Being honest, most of the time, it'll stay in my pocket - therefore, it needs to be incognito. Then it needs to cut, and cut well (blade design, material, ergonomics, and edge). But grounding myself to reality, that's going to be cutting the tape on Amazon packages (and cutting open whatever treasure UPS brings to me). Though, I did use my other EDC knife to cut open my turkey from my spring hunt. :)
I'm a firm believer in carrying a knife as a utility. Let's be real now, your 2.5" - 3.5" isn't really going to strike terror in any person (well, yeah, let's not go any further). But if you find a nice and light one, that takes minimal real estate, and makes a cinch to cut tape/rope/food/etc, it's reason enough. And might I add, never come between a man (or woman - it's the 21st century after all!) between them and their newly arrived Amazon packages!
What? You make do with finger nails or car keys? Power to you. I can whip this out, make a far more efficient (and clean cut), close it, and drop it back in my pants while you're still on your third 'swipe' with you thumbnail or saw with keys (plus, push start button car = key 'fob' as opposed to 'keys').
Quick disclosure. This knife was not 'purchased' by me. It was an early birthday present from my brother. It was bought off of Amazon (they have a SOG sale until 12/23/2015 - sorry if you bumped into this MUCH MUCH later :( ). Also, SOG has a $5 mail in rebate with patch on their website. :) All in, with the SOG sale at Amazon, the price with tax was $75.68 - before SOG rebate. What?! GO BUY IT!
As such, I don't see myself abusing the bejeezus out of it (since it is a gift). But it will be used as a utility knife. :)
Also, this is not only a Pacific Northwest based company, but SOG is in the Seattle area! woot woot! I love supporting the local guys!
So with that, let's get right to it! My first knife review, the SOG VL-02 Mini Vulcan
Introduction
According the the literature on their product page, the knife was inspired by the M61 Vulcan. Ok I guess. :)
I chose the straight edge (non-serrated - it's a small knife - plus I'm evolving in thought and shying away from serrations) with a satin finish. Would have preferred the Ti finish but Amazon didn't have that (and I didn't really want it for $20-30 more at other places).
The Mini Vulcan has an overall length of 7.35 inches open, and 4.35 inches closed with a 3 inch blade (hey, the math adds up!).
It has a nice high carbon stainless steel (digging for metal words here), VG-10 blade with a Rockwell Hardness of RC 59-60 (what does that mean to the consumer? Well, it's not a soft metal. Will hold an edge well, but probably has a tiny bit of brittleness - don't hulk smash them into rocks).
It has a textured grip. Is small, and light.
Perfect EDC recipe? You decide. :) Read below!
Packaging
The packaging comes in a clamshell/box:
It's set up to hang on the rack at stores. Simplistic but elegant design (doesn't look over the top or overly done).
The back of the box highlights the key features of the knife:
I like how the main info is shown big and clear on the back (rather than in micro print).
Cut the tape of the top, pop out the flap and open the box and you'll see a simple plastic clam shell pack:
Lift off the top piece and the knife is held firmly in the lower piece. Yes, I said lift off the top piece. No need to dick around with dumb tape, stupid staples, or worst of all, the heat sealed blister packs. Thank you SO MUCH, SOG for not subjecting your customers to the hell that is blister packs. It would be dumb to have to cut out your knife with another knife or scissors...
I wish that other knife companies would make opening this simple. Kudos to Benchmade too with their simple box design. Evil stink eye to Gerber and Leatherman...
Ok, rant over. Getting off of the soapbox. Moving on!
Oh, there's no manual.
Blade
I personally think that it's such a pretty blade...
It's an ambidextrous knife with the studs on both sides as well as the locking mechanism present on both sides as well:
(don't mind the .45 ACP cartridge that I used as a prop to hold the knife up)
There is a bit of a recurve on the belly of the knife
The stats state that this is a 'Clip Point' blade shape with a 'Flat grind' with a blade thickness of 0.16 Inches or 41MM (thank you SOG for having Metric on your site as well!).
The top part looks a little bit like a spear point (but it's not sharp - hence clip point).
The material is VG-10, and I'm no metallurgist hahaha! But it's a high carbon stainless that hails from Japan (and they make good blades there). Feel free to dork out here.
