Awesome folder. Comes razor sharp, glass breaker always comes in handy

Another great buy from TA. Knife came as expected from several reviews I've seen on YT.

SOG never fails to bring me joy everytime i buy their knives and tools! No matter how much criticism they get, they were one of the first knife companies to really strike it out in the heydays of US-made tactical knives. I now add this Seal XR to the Bowie 2. 0, kKku, Twitch, Fast-hawk, and Power Access in my SOG collection, along with my Benchmade collection and one Cold Steel Recon 1.

This Seal XR knife, although proclaimed beefy and overly huge in other reviews, is actually a manageable size if you already are used to full size folders like the Benchmade Barrage or Cold Steel Recon 1 I have the luxury of comparing it with. I could see why it would be a "harder" use folder with the huge lockbars. I know the jimping will hurt but I bought it anyway despite it. It is indeed very aggressive. It is indeed bulky in the pocket and indeed the carry is shallow due to how the pocket clip is designed integral to the strike pommel.

What I'm surprised about is the amount of initial lock "stick". A day now into owning it, flicking it a few times, and putting victorinox multi tool oil into the pivots and lock bar surfaces, and a drop of shoei silicone oil also into the plastic lock mechanism, it is still a tad bit sticky to operate. Though much better than the factory new condition. I expect it to be smoother once the surfaces properly bed in.

I am familiar with the S35VN and boy the premium SOG products really come in sharp from the box! The Seal XR is really a mix of good and bad features, but one thing you can say about SOG is they rarely come up with bland designs. Always something new or quirky about them and that's part of the appeal! The feel of the handle scales for instance, yes they say it is "only" FRN but it feels nothing like it. In hand it is very close to an aggressive G10 feel. Very cool knife. It really comes into its own when you use it with gloves, very positive grip with both my Mechanix and Revit work and riding gloves.

So yeah. Nothing here that you don't already know. If you are planning to purchase it is quite a nice big folder to add to your collection. Go ahead if you can afford the SOG price tag, their nice ones are always more expensive than the competition, but the quirk and cool factor you get with SOG's is always there after buying and it's worth it. Either that, or the knife brand isn't for you (and an automatic AVOID).