Funny how most have forgotten not too too long ago 440c used the be the king of steels from most manufacturers before all the high end boutique steels came into the picture..,and it's still not too shabby if heat treated well! Have you tried revo knives??
440C is not too much different than 154CM performance wise. People often forget that or didn’t realize the similarities. This knife is reminiscent of the Gerber Profile and Big Rock.
Once I replaced the cheesy sheath clip with a blade tech knockoff I started to carry it fairly often. I use it as a general work horse around the house and property and don’t really care if it gets messed up. I pound on it and it does a good job keeping an edge but I often have to remove a bit of metal to sharpen out pitting on the blade edge. I really like how well it Carries, lying flat at my 4 o’clock. For the money, I’d highly recommend.
Looks very good, I remember years ago when 440C was the premium steel used by all the top makers. It was a little brittle so I hope the cryo treatment helps. But I still love my Steel Will Druid 220 and I am not tempted to retire it, the sheath puts me off, you can not beat the leather dangler for comfort and ease of carry, especially in vehicles.
My new camp knife is 440C and so far it’s performed well in cold and hot really well. I’d be confident using it below freezing as a main blade for a few days for sure.
Ive got a Canadian made hunting/camping/ survival knife thats made of stainless, my wife bought it for me as a Christmas gift two years ago, it stays here at the cabin mainly, i carry my benchmade mountain hunter usually, for going into town i carry a folder
Generally the 440C , when the heat treatment is good and specially with the cryo , is a good performing steel at the midrange budget blades. I have some good 440C knives , back from the days when that was a premium steel , and still today are doing great.
Does the Zoleo come with the carabiner you show with the device? None of the pictures in any of the links provided to purchase it show the carabiner nor do I see it mentioned in the descriptions.
We thrived in the 80's with 440c. So sure it will get the job done. Sadly SOG has forgotten who they are and lost all costumer service. The last hopes were Seal XR and the Pilar that would be better at 7 inches..Maybe Stick should take SOG as well as Cold Steel.
I bought one of these when they first came out to throw in my rig while off-roading. Great knife to bring with you, beat the tar out of, and not freak out when it gets beat up, rusty from rain, or lost. I really like mine.
the only spydercos regularly over $200 are the shaman and the taichung factory knives. all of the US knives besides the shaman are sub $200 and the taichung knives are the direct opposite of generic.
I really like this knife and also the folders too. Actually, I want to know how different the two folders options are. If you could make a video of the differences, it will be great.
My fallkniven in cobalt, and my bark River in magnacut are both stainless and have replaced my 3v, Cruwear and 1095 blades, though I’ll say both the 3v and Cruwear have never shown any rust.
The lanyard hole being a screw that holds it together is clever. Main problem I see with that is if you are actually using a lanyard then you will have to untie it and remove it from the hole in order to take the scales off. Not a big deal really, but if you like to do complicated knots on your lanyard it becomes more of a pain lol.
More important than steel type is the way it is heat treated. Mora and Brisa have excellent heat treat in my experience. For American blades i have an old Buck 119, and some folders with excellent heat treat👍 no super steels just 80cr, 420hc and Sandvik
So I just got this knife in my tac pack, but the sheath bolt things are loose so it dosnt pull from the sheath when on my belt. But I can't seem to tighten them? They just kinda spin
I havent seen anyone review an SOG knife in awhile, but i bought a hatchet from them several years ago and used it whenever i went out into the woods and, it has held up alot of abuse and holds its edge very well, best purchase i have ever made as far as blades go, one thing i thought was interesting when i bought it was the glass encased nylon, i hade never seen that before, but it is very comfortable and worked out great for me
G'day Aaron, one of the better SOG designs IMO and I dont mind a "good" 440C. Sure a bit more girth on the handle would be beneficial and not sure the finger cut out needs to be so aggressive. The scale retention is certainly interesting and noth'n wrong with it, though surely it would have been easier and cheaper to just have pass through screws. Yeah I'd be going scout carry with a tech lock buckle for this one. All in all, not bad, I'm with ya, if you have a need for utility at a price point, quite compelling I reckon. Cheers Duke.
