SOG vs Benchmade

K

Kiri

Joined
Jun 20, 2002
Messages
96
Hi,

I am thinking about buying another EDC.

I have it narrowed down to either

SOG Flash II with half serrated blade in TINI finish

Benchmade Griptillian also with half serrated blade in black finish.

I have never owned a SOG knife before and to be honest have been a bit put off by the amount of 440A they seem to use though I guess the heat treat must be pretty good. This one is in AUS8 though. It also has one of these semi auto deployment systems. Anyone got any experience with these ?

I have been very pleased with the only Benchmade I have owned (Ascent ATS34) and to be honest from photos the Benchmade looks a bit cooler.

What do you guys think ?

Cheers

K
 
Well, my question would be why attracts you to either knife? This is where your decision will be made, on the differences between the two knives.
 
Hello

A friend picked up a Flash II a while ago and really likes it. It's not my cup of tea, but is a good knife. The pocket clip is really nice, it allows for a very low profile carry.

As for the Benchmades, I have yet to see one I didn't like. Even the Redline stuff is top notch. The Monochrome is a GREAT bang for the buck. Solid knife and very sharp out of the box.

I'd likely go with the Benchmade Griptillian, there is a lot of great buzz on this knife and it's on my personal "to buy" list.

Just my 0.02
 
If you can swing it, I would highly recommend a Doug Ritter Griptilian, large or small depending on your size preference. It is an improvement on the already excellent Griptilian, with S30V Steel and a better blade shape IMHO. I just received a Large from Aeromedix.com today and it will be my EDC for the next few days, probably longer. Benchmade makes a fine product, and it seems like they stepped it up a notch or two with this Ritter Grip. Even came with a beautiful silky drawstring pouch for the knife with the Benchmade logo!

SOG makes a good product, but between the two my vote would go to Benchmade! :D
 
Damn, I forgot about the Doug Ritter model :( Fool4Blades hit it out of the park!

If you can, get the Ritter
 
SOG isnt in the same time zone quality wise as Benchmade . They have some ok products but quality is variable . CRK and Benchmade are the only production knives I'll buy site unseen !
 
I just purchased the Benchmade Griptillian with semi serrated blade and the Mini Griptillian with straight blade. I think that they are both phenomenal and I plan on buying more and giving them as Christmas presents to the "manly" truck drivers and warehouse guys who work for me.

I have no experience with SOG but it seems clear that those more knowledgeable than I seem to think that Benchmade is a "step above".
 
I have the Griptillian 551 and its a very fine knife. Opens like butter, and the axis lock is great. I want the mini next but I think I'll get it in the Doug Ritter MSK with the S30V blade. Benchmades are very addictive.
 
I have a SOG twitch II, that has the same kind of features as the flash II, and I'm very happy with it, although it's a bit small for my hand. It came truely sharp right out of the box, one of the sharpest I should admit, and I think it is a very fine little knife, pretty much sheeple friendly on top of that. The AUS8 steel is pretty good on the SOG and is a little less brittle than 440C of the griptilian while having about the same hardness.

The griptilian and the flash II a quiet different: the griptilian has the axis lock which is smooth and secure but not too tolerant with dirt or sand, and it will take quiet a lot of space in your pocket compared to the flash II, which is a slim lockback, easy to maintain, with assisted opening (that sometimes needs a bit of tuning at the start). Avoid the minigrip, the ergonomy is really good on the grip but it looses much of its interest on the mini.

Now the choice is yours, just take the one that pleases you the best, IMO there is no significant difference in steel so if you have place in your pockets take the griptilian, else the flash II will do fine...
 
griptillian all the way. have neither of these, but have handled both. the SOG seems very feeble to me. benchmade is a better company i think too. if you do not like the 440C blades on the grip, then spend about $75 at cabela's for D2 blades, or $104 for the doug ritter grip in S30V steel

iubigred007
 
I'm starting to sound like a broken record...
Get the Benchmade 551 Griptilian.

You will not be disappointed!

Allen.
 
I had the smaller SOG Flash I and wasn't that impressed with it. The 551 Grip, on the other hand, is without a doubt one of the best values out there.
Get a Grip.
 
