Why do knife snobs hate SOG???

M

mk.ultra

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Jun 17, 2010
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I've always wondered why I never see SOG getting talked about very favorably. I only have 1, my Mini Vulcan, but it is my favorite knife that I own (Over my Griptilian 556, Delica 4 FFG, and Boker Trance). To me it trounces ZT's and the like for aesthetics, and its functional too. Super smooth, one handed opening/closing, super solid lockup, deep carry pocket clip, ETC! The one thing I can see as a complaint is the weight/thickness which I really don't care about (And ZT's are just as bulky or bulkier).

Thoughts?
 
They do make some great knives like some other Companies, but they are just not for me personally.

I am neutral towards them and their Designs.
 
mk.ultra said:
I've always wondered why I never see SOG getting talked about very favorably. I only have 1, my Mini Vulcan, but it is my favorite knife that I own (Over my Griptilian 556, Delica 4 FFG, and Boker Trance). To me it trounces ZT's and the like for aesthetics, and its functional too. Super smooth, one handed opening/closing, super solid lockup, deep carry pocket clip, ETC! The one thing I can see as a complaint is the weight/thickness which I really don't care about (And ZT's are just as bulky or bulkier).

Thoughts?
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Well, I think you really need to own and use other knvies before making a statement like the bolded one on top. You are comparing apples to peanuts. ZT/KAI and Spyderco have a long history of high quality cutlery. Such a sweeping statment like the one you made can trigger an extremely heated discussion, especially if you haven't had the chance to use more than the knives from each company you've mentioned only 1 knife of each to compare. You need more data, the sample size is non-existent. ;)
There are some heavy duty threads in the SOG forum on one particular topic that did not sit well with the knife community specifically. Try a search in the forum, look for "Sogzilla", 211 posts long.
Personally, the only AUS8 blade I would buy at this point in time is manufactured for Cold Steel. SOG makes decent fixed blades, and they have an amazing line of excellent fixed blade knives, their folders...not so much. YMMV
 
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he said aesthetics, that doesn't require use.

I don't care for their looks, actually, so that's why I don't buy them. That, and I had an arc-lock model with blade play, and was told that was within spec.
 
RevDevil said:
Well, I think you really need to own and use other knvies before making a statement like the bolded one on top.
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Yes I said for aesthetics, which is a completely subjective judgement. I didn't mean the functionality trounces ZT's, I haven't ever laid hands on them yet. And I'm ONLY talking about the Mini Vulcan, I don't really find any other SOG folders too aesthetically pleasing. I just don't understand how people don't think the Vulcan looks badazz.
 
mk.ultra said:
I said for aesthetics, which is a completely subjective judgement. I didn't mean the functionality trounces ZT's, I haven't ever laid hands on them yet.
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I understand, but functionality was included in the statment, after the comma. :)
 
If I hate any knife company at all, it's because they refuse to offer me my choice of ice cream flavor- I mean steels.

That said, Spyderco, Kershaw, and Benchmade(for some) have me sold for life.
 
Well can't speak for all of SOGs knives but I can speak of the SOG Flash 1. Its was one of my favorite small EDC blades for certain areas. This was until it got dull and for some reason WILL NOT SHARPEN.

But I do think in general SOG knives look really great and have innovative features.
 
I was so traumatised by one of my very first knife purchases which was a SOG Flash I and I never got over it. I was a silly newcomer to knives and saw a certain popular reviewer rave on and on about it. Sloppy blade play all over the place, terrible blade centering, uninterested SOG CS... I dont mind giving them another shot if I ever see something I might be interested in. As for now they try too hard to be tactical looking and thats not really my thing atm.
 
Mattman888 said:
Build Quality was terrible on my Twitch II, Customer service wouldn't help me.
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I would speak more highly of my BM Mini Grip 556, but it shaped stupidly dull and at the time I had no means of sharpening. Customer service told me I could pay to ship it to them for sharpening. I told them my $30 Spyderco Tenacious came RAZOR sharp. They still refused. Otherwise it really is of top quality, but that still really bugged me. A BRAND NEW knife should ALWAYS ship sharp, especially for the $70 I paid for it.
 
While most of their steels aren't special, they did have some Duratech 20CV fixed blades a while back.

Edit: looks like it's still available. The SOG Team Leader.
 
mk.ultra said:
I would speak more highly of my BM Mini Grip 556, but it shaped stupidly dull and at the time I had no means of sharpening. Customer service told me I could pay to ship it to them for sharpening. I told them my $30 Spyderco Tenacious came RAZOR sharp. They still refused. Otherwise it really is of top quality, but that still really bugged me. A BRAND NEW knife should ALWAYS ship sharp, especially for the $70 I paid for it.
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Oh come on...

What kind of knife nut would you be if you didn't have a means of sharpening?

I mostly disregard all factory edges because:
1) I prefer hair popping edges.
2) I don't tolerate anything less than a mirror polished edge.
3) I'm going to lower the edge bevel anyways.
 
Wouldn't consider myself a snob :)

Used to love SOG after getting my Pentagon Elite Folder and the Fatcat (can't remember if name is right) was next in my sights. After reading about the copying done (Sogzilla for example) I'm off SOG until at least they acknowledge copying some designs.
 
Whether they get a lot of deserved flak or not, I still want to get one of their Team Leader knives. Some new, ebony or cocobolo handle scales, a good reprofiling and maybe even a mirror polish and it would be one damn fine looking knife. I've always liked the looks of their fixed blades. I saw a plain-edge (ie: no silly sawback) AUS8 version at Bass Pro shops, but I didn't pull the trigger on it... kinda regret it, but I don't need another 'project' knife just yet. Almost bought their Aegis when it came out until I heard it was a blade-play factory, among other gripes.

I was pretty appalled at the blatant knock-offs they just released, though. That's some serious BS for a company to pull :mad:. Might have pissed me off enough to keep me away from the company entirely. All in all, Jury's still out for me regarding SOG.
 
I wouldn't say I hate SOG, they just don't make the kind of knife that appeals to me. Most of their fixed blades are hollow ground, and I only like full flat or convex blades (and some Scandis). A lot of them have double quillon guards that I don't like either.

I stock SOG knives (I'm a part time dealer) and from my experience the fit and finish on their fixed blades is good as long as you stay away from the Fusion line. Every single Fusion knife I received had some sort of flaw (bad grinds, very noticeable gaps between the handle and guard, etc.). I've never handled any of their folders, though. A couple of them look interesting but I always end up buying something different.
 
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