TERMINUS XR

First impressions: Nice. Not too big or too small. The grind lines on the blade are even and consistent. The jimping on the back of the blade and the flipper is slightly aggressive, not sharp just aggressive. I may ease it a little with an abrasive buff pad if it seems to be too much. The initial factory sharpening was one of the sharper jobs for a factory edge. It cut paper pretty well. But on a closer look with a 3x magnifying headset the bevel had plainly visible grind lines and only the very edge was buffed. There were also some visible micro chips or divots on the cutting edge. OK, time to sharpen the S35VN blade. I marked the edge bevels with a marker to make it easier to see my progress and angles, then tried a nominal 20 degree edge bevel angle. Yup, the factory edge angle was a nominal 20 degree per side. So I didn't change the bevel angle, just sharpened the blade (for now). It wasn't that bad to do, but I don't know if that is because the steel is on the softer side for S35VN or because I wasn't changing the existing bevel angle or the diamond stones were cutting nicely. Or a combination of all of that. Then I tried a finer 'Sapphire' fine grit stone (1000 grit ceramic stone) and that worked pretty well too. I got the edge up to a 'frosted' look but not a mirror finish and then did a final hone with a leather strop and some stropping compound. The edge looks much nicer, the small edge chips are gone and now the blade is sharp-sharp. Makes a 'sssssnick' sound when cutting paper and cuts MUCH better than the factory edge. You can open the blade with the flipper or the thumb stud or by releasing the lock and 'flicking' it open. The action is pretty smooth, both opening and closing. I'm still not sure about the pocket clip. It is the newer slim black clip but it still has the SOG name in silver and that is easily visible. It grabs the pocket pretty tightly on jeans, I may bend the clip a little to loosen that or remove the clip entirely. Still undecided on this aspect. I tried it placed in my jeans pocket (not clipped to the pocket seam) and it was OK in there. Again, the jimping is aggressive and I think it will pretty quickly chew up the pocket. Now the good and the not so good. The knife bit me. I reached into my jeans pocket to take the knife out and the tip was somehow slightly 'exposed' and out of the handle. I felt a tiny little pressure on my palm and took the knife and my hand out of the pocket. I looked at my palm and there was a straight line about 1/4" long in my palm. Uh-oh, not good. Then some red welled up in the line. That's more not good. Time to apply pressure and find some way to bandage this and hope nothing internal got cut. As best as I can figure, the tip was exposed and punctured my palm. Easily. The blade is sharp and the tip is sharp. Once my hand heals up, I may try the knife more and will update this review if I have anything to add. Summary: Nice size and shape, both the blade and the handle and overall. The weight is good, but it is not a super lightweight knife. Good premium USA S35VN steel (supposed to be anyway). The lock seems good and solid. For under $100 (Prime Day it was less than that, only $70), I think it is a deal. RECOMMENDED 👍

This is a very nice knife. It's the perfect size and is balanced well. Very slim in the pocket. I really didn't think anything was too sharp on the knife except the blade which was razor sharp. Quality and materials are top notch. Easily my favorite EDC knife now.

Thi is my first SOG got it ima great deal here on Amazon so I said why not. Good material S35vn blade steel, combo lament CF & G10 scales. The knife is a little rough around the edges, the stainless steel liners are a little sharp, and the jimping is very aggressive. The detent is a little heavy, but once you break it it’s fine. Overall it’s a solid knife with good materials. I know since GSM Outdoors bought them, there knives have gotten better. It’s a nice little knife for the cost I got it. Soood no blade play smooth action and sharp. Would I have paid full price for it probably not. But what u got it for I don’t mined the cost. Overall I would give it C+ or B if you can catch it on sale.

