The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

“Stay ‘unreasonable.’  If you
don’t like the solutions [available to you], come up with your
own.” 
Dan Webre

The Martialist does not
constitute legal advice.  It is for ENTERTAINMENT
PURPOSES ONLY.

Copyright © 2003-2004 Phil Elmore, all rights
reserved.

SOG Pentagon

A Review by Phil Elmore

The author’s SOG Pentagon was a faithful self-defense
companion this winter.

Blades from
SOG Specialty Knives
show up in movies from time to time – usually making quite an impression. 
I’ve been told that a poster of Uma Thurman in
Kill Bill, Sog Desert
Dagger sheathed on her leg, hangs in  SOG’s offices.  If I’m not
mistaken, a knife-throwing villain in Brandon Lee’s
The Crow
wields several SOG Government blades, while a serial killer uses a SOG
Pentagon in the Morgan Freeman thriller
Kiss the Girls.

Appearing in a movie, of course, doesn’t make a knife any
better (or worse) than if it remains “undiscovered” by Hollywood. 
Jean-Claude Van Damme used the Gil Hibben Double Shadow in
Timecop,
but that doesn’t make the knife a better fighter.  (It is, in fact, a
fantasy blade.)  The
Rambo films
made hollow-handle survival knives all the rage, but are they really any
better than full-tang fixed-blades?  Still, when good hardware plays
supporting roles or makes cameos in feature films, this helps bring certain
knives to the public’s conscious attention (with mixed socio-political
results.)  It was, I think, while watching Kiss the Girls that I
first thought to myself, “I think I want one of those Pentagons.”

The Pentagon, at the time, was sold with a leather sheath. 
This has since been replaced with a Kydex “jump qualified sheath” as a nod to
the “tactical” market.  Regardless of sheath, the Pentagon concept
remains unchanged.  It is a guardless, double-edged fighter with
aggressive serrations on one side.

The Pentagon’s blade is sharp on one side – and
really sharp on the other.

As a testament to just how wickedly sharp a knife can be,
the Pentagon’s needle-tipped AUS-6 spear-point blade stands a few inches apart
from other double-edged fighters.  The five-inch blade was extremely
well-honed out of the box, both on its plain side and on the
combination-pattern serrated side.  It slashes with devastating power,
the serrations grabbing and clawing through cloth, plastic, and cardboard. 
It also penetrates with authority and pierced many layers of my stacked
cardboard tester.

The Pentagon cut
deeply into stacked cardboard and resharpened easily.

Either from the factory or during my testing, the fine tip
of my Pentagon became bent.  It was not noticeable except on close
examination, as it was more like a “rolled edge” than a true bend in the
metal.  I used a flat diamond pad to remove it and the tip was sharper
than ever when I was finished.

The Pentagon, while a fighter, is also a good utility
cutter.

Ostensibly, the Pentagon has a “guard” of stainless steel,
but the metal collar provides no real protection for the hand.  I
typically fret more over guardless knives because I am afraid of injuring
myself with my own blade – but the Pentagon’s design helps allay my fears. 
The handle swells to the collar, which helps a little, but its best feature is
the soft, checkered polymer that comprises its surface.  It provides
excellent traction and makes the knife easy to manipulate.  The rounded
pommel (which has a lanyard hole) makes for comfortable “feeding” and
“capping” of the knife.

The Pentagon moves very well.  It jumps through the air
and feels very nimble.  Thanks to the traction afforded by the polymer
handle, I can flip the knife over and over again in my hand, reversing and
spinning it with ease.

The Pentagon is a pleasure to wield.  It moves
quickly and easily and feels very secure.

The “tactical” sheath shipped with the Pentagon will not
please everyone, though it has been engineered to do just that.  It has a
“boot/belt clip,” which could be used to carry the sheath
inside the waistband, but the portion
of the sheath that extends to cover the handle makes this uncomfortable and
inconvenient.  As a basic belt sheath it works fine (though I wish the
plastic buckle on the belt loop was removable) and it would probably be
suitable for a variety of applications strapped to shoulder straps or pack
rigging.  I see the Pentagon, however, as a personal defense blade. As
such I needed a sheath more in keeping with this application.

The factory Kydex sheath has a strap, a clip, holes,
and slots.

I would prefer to remove the plastic buckle on the
belt loop.
The loop itself has snap closures for quick removal from the belt.

Robert Humelbaugh of
Survival Sheath
Systems solved the problem for me, as he so often does for those seeking
top-notch carry options for their gear. I had him make
one of his basic Tek-Lok equipped belt sheaths for my Pentagon.  While
it, like the factory Kydex sheath, makes a rasping click when the knife is
removed, it is a superb all-around concealment sheath if you regularly wear a
belt (or any other article of clothing to which a a Tek-Lok can be attached). 
I wore the Pentagon on my beltline in Bob’s sheath under both my winter duster
and a lighter bomber jacket.  It concealed well, was very comfortable,
and provided me with quick access to this excellent fighting blade.

Survival Sheath Tek-Lock equipped rig is great for
belt carry under a jacket.
It has no retention straps.  Just index and draw – you’re ready to go.

There’s little more to say about the Pentagon, in my mind. 
It’s a simple knife with a simple mission, well-executed and streamlined. 
It handles well, carries nicely (either in its factory sheath for belt and
pack carry or in its Survival Sheath aftermarket rig), and cuts viciously. 
I think the pictures I’ve shared here do it more justice than my words. 
I love this little knife and carry it often, feeling quite prepared for
adversity when I do so.

The SOG Pentagon is five sides of the same
coin – all of them sharp.