This is my latest, a SOG 1 Bowie from the good old days.
Information from
http://www.sogknivescollectors.com;
The S1 Bowie is the flagship model of SOG Specialty Knives Inc, the first knife design to roll off their production line.
It is modelled after the exact knife that the brave men of MACVSOG used while in Vietnam for covert recon operations.
This knife is gun-blued to a shiny hue; making it a very pretty knife indeed.
Many praise it for its beautiful gun-bluing and the use of high quality SK-5 steel, and is considered to be one of the more collectible Seki Japan SOG Knives.
The S1 Bowie is commonly known by some as the "5th Special Forces knife", but it was actually called the "SOG Bowie" by SOG.
Engraved on the left front of the blade near the cross-guard is the old "square SOG logo", while on the other side of the knife just directly above the guard reads "Seki Japan".
In front of that engraving is the "MACVSOG" Special Forces logo, and further down the blade in the middle of the knife reads "Vietnam 5th Special Forces Group".
The knife features a leather handle and a classic 'faceted tip', that is the signature feature of the current SOG Bowie knives made today.
Most of the current SOG knives follow the form/design of the S1 Bowie.
The modern versions which use different materials include the S1T, Super SOG Bowie and SOG Bowie 2.0.
Specs:
Overall length: 28,0 cm (10.75 inch)
Blade length: 16,1 cm (6.25 inch)
Steel: SK-5 Carbon steel
Hardness: 57-58 HRC
Blade finish: Deep gun blue (hot blued)
Weight: 340 grams (12.3 oz.)
Edge: Plain Edge
Blade thickness: 7,0 mm max.
Handle material: epoxied stacked leather with blued steel guard & pommel
Country of origin: Japan
Part #: S1
Rarity Details:
Last Known MSRP: $<.>
Production dates: 1986 - 2005
Production numbers: 10,000 - 15,000
Limited run?: First 750 or 1000 knives were serialized
Other things of interest: It's the first model off the SOG production line.
Rarity index: 8.5/10 (10 being the most rare)
Rarity index scale (1 to 10, 10 being the most rare):
1 - Very common; easily available on ebay, google product search and almost every knife selling website. Spammed with at least 10+ listings on ebay.
3 - Has been around for at least 2 years and are selling reasonably well, with retailers favouring other newer models over this knife.
5 - Knives that are on the borderline of being discontinued or have been discontinued for less than 6 months
6 - Products from 6 onwards are either discontinued or limited edition.
7 - Discontinued knives that pop up once every few months on the "For Sale" part of forums or on ebay. Still can be found at a few online shops though.
8 - Knives that need lots of researching to find. Not available anymore in online knife shops and pop up (if you're lucky) >4 months for one at a time.
9 - Knives holding this rarity are the shadowy kind. You can't find any information on them at all (not even from online knife shops that have not taken down that knife's product page). If you see one for sale grab at all cost.
10 - The rarest of all knives. If you hadn't been here you wouldn't even have known that it existed. Should you have one of these you better lock it up in a triple-combination safe and treat it like a family heirloom...
