Watch: History of SOG Knives

In 1964, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) was formed to carry out unconventional operations. The strategic reconnaissance and clandestine missions were designed to secretly carry the fight to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in order to dissuade them from supporting the Viet Cong insurgency in South Vietnam. The nature of the missions required that SOG operatives were often behind enemy lines for long amounts of time. The original SOG knife was designed by Ben Baker, the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Counterinsurgency Support Office.

In the Fall 1991 edition of Fighting Knives, Ben Baker explained that SOG purchased 1,200 sterile knives with 6-inch blades and black sheathes. For their cross-border operations, capture by enemy forces was a likely outcome, which may explain why the original SOG knife had no external markings to give proof of origin. In 1986, Spencer Frazer founded SOG Specialty Knives with his recreation of the original SOG knife. Over time, they have expanded their product lines to make sure that there is a tool for everyone, regardless of their occupation or hobby. I personally carried the SOG Bowie 2.0 in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Unfortunately, I lost my cherished knife as it was sent to low earth orbit during an IED attack on my vehicle. Up to that point, the fixed-blade knife was one of the most used and trusted items on my kit.