Night Vision impressions in Knife Reviews

dogboye

dogboye

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 23, 1999
Messages
7,149
Direct link here to my impressions of my plain edge Night Vision. In short, SHWEET knife!
 
Hey Rockspyder,

Great to see your review and glad you like your Night Vision! I love mine...
 
i am STILL WAITING for my night vision(plain blade)knife to arrive. how long does it "normally" take SOG to ship out after recieving an order?
 
Hi Wayne,

Thanks for checking in. For all retail order status checks, you'll need to speak directly with Loretta in my Retail Department. She can be reached at 888.SOG.BEST or 425.771.6230, ext. 240 between the hours of 8-5 (west coast time). You can email her at retail@sogknives.com, giving detailed information (such as your full name, order date, product ordered, contact phone number, shipping and mailing addresses, etc.), but that can be at times a less effective and more frustrating venue. Last time I checked, all the Night Visions have been sold out (that’s been a couple of weeks now).
 
thanks for the info ron. mine was ordered through the guy i now buy all my knives from. he ordered ALL the night visions that you had. one is supposed to be mine. as a matter of fact, he didn't even know there was any left. i CAN"T wait. i also ordered a mini x-ray too:) i like the ast-34 steel:) flash, flash, hint, hint...
 
Hi Wayne,

If you ordered through someone else, I don't have any control over your order. Your best bet for accurate information is to contact the person with whom you placed the order.

I hate waiting, too! :D
 
Wow, great review...might have just convinced me to buy a Vision series knife over the BM 720:D. I like the blade geometry MUCH better and it has a similar lock...

Where is a pic of the Night Vision? All I find on the site is the X-Ray vision...or is that the same thing?:)

Warthog
 
I don't have a pic of the Night Vision, or a link to one. It is similar to the X-Ray Vision, except the Night Vis has G-10 handle scales, whereas the X-Ray has Zytel scales. Same great fit and finish. Oh, and the X-Ray has a bead-blasted blade.

I think the Night Vision has been discontinued for 2003, and when I was looking around for mine, I didn't easily find the Night Vision. I knew that SOG had at their HQ a few of the plain edged Night Visions left, so I just called up there and ordered directly. I don't know if they ever distributed p.e. Visions.

There is the stand, no-prefix, Vision, with titanium scales (instead of G-10 or Zytel). VERY nice, and it comes with a satin finish blade. All of the Vision series now is partially serrated, since if I read the above correctly, all the plain edged ones are sold out (they were a VERY limited run). That (the limited run) has me thinking that I might want to get another, partially serrated version as a beater, and put the p.s. Night Vision up. But who am I kidding, I like using this knife.
 
Hi Warthog,
Originally posted by Warthog
Where is a pic of the Night Vision? All I find on the site is the X-Ray vision...or is that the same thing?:)
Click to expand...
Rockspyder has it right. The Night Vision has been discontinued. SOG (the factory...that's us) does have some left in stock at this time). It does differ from the X-Ray Vision in a couple ways:
  • The Night Vision has G-10 scales will the X-Ray Vision has Zytel handles.
  • The Night Vision has a satin (brushed) finish, while the X-Ray Vision has a bead blasted finish.
  • The Night Vision has thicker liners. The X-Ray Vision does have dual, stainless steel liners, but they are thinner and the Zytel wraps around them rather than laying ontop of them (like the Night Vision). With the exception of Cliff Stamp, I've not seen even ONE structural compromise as a result of thinner liners on the X-Ray Vision.
  • MSRP on the Night Vision is $189.95, while it is $99.95 on the X-Ray Vision.
As for pictures of the Night Vision, this I can do! :D





These two images have bad backgrounds but the view of the knives are worth posting them: Image 1 and Image 2.

This image is of my Night Vision and Glock 27. While this nearly identical image slips in my SigPro (.40).

Hope this helps! :)
 
Oooooh, aaaaaaaah, I DO like that SIGPro. I would LOVE to have one of those. :D Orrrr...maybe even in 357SIG.

Nice shots of the Night Vision, too, BTW. I really like the hollow grind on that blade. SO much nicer than the standard flat (or saber?) ground blades of so many tanto blades.

I tell you, this knife is really a slicer. It is one of exactly three knives that I can say I want second copies of, just for back-up.
 
