SOG Seal Pup Elite

Reviewed 06/28/2013 by Louis

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

The SOG Seal Pup Elite has in reality been my first fixed blade knife. I'm still pretty new to knives but I'm starting to learn my way around.
I purchased this knife at a Bass Pro Shop $60 cheaper than the MSRP (which was fantastic). Upon holding it for the first time I quickly noticed a few things: the weight, the grip, the cool design, and the factory sharpening. The weight is fantastic as it is light yet not too light. The grip has an interesting and great feel to it, which I've really had no problems with. I also have to say that I just love the tactical design of the knife as well. The factory sharpening of the knife was fantastic and is still pretty sharp after using it pretty regularly for almost a month now.
I am big on whittling and this is most definitely a great knife for that. Worth the money!!

Reviewed 02/14/2013 by Miika

-Price Paid: $90.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

SOG has been my go-to knive manufacturer for quite some time and as I was looking a knive for my wife to carry in the woods I ended up getting this one.

This is one of the best knives I've used in this size category. It's very sharp, excellently balanced and it has the best sheath (nylon, with plastic inlay and a pocket) IMHO.

AUS8 steel is easy to keep sharp, it doesnt bend and I've had no need to do any other maintenance on the blade except for the ocassional sharpening.

For me the only question mark about this knife is the handle. It is glass reinforced and I just wonder what would happen when it's -25C (-13F) outside and you drop it on the bedrock. Even when the handle is hard the finger grooves helps to keep the blade in line.

It is rather pricey knife but excellent quality. And that nylon sheath with a pocket is like I said best sheath I've had. But then again, I have always valued nylon over kydex and especially over leather sheaths.

Reviewed 05/14/2011 by Kevin L

-Price Paid: $60.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

I bought this knife primarily as a hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and just all around outdoors knife. I've heard of some people having issues with the AUS8 steel but if you get SOG's TiNi coating there really isn't an issue, especially if you wash it out with fresh water and oil it after every time you use it.

This blade also came RAZOR sharp out of the box and the AUS8 steel is extremely easy to sharpen. The ridges that SOG put on the top of the knife are especially good for notching wood for traps if you ever need them. I only have two complaints about this knife, first, the handle is made of glass reinforced kraton which is extremely durable but also extremely rigid and hard to grip when wet, but easy fix is to just wear gloves. The second issue (I know it has nothing to do with the knife itself) is the nylon sheath. The strap used to hold the knife in is nylon and i personally had an issue with cutting the strap when taking the knife out. So if you purchase this knife be sure to get the kydex sheath which had some sort of rubber composite strap. But overall an OUTSTANDING knife.

Reviewed 02/10/2011 by Frank

-Price Paid: $74.00
-Used for Other
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Just to clarify some differences between the Seal Pup and Seal Pup Elite.

The Elite is AUS 8 instead of AUS 6 and the original seal pup has no rasping on the top of the blade. If you take a look at where the cutting portion of the blade starts in relation to the handle, you will notice a gap. I see no use for this gap at all and the original seal pup has more of this wasted space than the seal pup elite. This adds unwanted weight and in my humble opinion makes the overall appearance of the knife less appealing. This also makes batoning operations in the bush more difficult because you have a blunt surface contacting the wood.

I would say that the steel used in the elite is a marked improvement over the orignal.

The handle materials used are the same in both. It's some kind of glass reinforced nylon that SOG calls "Zytel". Excellent as far as keeping the weight down and very durable. The downside is that even though they added some nurling, it's still a little bit too slippery if you have sweaty, wet or bloody hands.

The overall feel and comfort of this knife is quite comfortable and I would be happy to use one outside in the bush or in a tactical situation. It would even be adequate as a hunting knife. However, there are better blades for this purpose.

Let's face it, it's a very cool looking knife and if you're happy with paying a hefty price for looks then I wish you the best. The "mean" looks of the knife unfortunatly prevents me from leaving it on my belt. Otherwise, it would see more use.

Reviewed 02/03/2011 by Mike

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Overall, this is a great smaller sized fixed blade. I enjoy the rather odd shape of the blade and even the spine rasping. The hollow grind is deep and beautiful. The satin finish is very soft and appealing as are the grinds on the blade. Came nice and sharp, but had two small nicks in the edge near the tip.

The handle texturing is very well executed, but I feel as though it was designed for a person with smaller hands as the finger grooves don't fit very well in my large hands.

It has a good weight; not too light, not too heavy.

I have the newer style nylon sheath which is very nice with a good variety of mounting options. There is an extra pocket and plastic insert. It is a little stiff.

The steel choice is adequate for this type of knife so no problem there.

Reviewed 01/21/2011 by Jason

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 1 year

Comments:

This is attached to my BOB and gets used very little but you can tell it's a solid build. Handle provides good grip and blade is extremely sharp. I haven't had to sharpen it but one time and it was rather easy to get a good edge on it. Great feeling knife in the hand good balance, it will take just about anything you can dish out. If you shop around you can get a great deal out there. The elite comes with AUS8 and the Seal Pup comes with AUS6 i beleive that's the only difference in the 2. I would recommend this knife for just about any situation, shouldn't rust so it would be ideal for boat use.