasting marshmallows once

i took it with me recently on a canoe trip down a difficult river (freshwater.) we rolled over a couple of times and the knife and leather sheath which were on my belt got soaked. i dried it off each time, but everything was wet so of ourse it was still moist. it wasnt until we returned to camp some 4 or 5 hours later that i was able to fully dry it off.

when i removed it from its sheath i was somewhat dismayed to find that the blade had all kinds of splotchy diiscoloring, mostly all around the cutting edges amd grounded edges. i took some steel wool to the blade to see if i could lightly remove the splotches to no effect

the handle also shows some discoloration and the leather rings show signs of wear.

the leather sheath too went from being nice and rigid to now having lost some of its shape. the button on the sheath also has a splotchy discoloration

overall, the bottom line is that the knife went from looking beautiful and immaculate to now looking like absolute crap... and that was just from one "use"

is this typical of getting a blade wet? comments or suggestions?
 
Out of all fairness I don't think it was a good idea to go canoeing with an SOG Bowie 2.0 strapped to your side. With that out of the way, your knife was designed to look good as long as it doesn't get wet for any period of time while still in the sheath. The discoloration was from the sheath. The handle has what amounts to a water based finish on it. Get it wet and it will change the finish. Also, get water between the leather rings and it will cause the washers to shrink as leather will do when it gets wet and hasn't been treated properly during the manufacturing process. You should also realize that the Bowie 2.0 is part of what I describe as the SOG discount line. Made in Taiwan and SOG has been reluctant to give out any information about the type of factory being contracted to do the work. In other words, it makes a good movie prop since the company just wants to throw it out there and consider any redeeming questions as proprietary information.

All SOGs with leather handles should be treated with 100% Neatsfoot Oil before taking out into the field. Contact "New Pig Hunter" on this forum. He has all the fixed blade SOGs and knows how to take care of them as well. He can probably help you out.

Man, I can't believe how this company has taken a nose dive since Christmas on this forum. How far can this plane fly on one engine? Straight to the scene of the crash.
 
Culpeper

Yes, the Bowie 2.0 is made in Taiwan. I do not remember being asked anything about the type of factory the knife is made in. If you have specific questions I'll try and answer them.
 
ZippyDan said:
is this typical of getting a blade wet? comments or suggestions?
Click to expand...
I think that depends on the blade and on the circumstances. I left my old Seal Pup wet and dirty for some hours with no effect more than once. But I had some corrosion on the edges of my Fällkniven G1 after some hours of sweat and rain, no problem with the finish though. It makes a big difference if it's just wet or if salt or maybe other agressive substances are involved.

It's sad to hear that about your Bowie 2.0. I would have expected a TiNi coating to show no effects from being wet. Probably the ingredients of the leather sheat did that to your knife. Must be a chemical reaction of some kind. I know that you shouldn't store a knife in a leather sheath for a longer period of time because of leathers agressive ingredients, but I never thought that it would have such an effect when becoming wet.


I hope somebody at SOG will think that sheath material (chemical treatment maybe?)/blade finish combination through because if you go out in the woods or mountains with a knife on your belt, then it has a good chance of getting wet. I don't go hiking with an umbrella. :D

For real wet stuff like canoeing I would rather use a knife with an enclosed grip design like SOG's Seal line for example (I wouldn't want any corrosion under the grip), and I'd use a kydex sheath or a similar material that isn't affected by water.

Tom
 
Dude,

you oughta see what my SOG Bowie (S1) looks like after:
-- cutting honeydew melons and cantaloupe: took off all the awesome bluing.
-- washing it in the dishwasher: oops, that wasn't so smart.
-- forgetting to dry it after washing it in hot soapy water: lots-o-rust.

As for untreated leather: leather doesn't like water, period. Whether it's the handle or the sheath: soak leather in water and it will let you know it does not like to be soaked in water.

Anyway, ya take anything out of a dry nitrogen storage environment and you're asking for trouble.

Cheers of a tongue-in-cheek variety,

Carl

p.s. I did a cold re-bluing of the blade: splotchy but at least it keeps most of the rust away.
p.p.s. on occasion I now soak the knife handle in Neatsfoot oil to keep some life in the leather.
p.p.p.s. the sheath stays far away from water (well, as much as is reasonable anyway).
p.p.p.p.s the blade still takes & holds an incredible razor edge, and that's what it's really all about anyway if you're using your knife.
 
On the bright side, you don't have to worry about your first mark any longer. Lol.

If you are really frustrated and want to trade out of it, let me know. I would like to have one.
 
Chris@SOG said:
Culpeper

Yes, the Bowie 2.0 is made in Taiwan. I do not remember being asked anything about the type of factory the knife is made in. If you have specific questions I'll try and answer them.
Click to expand...

I suggested once to have something on the website about the Taiwan factory. A sort of virtual tour to deal with the whole Taiwan bug-a-boo. But now I'm thinking SOG could perceive themselves as an Area 51 genre to compliment the origins of the name of the company and the fact that the original knives for the Study & Observation Group need to "sanitize" their weapons for a counterinsurgency purposes. This will do away, for a lack of better words, the whole "Made in China" stigma. This Cloak and Dagger approach would be reminiscent of the original Study & Observation Group and a solution to SOG having to make fiscal, marketing, and economic decisions for their business model.

