Some knife manufacturers in the industry today - just based on my past experience with them - will always get a recommendation. Still, that doesn't mean I like everything they make. With some knife companies I really like the fixed blades, but not the folders or vice versa. Other companies make one or two specialty knife designs that I find to be exceptional while the rest of their stuff doesn't move me. SOG Knives has consistently put out knife designs that I have an appreciation for. After having abuse tested one of their most recent releases, I can safely state my appreciation for another one: The SOG SEAL Team Elite. Let's look at it and why I've come to like it...
Remembering that SOG has a family of SEAL knives which started out with the SEAL 2000 (shown right), they had to stay true to the relative design. Each of their SEAL knives has a similar shaped grip and common lines in the blade shape. The modified-Bowie style of blade with the ergonomically shaped handle - complete with finger grooves that are somewhere between aggressive and soft - mark the SEAL line. These features are common in the SEAL 2000, the SOG SEAL Pup, the SOG SEAL Pup Elite and now the SOG SEAL Team Elite.
If you're looking at this knife as a gift or for yourself as a working blade, you obviously need to know the particulars and you have to decide whether or not it matches your needs. The SOG SEAL Team Elite can certainly serve as a general field blade (and I used it as such on a camping trip not long ago) but it is also of sufficient size to serve as a combat knife (as I was taught the size that was required). I have been taught - by someone I know to be well versed in matters of hand-to-hand combat - that a combat knife needs to have a minimum blade length of 6.5". That is what he told me is required to reach the aortal bubble if the knife is punched down through the clavicular notch (I hope I spelled all that right).
The SOG SEAL Team Elite shown in the photo to the left, has a blade length of 7" and the blade thickness is just shy of a full 1/4". If you compare the photos between the SEAL Team Elite and the SEAL 2000 you'll see that the SEAL Team Elite has improved over the original design by:
- increasing the depth of the finger grooves in the grip
- increasing the texture of the grip slabs
- adding shallow ridges along the length of the spine
- exposing the end of the tang for glass breaking or pounding
While these may not seem like significant changes in the overall design, they add up to increased utility in the end user's hand. The SEAL Team Elite's blade is finished in Black TiNi and the length of serrated area on the blade near the hilt is slightly longer. It is an impressive appearing blade that I had to test out. After all, if SOG is adding to the SEAL family of knives, I had to find out if it was as tough as was implied.
Not having truly abused a knife for awhile I headed out back to my shed (a little more than two weeks ago). What did I have to test the cutting edge on? Hmmm...
Looking around I found an assortment of the usual materials: some 1/2" rope, twine, string, some 1.5" nylon straps and a few other things most knives aren't meant to cut. I started out with the smallest strings, fishing line, etc and worked my way up to the rope. By folding any of it in half and pulling it across the blade I managed to cut through all of it in a single stroke - even the 1/2" rope thanks to the length of the cutting edge and how hard I pushed / pulled. The 1.5" nylon straps were a little bit harder to cut, but I managed to do them in a single stroke too once I figured out how to keep my wrist pushed into the cut.
The SEAL Team Elite handled all that without any issues and showed no signs of real use. In the small clump of trees that are next to and in front of my house I wandered, using the knife to chop off small branches here and there. As I walked the branches got thicker until I found myself taking two or three strokes to cut through. Those were about an inch thick and very green. When I finished my wandering and chopping there were the typical wood-moisture (sap) smears on the cutting edge and sides of the blade. That would cause friction when I tried to punch the blade through wood. Back to my shed I went.
I had a piece of 1/4" plywood leaning up against the side of my shed and a couple of empty 5 gallon plastic buckets on hand. I set the board out on top of the buckets (bucket at each corner) and, with an overhand swing, managed to punch the knife through the wood. I didn't penetrate much though... so I grabbed my 3 pound sledge hammer to hammer the blade in. When I had the knife sunk into the wood about a 1/2" shy of the grip / handle, I stopped hammering. Then I started pushing, pulling and wiggling on the knife to get it to come back out. I finally got it out and took a look at it. Still didn't look bad. What next? I looked around the back yard. My eyes settled on the empty buckets in front of me and all the leaves, acorns, branches and other stuff around my yard.
Dropping the knife into the bottom of the bucket I filled it about half full with fresh water out of my hose, through in a few handfuls of leaves (not having any clue if that would even make a difference, but rotting leaves are nasty smelling and feeling) and some acorns. I tucked that into one corner of my patio and left it there. This past Saturday evening when I returned home from travel, I emptied the bucket and examined the knife. I couldn't find any signs of rust. A few wipes with a yard towel (can you say "rag"?) got the blade mostly clean. There were a few smears of sap still stubborn, but hot water and dish soap got the blade properly cleaned.
Taking another look I realized the knife looked just fine. It had obviously seen some use but the blade was in good shape and having sat in water for two weeks didn't appear to have harmed it at all. I thought about traveling down to the Chesapeake Bay (not far away) to get some Bay water to soak the knife in... but I wanted to get this review knocked out.
All in all, in my opinion, another good knife from SOG. A quick search online showed some available for as little as $84.07. That is a GREAT price.
Stay Safe!
