Need help comparing SOG to Gerber.

williamsld8

williamsld8

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Sep 19, 2010
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so i have a sog twitch II that i bought a while back from lowe's. up til now i have loved it. didnt know what the blade was made of but was really satisfied with its smooth opening, and its size and design. i needed something like it to carry throughout the day and for small tasks at work. so far its held up in all areas. recently, i have noticed a rattling inside the knife. nothing i can see or touch moves, but when i shake the knife i hear a loud rattling thats not subtle at all. like if you drop a tv remote real hard then pick it up and hear the broken parts inside rattling. also the blade jiggles back and forth a little where the blade meets the handle, both side to side and SLIGHTLY back and forth. the knife sells for 50 bucks at the cheapest. gerber has the vallotton at walmart for 20 dollars, and upon first seeing it loved its similarity in size and shape, but saw the price and the brand and thought wow that cant really be worth the time...could it?? maybe its a diamond in the rough. a great great knife hiding behind a tiny price tag. honestly a 5 dollar kobalt knife that i got for free from lowes is now holding up with better durability and edge retention than my sog, which has left a bad taste in my mouth about sog already. plus besides the twitch II i dont like many of there designs. so basically im trying to find out if for everyday use, which brand makes a better knife. i know there are different sizes and price ranges and downright qualities of knives within one brand itself. im asking on each platform, bottom of the barrel, mid range, and the best each knife has to offer, which company has the better knife when compared to a like knife of the competitor? and i am already set in my opinions about knives such as benchmade, kershaw, cs, and such, so well save that for another day. i just need to find out gerber against sog, who comes out on top of the mountain?
 
I think in general most people dont have a high opinion for either company. Both the SOG Flash I and some Walmart cheapo Gerber that I've handled were pretty sloppy with blade play all over the place. Better off getting like a Spyderco Tenacious or Persistence for less than 30 bucks. If I absolutely had to choose between SOG or Gerber I'd go with SOG.
 
i prefer sog in my experience. their powerlock is the only multitool i use. don't much care for newer gerbers.

could the rattling be from the assist spring? could be it needs a dab of grease, and the pivot tightened.
 
well I'm not a spyderco fan at all. Don't like their blade shapes and or designs at all, and call me stupid but the hole in theblade...yeah can't stand it lol. So if these two companies were the only ones left I'm assuming based on your responses they'd be pretty much equal? As in equal in crappiness? Haha
 
I would stay away from Gerber if you are looking for a better knife. I recommend finding something from Buck, Spyderco, or Kershaw. They make much higher quality knives for around the same price. Such as the Buck Vantage, Spyderco Tenacious, or the Kershaw Skyline. All are great knives for less than $40.
 
Had SOGs and Gerbers, Sog makes a good multitool.

As far as their knives? You can't polish a turd.
 
Your SOG failed.Send it back to SOG so they can fix it.Gerber is often flamed here but they have been making knives since 1934.They price their knives to sell and they do to the tune of 33 million last year.I have a SOG knife I like alot along with Gerbers that are Twenty five years old.Gerber makes a folding Profile that is around $20.00.I guess you can try a Gerber if you want to.There are videos of knives on the net also.
 
SOG knives are better materials-wise than Gerber knives for the most part (though there are some Gerber designs using decent steels out there). As far as build quality goes, I'd probably say Gerber is better, but not by a lot.
 
i've been well pleased with my sogs but all were upper end knives. my team leader in duratech-20v batoned a lot of wood & edge was hardly fazed. the spec elite & pentagon were in well heattreated vg10.after the 90s i was'nt impressed by gerber. in the 70s 80s gerber could claim some of top knives [factory] made in the u.s.
 
I wouldn't purchase another knife, I'd send the SOG back for repair. I happen to like the looks of the Twitch and believe Gerber has lost a step in the last few years.
 
Gerber to me has some knives that are a hit and misses, depending one what features you like in a particular folder. All of them are priced in the low end where sog can be mid to over priced to me.
Check Target for clearence prices on gerbers. The newer paraframes were 14$ the other day and im really pleased with this frame lock.
 
I haven't purchased a Gerber since 1980 and that knife made in Portland is a gem. I don't care for any of the new stuff.

I received a little Flash 1 as a gift and after a tweak of the screw, no blade play and a sharp little Sunday knife. The clip makes it completely disappear. It however shares no time with my regular EDC rotation.
 
Gerber vs SOG...both end up about "middle of the hill", neither is top of the mountain. I would rank Buck's sub-100 models above both.

I would put SOG ahead, based on what I've heard. Gerber, if the Paraframe is any indicator, isn't all too awesome.
 
My experiances with S0G have been nothing but positive. They have some ugly designs, but make a good knife and their multitools are awesome.
Gerber on the other hand have underwhelmed me every purchase.
 
thanks for all your input. Pretty much what I expected. A little for one side and a little for the other lol. I think I'm gonna buy the gerber vallotton just to see how it works out. Like I said it's only 20 bucks. If it sucks it sucks. If it's great,awesome what a find. That's my outlook. As far as mukti tools I'll use a leatherman surge or charge,and nothing else. I own one paraframe that I got just for looks but don't use it much. If I want to spend 50 bucks or more on a knife I'll probably just go for a kershaw,cuz I know they are worth what you pay for, maybe e ven worth more than what they cost. Now most of the users on this forum say benchmade is great just a little pricey but still great. What about cold steel? Are they worth what you pay for or also over priced? Thanks again for the sog vs gerber input everybody
 
I personnally like SOG more. There is alot of haters for both brands but to each their own. All the SOG I have had have been good quality knives. I have had a few Gerbers and was not impressed. Of the SOG and Gerber multi tools I have had SOG wins hands down and their folders were also nice. I have not had any Gerber fixed blades but of the SOG fixed blades I have had I was very surprised with their finish and steel.
 
I'd have to say SOG is better especially multi-tool wise but if your looking for a new knife I'd say look into a Kershaw.
 
I will be completely honest, I am not a fan of SOG. They're knife designs, blade steel (mainly AUS8), multi-tools, insane prices, and their unoriginality in some knife designs really bothers me. The imported Gerber stuff is crap, there is no two ways about it. The Gerber Suspension and Paraframe knives aren't anything to brag about. However, they're USA made stuff like the Gerber MP-600 or the LMF II Infantry knife are all of extremely good quality and make perfect usable tools.
 
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