Budget Folders: SOG Fielder Vs Leatherman Crater C33

[Leathermended It!]

I recently bought a SOG Fielder and a LM Crater to test out. They are both knives in similar categories and I thought that it would be an interesting comparison. They both run at about $18 US on Amazon and are both medium EDC knives. The Crater is made in Portland, Oregon, while the Fielder is made in China. This difference provides some allowance for different cost levels in materials. The Crater's blade steel is 420HC, harder than the Fielder's admittedly poor 7cr13mov. The thin blades on both of these knives will take a very sharp edge readily, but the Crater will stay sharp longer.

 This is slightly negated by the fact that the Fielder has a 0.7 inch longer blade than the Crater, offering more blade to use. I personally much prefer the Fielder's feel to the Crater. The Fielder feels more solid and better quality, owing to it's mostly metal construction. The fielder's deployment is much faster and smoother than the leatherman as well. It uses a ball bearing detent which aids in speed and smoothness, compared to the stamped bump used on the C33. Using this picture as a reference, you can see how the crater's internals work.

if you look midway down the handle you will see a plastic stud sticking out. This stud is designed to center the blade in the handle when closed and provide a detent. I found that the plastic stud caused scratches and rusting on the blade when it comes in contact. The Leatherman feels really plasticky in my hands and the blade lockup has a lot of wiggle in it. It did feel ergonomically shaped, however, and would be very comfortable for extended cutting.

 Even though the crater is half the weight of the SOG, it didn't ride as well in pocket because of it's poorly shaped pocket clip and wide profile. The sog's deep carry clip and thin shape made it feel excellent in pocket. One advantage of the Leatherman is it's integrated carabiner/bottle opener. This feature works great and it opens up new places to carry knives.

I would say that the Sog Fielder would really shine in a role that wouldn't dull it's cheaper blade as quickly. I found that it's long, thin blade made it excellent for food prep and letter opening. The crater's stout package makes it work better as a working knife, similar to a razor knife. I  could see it working great clipped via it's carabiner to work coveralls. Overall, I would say that the Fielder seems to be better quality, but the Leatherman makes up for it with a beefy, compact package. I know that it sounds crazy to call a Chinese made knife better than American made, but I think that cheaper blade steels on the SOG and cheaper labor costs allowed for more money to go into build quality.

[Henry]

I'll agree with you on the stout work knife comment. I've had a c33x as a beater knife that's been used constantly for over 2 years. It's the knife that pets and cuts and keeps coming back. The only thing that's broken is the carabiner, it has a small plastic piece that you push the biner down to get past, that snapped off pretty easily.

I keep it in my pocket so I don't ruin something nicer.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Thanks for the review.

There's a few SOG products I really like, but some products just look like the pimp-my-ride of the knife world!
My very first thought looking at that photo was " the bolsters are the wrong kind of shiny, and how long till that SAG badge comes loose"
 

[Grathr]

The SOG looks cheap to me. Like Gerhard said, the bolsters are the wrong kind of shiny.
Do you know if it comes in other handle colors/materials?




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[Higgins617]

The SOG looks cheap to me. Like Gerhard said, the bolsters are the wrong kind of shiny.
Do you know if it comes in other handle colors/materials?




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It does, or did. I have one with wooden inserts, and one with black frn with no sog emblem in it. Frankly I think they're pretty good for the money