SOG Design Goof

[tatfiend]

I have both a SOG Trident Tanto and a SOG Aegis. Not the best knives with their linerless plastic bodies but my quite new samples do not have the blade slop mentioned by others as a problem yet, and they are light weight. The knives have virtually identical controls with one glaring, and IMO unsafe, exception. The exception is in the safety lock. On both knives it is in the same approximate position and it looks virtually identical. The difference is that on the two knives the blade "Locked" position of the safety lever is opposite one another. On the Trident the locked position is with the actuating lever down towards the blade while on the Aegis the locked position is with the actuating lever closest to the spine of the knife.:thumbdn:

What were the designers thinking? IMO two knives from the same manufacturer with almost identical controls but with the safety lever position reversed is very dumb design and unsafe for owners of both knives. Too easy to mess up in an emergency situation. One thing I like about the BM Axis Assist Barrage and Volli knives in all models is that all of them have the same controls which operate identically. No need for mental gymnastics over which model is being carried. NOT true of these two SOG knives.

 

[knowbody777]

Its my understanding that SOG uses a lot of different designers. they then (in some instances) have to modify existing designs to accommodate the way in which they are currently best able to manufacture the pieces. I am not saying that is what happened in your case, but I have seen some companies mix things up a little too much before when trying to use too many different designers

 

[tatfiend]

Its my understanding that SOG uses a lot of different designers. they then (in some instances) have to modify existing designs to accommodate the way in which they are currently best able to manufacture the pieces. I am not saying that is what happened in your case, but I have seen some companies mix things up a little too much before when trying to use too many different designers

Lots of designers? Does that mean they are not paying them adequately? Even so a well run company should include a human factors or ergonomics engineer or group to try and make sure that things like my example do not happen. To me this one is obvious enough, and potentially dangerous enough, so a tort lawyer could have a holiday with it in court under the right circumstances.

IMO about like a company coming out with a Colt 1911 clone with reversed operation on the safety, or worse yet doing two models of the gun which are virtually identical except for reversed safety operation on one of them.

 

[meanwhile]

Lots of designers? Does that mean they are not paying them adequately? Even so a well run company should include a human factors or ergonomics engineer or group to try and make sure that things like my example do not happen. To me this one is obvious enough, and potentially dangerous enough, so a tort lawyer could have a holiday with it in court under the right circumstances.

IMO about like a company coming out with a Colt 1911 clone with reversed operation on the safety, or worse yet doing two models of the gun which are virtually identical except for reversed safety operation on one of them.

Yes, but this is the knife industry - serious safety issues are often completely ignored. For example, the Cold Steel Trailmaster is a 9 inch blade chopping knife... with a rubber handle held on only by the very thin walls of the lanyard tube, and a nice sharp stabbing point. Obviously, the handle will inevitably come lose, and obviously this will most likely happen during chopping... which can result in a large sharp steel projectile flying through the air. A guy I know was almost killed this way when someone else's knife failed and the blade ent about 20 feet. CS didn't even respond when he sent them a letter, and the design hasn't been changed.

By knife industry standards, locks that don't match aren't even small beer - they're more like thin froth on microscopic beer!

 

[texas gun person]

Lots of designers? Does that mean they are not paying them adequately? Even so a well run company should include a human factors or ergonomics engineer or group to try and make sure that things like my example do not happen. To me this one is obvious enough, and potentially dangerous enough, so a tort lawyer could have a holiday with it in court under the right circumstances.

.

The artists over at SOG are probably like everyone else in their area. They come up with rendering after rendering after rendering of knives. If they are lucky, a few might be pulled to be looked into further. If they are extremely lucky their knife will end up in production. You have to have different people coming up with new designs, because more is better when it comes to that sort of work. The more ideas you have flowing, the greater the chance of hitting the next big thing.

 

[Squirrel442]

I have a mini sogtac tini (auto). Straight out of the box the lock wouldn't work (not good on an auto!). I had to take it apart bend the lock slider to create more friction. Pretty sorry for as much as it cost Uncle Sam to get it. Probably paid double what it retails for.

Once I got that fixed up I have had no issues. It is actually a great conceal knife for our guys, don't think it would hold up too well in a split wood fire though.

 

[Bugout Bill]

SOG is a goof in general.

 

[22-rimfire]

I don't see a problem. They both work, don't they? If I had to guess, the two knives were probably created at different times (years). My understanding is that Spencer is the chief designer for all of their knives. If this is a concern of yours and they are unused, I'd return one to the retailer for a refund. You can bash any knife manufacturer.

People complained when the Vulcan and Mini-Vulcan came out that you could cut yourself on the closed blade as the point was pretty close to the exterior. You could if you tried really hard, I guess. I have both and saw no problem.

 

[jonnyt16]

I carried a SOG Trident for a while but I used a little bit of epoxy to disable the lever. I have no need for safety locks on knives.

 

[Poez]

I do not think there is a particular requirement for knives to have these safety locks, I do not think there is any need for them, and it looks like even SOG itself does not believe anybody would ever use that feature. It is a total waste: they could rather save a few dollars either for themselves or pass it over to their customers...