SOG Tac Auto (Black TiNi)

[batosai117]

I recently traded and received a SOG Tac Auto from an LEO friend of mine up North. Since I like it so much, I figured I'd give a review of it.

As the name gives away, it's an automatic knife. Now, that's not the only thing special about it. I have the plain edge, black coated version in AUS 8 steel. Although the SOG site says 3.5" I have concluded it to be more of 3.75" as it is nearly as long as my 4" blade knives.

The Handle is great. It is constructed of black anodized aluminum and is put together with two main screws and the pivot. The other screws appear to only hold on the G-10 slabs on both sides of the handle. The SOG logo that is on the button side of the knife actually does glow in the dark, well the "O" does at least. I found this to be very cool as I was going to bed the other night and noticed that by accident. The handle feels very strong and sturdy and I believe it would hold up to just about anything.

The Blade is very nice too. It has an excellent shape for slicing and poking things, which is why I guess it is mainly available to LEO's and Military. The jimping on the thumb rest portion of the blade creates sparks very well with a fire steel and doesn't lose it's black coating in the process. Although the blade appears to be thin, I was able to baton through some hard dried out mesquite wood and the knife performed like a champ (thickness is in the eye of the beholder, but I'm used to carrying thicker blades such as the vulcan). The edge was still able to cut free hanging paper, but it didn't shave quite as well afterwards (I have the razor burn to prove it). In my opinion, it held up very well for AUS 8. SOG has my favorite AUS 8 heat treat out of all other companies that I've bought from.

The Clip is also a nice touch. The words enscribed on the pocket clip ensures that you go to jail if caught with it . It says "Caution FullAuto LE/MIL," then right below that it says where to get it, "www.SOGKNIVES.com." On a serious note though, the clip carries the knife tip up which to me seems to be the smart thing to do. You don't want a full auto knife to be tip down and it opens up pointing towards your *cough, cough* inner thigh. In the tip up carry position, even if the blade tried to deploy, it would be stuck on the lip of your pocket and therefore would not be able to poke you.

The Safety is nice too. The knife has a safety which keeps the knife both locked open and closed. This is useful if you are expecting to be bumping into things and don't want the knife to open accidentally, and if you want that little extra "umph" when stabbing, I mean "whittling" things. If you are worried about SD issues, the lock hasn't kept me from opening my knife when I want to. It's a snug lock, so if you want it off, it stays off, and visa versa when having the lock on.

The Button is Great. The button is nice and easy to find/push, even in the dark. Once the knife is open, you just push the button and begin pushing the spine of the blade closed and just keep closing until you hear a slight "click" and then the blade is locked up and ready to go again.

This is by far my favorite SOG. I do like the thickness of the Vulcan, the groove of the Trident, and the handle on the twitch XL, but this one seems to stand out the most to me. It's a tough folder and can easily hold it's own. For those of you out there able to get one, this one has my vote :thumbup:.

Here's the link for those of you who want to see one:

http://sogknives.com/store/ST-02.html

Hope some of you found this helpful, J.

 

[johnu2]

Excellent review, very thorough

 

[batosai117]

Excellent review, very thorough

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it :thumbup:.

 

[itseasyforyou]

Thanks for your opinion about this knife.
BTW, why do I read this by the knife info: 'Available to authorized Military and Law Enforcement personnel only.' Why is that? I saw it on ebay, although I think this one is illegal for me unfortunately.

 

[batosai117]

Thanks for your opinion about this knife.
BTW, why do I read this by the knife info: 'Available to authorized Military and Law Enforcement personnel only.' Why is that? I saw it on ebay, although I think this one is illegal for me unfortunately.

That's actually kind of funny, I found the knives on the bay just like you said. They actually aren't supposed to be there, but I know I'm not gonna rat them out. The bay has gotten more sheeple like lately and doesn't allow "switchblades" to be sold. So if you notice the sellers don't mention anything about the "auto" in the name of the knife. If I would have known this before I would have picked one up sooner.

Technically it is illegal to carry around unless you're an LEO or Military. I don't know why auto's have that rep, because I can open up my regular knives faster than any auto with the flick of a wrist or using an emerson wave. I still carry it, but I also carry the knife shown in my signature for when I'm around sheeple. No point in willingly giving myself away. Thanks for your input, J.

 

[itseasyforyou]

Thanks for your answer. Some guys of the government who can't think straight make up that things like auto blades or nunchucks are dangerous. I think they saw too much movies and that scared them. In a response to their own fear they make up new rules and laws to forbid things they are afraid of.

For example, nunchucks are banned here and also in CA and some other states. I think that the government watched Bruce Lee for too long. I can own a sword here legally or a crossbow or something like that but not two sticks connected with a rope or chain. Same thing with auto knives, they just have a bad reputation. Maybe some government guy watched a few mafia movies and saw that they use a auto knife regularly. It's more that they think something is dangerous just because they haven’t thought about it clearly.

But on the other hand, you can't own throwing knives in CA but you can own a gun when your 18. I don't really understand that, but maybe they can't forbid that because of the brilliant US constitution. I think the government wants to ban everything that can be dangerous in the end.