SOS Knives Black OTF Knife, Satin Drop Point Blade

So far I'm quite pleased with this little guy. D2 blade steel, mine arrived quite sharp, and the fit and finish are, in a word, outstanding, especially when you consider the price point. The knife is plain, the housing appears to be anodized aluminum. The sides are smooth and almost slippery. As you can see in the photo, there is some jimping on the bottom of the case to help with gripping the knife. The deployment action is somewhat stiff and the blade shoots out with authority and a nice, healthy snap. There is virtually no blade play or slop, so time was spent making this blade fit in the housing. The only reason I am giving this a 4 star instead of 5 is the lack of grip area on the sides of the case, it can be on the slippery side. In all other aspects the knife earns a 5. Very pleasing, great value.

After taking this knife apart, cleaning it, and lubricating it, I’m submitting this review as an edit to my previous review, in which I gave this knife 4 stars. I gave this knife four stars because it came stiff and greasy and would like to retract this statement. Yes there was grease on the button track and in places on the knife, but that is completely understandable as the manufacturer would want to keep the knife lubricated while in storage, and grease is great for that. Also, in regards to the “stiffness” or difficulty opening, this is my first otf, so I didn’t realize that stiffness is a good thing with OTFs as it is a measure of safety against accidental deployment. Yes the action is a bit hard to open, but when it does, it is a very short switch throw and rapid response. It’s incredible. The return is just as snappy. The movement of the blade itself and the button are not at all ‘stiff’, everything moves smoothly on track. The switch just requires some oomph to fire, but it isn’t much. The knife is far easier to disassemble and reassemble than I imagined it would be, with my only hiccup being that I needed to learn that the spring is directional in terms of how you put it in. It has bent tabs on either end, one short and one long, that latch onto the slide plate. I didn’t realize that the short end goes on the front of the plate, and the long on the rear. Also, though it may seem counterintuitive, you can’t have the blade locked back when assembling, it needs to float about halfway along the length of the railing and you’ll be able to get everything back together.

I only pulled this out of the mail yesterday morning, so I honestly haven’t done much with it yet to determine a good rating, but just judging by how solid and well made it feels, as well as the responsiveness of the action, I think I’ll be very happy with this purchase as I make it my edc. My only complaint, and the reason I knocked off a star, is because the action is a bit tough on the opening, and came greasy. But it runs smooth and fast, I’ve had no hangups or misalignments or slow/failed openings, and I’ve been fidgeting with it like crazy since getting it. I’m not very knowledgeable on steels, grinds, and angles and everything, so I can’t really comment on what anyone else might say about those things not being good. It all looks good to me, and the knife does seem to have a slicy edge on it, though not as sharp as my Kizer’s in 154cm. Overall, if you are in a state that allows ownership and possession of OTF knives, and you don’t have the money for anything above $100, skip the lower end stuff like the Lightning and F-16 and just go for this. Check out Doody’s Daggers torture test on Youtube if you aren’t convinced.

Feels great, perfect size, fires like a cannon, and overall very nice OTF for the price. If the grind/fluting on my blade were better, I’d give it 5 stars. I’m disappointed that someone wasn’t paying attention to detail, because the rest of this knife is so awesome that it honestly deserves better. The fluting/grind is uneven, and it’s just sloppy work on that one detail.