Customer Rating:  
Summary: excellent knife for the price
Comment: Knife came sharp and well made. The assisted action is easy and quick. The blade lock is solid yet easy to disengage. The clip design looks like it will not loosen with wear like many clips. The steel used is a good general knife steel, but I would like to see it with a newer steel such as 154CM, S30V, or VG10.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Poor handle material for the SOG FSA-8 Flash 11
Comment: Poor handle material for the SOG FSA-8 Flash 11.....
...I've had this knife clipped on my pocket for just one week, and all ready I see a problem that's only going to get worse, just from sitting down and standing up with this knife clipped to my right front pocket... SOG has the best design for a pocket clip that I have ever come across, but the handle material on this model just doesn't hold up...The pocket clip is designed so that the knife will sit way down in your pocket and the handle of the knife doesn't stick up at all, which is absolutely great, but that design also puts a good amount of stress on the area where the pocket clip comes out of the handle area, and at that slot in the handle where the pocket clip comes out of the handle, I see the slot on where the clip comes out, becoming elongated and the pocket clip becoming very loose and sloppy...I feel that it won't be long before the handle material will have such a large slot in it, at the pocket clip entrance, that the clip will no longer be a part of the knife and the handle will most definitely be damaged. All this is with normal every day carrying of this model knife in my pocket for just one week. The handle material is just not strong enough to stand up to the normal stress that a pocket clip puts on the knife handle material. Other than that, this is a great EDC knife (every day carry)...
Customer Rating:
Summary: A plain and trust-worthy EDC utility knife with possibilities
Comment: I own a copy of the Flash II. I would give it five stars as a utility knife, three stars as a defense backup, and five stars for every-day carry. Allow me to share my experience.
The knife has great quality for its Amazon price. This means factory sharp is respectable, edge retention is good, sharpening is easy (for plain edge version), and grip is good. Please do not compare $50 knives against $250 knives.
This is a great folding knife. The safety switch is a plus for me because I have kids. It's good to know that when my kids grabbed my knife (it fell to the floor when I fumbled), they could not open it until I choose to teach them about the safety.
The one-handed opening design called Assisted Opening works well. It really is a pleasure to open and close as advertised. But it's not as slick as my Kershaw Blur. The Flash II is fast, but not lightening fast. The locking mechanism is sturdy. Not as fancy as the Arc-lock on my $100 Benchmade.
The Flash II is a great carry knife. It is light weight (about 3.1 oz for zytel handle version), rides deep in the pocket (thanks to the clip design), and has a safety switch to prevent accidental opening. The plastic (excuse me, Zytel) handle is very light because SOG did not reinforce it with metal insert. So expect more play in the knife even after tightening the main screw - it's just the flex from the handle.
This is not a strong fighting knife. The blade is thicker than, say, a Kershaw Leek or Onion but is not meant for hacking similar to say a cleaver. The blade is short for a fighter at only 3 1/2 inches.
But this can be better than most pocket knives if you ever have to cover your retreat with a backup knife. (if this happens, you are in deep doodoo anyways). That's because of the grip design and blade design. The grip shape is better at preventing your hand from sliding onto the blade in a thrust. The blade is sturdier and longer than most pocket knives. So in a pinch, I'd rather have a Flash II over a leek or a blur.
The utility has been great over the past five years that I've owned my copy. The factory edge stayed sharp for more than a year while regularly used to cut up cardboard boxes. Sharp as in opening envelops with little resistance or ragged paper edge. I know I'm not supposed to use a knife as a prier but my Flash II withstood the occasional gardening abuse.
I whole heartedly recommend this knife for every-day-carry utility.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very nice knife
Comment: I have had small pocket knives, but I wanted to buy a larger knife that was lightweight yet sturdy, sharp, and sexy... The S.O.G. Flash II is all of these things. I looked at knives from a lot of manufacturers, but this one consistently got good reviews from buyers. For what it is it is absolutely amazing. Yes, it's probably not as strong as even heavier knives, but that's kind of obvious isn't it. People have complained about the zytel handle not being sturdy but that's baloney. The handle is very sturdy and is what makes it so light. The Blade is absolutely gorgeous. Most much more expensive knives than this don't have blades this good looking or sharp. It's got a point like a needle and a solid flat grind so you can slice anything straight through. I've had this knife a few days and attacked some wood with it to see how it stood up. I drove the point in and twisted and slashed a lot and it did absolutely nothing to the blade or blade tip. I considered it long and hard, but if you do get this knife I would go with the straight edge. The serrations just don't seem that useful and trust me this knife is sharp enough that you don't need them. Sharpening it should be easy in the future too if you get the straight edge blade. Opening the knife is so much fun and makes a nice snapping noise. If you flick this open in a dark alley a "robber" would know you don't want to be #%&%#@ with.
This knife may not have the absolute strongest materials, but let me make it clear that this is a very sturdy knife. I definitely feel like this is worth the ~45 dollars I paid for it. For people who have complained about the materials get something bigger and heavier. I think a good way to talk about this knife is to compare it to bullets: A .50 caliber bullet might be powerful, but it's not like I'd rather get shot with a 9mm. The sog flash II is a very sleek, ergonomic 9mm bullet :)
If you want the sog flash II a little more sturdy I guess get the aluminum handle version. However, that will add more weight (~1oz I think) and I wasn't able to find it in a straight edge. Honestly this knife seems very strong so I'd just get the zytel handle. Oh, and the flash 2 has a nice lock (I like it at least) so when it's just laying around and you absolutely don't want it to open it won't.
Customer Rating:
Summary: excellent
Comment: Very sharp, very easy to use and good design, the safety lock and assisted opening system is what makes this knife special.
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