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Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Weight
Cons: Overall Quality, Pocket Clip
Not for the beginner.
First: I do like this knife. But as other reviewers have noted, it has some issues. Mine is good right now (I mean really good) but then, I'm a tinkerer, I happily void warranties, and I've done some stuff to it. And I understand now why custom OTFs get so expensive. As noted by another reviewer, I initially also had the issue with the edge getting nicked just by deploying the blade, but that's worked itself out over time. So I put that down to a break-in period. Sometimes the action doesn't fully deploy or retract, leaving the blade stuck partway out with no spring tension. Fortunately this is corrected by tapping the butt end on a hard surface with the opening pointed upwards, resetting the action. (Discovered this after a buddy of mine was afraid he'd broken it, after trying it out. He was very relieved.) I use a dry spray lube with PTFE ("Teflon") on mine, which is easy to apply. Let it dry & wipe off the excess, of course, but it doesn't attract grit to gum up the works. This minimizes the deploy/retract failures. The little pocket clip it came with was a no go for me. Too small, too stiff, and the handle texture catches on any fabric, to the point where it wants to rip. I removed the factory clip and replaced it with a longer bent-wire style clip. This required a little careful Dremel work with a micro grinding wheel, and then a bit of 120-grid hand sanding where the clip contacts the handle to smooth the aluminum out, but now it's MUCH more pocket-friendly, while still clipping securely. Biggest problem: the tiny screws do not stay in place. The thumb slider can just come undone after repeated clicks, leaving a screw loose inside, which will foul the action. I was able to disassemble the knife, apply tiny amounts of blue thread-locker to all the screws, and put it back together. This fixed all its problems. Now, the knife's internal mechanism is more like a pocket watch than a dagger, so it's not a simple process. I needed good light, magnification, precise tools, patience, and experience. One more note on this: the three main screws with star-drive ("Torx") heads are very easy to strip out, so be especially careful with those. So: I agree with the reviewer who mentions QC problems on SOG's end. This knife definitely feels like a first effort. Great concept, but the execution needs work. That said, again, I'm very happy with mine... now.
