Hello,
Listening to the hype, I recently picked up a SOG Tellus FX (MSRP $59.95 USD) with the intension of putting it through its paces. Now I'm not expecting a Benchmade or Falkniven, but I'm assuming it will be a high value knife. It is a fixed knife with a 4.2" blade, full tang, 440c with a high saber grind. It comes with a hard polymer sheath with SOGs proprietary UMS sheath that allows for variety of mounting positions from standard, inverted and scout.
Out of the box (or plastic clam shell), the fit and finish was decent with a fairly uniform grind on the blade and just a minor rough spot on the polymer scales. Initial thoughts are that this is a stout knife that should be decent for batoning and other camp shores, although there are no 90 degree angles on the spine nor pommel for fire starting with a ferorod. It will be interesting to see how the edge holds up compared to a Garberg or other bushcraft specific blade. The sheath is ok but the mounting system is a real disappointment. The sheath and clip is comprised of three pieces screwed together. Unfortunately these screws rely upon friction to hold everything together. When you draw, it pull up on these dislodging them from the clip. After a couple days, I replaced the mount with a Tek-lock knock off. I made a video you can see below that details this part. The sheath rides high on the belt and there are no options to lower it or use a dangler.
I'm just waiting for the snow to melt a bit so I can access my off grid place and put this to work. I'll put in a more detailed review once I've put it through its paces more. I'll also directly compare it to a Gerber Downwind since they are very similar form function and price point.
Cheers
Listening to the hype, I recently picked up a SOG Tellus FX (MSRP $59.95 USD) with the intension of putting it through its paces. Now I'm not expecting a Benchmade or Falkniven, but I'm assuming it will be a high value knife. It is a fixed knife with a 4.2" blade, full tang, 440c with a high saber grind. It comes with a hard polymer sheath with SOGs proprietary UMS sheath that allows for variety of mounting positions from standard, inverted and scout.
Out of the box (or plastic clam shell), the fit and finish was decent with a fairly uniform grind on the blade and just a minor rough spot on the polymer scales. Initial thoughts are that this is a stout knife that should be decent for batoning and other camp shores, although there are no 90 degree angles on the spine nor pommel for fire starting with a ferorod. It will be interesting to see how the edge holds up compared to a Garberg or other bushcraft specific blade. The sheath is ok but the mounting system is a real disappointment. The sheath and clip is comprised of three pieces screwed together. Unfortunately these screws rely upon friction to hold everything together. When you draw, it pull up on these dislodging them from the clip. After a couple days, I replaced the mount with a Tek-lock knock off. I made a video you can see below that details this part. The sheath rides high on the belt and there are no options to lower it or use a dangler.
I'm just waiting for the snow to melt a bit so I can access my off grid place and put this to work. I'll put in a more detailed review once I've put it through its paces more. I'll also directly compare it to a Gerber Downwind since they are very similar form function and price point.
Cheers