This may offend someone but is SOG a budget brand?

MyLegsAreOk

MyLegsAreOk

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Aug 31, 2017
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I know of SOG producing bowie knives and such but as far as folders go I usually don't see any of them over $100 and they lay on peg hook racks not in a display case. I don't own a knife cheaper than $200 so I'm not sure what SOG is aiming for, maybe entry level? I wouldn't say garbage tier because in my experience that's reserved for CCCs and whoever makes baretta. Why are they so cheap or why do they have so many models that are so cheap?
 
The new management must have had some statistics to go by with
Before making their push towards efforts in increasing consumer brand consciousness
with such a bold and strategic marketing direction.
It's anybody's guess, but quite possibly
it's all to catch the young'uns with the disposable cash.
And hopefully to widen it market share with new blood.
In a world full of cheap competition,
It must be rather tough to retain brand loyalty
When nobody actually quite needs more pocket knives
Than a pocket full to carry in a lifetime.
 
Unfortunately in my eyes SoG is the purveyor of many horribly made in China knives. I put them in a similar catagory as CRKT in that they're mostly decent to O.K. knives but often are expensive for what you get. I just feel like there isn't alot of value in most their models. To get a SoG g10 Vision with a vg10 blade you could already afford a Ti framelock with supersteel from several companies.

That said SoG and to some extent CRKT have a few models that are simply outstanding. Unfortunately for some of these they charge through the friggin roof! You could afford to buy a Sebenza or Hinderer for the price of SoG Fatcat or Architech
 
IMHO, SOG has a wide variety of folders across a range of price points. I'm still very happy with my Tomcat III. I know that some would object to it's weight and size. I suppose if I was in the market I'd buy a Vulcan with a clip point blade.
 
SOG is no more a "budget brand" than any other Knife company that offers a range of models including lower priced ones. The lower priced ones, be it from SOG, Kershaw or Spyderco are invariably made in China with Chinese steels. All these companies offer higher priced and better models.
 
I would consider Mora and Opinel more of a budget brand. I don't consider either of those as being of low quality. I can't imagine owning any butter knives worth over $200 each... box cutters either. If you test out any sub $200 knives, you might find that price isn't the best determinant of ability.
 
"This may offend someone but is SOG a budget brand?"

They should be. They make a couple really nice blades. But even those are heinously overpriced, with absolutely no justification. Seal Team, Pup, and Force come to mind (I'm planning all three).

Great knives, but those prices are ridiculous. And for the guy waiting with twitchy fingers above his keyboard, yes, they are worth whatever people will pay, yes I will still buy them, and yes, if one doesn't like something about a knife, they don't have to buy it blah blah. But that isn't the topic. . .

Moving on, I've tried to like their folders, but the tiny fraction of them that aren't gimmicky or mall-ninja driven suffer the same component to price issue, as well as blatant flaws like horrible blade play, loose pocket clips, gritty action, and lock failure.

Unacceptable for any knife over 20 dollars, especially when we all KNOW by now that Chinese companies can produce some outstanding gear for insanely great prices.

So yes, they should be priced for the type of budget that Aus-8 and lower grade steels with plastic handles fall under. But in the end, they are worth whatever you will pay for one if you want it bad enough.

But that doesn't make them budget knives, under the definition of "inexpensive value knives," which is what I define the term to mean to me.
 
Sog hasn't made a good folding knife in a long long time. They are also more expensive for what your getting because of the currency rates for the Japanese made knives.
 
I am more positive than some of you. The SOG Twitch XL is simply a great pocket knife, especially for the cost. Good size at 7 1/2" overall. It has been my EDC for five years and is solid as a rock.

15034533709_f26b9a2fba_b.jpg[img]


And I also own a FatCat. That is a mean modinker.
For the quality blade (VG-10) and titanium frame it is reasonably priced at various sites.

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Many SOG knives are made in the USA -- not just Japan and China.
https://www.sogknives.com/usa
 
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Dang -- that sounds like a design defect to get two knives in a row. I don't understand why their engineers would approve a locking design that fails so quickly?
 
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SOG's assisted opening system has had and continues to have bladeplay problems. Their Seki made arc lock models have no such problems. But they are pricey.
 
I feel like SOG knives are cheaply-made knives that command high(er) prices than other knives of similar quality because they are more 'tacticool.' That isn't to say that I don't own an SOG—I do, and I carry it every day. However, I wouldn't rely on it for, say, a deployment or a law enforcement job. Good knives for the populace, but, in general, poor knives for the hardcore users.
 
I think what needs to be kept in mind is that there are really three companies at play here. I couldn't find direct details, so this is a bit from memory, but for a while SOG was owned by a brand managment company. So you have Pre-sale, Managed, and Current, and I think that during that time we saw a lot of brand dilution, the SOG Fusion line was not a great move. With this year they had a new CEO, and are only just in my opinion, getting their footing after the "shotgun" approach they had from the mid 2000s.
I think if you give them the credit of realizing they were probably set back about a decade by the management company, they were founded in 86, and you consider that spyderco started in 78, benchmade in 79, and Cold Steel in 80, I think its clear that they are a company about to move into maturity, but they are not quite there yet, I think we will see good things in the next 5 or so years.
 
IMHO SOG'S affordable knives aren't all that and the non-affordable seam over priced. I admit that I do not have tons of expirence with the higher priced ones. I take Cold Steel all day. That's just me.
 
MyLegsAreOk said:
I know of SOG producing bowie knives and such but as far as folders go I usually don't see any of them over $100 and they lay on peg hook racks not in a display case. I don't own a knife cheaper than $200 so I'm not sure what SOG is aiming for, maybe entry level? I wouldn't say garbage tier because in my experience that's reserved for CCCs and whoever makes baretta. Why are they so cheap or why do they have so many models that are so cheap?
Click to expand...

Sog knives attract alot of people new to the knife world because their name makes people think they are somehow associated with the vietnam era sog knife. (They are not) For what you get they are way overpriced in my opinion.
 
So the SOG knife that they sell is just make to look like the kabar and it's not a real kabar?

Nevermind, I should delete the post. I just read on their site why they're called SOG and such. I won't delete it people need to have good examples of my uneducated idiocy.
 
MyLegsAreOk said:
So the SOG knife that they sell is just make to look like the kabar and it's not a real kabar?
Click to expand...

Not sure what their motive is (beyond making $$$), but it does not look remotely like a "Ka-bar," whichever one of the several makers and variations you might be thinking of. (As in, Camillus made more "Ka-Bars" for WWII that anyu other maker. But they were marked "Camillus" for the most part, so hard to fool anyone sighted. The SOG is not marked Camilus, or Union Cutlery, or Roberson, to name a few.) Different blade, guard, handle, and sheath.
 
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