SOG Recondo FX Black Fixed Blade 18

SOG Recondo FX Blackout Fixed. An excellent light Duty/Tactical knife. Clip point Cryo 440 Tini coated steel. Razor sharp blade and point. Impressive grind and finish. Great shape, contouring and grip on the rubberised handle. Substantial jimping runs along handle and blade. Full tang with lanyard hole. It's just a stunning piece of kit! SOG has also produced a fantastic moulded Kydex sheath. Ambidextrous. Also has tension sliders to secure the knife as required/necessary for the job. Nice touches! Comes with a drop loop and their UMS(universal mount system)clip gives multi position/carry options on person or kit. SOG has pretty much thought of everything. What an awesome bit of kit. Looks the part and backs up the looks with how well it works and how well made the whole thing is. Absolute quality!!..Hugely impressed! HH knock it out of the park repeatedly!

Let's start with the sheath. I was really impressed just how versatile and useable it is. I can comment that unlike some you-tube reviews about the sheath design and tension adjustment, I've not encountered these issues and the backplate doesn't need removing to use the tension adjustment. I was intrigued about Sog's steel selection and hopefully the 440C will provide a greater degree of corrosion resistance than similar, size and shaped 1095 knives - I'm in a constant battle living in a damp, salty climate. Came sharp out the box so haven't yet assessed ease of sharpening or edge retention. The knife itself is very light and comfortable to hold in both an open and reverse grip and to interchange between grips. The design is clearly tactical with professional use in mind and will slash and pierce with no issue. There are reviews that caution about how thin the blade tapers and that it won't withstand survival or bushcraft tasks, I'm not sure this is actually the case but it is probably more down to selecting the right tool for the job and there are knives better designed for these tasks. Without any evidence, yet, opinion based only, I would summise if this is the only Blade you had, you could get by. The closest comparison I can think of is the Gerber Strongarm. Owning both , aesthetically I prefer the profile of the Recondo and the grip suits me better. Both have excellent sheaths. Both have almost the same thickness spine prior to the taper of the point. 420HC vs 440C - open for debate?