Wish SOG would bring back some of the classics as a sprint run

yeh, sadly it would seem that economics rules, and the rules of economics trump all. I really want to pick up an original Trident .... (sigh) ...... but cannot afford to do so.

Could I afford "a new 'original' post-Seki Trident in supersteel" ?? Not hardly.

So I'm content to have a couple of Seki's in my collection, and consider myself amazingly fortunate for that.

Cheers,

Carl
 
SOG is doing exactly what they need to do in order to craft military blades. Reading this I am more than a little bit bemused at the perception of what constitutes a "military" knife and the assertion that SOG is Forgetting its roots by crafting mid-level knives. The vast bulk of real aftermarket knives military knives are purchased by jr. Servicemen who live at or near the poverty limit. Pvt's and LCpl's (or the army equivalent) make up the bulk of the military population using working knives and they can't begin to afford super steel. There are precious few men in the real Spec Ops ratings. A $100-200 blade is a fairly serious investment and most of them are are proud of a good Aus8 or 1095 blade. Durable knives that do their work. I spent a dozen years w/ various field units and never, ever, saw a Randall or Reeves on anyone. Saw a lot of KaBars and a few Cases & Gerbers, mostly because of the price. Sometimes the guys even bought knives made from leaf springs from the locals., because they weren't expensive. As for issue knives, the service puts them through rigorous tests, but in the end the issue knife was produced by the lowest bidder and not a super steel in sight. So if SOG wants to be a favorite of the military set they are making exactly the right business decisions.
 
"Our story begins .... in 1986, ... a young designer, named Spencer Frazer, found SOG Specialty Knives...to reproduce the original SOG Bowie knife and pay tribute to the special ops unit that created it. What began as a single commemorative model soon became a full line of innovative tools - field-proven by US Special Forces, even honored as the Navy SEAL knife of choice..."
- http://www.sogknives.com/sog-story.html

And so it was, that years ago, a young Mr Spencer was drawn to collect original vietnam era Sog bowies.
And as fate would have it, he saw the potential of creating replicas, thus spawning the very first SOG Knives S1 Bowie
which was based upon the very expensive and highly collectable viet nam era MACV-SOG 6" presentation bowie.
(Hence it was always clearly marked and not combat sterile).
SOG Knives the company, soon expended into a full working line.
But it was the SOG Knives SEAL KNIFE 2000
(the crowned winner of the all too often heard SEAL knife evaluation)
which brought SOG Knives to a level worthy of professional consideration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOG_Specialty_Knives

It's a historical fact that SOG Knives was originally conceived and specifically aimed at collectors.
But somewhere along the way its products were no longer solely only replicas for a specific market but real working knives for knifedom.
Seems to me that by choosing to go down that road would proof far more challenging
as one would have to constantly come up with numerous products
thus making such a venture into the cutlery business way tougher
in having to constantly innovate, capture and somehow please the awaiting restless market.
it would be nice to someday see SOG Knives go back to its roots and create a small separate collector's division catering mainly to a niche collector market.
Whilst it continues to progress with its design and technical development program to create more innovative working knives as its main core business for the future...

BTW, below is an image of the knives on display at the SEALS museum
So I m thinking 20 years from now, SOG Knives Collector's Edition of the SEAL 2000 & SEAL Pup replicas.
navy-seal-knives.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTl6UIHhA3c
 
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That is a great photograph. I used to have a MK II and a MK III. The latter which I completely wrecked
by using it as my saltwater fishing knife and never taking care of it.
I still have the Buckmaster 184, SOG Seal 2000, and SOG Seal Pup.
 
Well there you go!
That's almost Half way to a spectacular wall hanging display
of trophy navy seal team knives.
The mk3 is an interesting design,
usn-mk3.jpg

having originally had the blade profile of an ak bayonet.
romanian-akm-bayonet_pics169-16962.jpg

its distinctive clip have been done away with current manufacture
for the want of a stronger tip...
Ontario-Knife-Company-MK3-Navy-Knife.jpg

I would suggest to start looking for the older clip pointed mk 3...
the mk2 is about as the generic as they come.
And the current ka bar USmc has had some minor grind changes.
most notably it no longer has a sharpened false edge
But it will for the longest time yet take first spot
as a revered spiritual "fighting man's" symbol.

http://www.navydads.com/forum/topics/an-insignia-and-a-knife
 
The MK 3 I had was with the sharp skinny point. I guess I should have taken care of it.
A friend of mine had a Buckmaster 184 that he threw at a tree and the tip broke. LOL

The thing that SOG "could" do is to increase their Seki made knives. Today it's limited to their high end folders and now that the fixed blade Vulcan is discontinued, only the questionably designed Forge remains.
And those "Gunny" knives.
SOG's collaboration with Kikuo Matsuda was a good move but WHY on earth did they go to Taiwan manufacture? The same Seki OEM who produces those other Seki SOG knives could have kicked out the KIKU/SOG knives at the same or shade above the Taiwan costs. The difference in market acceptance and demand could have been astronomical.
 
Now that's another "Combat Knife". Just like my Kiku KM835. Similarly it probably sucks for batoning, hiking,
hunting, all the things civilians might do with a fixed blade of that size. But damn that is a good looking knife.

This Mad Dog ATAK, is that on the SEAL KNIFE display?
 
There are numerous opinions concerning what works best for what.
Perhaps the very reason for the never ending great debate on what comes out as top dog.
The 90s sure did provided a great insight into how much it mattered
getting knives officially seals tested and approved.
http://www.knifeforums.com/uploads/1232918887-Mad_Dog_ATAK_vs_Mission_MPKS.pdf
I m glad most folks are matured enough to decide for themselves
and can see through way beyond such claims when choosing knives which can fit their purpose best.
 
While this isn't in line with "bring back a classic" completely, after using this Seal Pup Elite for
a while, I came to the realization that if SOG were willing to produce even a limited number
of these straight edged Pup Elites in the same factory that produces their Seki folders using
VG10 instead of AUS8, they would have a model that is one of (if not the) their best sellers in a format that many people would pay a premium for. There are very few 4-5 inch blade VG10 fixed blades on the market. (Al Mar, Nemesis, Spyderco). SOG themselves pulled the fixed blade Vulcan out of the running. Seriously I hope someone at SOG reads this. The Yen has dropped to
it's lowest in 7 years now.
 
IMG_1513.jpg


My Favorite fixed blade is my Sog BG42. My VG-10 Vulcan is a close 2nd then my CRKT FTWS 3rd. The Team Leader in 20CV falls in after that...
 
I am under the impression that the SOG Team Leader is an AUS8 knife.
Was it offered with 20CV in the past?
 
KenHash said:
I am under the impression that the SOG Team Leader is an AUS8 knife.
Was it offered with 20CV in the past?
Click to expand...

Yes it was and apparently at a hell of a deal! That is the kind of thing I wish SOG would keep doing!
 
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