SOG SOG-TAC XR OD Green 12-38-02-57 pocket knife

Monday 1 November 2021

SOG TAC XR is the first SOG knife I purchased and it also might be the last. The main reason why I decided to purchase this knife was the XR lock and that's where the SOG TAC XR failed miserably. The blade had horizontal and vertical blade play, and the lock-up was so bad that the lock made a loud clicking sound each time the blade moved up or down. I tried fixing the blade play by adjusting the pivot screw, but SOG had used so much threadlocker it was impossible to rotate the screw even a little bit and I ended up breaking off the tip of my Torx bit. I exchanged the faulty knife for another SOG TAC XR, but the replacement knife also had a noticeable amount of blade play, although not nearly as bad as the first one. On the second knife, I was able to adjust the pivot screw and get rid of the horizontal blade play, but the vertical blade play could be eliminated only by putting my thumb on the button of the lock and pushing it forward and holding it. That had to be done each time the blade was deployed. Thankfully I was able to return this knife and get a full refund. SOG should put a lot more emphasis on quality control because flaws like these are not acceptable on knives at this price. Service from Knivesandtools.com was great and I have no complaints about the store or the staff.