SOG Pentagon Elite II - VG-10 v. AUS-8

[TheFighter88]

Well I finally emailed SOG and asked them how I could I tell which PEII's were made from VG-10 and which were made from AUS-8. I had heard someone say that the newer VG-10 models would be marked "VG-10", but obviously (from her reply), this is not the case. Although there is no clear way to tell, the representative was very kind in writing a lengthy reply and helping as much as she could:

Dear [----],
I'm not quite sure where you are hearing the information that we stamp
each Pentagon Elite with its steel type. Although we do stamp some of
our knives with their steel, the Pentagon Elite is not one of them.

We changed the type of steel from AUS-8 to VG-10 in mid-2007, and any
Pentagon Elites that have been manufactured since that time will have
VG-10 steel.

We have also periodically changed the logo stamp and the product name
stamp that we use on the back-side of the blades, from PEII to Pentagon
Elite II and then finally to include Seki Japan in the stamp as well.
The most recently made blades will have the full stamp that you see on
your knife, "Pentagon Elite II; Seki Japan," because that is our most
recent marking that we have used, but that may not necessarily mean that
your knife is VG-10.

The only way to know for sure is to know how old your knife is - i.e.
when it was manufactured. And the best way to know that information is
to find out from the vendor who you purchased your knife from. If you
purchased directly from our website then you can be absolutely sure that
you have a VG-10 blade; however, if you purchased from a third-party
vendor who does not purchase directly from us then it may be possible
that they are receiving product that was produced quite a while ago,
which they have purchased from another dealer who could not sell them in
a timely fashion.

I know it's a bit confusing, and I'm sorry that we can't give you a more
definite answer.

My recommendation is to go back to the store that you purchased it from,
and ask them to research exactly when they purchased their Pentagon
Elites, and if they purchased them directly from SOG or through another
party. This information, combined with the information I have provided
above should be sufficient for you to discern roughly when your blade
was manufactured, and whether or not it was made after we transitioned
to using VG-10 steel.

If you have any additional questions that I can answer for you please
feel free to contact me again!

Sincerely,
Carly Sabutis
SOG Customer Service Representative

I kept her name in since I HOPE someone from SOG sees this and realizes they have an employee worth keeping! A lot of people would have given short, dumb answers which make you feel like an idiot for even asking a question; I actually got a good, helpful answer here. SO! Thanks, SOG, and thanks, Carly.

Anyhow, just thought I'd pass along the info... hope it helps someone else who has a PEII or is looking to buy one... or who is wondering about SOG's CS.

 

[rifon2]

I'm still sort of perplexed that SOG chose not to clearly mark the VG-10 blades as such when they shifted from AUS8.

It was bound to create confusion.

 

[Apocaly]

I ran into the same issue when I bought a spec elite II. They changed the steel from AUS-8 to VG-10 early in 2008. My guess is they didn't want people to cherry pick the slightly better VG-10 knives and leave the old AUS-8 to become obsolete.