SOG Creed: The Knife for the Man’s Man or His Bad A _ _ Wife!

If you love Crocodile Dundee, want a serious knife that inspires confidence, looks great on your belt, in your hand and in a show case... and has the day job of performing just about any task you could expect from a knife, axe or machete, we’re pretty sure you’ll absolutely love the SOG Creed. And your wife just might want one too!

Meet the Creed

The SOG Creed is a large, well-crafted, high performance and classy knife that has some obvious design influences borrowed from the classic Jim Bowie knives of the 1830s and the more modern versions manufactured in the past 180 years. The look of the breed comes from the large blade, cross guard / hand guard and the clip point. While the original “Bowie” knife was known as a fighting knife, the SOG Creed’s big belly design and stout front make it useful as a camp, survival and extreme hunting knife. 

Overall Construction

The blade length is 7 1/2 inches or about 19 centimeters and the overall length, from tip to butt is around 12 1/8 inches or 30.8 centimeters. My SOG Creed weighed in at 12.9 ounces or 368.5 grams. The width of the blade goes from a little over an inch wide (or 2.5 centimeters) at the cross guard up to almost an inch and a half (or 3.8 centimeters) at the widest point of the blade. And at the spine, this blade is nearly a quarter inch thick, at .24 inches or .61 centimeters.

If you look at the spine of the blade you'll see how it retains the its full thickness for nearly 7 out of it’s 7 1/2 inches of length. This knife is a beast and I can’t even imagine the force it would take to break this blade - plus, in a pinch you could flip this blade around and use the spine as a hammer.

The SOG Creed is made out of AUS 8 stainless steel and enjoys SOG's unique cryogenic heat treatment that is said to increase overall steel strength and edge retention. I have prior experience with SOG's AUS 8 steel, and in all of my testing it’s quality, heat treatment and middle-of-the-road hardness seems to make it a good choice for all-around use and abuse, corrosion resistance and for retaining an edge. The SOG Creed knife is full tang construction - which means the blade steel runs the full length of the knife through the handle, where it terminates and attaches to this classy, and surprisingly rugged pommel.

Full tang is the strongest knife construction technique and is well suited for a rugged knife like the Creed.

Blade Design

The SOG Creed has a 100% fine-edge blade and came really sharp out of the box. The Creed has a clip point. Clip point blades have the spine side of the blade “clipped” off and form a tip that is more suitable for piercing, picking and fine work than many drop point blades. Although drop point blades are typically regarded as having stronger points and being a more versatile blade the SOG Creed enjoys a straight clip which is inherently stronger and is well suited for a wider array of survival, camping and hunting tasks. This knife's big belly adds weight to the end, and makes the SOG Creed great for many camp and bushcraft tasks like chopping and batoning.

The SOG Creed does a good impression of a camp axe - And I was really surprised at how easily it chopped stuff like hardwood branches. Because of the mass and the length of the SOG Creed, it was a joy to use for batoning - in this case, I simply split some wood with it. So yeah... I pretty much beat the crap out of this knife and I don’t even think it felt it and through it all, the Creed retained a really sharp edge.

And once I cleaned all the crud and sap off I was pleasantly surprised at how it looked like I barely touched it. One more thing. Although the SOG Creed is pretty massive knife it’s also suitable for up close and fine camp and survival tasks like slicing and skinning. And if you need to crack open a can in a pinch - the SOG Creed has you covered.  

The Handle

The handle has a total length of about 4 inches (or 10.2 centimeters) and should be suitable for all but the very largest of hands. Now the grip of this knife is made out of what SOG calls Kraton. It’s basically a rubberized, over-molded and very grippy material that has a raised cross hatch pattern on the sides and a lateral pattern on the top and bottom to help you hold on in changing weather conditions.

On the bottom of the handle there are nice finger cut-outs to improve grip and comfort and between the blade and the hilt (which is the entire handle section of the knife) there is a VERY nice, stout and solid stainless steel cross guard which is designed to protect the hand in a fight and also keep your hand from sliding onto the blade.

I think just for style, SOG included two white bands across the handle. They serve no functional purpose as far as I can tell but do add to the collector quality of this blade.  

The Pommel

On the butt end of the handle, you'll see a solid, stainless steel pommel that matches the cross guard in ruggedness and style. The pommel of the Creed is fastened to the tang of the knife and is suitable for breaking, cracking and smashing things... And for more style points, the pommel is fastened onto the knife tang using a cool screw fastener that has the look of a bullet primer.  

The Sheath

The SOG Creed sheath is made of thick black leather that seems to be good quality. The sheath is held together with heavy stitching and 3 rivets in key stress points. The Creed goes into its sheath only one way... and is held in place with a leather strap and snap. Although the sheath is a very nice fit for the bottom of the knife the opening of the sheath had to be cut so the thicker 1 1/2 inch blade belly would fit in it. This leaves a bit of play at the top of the sheath for the thinner, 1 inch wide blade steel near the handle, to shift around a bit when you carry it, which makes it possible for the knife to come out of the sheath even when the leather handle strap is secured.

I'm pretty sure if you loose your SOG Creed in the woods, you are going to be very sad. And you might even cry. So be careful. Now, at the bottom of the sheath there's a lanyard hole and at the top you'll notice a nice-sized loop to accommodate belts up to about 2 1/2 inches wide. This is a handsome, manly knife and sheath package that you’ll be proud to wear unless you’re a girl although my wife thinks it’s cool too.  

Owner Comments

There is no question at all - Owners who pull the trigger on this knife have no regrets. Once they save their pennies and get over the sticker shock of around $150 U.S., many comment on how the Creed is the toughest, most useful knife they own. Many comment on the great comfort of the handle and balance of the knife, the excellent steel and this knife’s ability to hold a sharp edge.

Our Rating  

We rate the SOG Creed knife at 4.5 out of 5 stars as a serious, back-county knife for its thoughtful design, materials, fit and finish, beauty and its overall usefulness and tough build. Holding this knife just inspires confidence so be careful of its enchanting power.

The only knock we have on this knife package has to do with the handle end of the knife shifting around in the sheath. This makes it possible for the knife to come out of the sheath even when the leather handle strap is secured.  

Even though it’s not probable that your knife is going to come out of this sheath in the back country, due to it’s weight, it is possible. But honestly, the biggest problem you are going to have with this knife is actually bringing yourself to use it. It's  designed for hard use, yet it has the beauty and mystique of a collectible.

So who is this knife for?

Make no mistake, the SOG Creed is a serious, large and formidable all-purpose knife knife for camping, fishing, backpacking, extreme survival and hunting, batoning, self-defense and for those who want to impress their friends and scare away their enemies. It's a great knife to keep in any emergency kit.

~David

My wife, however, is sold on the SOG Creed. I have to hide it or I might lose it forever!