I have had several benchmades, but I sold all of them when I got my Doug Ritter griptilian. I love it. It's not to big, and not too small. It's sharp as hell, and you can keep a mean edge on it. Also, the giptilian handle fits great in the hand, and you can't beat an axis lock once you break it in. I can flip the blade out just as fast as any microtech auto. I'm going to buy another one when I get some extra cash. I suggest you buy one and cut some stuff.
 
I have some Benchmades, my brother has a SOG Pentagon, and I saw or handled some other SOGs - I believe Flash too.

They're even not comparable - I would take Griptilian every time.
 
I have not owned or used a SOG, believe they are very good and there are a couple that I will aquire and put through their paces.
I recently bought a RSK and a mini RSK Grip - both are awsome knives and although I normaly prefer larger folders, the Mini is in a class of its own. It has quickly become my prefered EDC. As a user of knives, not a collector, the Mini RSK is close to perfect for my requirements.
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Mmmmm....

Well, I just checked the thread's date - orange1872003, are You an archaeologist?

Kiri has probably already three Griptilians since that time... ;)
 
I was faced with this same discision between these two knives so here is what I did. :D I bought both of them and the better of the two is not the one I carry as my EDC. The meat and potato's is definetly the Benchmade and if you don't have any remorse about damaging the knife then use the better one. I myself after receiving the SOG Flash II rainbow thought it was a piece of crap, I couldn't believe I purchased it. A friend who was with me immediately offered to take the knife off my hands. Well if he liked it I was going to keep it! Since destroying the knife wouldn't make me feel guilty as it would in most cases it was just another reason to keep it. Well after six months of trying to KILL the SOG from cutting everthing from battery cables to chipping out Terazzo flooring it just won't quite. I have only had to sharpen it once and it still will shave the hair off my arms with a quick steeling. The low ridding pocket clip, super light weight along with the abiilty to have assisted opening and locked both open an closed seems to be worth the fifth bucks I gave for it. Not to mention there is no remorse in regard to what happens to it.. On the other hand I would feel pretty upset to loose or damge the Benchmade but that's just me. Hope this helps in your discion making. ;)
 
Hi kiri,

I have a griptilian and also one of those axis TSEKs, with the 440C and thumbstud, I think it is 805.

I have handled SOGs, and find BMs better, a personal thing. I find the BM axis lock better than the SOG's arc lock, BUT the griptilian felt a bit cheap because of the FRN handle, and the join between the FRN and steel liners gave movement, but I think this is now solved. I also didn't like the blade shape of the griptilian, the Ritter version is OK, but for the Ritter's price of $100, I'd like G-10 handles, not FRN. For $100, might as well get an axis TSEK.

I bought the griptilian because I wanted an economical axis lock knife, for rough use overseas(with possibilty of loss), and for this it is OK. It's like the BM equivalent of the spyderco delica.

However, if it is going to be your EDC, you might want something that feels better in your hand. After a while, you just don't want FRN in your EDC, you want something nicer. It's just human nature.

Even the steel spydercos start to look better, cost the same, and don't work about slipperyness, the hard-wearing feel of the steel makes up for it. And you can use the butt too. And it's slimmer.

The axis lock gave me no problems, but you have to make sure not too much crap gets stuck in the spaces, cause it's difficult to clean.

Most axis locks carry tip-up, so you have to be OK with this. Tip-down is faster for me, but not so convenient to wear.

You won't go wrong with benchmade griptilian, but you may not be overjoyed either. BM is reliable and good quality, IMHO, it beats the SOG easily, UNLESS the SOG has features that suit you particularly.

I don't have any SOG folders, I personally think SOG is better for fixed, BM better for folders.

In contrast, I have about 30 spydercos, the spyderco Chinook 2 makes a good SD folder, the fastest are Emersons, but you must be able to live with the Emerson linerlock. To me, a steel delica is about the same as a BM griptilian, I would choose it over the griptilian anytime, because I don't like FRN handles, and the delly is thinner.

For low profile, I find that when you wear tip-up behind, you can afford to show more of the knife, it doesn't need to ride that low, but when you wear tip-down in front, it needs to ride really low, because people look at each other face to face more.

Also, when you stick it behind, shiny steel clip or black, it doesn't really matter.

Hope you make a good choice.
 
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