SOG Vulcan I Arc-Lock Manual (Tanto Plain) VL-03

Beautiful, cool design, looks just as good in my hand as it did in the pics online. Well built also, blade lockup is great, no play. Handle is comfortable, fills my hand well, provides very secure grip on the knife, the checkering is done just right, not too rough. Zytel handle is smooth around the edges of the scales. I always like a blade with an upsweep on the spine for your thumb to press against. The flipper tang works fine. I love tantoes with a recurve to it. Pocket clip seems fine. I got the Sog laughing skull logo (large size) engraved on the blade & it looks great. You can just see the line showing the different layers of the San Mai steel just above the edge.

I carried this for years before it came up missing one day. I missed it enough to replace it with a new one, but the new one isn't as smooth as the one I lost. The decorative cut-outs in the blade are a bit sloppy where the old one was perfect. Could be a random fluke. Otherwise the materials are still the same high quality and the handle is firm in hand and isn't slipping anywhere. People continue to be impressed by it. It's a little heavy in the pocket and not well suited for sweat pants or gym shorts. Strong self defense option, but could be aggressive to whip out in an office to cut a stray thread.

Got this knife today and first impression was that it was a little smaller than I expected. I love the blade shape and you can clearly see the dividing boundary of the San Mai edge which comes sharp & smooth. The action & lockup are tight from the factory but should loosen up. The fit is good but after handling the current ZT's, Kizers and the Kershaws in this price range, the overall finish is a little rough. Sharp unbroken machined edges and stamped internals instead of the water jet and EDM methods of the Trendy competition. It will definitely handle any task but is not going to win any beauty contest.