SOG Sogfari 13" or 18" Stainless Steel Survival Machete Knives | Saw on The Back of The Blade, Textured Handle, Nylon Sheath

The SOG 18" machete exceded all of my expectations. Its factory edge was very sharp, but not razor. (When i say very sharp, i mean REALLY sharp, just not the sharpest possible.) When i took it out of the package i had the immediate desire to test it out. It shred the card board bow to pieces. However i may also add that it is not of entire importance for a machete to be RAZOR sharp. other SOG products that i have purchased were sharper with the factory edge, perhaps with the price difference and the purpose of the item. I slightly ajusted the edge with one of those small yellow smiths brand sharpeners (can be found at walmart for about $3 dollars,) on the ceramic side, and its razor sharp now. I dont completely recomend using the same sharpener only becuase its quite cheap, and sog knives should all be professionaly sharpened, becuase of the price.. but me being the person that i am, i am too impatient to send it in and wait for it to come back, or even spend the extra bills when i could be saving those on a new edition to my collection. A razor edge is my prefrence for all my knives. all of the SOG products i have purchased are Magnificent in quality and never let me down. Honestly, before you leave to look at cheaper products so you can buy more for your money, WAIT. I just want to tell you that cheap generic or poorly made knives are NOT worth it. If you dont have enough money for a better product from companies like Benchmade, SOG, Spyderco, Ontario Knife Company, or Kershaw, then dont waste your money on something that will dull or be damaged very quickly. Better knives are worth the extra money and the difference is an inevitable experince. Trust me on this one. If youre really anxious, and just need to buy something because your money is burning a hole in your pocket, purchase a good gerber knife. Still a higher quality knife company, but it saves you a lot of money and it is a good start if you like to collect knives and such like i do.

I wanted a machete suitable for clearing overgrown trails when hiking and for general use when camping. This one is just what I hoped it would be and has been excellent. The price was comparable to a similar one from Gerber but the SOG looks way cooler. It arrived in a study plastic blister pack. The knife and handle appear well constructed. The blade came very sharp. The sheath seems like an after thought. The sheath and knife fit nicely in my daypack. On the trail, the machete worked as expected. It cut through overgrown brush with ease. With a whack or two, it cut through tree branches 1 - 2 inches. The rubberized handle is very comfortable and easy to hang on to despite heavy forces. The saw is serviceable in a pinch but stay focused on keeping your hand on the handle. If (due to sweat or rain) your hand slips off the handle when pushing to saw, you could have a major injury. The generous 18" size and sharp tip will also help you feel like you have some good personal protection. SOG makes very cool knifes and this machete ([...]) is no exception. You join the "cool kids" at camp when you come with this one. Buy it!

Just purchased this machete, and at 1st impression, I like it. I own other SOG knives and love them (PUP). Very good quality knives IMHO. This machete doesn't equal my other SOGs IMO, but it didn't cost as much either. For the money, I think it is a very good buy in it's price point. It is sharp out of the box, but I took a couple swipes at it with a diamond fine stone and in a few seconds, got it even sharper. Yes, I have seen some of the video reviews that resulted in chunks, and bends of the edge. However, all those were chopping freaking trees down with it. Way over what a machete is designed for. They are designed to clear brush and weeds (small under 1" diameter branches maybe). If you want to chop trees down, maybe buy a hatchet per it's design for that, and not judge a machete against an hatchet's purpose? I think this will serve me just fine. The handle shape if fine, but as stated in other reviews, a bit thin for my hands. But I wrapped it in para-cord, and that thickened up the blade and fits just fine in my hand, and provided a better grip, along with a wrist lanyard. Is this the best machete? Probably not. There are probably much better ones at much more cost, but for under $20, I think this may be the best in it's price point. I will add to this review after some use. But I don't think you can go wrong for a low cost utility blade.

