SOG Seal Knife

Hi, I've been reading this website for about a year now, and am new to the forums. I was wondering if anybody out there had any experience with the SOG Seal 2000 knife as a survival knife. I currently always carry my CRKT Crawford/Casper folder and a Leatherman Wave on my person, so I have small cutting chores taken care of. I'm looking at knives to get for a larger survival kit and camping. <br><br>-Chris

I haven't used the sog seal but I have seen some Good reveiws on hikeing/camping site. From whats been said it sounds like a good quality knife. Theres also a smaller version available called the seal pup.

SOG makes good knives. That said, remember the SEAL was designed for a military application. Nonreflective coatings are great for concealment and protecting non stainless steel blades from rust. Finding something in shiny steel I just dropped is hard enough. While the SOGS are very tough, the thin spine doesn't lend itself to splitting wood with a baton. Think of the actual tasks you will ask of a bigger knife. Price is a factor for everyone. Look at a few other candidates and then look at the dealer's prices. If you can buy "X" for $75 vs "Y" for $150 and both please you-buy X! $75 is a lot of gear and trailmix ;O)

I've heard mixed reviews on this one. Of course, SOG claims it surpassed the gov't tests for tip strength, corrosion resistance, etc. But if you are going to use this knife for "survival" situations, I would definately not recommend it. Like Chris said, it would be useless for wood splitting chores. <br><br>If you think about it, when is the last time you heard about a Navy UDT/SEAL member in the woods in a survival situation? Those guys are such badasses, they are in and out before you know they were there. Their knives are meant primarily for rope cutting, CQB, and constructing underwater demolitions. These are military/battle knives, period. I just wish I would've known that when I forked out $140 for the Ka-Bar Next Generation Tanto. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.<br><br>I'm quite fond of the "sharpened prybar" when it comes to a survival knife. I would highly recommend the Becker Knife & Tool Co.'s C/U 7 or the Cold Steel SRK for a basic survival knife. You can get them for $50 and $60, respectively. But if you insist on spending that kind of cash for a knife, check out Fallkniven and Swamp Rat Knife Works.<br><br>John McIntire

I'm a fan of the BKT line of knives as well. Here is a link to a review of the BKT C/U-7 that convinced me that for the money spent, it is the best knife for my needs in a bush knife and I bought one.<br><br>http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/becker_cu_7.html<br><br>

Thanks for the input. I seem to have the same weakness for knives that everybody else on this forum seems to have. I already ordered the Seal knife from ebay for $90, and would have purchased one even if I wasn't planning on using it as a survival knife. As soon as my bank account heals a little bit, I'm going to definitly get a Becker C/U 7.<br><br>-Chris

That's the problem a lot of people in the military have a It won't happen to me atittude when really it can happen to you.

SEALS are highly trained and motivated, true. They have the same metabolism as you and me. During the recent raft tests, I talked at length with the USCG senior rescue swimmer Butch. We both served at AIRSTATION KODIAK. It would seem the SEALS train on Kodiak, and the Coast Guard recieved several evac requests for hypothermia. So what does this mean? Should we all buy Coast Guard issue knives? Once again the NSW kayak club's article is relevent. " Buy the best gear available, and then never make a decision based on having that gear."

I don't think that's a problem that's restricted to the military, LOL!<br><br>But one problem with military training (that I didn't think of until the first time I went camping as a civilian) is that they equip you to the teeth with everything you could possibly need. When it's 30 below and you're inside a 10-man Arctic tent, snuggled inside a double down-filled sleeping bag that's rated to -80, you don't realize how spoiled you are. :-)<br><br>When you go backpacking in the Rockies with a lightweight tube tent and a summer sleeping bag, you find out in a hurry :-) <br><br>Of course, I was more of a "civilian in uniform" for the most part; I only spent two years out of 12 in a field unit, so I missed out on most of the really fun stuff ;-) <br><br>But I wonder how many of those Navy Seals who had to get rescued simply had an overinflated sense of their own toughness, and an underappreciation for the fancy gear that they suddenly had to do without?

Talk about timing! Today I just recieved my Becker BK7 that I had ordered about 2 1/2 weeks ago from DirtCheapKnives.com (no affiliation, just a satisfied customer). <br><br>I decided on this after doing some research over at the Blade Forums website. It seemed to be the best overall knife for the price range and my needs. <br><br>There was a thread over at Hoods Woods (survival.com) a few months ago about setting up PSK's designed around the sheath of the BK7. Check out the following link: <br><br>http://www.survival.com/becker.htm<br><br>I paid $45.47 for the BK7 and also picked up a SwissTech Utili-Key for only $8.57. Shipping was $4.50 and took about two weeks from TX to CA. <br><br>I had a Seal Pup, which is much smaller than the 2000 and not really fair to compare, but as the earlier posts stated, these are combat knives. <br><br>It is best to decide what your needs are, envision possible scenarios where you will be deployed, and make the best choice that you can afford.<br><br>Hope this helps!

You wrote: " I wonder how many of those Navy Seals who had to get rescued simply had an overinflated sense of their own toughness, and an underappreciation for the fancy gear that they suddenly had to do without? "<br><br>I would suggest that special operations forces train hard, train often, and train inweather conditions that they could be expected to do their job. They are ROUTINELY exposed to hazards in training that exceed what you and I are likely to ever experience. THAT is the reason why they would require rescue in training. In an actual mission environment, they would not expect rescue.<br>I know several former Navy Seals and am aware of a number of severe injuries and deaths that occurred during training. Just goes with the territory.<br>As for being plain human, they are, but they have tremendous drive and dedication to their jobs.<br><br>

Beachdoc: You're right, that was uncalled for and I apologize. I didn't mean to offend; my dad was in the infantry during WWII, and I knew several infantry, ex-infantry and SAR types during my own tenure; I have the greatest of respect for anybody who's tough enough to make it through any of the special forces training. Just another case of me putting my brain on cruise control. :-(