SOG Terminus XR LTE: Bug Out Killer

M

mtnboy

Joined
Jul 25, 2022
Messages
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Hi,

I recently bought the fancy SOG Terminus XR LTE in carbon fibre. Not only does this knife look good, but it weighs in at a miserly 2.2 ounces and deploys with a flip, thumb stud or flipper tab. It also has a deep carry reversible clip, so this thing just disappears in your pocket. The blade is just a touch under 3". The idea of this is to make it more appealing to more customers in locals/countries that limit blade lengths.

At first it was a little rough on the action but this seems to get better with use. The fidget factor is high and you just want to play with this blade. Compared to the Benchmade Bugout it is a great value with very similar blade materials S35 vs S30V and form factors. The carbon fibre scales and skeletonized liners result in a stiffer overall knife than the bugout. Traction is great with the milled scales. The blade was well aligned upon closure.

Unfortunately, the grind was uneven and really noticeable. To fix, I'd have to remove a fair amount of metal to re-profile the blade. Based on this, I'll try again with a warranty return.

I made a video showing the unboxing and my first thoughts on YouTube here:

 
So I submitted the warranty claim with SOG today. It will be interesting to see how long it takes. I also tried to call and was on hold for an hour before giving up.
 
Thanks for the review. A couple of observations;
1. SOG brought out that distinctive clip years ago on some of their Seki made Arc-lock knives. The pro is that it offers deep carry by default. The con is that it is hard to manually "adjust" and you have to take the knife apart just to get at the clip.
2. SOG really upped their game very recently as far as designs and materials. And that really shows with this model.
3. TBH I am wary of buying any SOG or Cold Steel folder following GSM's takeover as their Customer Service seems to have gone to hell.
Both companies had good CS prior to the buyouts and their related personnel changes.
This in turn raises another question; what if you needed to replace the Omega (or equivalent) Springs?
4. As the Bugout is being used for comparison, many of us Bugout owners have swapped out the factory scales. And BM Axis-locks have been around long enough that replacement springs are readily available from third parties, if one doesn't want to ship the knife in.
I would hate to have to rely on SOG's current Customer Service for that.
5. As for the unacceptable Grind, that's pretty bad. Let's see if they straighten you out.
 
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I've been looking into the changes to SOG since GSM. Basically, they closed their Lynwood Wa. manufacturing and moved to Taiwan and China. I'm not exactly sure when, but it sounds like they used to do a lot of manufacturing in Seki-City Japan. One of my favorite take aways form Elon Musk's biography was the section on SpaceX and how they differ from NASA. SpaceX has their engineering in the same building as their manufacturing facility so that as design flaws or manufacturing issues arise, the design engineers are on hand to address the issues and modify the designs accordingly. NASA subs out to contractors so they never really know what they will get until delivery so they have to go overboard on initial prototyping and QC dramatically increasing costs. I think of Benchmade where everyone is in the same building and how their new offerings seem to be more mature and dialed in on launch. Yeah they have quality control issues also but they are super responsive to resolve. WIth SOG, they seems to be going in the opposite direction and despite some cool new designs and product directions are looking at just pumping the products out in the least cost manner to the widest appeal.
 
I have owned SOGs from the early1990s. They started with Seki maker Ichiro Hattori in 1986. Later models were made by Kinryu. And all their folders were made by G.Sakai, who makes all of Spydercos Seki folders. They also used to make Cold Steels folders. I've personally been to the factories.
This is part of my webpage:
SOG switched from Seki to Taiwan in during 2006/2007. They lost a lot of brand fans with that move. They also introduced some "Made in USA" folder models but I believe some of those were parts G.Sakai shipped to Lynwood. SOGs actual US manufacture was limited, but they did produce at least one notable model, the Model
TL-01 Team Leader using DuraTech 20cv powder steel (photo below). Unfortunately SOG did not follow through with that design and material approach.
SOG lost it's original leadership under Spencer Frazer around 2005 with a sellout to a large Marketing firm. Although he remained on the Board until a few yearsago, the company direction went towards minimizing costs and maximizing profits at the expense of what SOG fans had valued in their knives. So it was with interest that I was watching the new SOG designs and products when GSM acquired them right after Cold Steel.
NZ9web.jpg
 
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Which works better for you, the flipper tab or the thumb stud?

I have a Terminus XR but not LTE, nothing fancy. The shape appears the same as your knife. The action is a bit rough when the tang rubs against the lock as the blade first opens. As you say, that would probably improve with use. More importantly, the flipper tab hurts my finger. It's not that the detent is too hard or too soft, it's the shape of the flipper tab, which looks the same as on yours. I have around 8 or 10 other flippers because I tend to like flippers, but none of the others hurt my finger.

I bought a SOG Flash II around 2009 I think it was. It had superb action. The later models that I have tried are not nearly as good.
 
Thanks for the review. I bought a slightly discounted one at 90$ and had thoughts similar to yours. Action was very gritty, axis-style lock was very rough with a heavy detent. Grind was off one side, like 20/15 or so. I think the bugout just does everything a tad better and is similarly priced made in the USA (except the flipper tab of course).

I sold it here for 55$ 😂
 
So, just an update on the XR LTE. I had one where the grind was way off so I reached out to Customer Service asking to get it repaired/replaced. Three days later, they just sent me a return authorization for a refund. Ok, I guess I'll take it. I tried reaching out via phone and spend an hour on hold with no one picking up.

I really thought about it and the knife doesn't excite me that much. I tend to see the problematic issues rather than just appreciate it, so I'll keep looking for the next one. Cheers
 
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