I have read alot of bad reviews about this machete and can only assume either a bad series of them that came out or people who don't have the hand strength to hold it right. I took this machete into the woods along with my father, brother and a few friends who were all toting chainsaws. We were clearing lanes for deer hunting, and by the end of it, they were all prepped to order this machete. This thing is light and incredibly strong, and has a comfortable handle that provides for great grip even at the end of a long day. Though, I would have to agree that the sheath leaves something to be desired. I've cleared entire sections of our 120+ acre property with this machete alone, having only to yield to the chainsaws on really big stuff(4+ inches). I have used it through 2 separate 2 day sessions swinging this thing for 6+ hours a day, and I am not dissapointed. I cut down what amounts to hundreds of saplings and limbed hundreds of more old-growth trees. I have just purchased another one as well as the 13" version and will leave both with my sister, who lives full-time on the property, because she was in awe at the efficiency at which I could clear trails and lanes. On the first day of use, in an attempt to take down a large tree at the base, I did manage to put a slight bend\nick in the blade face, because I didn't swing hard enough to make it through in the first hit, and I came through at a strange angle. Two minutes with a hammer and concrete garage floor fixed that, and I haven't had another issue since. This will be a permanent addition to my woodland toolbox. Now I just lash it to my ATV any time I'm out in the woods.

Sharp concave ground blade. Reasonable Tang depth into the grippy, medium sized handle. Saw back does a very good job and is quite sharp. Packs well alongside or inside a day pack with a little lashing work. The two holes in the front of the handle would allow you to lash this onto a 2-3 ft stick for better reach and force when needed in the field. Rubberized handle is comfortable and does a good job of staying in your hand with a full swing and reducing impact injury. Only downside I found was the steel insert in the base/bottom of the handle are sharp teeth... maybe good for combatives with zombies, but not for use as a hammer, and might cause yourself scraps and cuts that could become hazardous when in the field, especially in a survival situation. I'd suggest dremmling or filing this down a bit if you will be using this primarily as a camp/survival tool. The case is a low-medium quality/design solution: foam padded nylon cover, plastic insert for saw top, velcro closure around handle (marginal security), no drainhole, belt loop is soft nylon with a single stitch line on each side (likely to break under heavy field conditions). If you want to "ranger" this out, I'd suggest you restitch or replace the belt loop, drill a few drain holes, sew on a good nylon strap/snap solution for retention, and wrap the whole thing in your favorite color of 550 Cord and/or duct tape and create a few much need lashing points. Since cases are so critical for serious field work, I'd pay just as much for a well designed, milpsec Kydex sheath as I did for the machete (hint, hint SOG!)

This is an impressive blade. I have some nasty blackberries to knock down. Now I have the tool to do it. The machete arrived in retail bubble wrap, blade and case side by side in the hard plastic package. On opening the packaging, I confirmed that the black metal blade was sharp. Razor sharp in 2 regions, sharp in 2 and 4. The blade is full tang inside a nicely crafted molded hard plastic grip. The balance is excellent, about 4" in front of the handle as center. It swings easily and the grip on the handle is firm. The saw tooth side is sharpened, and comes with a (packaging) blade cover on the saw tooth side. I plan to keep it for covering the saw side when not in use., and during arm landing in MA. The nylon case is adequate, I will find some other belt attachment system if I need to carry it. I rate this blade 9 /10 - Buy it. Old hater quotes are from early production runs. I can smell that the metallurgy is good... joking a little... Semper Fi p.s. - honest non sponsored review

Textured plastic grip fits nicely in the hand. If its rubber, it's really hard. Nice nub at the butt of the handle to prevent sweaty hands from slipping off. Looks exactly as pictured. Perfect for trimming my banana plants and knocking off suckers. It does not have the hard case as described, but a better quality heavy duty semi-rigid sewn case with Rivets along the edge to prevent the blade from cutting through. Much better than a hard plastic case. The saw edge is the standard profile, cutting in the pull direction. Wish it was the Japanese cross cut style, but then the teeth would not be as rugged. The saw works in a pinch, but much prefer trimmer saws. Much better than my Harbor Freight machete.

I got what I paid for. this full tang machete is basically what its made to do and that is for delimbing branches and small trees, not for chopping or splitting wood. the blade on it is pretty sharp out of the box, and maintained that edge well when i used it. so far the paint has not faded or scuffed while in use. the handle is made of rubber and feels great on the naked hand, and also absorbed the vibrations when chopping. the saw on the other hand seems more of a cosmetic or a "tacti-cool" feature because of the way the handle is molded to fit more for cutting. the "blades" of the saw is angled towards you so it only cuts on the back draw of your cutting motion and also doesn't dig into the wood because the edge is only 1/4 of an inch. the pommel serrations also seem more of a cosmetic feature. the sheath in my opinion is junk. the belt loop stitching is already fraying before it was even out of the packaging and feels like it would snap just by the tension of the machete in the sheath. the interior has a plastic cover to protect the nylon from fraying and reminds me of the of the cheap santa suit plastic belts. but all in all i'm happy with my purchase.