SOG used to have a steady flow of great knives...

M

Maximumbob54

Gold Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2024
Messages
1,566
Now it feels like they've been coating for a generation...

Terrible quick pic before I'm off to work:

i93p3ir.jpg


Just thinking back to all the SEAL knives and such with all the interesting folders. I know if I dig I can find more. This doesn't even have my Blink and Twitch. Neat little things. What gives??? Did SOG fire all the designers and just set auto pilot???
 
They still make some decent knives and tools but just don’t expect much from customer service if you were to need it.
 
Dadpool said:
They were bought by GSM (who also bought Cold Steel).

I don't pay super close attention to SOG anymore, but they do have a trickle of releases and lots of XR lock updates.

The last release of theirs I really liked was the Seal XR. (Old pic, long since sold.)

pdTd0jJ.jpeg
Click to expand...
Didn't know they were another one gobbled up by GSM. They seem to be at least sort of trying with Cold Steel so maybe they will do the same with SOG. Maybe...
 
To be clear why I sound like a GSM defender back there, I think (but could be very wrong) they introduced the 3V SRK, pushed MagnaCut production, and added to the line with pocket clips that don't absolutely hate you like on the Verdict line. Not sweeping changes but small for the better changes. They at least didn't turn everything to pot metal and then carve the brand up into chunks and sell them off. So maybe they're trying? Again, could be super wrong.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
To be clear why I sound like a GSM defender back there, I think (but could be very wrong) they introduced the 3V SRK, pushed MagnaCut production, and added to the line with pocket clips that don't absolutely hate you like on the Verdict line. Not sweeping changes but small for the better changes. They at least didn't turn everything to pot metal and then carve the brand up into chunks and sell them off. So maybe they're trying? Again, could be super wrong.
Click to expand...
some of us cold steel fans arent fans of gsm. there are direct reasons such as they lost/let go of all their good knife designers like Demko and Wallace. they moved South African machetes to China and they arent better quality. fit and finish improved, but not heat treat and steel. warranty was never great at cold steel, but its gone further downhill fast under gsm....no parts, almost zero warranty....

there are other reasons...it isnt all bad there though. a big good is the Taiwan maker seems to still be making good product......and this is important to me as a buyer as I tend to like their knife models that are made in Taiwan. they also tend to let products go at better street prices sometimes and this is a big plus to me also.

anyways...back to sog....

they've brought in some usa made stuff that isn't bad. theyre still making seal products and sometiems selling at decent prices through dealers. its hit and miss though. their Taiwan maker still seems to make some of their knives snd those are decent. warranty has gotten worse though.
 
jbmonkey said:
some of us cold steel fans arent fans of gsm. there are direct reasons such as they lost/let go of all their good knife designers like Demko and Wallace. they moved South African machetes to China and they arent better quality. fit and finish improved, but not heat treat and steel. warranty was never great at cold steel, but its gone further downhill fast under gsm....no parts, almost zero warranty....

there are other reasons...it isnt all bad there though. a big good is the Taiwan maker seems to still be making good product......and this is important to me as a buyer as I tend to like their knife models that are made in Taiwan. they also tend to let products go at better street prices sometimes and this is a big plus to me also.

anyways...back to sog....

they've brought in some usa made stuff that isn't bad. theyre still making seal products and sometiems selling at decent prices through dealers. its hit and miss though. their Taiwan maker still seems to make some of their knives snd those are decent. warranty has gotten worse though.
Click to expand...
Well. I did say I could be super wrong. I'll still give them the tiny shred of credit for the few good things they've done but agree it doesn't make up for the list of wrongs. I'm curious as dubious as some news stories have been over the years what doing business in South Africa would be like in these current times. Maybe South America like Condor or similar instead? And not being able to get parts for sure makes zero sense.
 
Maximumbob54 said:
Well. I did say I could be super wrong. I'll still give them the tiny shred of credit for the few good things they've done but agree it doesn't make up for the list of wrongs. I'm curious as dubious as some news stories have been over the years what doing business in South Africa would be like in these current times. Maybe South America like Condor or similar instead? And not being able to get parts for sure makes zero sense.
Click to expand...
I dont know details of the move from South Africa maker to Chinese one......maybe had to be done for reasosn i dont know about...no idear. just know products arent as good.
 
jbmonkey said:
I dont know details of the move from South Africa maker to Chinese one......maybe had to be done for reasosn i dont know about...no idear. just know products arent as good.
Click to expand...
I will say through clenched teeth that Chinese products are only as good as the standard they are held to. As in I have a few of Spyderco's offerings and they are all spotless fit and finish with zero problems and just as well made as the Golden factory. The Tenacious in M4 may be the best bang for the buck offering they have. So there's not a valid reason besides cost for the lack of quality. Definitely a cheapening of the product line.
 
