SOG Turns 30: Marks Anniversary With Special Editions

It has been 30 years since SOG Knives and Tools began in Spencer Frazer’s Santa Monica apartment. Inspired by a rare Japanese Bowie Knife originally designed for an American special forces unit S.O.G. (the Studies and Observation Group), Frazer sold his replicas of the knife from an ad in Soldier of Fortune Magazine.  “It’s amazing to see how SOG has grown from its humble start 30 years ago,” says Frazer. “My goal in the beginning was simply to produce quality products that honored their military history.”

Frazer is a modern-day renaissance man with interests and a skill set as broad as SOG’s product line. A math and science major at UCLA, he founded a professional audio company just out of college. Later, he worked in the aerospace defense industry as a tool & die maker, doing research and development on Top Secret ‘Black’ Projects. “I saw things there I still can’t talk about,” recalls Frazer. He is also a visual artist, who paints dreamlike landscapes in oils. Currently, he is the artist in residence at Artsfund, “one of the leading art organizations in the Northwest,” according to his website. And somehow, alongside his many passions, he built SOG into one of the largest knife and tool companies in the world.

To celebrate the anniversary of its modest start in 1986, SOG is releasing limited run, special editions of two of their most popular knives: the Trident folder and the Tech Bowie fixed blade. The Tech Bowie is something of an updated version of those first SOG Bowie knives, with a modern Kraton rubber handle. The Trident, which SOG has been making since 1989, is a 3.75” folder with a notch in the handle that allows the blade to function as a seat-belt cutter when closed. “The Tech Bowie and Trident have consistently been among our most popular knives,” says Nando Zucchi, SOG’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “It makes sense to put this anniversary twist on two of our exemplary favorites.”

SOG Trident 30th Anniversary Edition

The special edition knives will both feature a tiger stripe camouflage pattern on the blades, “an homage to the camouflage pattern used by the MACV­SOG group,” according to SOG. It’s not simply a blade coating; the pattern is both etched and engraved into the blades, along with the current and original SOG logos. Each knife will be manufactured in a numbered run of 300 pieces, and comes in a wood presentation/display box with commemorative patch, challenge coin, and certificate signed by SOG founder Spencer Frazer.

SOG Tech Bowie 30th Anniversary Edition

As SOG salutes three decades of making knives and tools, Frazer looks back with gratitude at the company he helped build. “I never would have dreamt that SOG would become what it is today:­ a brand synonymous with high end men’s gear and distributed throughout the world. It’s thanks to our customers that made this possible.”

Knife featured in image: SOG Tech Bowie 30th Anniversary Edition