Regarding SOG
- Thread starter Woodhead
- Start date
@ Wurger 190 & KenHash,
I’ve never questioned the authenticity of my knife. My motivation to post here at BF was to possibly learn where the knife falls in the timeline of its history. There have been a number of iterations of the Tech. Blade steel was changed as well as location of production(I know mine was made in Seki)
I’ve never questioned the authenticity of my knife. My motivation to post here at BF was to possibly learn where the knife falls in the timeline of its history. There have been a number of iterations of the Tech. Blade steel was changed as well as location of production(I know mine was made in Seki)
Your knife is a SOG Tech 1 model S10. It first came with the rectangular nylon case that you have, then, later with V shaped sheath. That would make your knife one of the early ones circa 1990-92 or thereabouts. The two Tech 1 sheaths are as below. That yours is missing the white in the lettering is not, in my opinion significant, as these things happen in factory production.
The blade steel of your S10 is Aus6 made by Aichi Steel. It was marketed as 440A by SOG as it was a more familiar standard for the US market. The S10 and S12 are often confused because the S12 was originally introduced as the "Tech" with an SK5 blade which was later changed to Aus6. To my knowledge the S10 was never made in SK5, as I have never run across such a knife. I had one the SK5 S12 which came with with a leather sheath.
Both the Tech 1 and Tech 2 were manufactured by the Kinryu Corporation in Seki Japan, owned by the Suzuki familiy, who also made the Governments, Tigershark, Desert Dagger, Pentagon, NW Ranger, Seal 2000, Seal Pup and Recon Bowie for SOG.
SOG's production in Seki Japan ended in 2006/2007 and was moved to Taiwan.
The Tech 1 S10 and Tech II S12 were never made in Taiwan, only in Seki Japan.
SOG Specialties started in Santa Monica CA. The earliest nylon sheaths for models such as the S2 have "Santa Monica CA" on them. Somewhere around the time they moved to Edmonds WA they had some models with and without the location. Then the EDM WA became standard until SOG moved to Lynnwood WA.
Hope this helps.
Thank you KenHash! I appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge. Now it’s the sheath that makes me wonder... the pic you posted is similar to mine but still different. Mine has the logo stamped into a thick piece of leather, not a printed pc of fabric. I don’t believe it to be a manufacturing mistake(not being white). I still have yet to see one like mine.
In factory production there will always be some minor variations usually the result of material inventory and production deadlines rather than intentional design. I've seen plenty of such cases with both the sheath and even markings on the knives themselves.
However, if I had to guess, I'd say your sheath might be one of the earliest. I say this because the S2 Trident that I had came with a Nylon sheath with a leather tag but with Santa Monica CA on it. And the S2 is an earlier model 1986/87. The V shaped sheaths appear after the move to EDM WA and they all have white lettering.
There are probably only a handful of people at SOG, if that, today who have been around long enough to even remember the details of the Seki contracts. Kinryu closed it's factory in 2016/2017 after the owner chose to retire due to health reasons. So finding anyone with direct knowledge to answer your question is unlikely. In any case there is nothing to suggest your knife and the sheath are authentic. Eventually you might find the "exact same sheath" somewhere but I doubt it will add much to the historical background, rarity or value.
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