More older SOGs even though I'm cheating since I doubled up on one I really liked. I bet that one was OEM'ed my Moki since the fit and finish screams so and it's stamped Seki City. Maybe the little guy too. The Jet Edge was my first carbon fiber handle knife and you would have thought it was adamantium as impressed as I was back then. Truth was it chipped around the pins... Oopsie Q.A.....


CB7GrH5.jpg
 
GSM has also bought-up Camillus Knives and Smith's Sharpeners.

I have bought a sheepsfoot Diverge and Prohen XR recently.

The Diverge has a slippery aluminum handle.

The Handle of the Prohen XR is difficult for me to get used to. Maybe my hand is too small for it. The blade-opener cut-out feels really odd too.
 
Yes , this previous year I have noticed a definite Apex and then decline in offerings from many companies that were cranking out interesting offerings pretty steady for years and years .
Heck my last knife purchase was another Case Trapper (I have like forty of them already ) this last one is just kind of a slightly different take on one I already have as far as handle scales . I'm going to mod this one just for an interesting project . I only pounced because of a significant discount because the box was damaged . (I'm not a REAL collector , just a dude who cuts stuff here and there).
 
Last edited:
I was mainly a fan of the old school, Seki Japan SOG pieces, although I do have a couple of newer ones, as well. I like the Terminus XR flipper, w a slide lock, but I found that the pocket clip design would cause it to 'hang up' on the pocket edge when trying to simply draw it out. My fix was to add a short, 'pinky finger" loop lanyard directly to the top of the clip, which 'blocks' the part of the clip that would grab the pocket edge. I would have to say that it's a pocket clip design flaw.

I also recently obtained a 'Pent Arc' that is a VG-10 Seki made knife and was shaking my head when I saw that they 'Cheaped Out' with plastic or teflon washers when they should have used Phosphor.Bronze for a much smoother action with the arc lock and the 4" blade.
It's basically a cut corner on an otherwise knice knife. I'm gonna have to change those out 😣

The other thing that they tend to do is the overbranding on the blade, scale, & pocket clip on some of their knives, including the Pent.Arc.

Cheers,
BTB
 
SOG has been going downhill way before they were sold.
Their powerduo fiasco in 2012 soured me towards them and I have not bothered with SOG since
 
Sog before gsm used to allow individual parts of their multi tools to be sold, meaning you could replace broken ones or customize their multi tools which was really nice. They'd also send out plier heads if you damaged the cutters.

Gsm nixed that, and made customer service less than ideal. Screw gsm.

And I've interacted with both cold steel and sog customer service prior to gsm. Only with sog CS after gsm acquisition though.
 
shinyedges said:
Sog before gsm used to allow individual parts of their multi tools to be sold, meaning you could replace broken ones or customize their multi tools which was really nice. They'd also send out plier heads if you damaged the cutters.

Gsm nixed that, and made customer service less than ideal. Screw gsm.

And I've interacted with both cold steel and sog customer service prior to gsm. Only with sog CS after gsm acquisition though.
Click to expand...
I had no idea they ever offered that. The only SOG multi tool I bought was the power plier and I quit that pretty fast. I didn't like how much I had to open the handle to open the pliers in use. Probably another "me" thing.
Billy The Blade said:
I like the Terminus XR flipper, w a slide lock, but I found that the pocket clip design would cause it to 'hang up' on the pocket edge when trying to simply draw it out. My fix was to add a short, 'pinky finger" loop lanyard directly to the top of the clip, which 'blocks' the part of the clip that would grab the pocket edge.
Click to expand...
I've had that same issue with my Terminus but my bigger issue is the thumb stud being finicky to use. It's one of those knives I have to remember out and away because if I push up at all then it's a thumb buster. And the flip action on mine isn't so strong or I would just use that option. It came with a miserable edge but I put a bit of an excessive edge on it and it turned into a slice master. But I kept ripping skin off my thumb and it was retired to the box under the bed. (sad face) Now that I know you can buy not just new springs on the third party but also extra power springs I might try that to see if it helps any.
 
Both SOG and Cold Steel had a lot of crazy designs, materials, etc... over the years, that actually ended up being really cool, and even classic. When I look back at one's I wish I had bought (or kept) is's always the weirdo's that I thought were "too much" or "too nice for me" at the time.

SOG also did a superb job with the "Trident" and "Tech" takes on the Vietnam bowies, IMHO. A really classy knife there, with a nice aesthetic and a great alternative to all the "Rambo" knives which were a big deal at the time I started buying my own knives for fun.

Anyhow, at some point I decided everything had to Busse, or Buck, or whatever, and sold it all off. Ain't that always the story...

I raise a glass to SOG. RIP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top