Apparently, Seki City is home to a great many knife makers. Lot's of pedigree there I suppose... :)
Hmm.. What else... The blade is sharp. It will shave hairs. BE CAREFUL! (when cutting them Amazon boxes)
Handle/Grip
The handle material isn't anything fancy. Glass Reinforced Nylon (GRN - because we all love acronyms!)
There's a lanyard hole at the back too (by the clip) if that floats your boat. The flipper however, will dig into whatever else you have in your pocket. I had trouble fishing out my wallet with the knife in (I don't like having stuff in my butt pocket).
The checkering provides a positive grip. Another gripe: it does stick to the inside of your pocket every time you insert it in trying to clip it on the pants - like all the cool kids do. Great segue into pocket carry (note the correct use of word/spelling :) ):
The clip is a deep carry clip! I love it! no part of the handle is visible. My only wish is that it was painted black - but at least it has a darker shade satin finish (as opposed to chrome bling bling - idea is to NOT advertise and avoid attention :) ). Also, it's carried tip up as well (when folded - my preferred way).
I also feel like the clip is a little too 'tall'. Perhaps it could have been made narrow a few millimeters (zomg Metric System).
The blade centers really well. It also has no wiggle when deployed (top/bottom and side/side). It is adjustable with a T9 Torx bit if you so desire.
The pocket clip is reversible as well, but I don't have the teeny tiny Torx bit that's needed (I'm thinking it needs a T6). I will update this review if I somehow decide to get the tiny bit (or if I can bum one off of a friend).
The knife has some jimping at the top!
The jimping close to the handle seems to be flush with the handle (but the thumb should be able to expand into it) but has positive jimping on the blade. Above the thumb stud is a indentation that lets your thumb ride on the spine of the blade as well - both the spot with jimping as well as the indent feels very natural.
It is also present on the bottom of the handle as well.
The sculpting is really nice for the index finger too. One thing that you can see a bit of is that the metal frame (under the handle) is NOT weight relieved. There's some weight that could have been saved there! Would have preferred SOG to have removed that. I get that it's relatively thin so probably not that much to have been saved, but every little bit helps and counts.
The studs are great as well:
It's smoothed out and pretty comfy to use. However, the other sides has the flat head screw driver slot and that's a little bit sharper... If you're a lefty, switch it around (along with the pocket clip - at least you don't need a puny Torx bit to do it). :)
The stud for the
Above comparo is with my trusty Benchmade 808 Loco (that I've been EDCing). From here, you see just how much the arc lock studs stick out of the handle.
Deployment
You have two options for deployment:
1) Thumb studs (on the blade)
2) Flipper (that integrates into handle's cut away)
Watch the video:
Pretty snazzy. I seem to prefer the flipper, but that's just me. :)
I love the metallic sounds of this! It reminds me of how my SIG 1911 sounds as the slide is racked/released. There's the metallic 'clink' which I just LOVE!
Summary
Overall, I think it's a great blade. I look forward to EDCing this knife. The quality is tremendous. I don't see any errant 'flashing' from the handle nor any offensive burrs from any of the metal. My only gripe is the grip sticks to your pocket when inserting into jeans, and also the tall thumb studs for the arc lock. Other than that, I can't really hate on the knife (plus my brother bought it as a birthday present).
The good:
- GORGEOUS knife
- Sharp and good blade metal
- Very light
- Jimping where it's needed
- Great price point (again, I got for a little under $76, regular street price seems to be $90-110 or so)
- Great frustration free packaging (often an unsung hero, but important)
- Very discreet with the low carry clip
- Positive grip
- Sounds great when deploying and closing (reminds me of my 1911's slide 'ka-chink' sound)
The meh:
- Grip sticks to your jeans
- Tall thumb studs on arc lock
- Would have preferred the liners to have been weight relieved (aka cut out holes)
- Flipper/'Fast Opening Blade kick' will dig into whatever else is in your pocket - possible causing damage - so exercise caution.
The deal breakers:
- None really.
Buy it. Enjoy it. Stay safe.
(do you guys need a scale of any sort in reviews or does that not really matter? Let me know in the comments or any feedback/discussion/questions! I will do my best)
Here's some comparo shots I took with my Benchmade 808 Loco:
