Things SOG can do to get back on top.

Yeah, I was gonna buy it (NW Ranger), except it had serrations. SOG, IMHO, needs to vary their handle material more. Removeable micarta scales on a Team Leader, perhaps. Also maybe going to something like 1095 or S30V Made in USA would be nice. My 2 cents.
 
I have two Team Leaders. Good knives. Why can't SOG get us some micarta scales to put on them like Camillus used to do for the Beckers? Oh, I know, that must be the reason they went under. :rolleyes:
 
I would say to make some of their classics again and get rid of some of the really stupid crap like the fusion primitive bowie and Tigershark elite (what a joke).

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Redesign the sheaths for Joe bloggs. I have made separate sheaths for my Pentagon and Tsunami.

Absolutely excellent knives.
 
Some of the classics are still available in RSA.


They wouldn't be if I was paid better.
 
I know that everyone seems to be knocking the new Tigershark Elite. Yes, some people may not like the hand guard but it is removable and actually it does not come installed on the knife. I would recommend that you handle the knife before passing to harsh of a judgment. It is just as massive and capable as the Tigershark.

As for bringing back some of the classics. The reason that may of the the knives that are referred to as classics are no longer being produced is that they stopped selling and it was no longer economical to continue producing them. If more people were interested in them they would still be in the current offerings. Unfortunately it was a case of low demand and limited resources. In an ideal world we would love to continue to make all of our previous knives, but that is just no practical.
 
I have a new Tech Bowie and think it's a great knife for the money. One thing I'm not a big fan of is the SOG cutout in the (otherwise excellent) sheath, it's a bit "blingy" and is found on other models as well.

Personally I think some of the products like the Fusion line are a bit gimmicky and detract from the SOG brand in general, although of course I don't know how profitable they are. Maybe they could be spun into their own line, or the "classic" SOG knives could be rebranded in some way as to be kept separate from the more gimmicky items?

There's definitely some winners in the current lineup, it would be great to see more of them!
 
I had a Classic Tomcat all through my Army enlistment. Although i lost it *just* before i got out, it was far and away THE BEST folding knife i ever owned. Since SOG had already switched to the thumbstud version by that time i didn't even bother to replace it.

I just got a 3.0. It is a nice piece, weighty, solid and very much like the original. But: it ain't the same! It's more gimmicky, and surely more easily-opened than the classic, but that classic popped right open with a flip of the wrist with a little practice. I'm not so sure this 3.0 could stand up to the stuff my Classic took. And the pivot screw already popped out on me while opening and closing it repeatedly. That never, ever happened on myClassic. Not what i expected from a $100+ knife at all.

I'm not disappointed, necessarily. Things happen. Maybe the one i got was just a little loose. But it doesn't look as good as a Classic, or feel as good. I als don't care much for the cut-out on the butt of the knife(3.0). Part of the beuaty of the Tomcat was it's Mac-truck-of-knives look, which the cut-out detracts from IMHO. The Arc-lock functions nicely, but it has a slight bit of play and is somewhat uncomfortable in constant use. I should be getting a Classic i just bought soon, so i'll be able to compare the two directly. I can't wait!

So: go back to what got ya started! Bring back the Tomcat Classic, and get rid of that cut-out on the back end of the 3.0.


IMHO SOG could *NEVER* have too many Tomcat models. Period.

Update: SOG quickly and simply replaced my faulty 3.0, easy-peazy. The new one works great. I still love the Classic Tomcat(which i now have 2 of, 1 SM CA!) but the 3.0 is definitely handier and more comfortable. I humbly retract my criticism of it(except the cut-out on the butt. Bleecch.)
 
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I'd love the Mini-Pentagon even more if the blade were actually all blade, instead of that half-inch gimped section at the base. The handle is such that you can't really get your fingers on the gimped section anyway.

SOG might also want to consider a dive-knife version with a squared-off but sharpenable end.
 
"SOG" logo in big letters on the pocket clips needs to go, IMO, for SOG to sell more knives. This is the type of clip on my Trident folder. I actually have found it is turning people off on sales in stores. A more subtle logo scribed into the pocket clip would suffice, like the bullet getting split by the blade. Just trying to help here.
 
I agree with BigE: less of the SOG cutouts in every corner and clip. The knives are distinctive in their own right on the basis of material, workmanship and durability. No need to stick all those little reminders of who made it all over...haha.
 
There's only 2 small beefs with my new SOG Visionary 2 that I don't particularly like:

1 - the clip. It's nice to have it ambi and how deep you can get it in your pocket. But when the clip has a good solid 15* or more swing in it - not so much. Simply making the end that goes into the knife squared and adding an extra screw would eliminate this problem. The alternative would be to work on your fitment of that clip more, and replace the plastic spacer between the liners with a steel spacer. I can deal with some movement, but this much....it gets a bit annoying. We're talking a good solid 1/4" or more movement at the end of the clip.

2 - scale material options. You guys use zytle for a reason - it's cheap and works satisfactory. When I grip my Visionary 2 tightly I can feel the handles giving in and collapsing inwards - I wear size medium gloves, so I guarantee you I don't have some superhuman hand strength. Keep making them from the factory with zytle - it keeps the prices affordable. However - offering replacements of different materials, would be VERY nice. I'd love to have some G10, or micarta, or even a winewood scale option directly from SOG. I'll likely be asking Tom Krien to address this when he regrinds my blade. I know Benchmade offers something like this for their mini-rukus - and I'd be happy to take the warranty off of my knife to disassemble it to put on something nicer, and more rigid, than zytle.


No, I'm not sending it to him to be reground because it can't cut well. It cuts exceptionally well, and has actually bit myself and a few others cleanly enough to sever the nerves - we didn't feel the cuts at all. Somebody had to tell us we were bleeding 5-10 minutes later after we made a bloody mess out of the workplace. I just like things to be sharper, and I'm a constant tinkerer. I don't sharpen things because they're dull - they're just not sharp enough :)
 
Not to flame it up, especially on my very first post, but I've never been a big fan of SOG because they use mostly the cheapest 440 series steels they can lay their hands on! Now thats not true for all of their cutlery, the Vision and X-ray vision come to mind as being rendered in ATS-34 or I think now VG-10. With those rare examples being the exception, everything else seems to be cheap 400 series stainless where in many instances they don't even mark the blade steel because it's so cheap!
 
FYI - a VAST majority of SOG knives are AUS8 - not 440A. Feel free to read the specs of the blades on their website.

My visionary 2 utilizes VG10 ;)
 
To Denalipark

We do not use 440 steel in any of our knives. You should check the specs for our knives before making statements like that. The two most prevalent steels that we use are AUS8 and VG-10. There are a few more that we use but those tow cover 90% of our knives. Where you got 440 from I do not know.
 
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