This is a stupidly good knife. It deploys and closes very smoothly. It's extremely precise and feels safe. Love it.

tl;dr decent value IF and ONLY IF you meet most of these conditions: - you prefer smaller knives - the laws regarding blade size heavily restrict other options - you want a more premium stainless steel - your sharpening setup can accommodate the harder steels - your usage of a pocketknife is limited throughout your average day Update (05/24/2023): I realized some of the quirks of this particular pocketknife but ultimately returned it due to the sharpness of the flipper tab, as it appears to be a defect. I will update my review of the knife here, but leave my original review as it is still mostly accurate. Using the knife a little more, I realized that thumb placement can get in the way of the lever lock, which disrupts the deployment. Other knives that have the axis lock don't typically have a flipper tab, so your thumb is usually out of the way but with how flipper tabs are usually operated, the lever lock/axis lock is where I would typically put my thumb. Because of that, I wouldn't say that this knife is particularly for someone with bigger or smaller hands, just if you have a preference for smaller knives. However, I ultimately returned the knife because I did some research and it seems like SOG updated the knife to not have the sharp edges on the flipper tab, which seems like the knife itself had a defect. I tried getting used to the sharpness but it was actually getting to the point where it was cutting deep into the skin of my index finger. Another reviewer here around the same time also said their knife was sharp, so it appears to be a QC issue with the recent batches. For me, that was the tip of the iceberg and I did not see myself willing to bruise my index finger just to use this particular knife. My overall rating of the knife remains the same. Original review: Context: I carry but do not utilize a pocketknife much, if at all, in my every day life. This review is also only about the handling and ergonomics of the knife itself, not the usage and durability. Background: I've been in the knife world for a few years now, but only recently got into the world of pocketknives so I know enough to be familiar with the terms, but not enough to, say, take it apart and such. Recently, I bought several knives prior to this (many of them fantastic), so the bias of my critiques will be based on those reference points. Pros: - steel is upgraded to S35VN from previous version (bought at same price as previous version) - blade appears relatively thin behind the edge - blade in locked position feels sturdy - is completely ambidextrous - value is there if you are able to overlook (or get used to) the downsides Cons: - action could be better - jimping on both spine and flipper tab is painfully sharp - lever lock is not smooth, feels gritty - unnecessarily strong detent, can still easily fail flipper tab deployment - thumbstud deployment nearly impossible because of detent - fit and finish not great - uncomfortable to both continuously deploy and hold for long periods of time Detailed review: My fractional star rating would actually be about 3.25, and I knew this only moments after handling it. I bought this knife after watching Nick Shabazz's review of it on YouTube, and the only differences (spec wise) between the one he had in the video and the one I received is that the steel has been upgraded to S35VN and the carrying clip that comes with the knife has been changed to be thinner (to address the complaints with the older carrying clip). It seems to be listed for $100 every where else and average price seems to be ~$75 here, but I managed to buy it for $70 so I effectively bought the upgraded version with no price difference. This is my first knife in S35VN and that alone, for me, is the real value I can see. My current EDC is between two knives I bought recently, the Firebird Ganzo FH91 and the Ontario Rat 1 (both are in D2). Everything about them is fantastic, from the action, to the ergonomics, and especially the value. This purchase was only because I wanted to try something that wasn't a liner lock, and to try out S35VN steel for under $100 (I wouldn't have bought it if it was still using the previous steel). As soon as I started handling it, I knew I would be going back to the other two, but I'll keep attempting to use it and I'll amend my review here if my feelings about it change over time. The biggest critique I have with this knife is the lever lock, which is not smooth (you can feel the grittiness as you pull back on it) and the amount of force needed to pull the lock back. Another review here mentioned the same thing, so it could just be a certain batch that has this problem. The roughness with the lock can also make the deployment feel gritty if it isn't completely forward when trying to open the knife. It's rare but it tends to happen more if I do not pull back fully on the lever lock when attempting to close the blade, which can affect the next deployment attempt. The action itself feels *good* at times but going back to my EDC immediately changes my opinion on it to: it could be better. The fit and finish of the knife is also subpar, especially the jimping on both the spine and the flipper tab. The harshness on the jimping feels somewhat similar to doing fingertip pushups on asphalt, where you may be ok with doing a few every so often but would rather not continuously subject your fingers to that kind of pain. Coupled with the unnecessarily strong detent, it makes for an uncomfortable flipper deployment with every subsequent deployment that much worse. Once opened, I only found one position comfortable for my hand to grip around the handle and even then, the exposed metal on the backside kept digging into my palm and thumb. The edges of the spine are also not a smooth finish but are, ironically, more comfortable than the jimping on the spine so I would actually move my index finger past the spine jimping to slice. The overall fit and finish make it an uncomfortable choice for anyone looking to EDC this knife where their daily use requires them to constantly close and open the knife and/or use the knife for long periods of time. Mentioned above, my last big critique is the detent itself and how it requires you to apply more force than you would expect to overcome it. Even more surprising than that is the ease with which you can fail to fully deploy the blade given how much force is applied to overcome the detent. Both the flipper tab and the thumbstud on the blade are affected by this, though the method to deploy it with the least amount of force may be to just pull down on the lever lock (same way you would if you were closing it) and flick your wrist so the blade can somewhat freely spin out. "A lot of applied force" seems to be the theme, since the lever lock also requires a bit of force to pull back as well. Using some force is expected, but it just feels excessive to the point of uncomfortable, especially if this is to be used as a daily tool. Other than that, there are a few good things to note. The best thing about this knife is the S35VN steel, which may be enough if you only care about durability. Sharpening it may require a bit of effort and, if you have never sharpened a tougher steel (or sharpened at all), you may find that you need a setup that is able to abrade the tougher steels. This isn't a fault of the knife itself, but it will add to the cost of maintenance if not owned already. The form factor is more compact than my other knives and doesn't feel "small" (just "smaller"), which makes it more suitable for quick slice tasks where I can put the knife down as is without closing it. A YouTube comment on the review video I watched said the compact size was comfortable given their larger hands, but this knife is on the lower limit for how compact I would want to go (and I have smaller hands) so take this with many grains of salt. Finally, the blade length being 3 inches should make it less likely to flirt with the grey area of legality, especially if you happen to live in an area where your laws governing this are on the more restrictive side, however, I am NOT a lawyer. I feel this knife has value with it being S35VN (so if you really need that, then go for it) but the handling and ergonomics is just not there for me to love it. I can see myself using it only because the requirements in my daily life are just: it needs to work. My feelings on it are mixed because there are a few things I like about it and maybe if this was my first knife I wouldn't be able to tell/may not care about the things I don't like, but it isn't and I find myself wanting to put this particular knife down more than I want to pick it up. It isn't awful, and certainly is not the worst, so while it is completely usable for me, I can't see it being more than just *usable* or actively choosing to leave the house with it as EDC.