Almost looks like you could turn the plastic part of the sheath clip upside down and then rotate the clip too and get a lower ride sheath. Curious if that would work.
440 doesn't bug me as long as it's not chippy and you've shown that it isn't. The scale design is interesting. The only thing I wonder about is how well all of the extra handle attachment hardware will hold up over time. It seems more complicated than a bolt through scale design. Otherwise, nice knife.
Knife looks friendly on the pocket book. I'll have to check one out. One question, have you heard of a company named Odenwolf out of Germany? They make budget knives, with 420 and 440 C steel .
@@gideonstactical My question is why don't they but that the blade is 440c instead of just 440. Amazon does say that is CRYO 440 but if that's 440c what not say so or is this just another marketing ploy? Otherwise I do like your reviews.
@@acid6urns So you think the Chinese never lie. Right. Every hear of knock offs? If a Distributor (Blue Ridge Knives) lists it as 440 it could be any of three grades of steel. I've been selling knives for about 20 years and I'm very wary of any thing that comes from China. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of Chinese knife makers that make very good knives but there are a lot of makers that cut corners and put out inferior blades.
@@carlhansen8672 did you miss the part where i stated the literal major brand authorized dealers list it as 440****C**** not 440. i mean dude i don’t care how long you’ve sold knives 440c is dirt cheap these days bruh there’s literally zero obligation for a major brand like sog to lie especially considering it’s super easy to test and out them as frauds, which always happens when companies lie abt steel.
I'll never understand why companies make a 4.2" blade when there are states with a 4" limit. Making it .2-.3" smaller wouldn't affect the performance much and they'd have a lot more potential customers.
Aaron, your analysis and videos are very informative. Have bought a few as per your reviews. But, it would be preferable if you not rush thru the facts as you go excellently do. Thanks for another happy purchase on your recomendation.
it’s literally listed on every major knife dealer’s site as 440c, and if it wasn’t 440c i can guarantee you someone would’ve tested it and exposed it as such. there’s a big ass difference between 440a and 440c edge retention and you can tell.
Hopefully (fingers crossed) Tesla will have their phones up and running. Using, Star Link. Cell zones won't be an issue anymore. I like that the new owners of SOG not feeling the need to billboard the blade and the sheath. The price is fair and if I was was in the market for a new camp knife. I'd check it out.
I liked SOG 20 years ago. I haven’t really liked SOG since they over branded themselves. Now they seem to overprice most knives and I haven’t heard good things about their customer service. (No experience personally.)
SOG will never get my money after i literally broke one of their knives with pressure from my thumb. I appreciate your hard work Aaron but yah, screw SOG
Just ordered the white river FC7. SOG have abysmal customer service & mostly meh knives, white river are the polar opposite. I will happily spend more money for a better product from a VASTLY better company.
I had to look up the White River FC7. The $330 price tag and this statement alone make it a hard pass: *"Designed for heavy use in real survival situations these also make excellent camp, hunting, backpacking or utility knives."*
At this point in the golden age of steel we live in, I care less now about type of steel being used, talk to me about the heat treatment and edge geometry, to me that’s what matters most
I never understood all this craze about carbon knives, yes they are easier to sharpen in the field but, for all practical purposes, there are no diferences between a decent carbon and steel knife.
I'll never gonna understand those steel snobbish...you need something to do the work and the 440C or AUS8/10 or D2 or 14C28N are going to do so...that propaganda about the amount of cuts you are gonna get because the steel is just crap...your knife needs to get sharpenned? then sharpen it...I asure you, you are not gonna take your expensive knife to the woods to batton with it...😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I remember when 440 C was a premium steel .
Right and I when I started getting to knife collecting over 10 years ago D2 was considered a premium steel but now it seems like it's the new 440C
I mean, putting that into perspective... our cheap knives are awesome.
@@focusonthefocus absolutely! 440c steel is one of my favorites.
born in 1935
I remember when 440 was premium steel
Funny how most have forgotten not too too long ago 440c used the be the king of steels from most manufacturers before all the high end boutique steels came into the picture..,and it's still not too shabby if heat treated well! Have you tried revo knives??
