SOG twitch II (twi-8)

K

KBP

Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
12
:( I just bought a SOG Twitch II (TWI-8) at the local Lowes and it is going back. I am new to the forums so I am only giving my first impression. The knife blade is not centered in the handle when closed, it needs to be pushed open to lock because it does not spring open and lock the blade as advertised. When locked open, it has some play from side to side. The package says contractor grade, I have no idea what this means. From my experience it seems flimsy and poorly made. Anyone else with first impressions on this knife?
 
Last edited:
My Twitch has a lot of blade play too. After a Flash 2 fiasco, I dont think I will be looking at any other SOG knives.
 
contractors grade is a marketing scheme, virtually in most cases they will use this term to discribe a product that has better parts or some upgrade to the older version, in the case of knives I really do not see where the term contractors grade would be relivent, as has been mentioned many times there are not any real diffrence in a knife one store carrys verses the same knife from a diffrent store! this term normally applies to tools such as but not limited to tape measures, pressure washers, rakes, wheel barrows so on and so forth, I have seen a few reviews of the twitch II and was not really impressed with the theory of a lockback flipper!
 
Thanks for your feedback. Looks like I will stick with my Buck, Kershaw and Gerber knives. I'm not impressed with what I have seen first hand and read about SOG knives.
 
The Government said:
After a Flash 2 fiasco, I dont think I will be looking at any other SOG knives.
Click to expand...

Mines ultra tacky and gives off a real feeling of cheapness. With better quality materials it would be a resonable knife.
The main problem is the nasty plastic handle, it seems very small in terms of grip area and just generally cheap. I believe they produce a aluminium handled variant which is supposedly a different knife in quality.
 
It's help up surprisingly well.


Being that I considerit a fairly cheap knife, the blade steel takes a good edge. The AO feature has slown down, but that's probably because it's full of dirt and lint (snapped open when I first got it).

Makes me wonder if the contractor grade improvement wasn't such an improvement?
 
It is a really cool design and I love AUS8 steel, it just has that dang bladeplay. I like it a lot more than the Flash 2 if that makes a difference. I think if it were priced a little less or if the blade play was taken out -it would be a much better buy.
 
hi guys my first attemt at geting involved hope it works kind of shocked at the negative reports on sog . ihave only one an sog blink . ithought it was agreat little knife no problems nice tight fit assisted opening feature works great anice birthday present from my wife .great edge holding on the aus 8 blade was ilucky&
 
I believe it is an excellent knife. I have used it as my edc for about 3 months now. Came with the sharpest factory edge I have ever seen. It is lightweight and the assisted opening is great. Mine came with a little bit of side to side blade play but I fixed that by tightening the pivot screw.
 
Mine is very nice, and it is a Lowe's version with the gray polymer handle that they only sell at Lowe's. No blade play and came very sharp and sharpens up easy. I think it's on par with my Native or BM 530 for fit and finish. Has steel liners underneath the polymer scales. I bought a Twitch XL after I got the II and its just as nice, aluminum handle though, so beefier. Bought a SOG Tomcat 3.0 and Auto Clip too, and a couple Stingrays. All have been great, and I was amazed at SOG service when I sent in that AutoClip, it was beat up and the handle coming apart and they totally restored it for free. They may make some stinkers, but I've yet to hit one.
 
I bought one of Lowe's "contractor grade" Twitch II's before they switched to polymer scales. It was my favorite folding knife. That is saying a lot, as I own about two dozen Benchmade folders -- not that they are bad by any means -- plus a few Bucks and Spydercos. But it was my favorite. One of those knives that just hit a sweet spot with me. I say "was" because I lost it. I was heartbroken! Here I had finally found "my knife" after a search literally for probably a decade of accumulating, and it became the first knife that I had ever lost! So I bought another one. But Lowes had switched to the polymer scales by then, and I was quite disappointed. Until a friend that I had recommended the Twitch II said to look at the bright side: it was even lighter than the aluminum. So I consoled myself with that. Until I found my aluminum scaled Twitch II literally HANGING by the edge of its clip in a hole in a coat-pocket. So now I have two Twitch II's. Since I've had a Twitch II, I have only carried two other one-hand opener, and only one of those on a steady basis. I carried a BM 550 for a day again, and the one I carry on a regular basis is the Flash II (I have three iterations of it, and rotate between them). The Flash II's and Twitch II's that I have so far have no more blade play than any of my Benchmades or Spydercos, they have, IMO, much better blade geometry, and the AUS-8 steel has consistently taken and held an excellent edge. So while I'm not by ANY means saying that you that are down on them have not received bad specimens, I (on the other hand) have received excellent specimens, and highly recommend them to anyone.

I will admit, however, that there is one other folding knife that has caught my attention since I discovered these SOG's, and that is the Benchmade Barrage, full size, if I can ever track one down. But I haven't felt inclined to look for one in the last couple of months, as I got really tired of seeing them advertised in magazines, but always showing up only available as pre-order anywhere I looked. But with the service I've gotten and continue to get with these SOG's, I'm just not hard-pressed to search for a Barrage.
 
Yeah, my Twitch II was a bit "twitchy" out of the box. I have to lube the pivot and adjust the tension before I can get it to open and lock properly. Too tight and the blade doesn't swing out all the way, too loose and you get blade play when locked open.

I love the steel, blade shape, and handle shape. The pass through lock bar and secondary safety switch are inovative features. The knife is comfortable to carry and cuts great. However I feel the overall package needs to be refined a bit so that it works as advertised without having to carry a torx screwdriver and 3-n-1 oil along with the knife.
 
I don't have experience with the Twitch but I do with the Blink, which is vety similar by design. The blade isn't completely centered, but with such a cheap knife I couldn't care less. When I got mine it was a bit sticky and had play so i took it apart, cleaned and lubed it. But it was still hard to open as the lock-back+assisted opening is a combination that needs a bit of practise, but that's all it took, practise. Don't know if yours was actually an inferior piece but I had pretty much the same problems and got them easily fixed.
 
I own a Twitch II, and here's my 2 cents...

Out of the box mine was lightning fast to open, but there was blade play. I adjusted the pivot screw until there was no blade play, but then it was harder to open. At first, I was put off by this.

But, after playing around with screw tensions for a while, I was able to pretty much remove the blade play and still have it open easily. And out of the box, the blade was wicked sharp and seems to hold an edge fairly well, which I like.

I really like the size and shape of the knife overall. I definately don't think mine feels flimsy or poorly made, but I can't say the precision is the best because of the blade play. Now that I've tinkered with it, I carry it somewhat frequently.

Compared to the Spydercos or Kershaws I own, I can't say I was overly impressed out of the box, but I can't say I'd rule out buying another SOG either.
 
bought a twitch years ago & it was a good user. i've had great luck with sogs however the last 2 were in upper price range. [spec elite & pentagon elite]. the vg10 factory bevel was ready to go to work.gets as sharp as my gec 1095 carbon. i slammed the blade into metal cutting cardboard & vg10 did;nt ding.
 
I got a Flash I for a Sunday knife just because it absolutely disappears in the pocket and was dirt cheap! It has blade play for sure, but I went into it expecting little. It stays sharp and works well for $35.
 
I got the same Lowes Twitch 2 and have no blade play and the assist whips open real fast.. you can actually get a fairly good grip on this tiny folder and not worry about your hand slipping onto the blade since the flipper acts as a stopper when open.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top