How Good Is The Sog Seal Pup Elite As A Combat Knife, Survival, And Tool? Mostly Combat…?
Sugestions for other combat knives will help too…
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Knives in general are not good for combat; they have very limited reach and inflict mostly fatal wounds. They are not defensive weapon; they are an offensive weapon (in other words, if you are attacked, a knife is a poor choice of defence, but are an… effective, shall we say, choice for killing an unarmed person) which I certainly hope is not what you want.
If you are talking in a defensive roll, pepper spray, ASP style batons & tasers are all a better choice, having more range and non-lethal properties.
If you are talking in terms of military then knives are practically never used as weapons. They have main weapons, side arms, explosives, artillery, air support, and a multitude of other weapons that are much more effective. You would ideally neutralize your enemy long before you ever got close enough to use your knife. It may happen occasionally, but if you’re at the point where you HAVE to use a knife as a weapon, then it really doesn’t matter how big or what style it is; anything will do the job.
As a survival/camp knife it would be OK, but not ideal. These style of knives are made for opening crates, digging holes, hammering in pegs, cutting rope/webbing/cord, splitting wood and other tasks found around an army camp. They’re made to be abused by soldiers; they’re not really designed for things like food preparation, wood carving/shaping, animal skinning, and other fine cutting details that you’d want from a ‘civilian’ camp/survival knife. If you could only have 1 cutting tool to cover all the bases I’d get a RAT RC-6. It’s large enough to chop, without being too large for detailed work. It’s thick enough for splitting wood, without being too thick for food prep. It’s an incredibly strong knife with a “if you break it, we’ll send you another” lifetime warranty.
If you could have more than one, I’d take a RAT RC-4 or a Fallkniven F1, plus a small axe and/or saw. That should cover all your bases and give better results, at the cost of added weight.
Short answer is that it’s not that good as one, do it all tool. It’s rather short, blade geometry is not optimal for the uses you described.
Guerrilla Sauce was correct in his assessment of combat knives. You don’t use them to fight enemies, but mainly for pretty rough use, which might include prying, chopping and other heavy duty works.
As such, seal pup isn’t the best choice. AUS-8 steel used in it isn’t the best choice either. Hardened at 57-58 HRC it is an ok choice at best. It wont hold the edge as long as other other, better combat knives. That steel, especially at that hardness is pretty tough, but again, in such a short knife toughness isn’t very critical, because it’s not likely you can chop with it real hard.
The tip of the knife is also fairly delicate. It’s good for stabbing and delicate works, but those aren’t qualities you’re looking for in a survival knife.
One more thing if you are in US service and gonna be deployed it’s unlikely that you will be using that knife or any other.After exchanging numerous emails with US servicemen in various branches regarding knives, as far as I can tell pretty much nobody is using their own knife. You get issued standard bayonet and that’s your primary knife. Good folder is a welcomed complement.
Although, I know quite a few guys who use their Busses and Swamp Rats while in service.
For the other suggestions. For starters if you want one more or less universal knife then you’d need to go with something bigger – 7″ or more.
Jerry Busse makes exceptional combat knives with his proprietary INFI steel, but those are relatively expensive and pretty hard to get, but he offers discounts and priority service for active duty personnel.
INFI steel performance for hard use combat knives is extremely good.
Swamp Rat knives is very reasonably priced alternative to Busse line. SR-101 steel is modified 52100 steel and offers excellent price/performance value.
If you insist on SOG, they used ot make X42 Field knife out of BG-42 steel. It’s a lot more utility/field knife than the seal pup and better steel as well.
Strider makes good combat knives, sadly mainly with paracord handles, you’d have to hunt for G-10 handled knives, if you don’t like paracord.
Benchmade also makes some good and not too expensive field/combat knives.
Fallknives is also good choice, especially A1 for the survival/combat use.
There’s 50+ combat/field/survival knife reviews here – http://www.zknives.com/knives/fixed/inde…
Including Busses, Swamp Rats, Strider, Chris Reeve and others including relevant links.
Bunch of folders here – http://www.zknives.com/knives/folding/in…
I use to do alot fo knife throwing and I always liked k-bar’s. They are serrated at the bottom so you can cut things like rope with them and there sharp and sturdy. Most importantly there not that expensive. I like tanto blades best. Also cold steel makes some good knives but they wil cost you an arm and a leg.