Bought on sale, my first S35vn knife. Good edge retention and durability, will stay shaving sharp for a few days and serviceable for a month or more of normal use without honing or stropping. Lock/hinge can get a little sticky with dust and lint but so do most locks, not an issue with the design and still operates fairly smoothly. Blade is perfect size for every day carry, lightweight and discrete. I've pried with it, use it fairly often to cut through wire sheathing and other somewhat strenuous tasks, no chips or rolls just a minor dent to the tip that was taken out in a few min of sharpening. All in all near perfect knife for any non bushcraft use case

Out of the box, the edges on all the gimping were way too sharp. I used a 600 grit diamond stone to "polish" the top and side edges of the gimping. I removed the blade to do this, but it can be done without removing the blade. I covered the "business" part of the blade with painter's tape so as not to make a bloody mess. I cleaned out the gunk in the pivot and bearings, replaced it with KPL (sold on Amazon), applied blue locktite to the pivot screw and adjusted the screw so that the blade falls under its own weight. Wow! What an action! Very easy one hand operation without wrist action. Thumb stud or flipper tab both work great lefty (me) or righty. Nice steel too. Highly recommended.

Great action. Well put together. Carbon fiber is nice. Love the lock, it's super fidget friendly. Took off one star due to the handle having sharp edges that had to be sanded down so it wouldn't dig into my hand. Despite the one star loss, this has quickly made it's way into the weekly rotation. It's in my top 20 out of 200+ folding pocket knives ranging from $20 to $200+. SOG makes great knives. Even their inexpensive ones a quality. Typically just a lower end steel. This is a safe purchase.