SOG SEAL Commander Pricey but so so Pretty!

DocJD said:
You have some Cold Steel , so can't be all bad ! ;)

Still , to bring your videos here and allow to be viewed here , would be best . :cool:

Assuming you understand and follow BF guidelines .
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I am learning the guidelines! And have been a Cold steel fan for years! Unfortunately, I just received a fake one today. Sending that one back... kinda bummed but I should have known the price was too good to be true!
 
DocJD said:
IIRC paid about $100 for the Blackout Pillar a while back . Similar materials etc .


Not bad , but sated my SOG appetite already ! ;)
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Exactly, this new commander has a blade the is the same material and it is only .25" longer, both made in USA, both have micarta handles and both come in similar sheaths???? But, the price of the Commander is almost $300 more???? WTF SOG, another case of the Officer thinking he is that much more important, think again Commander.
 
Alberta Ed said:
Meh. SOG used to have some cred, back in Vietnam days. No longer.
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SOG did not exist in the VN days. The Current SOG company did not make the original SOG knives issued to Spec ops guys in VN, that is where they got their inspiration to start the company in 1986, at least 11 years after the end of Vietnam.
 
vjb.knife said:
SOG did not exist in the VN days. The Current SOG company did not make the original SOG knives issued to Spec ops guys in VN, that is where they got their inspiration to start the company in 1986, at least 11 years after the end of Vietnam.
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On the historical topic, it is the men that gave the knife its reputation, the original military contract was produced in Japan, which was the cheap manufacturing place back then.

On the OP topic, it makes zero tolerance looking cheap. You might be able to ask a blacksmith to make a similar knife with similar material for around the same price.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
I'm at a loss. Comparing apples and oranges here but a Pup in AUS-8 made in Taiwan is $65 but a Commander in S35VN made in USA is over six times as expensive??? Hard pass. I paid less than half that for an Esee 4 in S35VN and I can't see how a coating and a little more machining would add that much to the price. Besides, it leans heavy into the tacticool look for my taste.
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This topic has come up before.

The factors affecting relative cvost of a knife at retail can be many and their interaction complex. Labvor costs in the USA are, of course, higher. To be dure, another factor affecting the overtell manufacturing cost is the cost of the high-alloy steel. But that cost can be increased if the steel is harder to work (more time) or if using it creates more wear, meaning that more the cutting/grinding consumables are used. Propper heat treating may be far more complex as well. The total number of units produced is a factor too. More units sold means that the manufacturing overhead can be spread mor thinly over many units.

And then there is the intangibles not related to the cost of the steel. Ranall Made knives are forged from carbon steels and 440 series stainless formulations. Neither are particularly costly. I don't think that either are particularly difficult to work with. The working characteristics of both families of knife steels are well known. No surprises or development costs in terms of exploring the heat treating process etc. Yet, any Randall product is about as expensive (often more so) as similar knives from other "premium" makers who use more modern or more sophisticated steels.

Not to knock on Randall. They make great knives that are in high demand. They can charge about whatever they want and the back order tail is still four or five years long. The same is true for Chris Reeve knives for similar reasons having nothing to do with the cost of raw materials or what it takes to create a knife from them.


If cost is the main concern, Cold steel, Buck and others offer fully serviceable knives of all types at consumer friendly prices that will get the job done for most of us. On the other hand, if you are a Delta Force operator on a surgical strike to kill or capture some relly bad guy at the dark of the moon, you might not let the difference in cost stop you when selecting a gut-ripping-throat-cutter. By the same token, if you are the guy who is slicing up a multi thousand dollar world class Bluefin Tuna live streamed on every social media platform world wide, you might not care about the cost wither. For these folks, performance (however they define it) is paramount. For them cost can become irrelevant. On a totally different plane, the boutique knives from William henry are assembled from outsourced pieces of Damascus, gemstones and other rare or precious materials that sell out despite their price points in the same level as the down payment on a Corvett. Utility has nothing to do with that.
 
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The sheath appropriate for the knife may depend on just where it will be carried.

wenty plus years ago, I got a Randall Special Fighter for an Iraq bound marine. I had bought it with their black waxed leather heath. Before he could deploy with it, I also had to buy a "jump qualified" or "combat" sheath for it. Something from Spec Ops was deemed to be OK. Outside the wire he wore this knife or a CRK alternately in a drop-leg thigh rig with his pistol or strapped to his plate carrier.

So, where and in what context will this knife be used?
 
