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The Everett Herald (a newspaper representing the community where SOG resides) wrote an article on SOG Specialty Knives and Spencer Frazer.
Here's a direct link to the article which includes a photo of Spencer. On the off-chance the link becomes broken, here's the text:
I just thought I'd share this with you guys here in the SOG Forum.
[Edited: Note that in the article photo, Spencer is holding the Revolver and Twitch.]
Here's a direct link to the article which includes a photo of Spencer. On the off-chance the link becomes broken, here's the text:
To give a bit of a regional perspective, if you look at a map, Seattle is the large, central city in this region (also Washington States largest city). SOG is based in a neighboring suburb directly north of Seattle (Lynnwood is about 15 miles from the heart of downtown Seattle and only about 3-4 miles from Seattle's city limits. If you continue going north beyond Lynnwood, the next immediate community is Everett (was the corporate home of Boeing for decades until just recently their executives moved to Chicago, I think, but airplanes such as the 747 and 777 are still built there). Lynnwood, Everett and other cities directly north of Seattle are part of Snohomish County, so the Everett Herald newspaper is considered Snohomish Countys newspaper.Published on HeraldNet.com: 6/02/03
On the cutting edge
By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer
LYNNWOOD -- Spencer Frazer keeps the inspiration for his company inside an unadorned wood and glass case in his office.
When he picks up the worn-looking knife, he treats it with extra care.
It's one of the bowie knives used more than 30 years ago by members of the Studies and Observations Group, an elite military unit that conducted covert operations during the Vietnam War. The now-fabled joint force, known as SOG, included members of the U.S. Air Force, Navy SEALs and Special Forces.
Frazer, who got interested in knives as a Boy Scout, was a collector in California when he came across the knife.
"The mystique of it was really compelling," he said.
So much so that he and a partner started a company in 1986 to make and sell $200 reproductions of the original military knife.
SOG Specialty Knives Inc., based in Snohomish County for more than a decade, now sells more than 70 different models of both fixed and folding knives, along with a variety of pocket tools.
The company also has a growing reputation among its customers, ranging from military personnel to recreational hunters. Last year, Field & Stream included the company's X-42 field knife in the magazine's annual "Best of the Best" list. It called the knife, made from a super-tough variety of stainless steel, "darn nearly indestructible."
"He really does it right," said A.G. Russell, a knife dealer in Arkansas who met Frazer when he and his business partner wanted advice on designing their first knife.
Russell, who now sells a wide range of SOG knives, said the modern, cutting-edge look of its knives has distinguished it from competitors.
"SOG is, in the cutlery industry, widely known and respected for a quality product," added Jerry Turley, a buyer for Excalibur Cutlery & Gifts, an Oregon-based retailer with stores in the Northgate and Bellevue Square malls. "Their niche has been tactical knives, though they've also moved into gentleman's knives."
Frazer, 47, said the company has expanded its market greatly by producing knives centered in the $29 to $69 price range, in contrast to SOG's specialty and collector-quality knives that run up in price to more than $200.
That's allowed SOG to sell more of its knives and tools in national sporting goods stores and other outlets. It's also put the company squarely against bigger rivals.
"We're starting now to compete in the mainstream, so we view everyone as a competitor," Frazer said.
He won't reveal sales figures for the privately held company, saying only that SOG produces hundreds of thousands of knives a year.
Scott Sherwood, vice president of sales and marketing, said SOG's knives and tools sell in more than 60 countries, doing especially well in Western Europe.
SOG has even shown up on the big screen. In the blockbuster 1991 movie "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," actress Linda Hamilton uses a SOG knife in a scene where she carves the words "No Fate" into a picnic table. Frazer first learned of the knife's cameo from friends and rushed out to see the movie.
"They even showed the logo well," he said.
He later got an autographed photo of "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger to commemorate the movie appearance. The lobby of SOG's Lynnwood headquarters also includes autographs from other TV and film stars who have used the company's products.
While SOG uses outside contractors -- both foreign and domestic -- for much of its manufacturing, final assembly of more than half of its knives and tools takes place at the local 20,000-square-foot facility.
"No matter how automated you get, it ultimately comes down to the guy who's putting it together," Frazer said as he watched the assembly work. "There's a specific feel to the knife."
Frazer also retains the title of chief designer at SOG, as he personally creates all of the new products.
"It gives SOG a cohesive vision. I design products I want to use myself," he said.
SOG's signature has been combining a high-tech look with innovations, such as using compound leverage in the company's multi-tools to make them cut and grip better. Some of the tools and knives are coated with titanium nitride to make them stronger.
Frazer's emphasis on combining science and art in his knives jibes with his background. Growing up in California, Frazer attended UCLA as a math and science major before dropping out and starting his own audio equipment company. He designed a new style of speaker system and eventually joined the aerospace industry, where he worked on projects that included the Stealth bomber.
At the same time, Frazer got into modern art, learning about scale and color. He still nurtures his artistic side with gardening. He stores large pruning shears in his office so he can relax by working on the plants outside his building.
While SOG began as a company making reproductions of military knives, many soldiers and other personnel in the U.S. armed forces use its new knives. Frazer said his employees have noticed SOG knives being used by troops in the TV news reports from Iraq.
In the mid-1990s, SOG beat out 13 other knife makers in a competition to produce a new knife for the Navy SEALs. Its knife is still preferred among many members of that force, which was part of the original SOG unit in Vietnam.
"When we won that, it was full circle for us," Frazer said.
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Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
I just thought I'd share this with you guys here in the SOG Forum.
[Edited: Note that in the article photo, Spencer is holding the Revolver and Twitch.]