440C is not too much different than 154CM performance wise. People often forget that or didn’t realize the similarities. This knife is reminiscent of the Gerber Profile and Big Rock.
isn’t 154cm just a modified 440c?
Once I replaced the cheesy sheath clip with a blade tech knockoff I started to carry it fairly often. I use it as a general work horse around the house and property and don’t really care if it gets messed up. I pound on it and it does a good job keeping an edge but I often have to remove a bit of metal to sharpen out pitting on the blade edge. I really like how well it Carries, lying flat at my 4 o’clock. For the money, I’d highly recommend.
Nice, thanks for sharing your experience. Alway appreciate it!!
Looks very good, I remember years ago when 440C was the premium steel used by all the top makers. It was a little brittle so I hope the cryo treatment helps. But I still love my Steel Will Druid 220 and I am not tempted to retire it, the sheath puts me off, you can not beat the leather dangler for comfort and ease of carry, especially in vehicles.
My new camp knife is 440C and so far it’s performed well in cold and hot really well. I’d be confident using it below freezing as a main blade for a few days for sure.
I found putting some Wilson wrap around the handle really makes it grippy.
Odenwolf fixed blade full tang knife has 440c with Scandinavian, flat, hunter blade shapes. 30 bucks.
Excellent all purpose duty knife with great price and features. I like this and the folder !
Ive got a Canadian made hunting/camping/ survival knife thats made of stainless, my wife bought it for me as a Christmas gift two years ago, it stays here at the cabin mainly, i carry my benchmade mountain hunter usually, for going into town i carry a folder
Generally the 440C , when the heat treatment is good and specially with the cryo , is a good performing steel at the midrange budget blades. I have some good 440C knives , back from the days when that was a premium steel , and still today are doing great.
For budget I'm going Buck 119, Cold Steel SRK, KA-BAR 1211, Mora Garberg, or Gerber Strongarm
A great knive of the tellus series. Very sharp out of the box of 440 cryo. Will take a snaggle tooth adapter for folding Tellus .
Does the Zoleo come with the carabiner you show with the device? None of the pictures in any of the links provided to purchase it show the carabiner nor do I see it mentioned in the descriptions.
Yes it has that attachment
We thrived in the 80's with 440c. So sure it will get the job done. Sadly SOG has forgotten who they are and lost all costumer service. The last hopes were Seal XR and the Pilar that would be better at 7 inches..Maybe Stick should take SOG as well as Cold Steel.
I bought one of these when they first came out to throw in my rig while off-roading. Great knife to bring with you, beat the tar out of, and not freak out when it gets beat up, rusty from rain, or lost. I really like mine.
What makes me crazy is that generic looking knive are upwards of $200. Looking at you, Benchmade and Spyderco
Hahah it’s true
where in the hell do you get generic from anything spyderco makes?
the only spydercos regularly over $200 are the shaman and the taichung factory knives. all of the US knives besides the shaman are sub $200 and the taichung knives are the direct opposite of generic.
Looks like an pretty good survinal knive. Not to big not to small.
I really like this knife and also the folders too. Actually, I want to know how different the two folders options are. If you could make a video of the differences, it will be great.
Video on the folders this weekend.
My fallkniven in cobalt, and my bark River in magnacut are both stainless and have replaced my 3v, Cruwear and 1095 blades, though I’ll say both the 3v and Cruwear have never shown any rust.
I see that Magnacut Ultratech in the background! I was hoping you’d review the Ultratech at some point. Can’t wait for that one!
Coming soon!
The lanyard hole being a screw that holds it together is clever. Main problem I see with that is if you are actually using a lanyard then you will have to untie it and remove it from the hole in order to take the scales off. Not a big deal really, but if you like to do complicated knots on your lanyard it becomes more of a pain lol.
Hi, is it good for EDC or as an emergency defensive tool?
Maybe edc not defensive
Great minds think alike. I just received and reviewed the SOG Tellus FX as well. Overall, a good camp/hike/utility knife for a fair price.
Nice to see!!!