The X-Ray Vision looks pretty good to me, and is high up on my "want" list. I've haven't handled one yet, I've just seen pictures on the Internet, but from the looks of it, the X-Ray Vision is something I'll really like. I'm going to see if I can find one in a store around here, though getting one at a reasonable price from a store around here will probably be hard to do. I don't mind paying more for a knife when buying fron a store, as opposed to buying through the mail, but list price is too much.

What I particularly like on the Vision, as far as the pictures go, are: - (A) The handle. I like the straight, tapered shape of the handle. It looks like a nice, compact package when the knife is closed, and good for IWB carry. Another knife I like with a straight handle is the Spyderco Starmate, one of which I have.
Also, a finger-choil and thumd-ramp are two features I really like on a folder, and the Vision has those two things. The Buck Odyssey and the Spyderco Dragonfly, both of which I have, also have those desired features.
- (B) The blade. The blade pattern and grind look pretty good. I'm not a big fan of tantos, but the Vision's tanto pattern might be fine with me. I'll have to hold one in my hand to tell for sure. And, if I don't like the tanto shape, I think I can re-profile the blade at the secondary tanto point, turning the edge into more of a drop-point edge. I've done this sort of re-profiling with other knives. Heck, the Vision looks so good to me that maybe I'll have to get two Visions, one with the original edge and one to change to a modified drop-point edge.

As to the serrations, I prefer plain-edge to combo-edge, but I can live serrations. On my serrated knives I will usually smooth out the serrations, from a little bit to a lot, depending on my mood, and I can do the same with the Vision. So the serrations aren't a big problem , though it would be nice if plain-edge were widely and readily available from regular dealers at a reasonable price. Maybe someday, SOG?

Now, I could be wrong in my assesment of the Vision, as I'm going strictly by pictures, and maybe I'll be disappointed when I actually hold one in my hands, but probably not.

Oh yeah, I forget to mention the Arc-Lock. That's another thing that seems really good about the Vision.

All-in-all, the Vision looks a really nice knife, and I'm looking forward to getting one, or more.
 
I agree with most of your positive comments about the knife, marty. Am probably going to order one tomorrow :D

My request:
Make 3 blade styles, instead of 1/2 serrated, also make full serrated (like the X-42 Autoclip is) and plain blade...or at the very least, full serrated and plain. I would love to get a full serrated model :)

Warthog
 
Hey Ron, does that SIGPro have the SIG short trigger, or is that the standard reach? It really looks like the trigger is set quite a ways back.
 
Hi Rockspyder,

My SigPro is stock and I don't know if there is anything altered with it from the factory as an option and I'm assuming it wasn't altered before selling. I did buy it brand new. Here's a couple more images (larger ones) for you of my SigPro so you can get a closer look ...





Thumbnailed Images
 
It could go either way, I suppose. It certainly looks like the trigger reach is shorter than other SIG's that I have looked at, except ones with the short trigger kit. Especially right there next to the Glock.

The kit is a factory option, on all of their pistols, I'm pretty sure. If you didn't specify one way or the other, it could be either, depending on the mix your dealer ordered. Very nice, in either case. Really makes me want to get back into the .40 caliber stable. ;)

Also, I never realized how small the SIGPro was! That thing is the same size as the Glock mini, or almost! :eek:
 
i wonder if the night visions, since they are discontinued, will ever go up in value and become collector items, especialy the plain blade versions(only 12 made), or even the x-ray vision plain blade models. do you guys think they are going to be worth any "real money" in the future?
 
Hey Wayne:
Originally posted by waynejitsu
i wonder if the night visions, since they are discontinued, will ever go up in value and become collector items, especialy the plain blade versions(only 12 made), or even the x-ray vision plain blade models. do you guys think they are going to be worth any "real money" in the future?
Click to expand...
Unless you received our diamond encrusted or 24K gold plated models ;) , it's unlikely that there will be "serious" money associated with the straight edged version of the Night Vision (BTW, didn't you pay "real" money for you knife? ;) ). If you want any chance of marginal money, I'd keep the box and never touch the knife (except to oil it) for a good 5-10 years.

Take care! :)
 
thanks ron. where can i get the diamond or gold models. the vision series are now my favorite knives i have(at least this week:) i have other knives that cost a lot more, but the vision series is a really good concept, fast action, easy carry, strong build, and nice to look at. i plan to keep the plain edge night vision in the safe and never use it, i bought it just to collect. i have the x-ray and mini x-ray for EDC knives. after getting the vision series, the flash knives are already retired(except for the small one:) are there any plans for other vision styles/variations that you know of?
thanks...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top