- Joined
- Oct 7, 2009
- Messages
- 63
I just want to make a quick overview/small review of the "new" SOG Seal Pup(non-Elite, powder-finish). I do not have any pictures, but visit SOG's webpage and click on the videos for the Seal Pup knife. That's the current model as I'm aware of.
As some of you probably know, SOG has "upgraded" their regular Seal Pup to the SOG Seal Pup Elite's looks and specs. I have the Seal Pup with the nylon sheath. Great stuff. I can not confirm this, but after SOG switched their manufacturing to Taiwan, I believe there was a run of regular Pups made identical to the Seki-made one. The only difference was added tractiongrooves on the top and bottom of the handle(the Taiwan made ones). If this was made on later Seki-made ones, please correct me, because this is just guessing, because I have a Seki-made Seal Pup and it has a slick handle except for the diamondpattern on the sides.
The steel is now AUS-8(the old ones had AUS-6) and the RC is 57-58. The bladethickness is 4mm (0.116 inch I think).
The current Seal Pup is almost 100% identical to the serrated Elite-model. The only difference is powdercoating instead of TiNi, bladethickness(4mm opposed to the Elite's 4,7mm, not a big dealbreaker in my opinion, it will slice better) and the lack of the Elite's sawback-spine. The rest like handle and bladeshape, edgetype(hollowground) is the same as the Elite(I have compared them).
I want to note an important thing about the nylonsheath. You can thread it on a belt not only via the MOLLE-strap on the back, but the sheath itself is split in the middle(like the Gerber LMF/Prodigy sheaths), so you will get a much stronger and better fastener. It is also very stiff and retains the knife like crazy. Good work, SOG!
So how does the new Seal Pup stack up against the old Seki-made? I think the new one is much better. The old one had a long unused area at the ricasso(made as a chokepoint for the indexfinger), but the old one also has a longer serrated part and a shorter run of plain edge. I believe Nutnfancy also critized this. The new one will not have this feature(some will find it good, some will find it bad not to have the ability to choke up on the blade).
The fit and finish is great. Easily on par with my Seki-made Pup, if not even better. For the people who own a Seal Pup Elite, they can pretty much sum up how it would feel in hand. It's like a lighter Seal Pup Elite, obviously.
Similar knives in MY opinion would be Gerber Prodigy(have used it), Benchmade Nimravus(minus the steel and handle), ESEE RC-3 and maybe the Short version of the KA-BAR, plus many more knives.
Have a nice day!
As some of you probably know, SOG has "upgraded" their regular Seal Pup to the SOG Seal Pup Elite's looks and specs. I have the Seal Pup with the nylon sheath. Great stuff. I can not confirm this, but after SOG switched their manufacturing to Taiwan, I believe there was a run of regular Pups made identical to the Seki-made one. The only difference was added tractiongrooves on the top and bottom of the handle(the Taiwan made ones). If this was made on later Seki-made ones, please correct me, because this is just guessing, because I have a Seki-made Seal Pup and it has a slick handle except for the diamondpattern on the sides.
The steel is now AUS-8(the old ones had AUS-6) and the RC is 57-58. The bladethickness is 4mm (0.116 inch I think).
The current Seal Pup is almost 100% identical to the serrated Elite-model. The only difference is powdercoating instead of TiNi, bladethickness(4mm opposed to the Elite's 4,7mm, not a big dealbreaker in my opinion, it will slice better) and the lack of the Elite's sawback-spine. The rest like handle and bladeshape, edgetype(hollowground) is the same as the Elite(I have compared them).
I want to note an important thing about the nylonsheath. You can thread it on a belt not only via the MOLLE-strap on the back, but the sheath itself is split in the middle(like the Gerber LMF/Prodigy sheaths), so you will get a much stronger and better fastener. It is also very stiff and retains the knife like crazy. Good work, SOG!
So how does the new Seal Pup stack up against the old Seki-made? I think the new one is much better. The old one had a long unused area at the ricasso(made as a chokepoint for the indexfinger), but the old one also has a longer serrated part and a shorter run of plain edge. I believe Nutnfancy also critized this. The new one will not have this feature(some will find it good, some will find it bad not to have the ability to choke up on the blade).
The fit and finish is great. Easily on par with my Seki-made Pup, if not even better. For the people who own a Seal Pup Elite, they can pretty much sum up how it would feel in hand. It's like a lighter Seal Pup Elite, obviously.
Similar knives in MY opinion would be Gerber Prodigy(have used it), Benchmade Nimravus(minus the steel and handle), ESEE RC-3 and maybe the Short version of the KA-BAR, plus many more knives.
Have a nice day!