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I am really stunned at the price difference in this new Commander vs. their current model Pillar black out. I think the Pillar is a nice offering from a company that I liked in the 1980's and 90's, but have lost a lot of respect for since then. The Commander also looks like a pretty nice knife, but the price just seems a little off.

The Pillar and the Commander are both made in the USA out of the same S35VN steel, with presumably the same heat treatment. Both have Micarta handles (I think the handle detail on the Pillar looks better than the Commander. They are similar designs. They have similar sheaths. The blade on the Commander is listed as 0.25 inches longer. We are not comparing apples to oranges here; rather an apple to a slightly larger and shinier apple from the same tree.

I am not sure where and how long ago you guys bought a Pillar but the Pillar is listed on numerous web dealers at $160 currently, and the Commander is $430. Yeah, the Commander has a little cooler looking grind to the blade, but come on SOG, $270 cooler for only 1/4" longer. Give me a break, it isn't like you are making an S2 Trident in America. That is a 268 percent higher price.

SOG - Pillar.jpg


SOG-commander.jpg
 
vjb.knife, I could not have said better. So many US knife companies, that made really nice knives in the 1970's - 1990's, have completely disappointed me. I have a first model SOG Team Leader. A little impractical but big indeed. Buck released a modern version of the model 184 Buckmaster. The gave it the model number 084, calling it the Buckmaster 2.0 dive knife. Like you, I like dive knives and just had to have this limited addition (1 of 1000) knife. I paid 800+ and was never more disappointed in it. 420HC steel, China quality nylon sheath section. Not numbered. It came with a false edge on the non serrated side of the blade. I figured 30+ years from now, it with my early 1984/85 model 184, might be worth something. Disappointed in the false edge, I reached out to Buck asking if they would sharpen the false edge, nope. They would not do it. Back in the 70's and 80's, Gerber would do just about any modification to the MKII you wanted. This is just one of many many examples of how the quality and the attitude of large US knife companies have disappointed me to the point I will no longer purchase their new knives.
IMG_6839.JPGIMG_6840.JPGIMG_6841.JPGIMG_6842.JPG
 
OPSEC-C-C said:
vjb.knife, I could not have said better. So many US knife companies, that made really nice knives in the 1970's - 1990's, have completely disappointed me. I have a first model SOG Team Leader. A little impractical but big indeed. Buck released a modern version of the model 184 Buckmaster. The gave it the model number 084, calling it the Buckmaster 2.0 dive knife. Like you, I like dive knives and just had to have this limited addition (1 of 1000) knife. I paid 800+ and was never more disappointed in it. 420HC steel, China quality nylon sheath section. Not numbered. It came with a false edge on the non serrated side of the blade. I figured 30+ years from now, it with my early 1984/85 model 184, might be worth something. Disappointed in the false edge, I reached out to Buck asking if they would sharpen the false edge, nope. They would not do it. Back in the 70's and 80's, Gerber would do just about any modification to the MKII you wanted. This is just one of many many examples of how the quality and the attitude of large US knife companies have disappointed me to the point I will no longer purchase their new knives.
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At least it has wings ! ;)
 
OPSEC-C-C said:
vjb.knife, I could not have said better. So many US knife companies, that made really nice knives in the 1970's - 1990's, have completely disappointed me. I have a first model SOG Team Leader. A little impractical but big indeed. Buck released a modern version of the model 184 Buckmaster. The gave it the model number 084, calling it the Buckmaster 2.0 dive knife. Like you, I like dive knives and just had to have this limited addition (1 of 1000) knife. I paid 800+ and was never more disappointed in it. 420HC steel, China quality nylon sheath section. Not numbered. It came with a false edge on the non serrated side of the blade. I figured 30+ years from now, it with my early 1984/85 model 184, might be worth something. Disappointed in the false edge, I reached out to Buck asking if they would sharpen the false edge, nope. They would not do it. Back in the 70's and 80's, Gerber would do just about any modification to the MKII you wanted. This is just one of many many examples of how the quality and the attitude of large US knife companies have disappointed me to the point I will no longer purchase their new knives.
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I bought one of those Buckmaster 2.0 "dive knives", looked it over for an hour and put it on EBAY. Luckily I did not loose money. It was a lot shittier that the SOG offerings. I was a professional diver and have a lot of diving knives and this thing was really a joke, even more than the original Buckmaster. I have never used diving knives by either Buck or SOG while diving. I do own knives from both companies but not as a diving tool.
 
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