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- Jan 26, 2012
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Hi all,
Thought I would give a little write up on my experience with the SOG Northwest Ranger.
I originally bought a Seki version off the bay. Once I got the Seki version I had to have the Taiwan equivalent, though equivalent is not the right word
The knives are slightly different. Firstly, the original has serrations. Not serrations like other SOG knives though. These ones are not going to be as bitey or as hard to sharpen. The guard on the old is smaller. The handle on the old is smaller. The Gimping on the new one is far more aggressive. I prefer the old.
On the new version, the guard is not attached as well. I can wiggle it a bit with my hand. This is disappointing. The new NW ranger will not be hard used by me as I don't feel it could handle the abuse.
As with many knives I get I first take them to the kitchen. The new NW did fine in prepping veggies for a stir-fry. The handle is very ergonomic and slip free even when wet and covered with food scraps.
Now the sheath. Oh the sheath! The one that came with the new NWR was a totally worthless POS. The snap was plastic and it would not fit around the hand to snap the blade in place. How this absolute piece of crap came out of the factory boggles the mind. The old sheath is miles ahead of the new. It is clear where SOG cut costs.
All this said, I sent the sheath in to SOG and they sent me a much better example with a metal snap. I wonder how many folks got the crap sheath I did and wrote the brand off completely. If I was a noob and knew nothing about SOG I sure would have.
Some of you might know I am a kydex sheath fan. So I bought an aftermarket kydex sheath off the bay at a very reasonable price (think the amount SOG would charge for a Seal PUP nylon sheath, about $20). The guy who does these is new at it, so I had to mod the sheath a bit but it was still well worth what I paid. The old and new NWR fit in the kydex sheath even though the guard is significantly larger on the new one.
Finally some pics of them with the knife I prefer in this size range. The RMD is the best knife I have experienced in the 5" blade spectrum. The old school NWR is great sans the serrations. They are by far better serrations than what SOG does now but I would still prefer they were not there. The current NWR? I think it was worth the $50 or so I paid. I would not beat on it though. I just don't think the guard could handle it (pun intended).
Thought I would give a little write up on my experience with the SOG Northwest Ranger.
I originally bought a Seki version off the bay. Once I got the Seki version I had to have the Taiwan equivalent, though equivalent is not the right word
The knives are slightly different. Firstly, the original has serrations. Not serrations like other SOG knives though. These ones are not going to be as bitey or as hard to sharpen. The guard on the old is smaller. The handle on the old is smaller. The Gimping on the new one is far more aggressive. I prefer the old.
On the new version, the guard is not attached as well. I can wiggle it a bit with my hand. This is disappointing. The new NW ranger will not be hard used by me as I don't feel it could handle the abuse.
As with many knives I get I first take them to the kitchen. The new NW did fine in prepping veggies for a stir-fry. The handle is very ergonomic and slip free even when wet and covered with food scraps.
Now the sheath. Oh the sheath! The one that came with the new NWR was a totally worthless POS. The snap was plastic and it would not fit around the hand to snap the blade in place. How this absolute piece of crap came out of the factory boggles the mind. The old sheath is miles ahead of the new. It is clear where SOG cut costs.
All this said, I sent the sheath in to SOG and they sent me a much better example with a metal snap. I wonder how many folks got the crap sheath I did and wrote the brand off completely. If I was a noob and knew nothing about SOG I sure would have.
Some of you might know I am a kydex sheath fan. So I bought an aftermarket kydex sheath off the bay at a very reasonable price (think the amount SOG would charge for a Seal PUP nylon sheath, about $20). The guy who does these is new at it, so I had to mod the sheath a bit but it was still well worth what I paid. The old and new NWR fit in the kydex sheath even though the guard is significantly larger on the new one.
Finally some pics of them with the knife I prefer in this size range. The RMD is the best knife I have experienced in the 5" blade spectrum. The old school NWR is great sans the serrations. They are by far better serrations than what SOG does now but I would still prefer they were not there. The current NWR? I think it was worth the $50 or so I paid. I would not beat on it though. I just don't think the guard could handle it (pun intended).
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