What's the story on SOGs...

R

RGL01

Joined
Apr 23, 2009
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Good knives? Where are they manufactured, USA? Just trying to familiarize myself at this point. :D
 
SOG seems to be a love or hate brand around here (from what I've read). Some people swear by them, others feel their money can be better spent elsewhere. A primary complaint is that their higher priced knives use AUS8, which is seen as overpaying for a more budget-type steel.

**I stand corrected, I guess they do have their fair share of knives offered with VG-10. Coulda sworn I heard this argument used against SOG not all that long ago**
 
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Yeah, I know what you mean. They are putting out another fixed blade re-issue of the CIA knife. Was all hot to get one until I find out its AUS8 and about $230! They need to price it accordingly. If it was 154 or D2 or some other steel then I wouldnt flinch. But $230 for an AUS8 knife? Might as well buy a Gil Hibben wall hanger from my standpoint.
 
In my opinion, SOG is a good manufacturer. I would judge their quality as ranging from 5 to 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being junk and 10 being perfection). For any production/manufactured knife, this is a good rating. All of their knives are decent performers, but you've got to "find" the good ones hidden among the abundance of "decent" models.

I know for certain that some knives are made in Seki, Japan. My SOG Pentagon Elite II is one of them and is marked as such. Seki has a long history of knife and sword making and still puts out some of the finest traditional Japanese swords today. Though I'm pretty sure some of their models are also made in the USA, Seki isn't a bad place either.

As to steels, they have used steels ranging from BG-42 to the now more prevalent AUS-8, including VG-10, San-mai VG-10, ATS-34, 420, and OU-31 (sounds good, but I have no clue what it is). :D

All in all, I like their products, but I think some models are not realizing their full potential. Some examples would be using titanium liners (instead of 420-J2 or whatever weak liner material they use) in the PE II and other models which exhibit slight "give" in the handle, using s30v in the popular models like the Flash II, Twitch II, and Tridents, and giving the SEAL series some steel options - AUS-8 is a good choice (IMO), but it would be nice to see s30v or 154cm or, better yet, a San-mai model... options are always welcomed.

To the OP, if you go with SOG, you won't be disappointed - they make a good knife, but, if you want a truly "perfect" knife, SOG has a very few options. For a folder, look at the Vulcan series - especially the San-mai Vulcan. For a fixed-blade, I'm not sure you could find a reasonably priced one among their current line-up... it's a shame that many of their knives have beautiful designs and ill-matched steels.
 
Have always loved their fixed blades, have a decent collection of them. Over time I feel that their product line has gotten cheaper and cheaper, quality wise. They have also discontinued a lot of the blades that I loved. Most of their stuff is considdered affordable, and I haven't had any of their products break down on me yet. Are there better blades out there? Yes, but after my first $65 Sog folder, I wen't straight to $200 Benchmade ones so, it depends on your price range.

One of the sweetest knives ever, in my opinion, was the Sog Seal knife. Check out that one.
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my sog fixed blade collection.
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Check out the Sog sub-forum for more info.
 
Some might say that the old SOG Desert Dagger is a girl's best friend.
But what everyone needs to know is that most SOG pliers are mates for life.
 
I have an SOG Arcitech Carbon Fibre folder, it is my only SOG knife so I can't speak in any informative way to their entire line. As already mentioned, they seem to be love 'em or hate 'em here on BF.

The Arcitech is a very nice knife in my opinion, San-Mai VG-10 steel (san-mai refers to a laminated blade so the core is VG-10, and without looking up the specs I believe it is laminated in 420J2 stainless), titanium bolsters, carbon fibre scales, and an abalone decorative thumb stud. Lots of exotic materials to make for an attractive knife.

More importantly though it locks up solid, and feels great in the hand.

Price wise it is border line overpriced, although I would say it holds it's own against many similarily priced production knives.

I have posted pics before but I'll post up here again so you can see for yourself that it is a nice knife.

SOGArcitech-2-1.jpg


SOGArcitech-7copy.jpg


Kevin
 
I have a number of SOG blades (maybe 15 or so). I often carry the Mini-Vulcan and I give it high marks. I bought the Vulcan also, but it is just too large a knife for me to EDC. Recently bought the Access Card 2.0 which I think is a pretty neat little blade for EDC.

SOG's best knives are made in Seki Japan or the USA. Some of their lower priced line (Fusion) are made in China and I believe a few are made in South Korea.

I look forward to seeing their line at the Atlanta Blade show in a month.
 
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I EDC a SOG Twitch II, and have found the AUS-8 blade to be excellent.
The knife is very solid, opens/closes smoothly, etc...no complaints here... :)
 
Not a fan. Some cool looking models. Mostly not content with their false marketing of steels saying that some blades are made of 440C but were really AUS-8A. Also saying that certain models were USA made but in fact were only assembled in the USA. Another complaint is the owner taking credit for the Arc-lock being his brain child invention when it is clearly a spin-off of Benchmades Axis lock. Last but not least...no warranty on some of Sogs crappy sheaths.:thumbdn:
 
I've looked long and hard at SOG, but at the end of the day they have never been my first choice. Examples:

1. I'd take a Benchmade Axis lock ahead of almost any SOG Arc lock. Just compare, look, and feel. Except for the expensive Arcitech series the SOGs have a lot of cut corners.

2. The fixed blades are fine, but for actual use I'd prefer something like Rat Cutlery. However, I'd seriously consider the SEAL series for heavy use and almost got one. I like the SOG Bowie 2.0 a lot, as it has a retro modern look, but would just use it as a decorator.

3. I picked a Victorinox multi tool over SOG--can't beat Victorinox quality with small tools, and if I need an ultra duty tool I won't use a multi tool at all.

I don't usually buy knives with safety levers, so I can't comment on their assisted openers. They seem competitive with Kershaw.

All in all, I feel about the same about SOG and Cold Steel. They both have some very nice products mixed in with a lot of marketing hype and mediocre products. Admittedly Cold Steel is worse in this regard.
 
I'd love to see the Tsunami (no serrations)and Pentagon, made out of A-2, O-1, 1095 at about 59Rc.
 
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