Knives Illustrated December 2021

How do you feel about pocket clips on a folding knife? Maybe it’s a generational thing, but I’ve had a long love-hate relationship with them. I vividly remember a time when none of my knives had pocket clips. I think the Spyderco Delica I carried early in my police career was the first I owned that had a pocket clip and the first I owned that provided for one-handed opening. A flap pocket on a uniform shirt was a good place to clip a knife. The flap covered the clip so it wasn’t visible and tempting to uncooperative “customers.” And I could reach it with either hand, standing or sitting, so I could get to it if needed to cut my way out of my seat belt in the event…

1. SOG Pentagon OTF I’ve had a chance to work the SOG Pentagon XR folder this year as well as the latest incarnation of the Pentagon fixed-blade daggers, and there’s one more Pentagon on the horizon that I’m looking forward to checking out: the Out-the-Front (OTF) automatic. The Pentagon OTF carries the lines of SOG's fixed-blade daggers when opened but is easily carried in your pocket or clipped to your gear. It features a textured anodized aluminum handle and is available in black or Flat Dark Earth finishes. The OTF uses a 3.79-inch, double-edged blade of CRYO S35VN steel with a blacked-out titanium nitride coated finish. It has a large sliding firing button that should be easy to use under stress or when wearing gloves. SOG uses what…

Life’s adventures somehow imbue the knives we carry with indelible memories that are vividly rekindled in our minds when we handle these tools decades later. It’s even better when a knife comes from the maker with a great story of its own. Such is the case with Attleboro Knives, where each of its knives pays tribute to a part of our nation’s history and has some significance to the Hunt family that founded the company. The company itself is named for Operation Attleboro during the Vietnam War when company owner Ken Hunt’s father, U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant William B. Hunt, was declared missing in action in 1966. I had the pleasure to work with two Attleboro models recently: the Gramps and the Berlin Strike. The first is an…

“EITHER PENTAGON WILL MAKE FOR A GREAT DEFENSIVE BLADE…” As a kid, I had a couple Japanese Parker boot knives, and later as a private in the U.S. Army, I picked up an actual Gerber MK I at the PX. I have no idea what happened to my Parkers, probably given away or traded off. And like a dumb kid, I broke the tip off my Gerber by using it as a throwing knife. That mostly ended my fascination with boot knives and daggers for a few decades. For whatever reason though, I’ve been getting interested in them again. Not that I’m doing many covert ops or getting into knife fights at 50 years old, living in a quiet suburban neighborhood. But still, the itch is there to revisit that…

SOG PENTAGON FX Blade Length: 4.77 inches Handle Length: 5.16 inches Overall Length: 9.93 inches Blade Material: CRYO CPM S35VN stainless steel Blade Thickness: 0.180 inch Blade Hardness: 58-61 HRC Blade Style: Double-edge dagger Blade Finish: Black titanium nitride Handle Material: Black G10 Sheath Material: GRN with Universal Mounting System Weight: 6.5 ounces Origin: Taiwan MSRP: $249.95 PENTAGON FX COVERT Blade Length: 3.41 inches Handle Length: 4.11 inches Overall Length: 7.52 inches Blade Material: CRYO CPM S35VN stainless steel Blade Thickness: 0.180-inch Blade Hardness: 58-61 HRC Blade Style: Double-edge dagger Blade Finish: Black titanium nitride Handle Material: Black G10 Sheath Material: GRN with Universal Mounting System Weight: 3.9 ounces Origin: Taiwan MSRP: $189.95…

Sheaths are often an afterthought for companies, and that’s long been a sore point for me. If a knife has a poorly constructed or designed sheath, it isn’t going to get carried, which means it isn’t going to get used. While there’s a thriving market in aftermarket sheaths, that’s added time and expense for users who really just want to make their purchase and get to work. SOG has taken all of that into consideration and come up with an extremely functional and practical sheath system so that you’re good to go out of the box. The Pentagon FX and FX Covert come with GRN sheaths that are compatible with SOG’s next-generation Universal Mounting System (UMS). The UMS is as much a part of the story as the knives themselves.…