More important than steel type is the way it is heat treated. Mora and Brisa have excellent heat treat in my experience. For American blades i have an old Buck 119, and some folders with excellent heat treat👍 no super steels just 80cr, 420hc and Sandvik
So I just got this knife in my tac pack, but the sheath bolt things are loose so it dosnt pull from the sheath when on my belt. But I can't seem to tighten them? They just kinda spin
Plz do another review of esse laser strike!!
this.
Revisiting some of the older knives would be cool .
@@gladeshunter8796 he does revisits from time to time
I havent seen anyone review an SOG knife in awhile, but i bought a hatchet from them several years ago and used it whenever i went out into the woods and, it has held up alot of abuse and holds its edge very well, best purchase i have ever made as far as blades go, one thing i thought was interesting when i bought it was the glass encased nylon, i hade never seen that before, but it is very comfortable and worked out great for me
G'day Aaron, one of the better SOG designs IMO and I dont mind a "good" 440C.
Sure a bit more girth on the handle would be beneficial and not sure the finger cut out needs to be so aggressive. The scale retention is certainly interesting and noth'n wrong with it, though surely it would have been easier and cheaper to just have pass through screws.
Yeah I'd be going scout carry with a tech lock buckle for this one.
All in all, not bad, I'm with ya, if you have a need for utility at a price point, quite compelling I reckon.
Cheers Duke.
Almost looks like you could turn the plastic part of the sheath clip upside down and then rotate the clip too and get a lower ride sheath. Curious if that would work.
Blade width (top to bottom)?
The Ruike F118-G Jaeger is pretty comparable in size, although it’s made in sandvik steel 14c28n
What is the overall length? Thanks
Looks good...440c was a “Super Steel” 20 years ago...Good light to med. use blade
More like medium to heavy use.
440 doesn't bug me as long as it's not chippy and you've shown that it isn't. The scale design is interesting. The only thing I wonder about is how well all of the extra handle attachment hardware will hold up over time. It seems more complicated than a bolt through scale design. Otherwise, nice knife.
I think I may prefer the RAT 3 over this Knife. I’m ok with the Taiwan SOG but China I just can’t do. Great Video my Friend
Good one to pick up on sale. I have the flipper version and I'm always impressed when I get it out and use it. Very smooth to open and slices great.
Knife looks friendly on the pocket book. I'll have to check one out. One question, have you heard of a company named Odenwolf out of Germany? They make budget knives, with 420 and 440 C steel .
cool❤❤
Recently got mine in a TacPak Plus box. More later.
I checked with Blue Ridge Knives and the blade steel is listed as 440. Also made in China so who knows what steel it really is.
Ya, just going off what SOG told me directly.
@@gideonstactical My question is why don't they but that the blade is 440c instead of just 440. Amazon does say that is CRYO 440 but if that's 440c what not say so or is this just another marketing ploy? Otherwise I do like your reviews.
@@carlhansen8672it’s 440c, literally every knife vendor lists it as 440c
@@acid6urns So you think the Chinese never lie. Right. Every hear of knock offs?
If a Distributor (Blue Ridge Knives) lists it as 440 it could be any of three grades of steel. I've been selling knives for about 20 years and I'm very wary of any thing that comes from China. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of Chinese knife makers that make very good knives but there are a lot of makers that cut corners and put out inferior blades.
@@carlhansen8672 did you miss the part where i stated the literal major brand authorized dealers list it as 440****C**** not 440. i mean dude i don’t care how long you’ve sold knives 440c is dirt cheap these days bruh there’s literally zero obligation for a major brand like sog to lie especially considering it’s super easy to test and out them as frauds, which always happens when companies lie abt steel.
Heat treat and edge geometry are everything. Steel is third.
Victorinox just launch the Venture series, a 14c28n 59HRC Sandvik steel, and rounded FRN scales, love to see your opinion on that blade.
Thanks for this, Aaron. The confusion about the steel made me really wary, but what I'm seeing here looks really good, especially for my environment.
I rather buy a Mora Companion or Kansbol Utility Knife than the SOG. They are much cheaper too with a great reputation.
Have you reviewed off grid fixed blades?
Not yet.
I think the value will impress you. I like the ridge back the best
Looks alot like the Ruike Jager
Not bad for the price but it would need a 90º spine or pommel to make sense for me
Nice looking knife, but I could never trust that sheath. The folder with the orange handle looked like a better choice.
A little off topic… The Band-Aid is freaking me out. It makes it look like your finger has derpy monster eyes staring at me.
Hahah
I'll never understand why companies make a 4.2" blade when there are states with a 4" limit. Making it .2-.3" smaller wouldn't affect the performance much and they'd have a lot more potential customers.
I like the the look so much found it on sale for 41.68 + plus shipping was 48.00
Aaron, your analysis and videos are very informative. Have bought a few as per your reviews. But, it would be preferable if you not rush thru the facts as you go excellently do. Thanks for another happy purchase on your recomendation.
For this blade shape I just go Ruike Jager, no regrets, a bit better steel, great sheath with unique straplock. Not far pricewise too.
depends on what you want. 440c has better edge retention.
I don't know why, but somehow I don't believe that this is 440c. Has anyone done a test so that we can confirm that this is really 440c
it’s literally listed on every major knife dealer’s site as 440c, and if it wasn’t 440c i can guarantee you someone would’ve tested it and exposed it as such. there’s a big ass difference between 440a and 440c edge retention and you can tell.
@@acid6urns 9cr will show similar results to 440c, I guarantee you this is 9cr at best (which would be great for this price)
@@johanesgo8096 dude. you can get 440c for literally $20 these days, even boker has offerings under $40 in the steel.
Hopefully (fingers crossed) Tesla will have their phones up and running. Using, Star Link. Cell zones won't be an issue anymore. I like that the new owners of SOG not feeling the need to billboard the blade and the sheath. The price is fair and if I was was in the market for a new camp knife. I'd check it out.
I liked SOG 20 years ago. I haven’t really liked SOG since they over branded themselves. Now they seem to overprice most knives and I haven’t heard good things about their customer service. (No experience personally.)
Based on the review...this knife looks promising...o do see these knifes on sale occasionally on Midway USA
SOG will never get my money after i literally broke one of their knives with pressure from my thumb. I appreciate your hard work Aaron but yah, screw SOG
Just ordered the white river FC7. SOG have abysmal customer service & mostly meh knives, white river are the polar opposite. I will happily spend more money for a better product from a VASTLY better company.
Can’t disagree, but white river knives are 4x the price which can’t hit every budget
@@gideonstactical makes me love my mora companion even more
@@edraderyou can’t ever go wrong with a Morakniv product.
I had to look up the White River FC7. The $330 price tag and this statement alone make it a hard pass: *"Designed for heavy use in real survival situations these also make excellent camp, hunting, backpacking or utility knives."*
@@papimaximus95
Worth the price from my experience.
Bro review wtg nomad edc
At this point in the golden age of steel we live in, I care less now about type of steel being used, talk to me about the heat treatment and edge geometry, to me that’s what matters most
Mora kanzbol is better knife for jaff the maney
kansbol is 12c27 way less edge retention and isn’t full tang.
Whaaat’s holding those scales on?
Again kind of a track slit and then the lanyard bolt. Held up well to the abuse i did.
Shrug
Mora Bushcraft I think beats these.
I never understood all this craze about carbon knives, yes they are easier to sharpen in the field but, for all practical purposes, there are no diferences between a decent carbon and steel knife.
Looks like a decent knife ⛺.
China? I’d rather buy Pakistani, and that choice is obviously nothing to do with quality. Shame on SOG, a company that specialises in military knives.
Sog knives are overpriced junk. Dogshit? Sogshit, more like...
its 100+ eu in europe for 440c steel... no thanks.
1095 is rusty. I will never own a rusty knife
I'll never gonna understand those steel snobbish...you need something to do the work and the 440C or AUS8/10 or D2 or 14C28N are going to do so...that propaganda about the amount of cuts you are gonna get because the steel is just crap...your knife needs to get sharpenned? then sharpen it...I asure you, you are not gonna take your expensive knife to the woods to batton with it...😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
1st comment!!
Sog is allergic to modern steels.
Aus8, $200 LOL