Sheffield knives out of England have been around for a thousand years. They are some of the best production cutlery products in the world. They don't bow down by giving out enormous specifications about their products. And to this day nobody questions the quality. Sheffield stands alone. SOG can also stand alone as well based on the marketing scheme mentioned above. For example, blades could possibly be "sanitized" and the type of steel doesn't need to be specified. Again for example, if the steel is AUS8 all the specification has to state is the the blade steel meets or exceeds 440B. SOG should take on an "Air America" persona. To make this successful quality control should be the number one priority. And keeping with the Study & Observation Group's need for quality and the fact that the material was produced in the Far East it doesn't take a stretch of the mind that the company could employ Japanese Quality Circle Management from the bottom up. This style of management brought the American automobile industry to its knees. Japanese efficiency improved, costs went down, and quality far surpassed the American products. With excellent quality under darkness will come trust from the consumer for owning a product produced under psuedo-secrecy from a marketing perspective. Every company needs a gimmick. But this gimmick has to be no joke because the target customers lives may depend on the quality.
 
Culpeper said:
I suggested once to have something on the website about the Taiwan factory. A sort of virtual tour to deal with the whole Taiwan bug-a-boo. But now I'm thinking SOG could perceive themselves as an Area 51 genre to compliment the origins of the name of the company and the fact that the original knives for the Study & Observation Group need to "sanitize" their weapons for a counterinsurgency purposes. This will do away, for a lack of better words, the whole "Made in China" stigma. This Cloak and Dagger approach would be reminiscent of the original Study & Observation Group and a solution to SOG having to make fiscal, marketing, and economic decisions for their business model.

Sheffield knives out of England have been around for a thousand years. They are some of the best production cutlery products in the world. They don't bow down by giving out enormous specifications about their products. And to this day nobody questions the quality. Sheffield stands alone. SOG can also stand alone as well based on the marketing scheme mentioned above. For example, blades could possibly be "sanitized" and the type of steel doesn't need to be specified. Again for example, if the steel is AUS8 all the specification has to state is the the blade steel meets or exceeds 440B. SOG should take on an "Air America" persona. To make this successful quality control should be the number one priority. And keeping with the Study & Observation Group's need for quality and the fact that the material was produced in the Far East it doesn't take a stretch of the mind that the company could employ Japanese Quality Circle Management from the bottom up. This style of management brought the American automobile industry to its knees. Japanese efficiency improved, costs went down, and quality far surpassed the American products. With excellent quality under darkness will come trust from the consumer for owning a product produced under psuedo-secrecy from a marketing perspective. Every company needs a gimmick. But this gimmick has to be no joke because the target customers lives may depend on the quality.
Click to expand...

Damnit Culpepper, you're becoming my new favorite person:D:thumbup:
 
ZippyDan,

I wasn't being a wise guy on the trade thing. Drop me a pm or email if you want to trade out.

Ed
 
Culpeper

I do sort of like the idea of the Area 51 thing and your Skunkworks idea on another thread. I may have to steal that and then sell a million knives :). Unfortunately we can not completely "sanitize" our products. There are laws the require us to have certain origin marks when they are produced outside the US.

Just to play a little devil's advocate on the factory tour video. Would seeing a factory tour actually give you any idea of the quality of the knives being produced? What would you gain from seeing inside the factory?
 
Chris@SOG said:
Culpeper

I do sort of like the idea of the Area 51 thing and your Skunkworks idea on another thread. I may have to steal that and then sell a million knives :). Unfortunately we can not completely "sanitize" our products. There are laws the require us to have certain origin marks when they are produced outside the US.

Just to play a little devil's advocate on the factory tour video. Would seeing a factory tour actually give you any idea of the quality of the knives being produced? What would you gain from seeing inside the factory?
Click to expand...

I guess the same thing we saw on such things as Western Cutlery publications...

http://www.myculpeper.com/ebknives/WesternKnivesBook1975/WesternKnivesBook1975.htm

As for the ideas. I think they're something to start with. Run with them. I, for one, would love to see that genre with SOG.
 
suggestions for the original poster:

- leather does not like water, PERIOD! treat the washers and the sheath to a healthy dose of OBENAUFS LP prior to heading out into the woods. it will darken the leather but so will use of the knife over time. Do not store a knife in a leather sheath, any moisture can cause pitting depending on the blade material.

- Consider a KYDEX sheath from ON SCENE TACTICAL in Canada, you can get kydex wet with zero issues, unlike leather.

- oil your blade with food grade mineral oil. it will prevent rust spotting and is easily wiped off prior to food prep.

hope the tips help.
 
i did keep the blade regularly oiled btw. oh well, a good lesson in having the right tools at the right time :-)

part pride to blame here since although i did consider the possibility of rolling over, i thought we were too good to be beaten by the river and didnt have to worry too much about things getting wet :-P i was however smart enough not to bring any electronics... friend of mine ruined his phone (he did keep it in a cooler that kept water out the first roll but not after :-)
 
the pride thing .... yep, nothing like a reality check .... been there, done that (too many times).

anyway, hope you're getting good service from the 2.0 Bowie.

Cheers,

Carl
 
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