Powerlock - My First SOG MT

[colinoutdoors]

After contemplating getting a SOG MT for quite a while I stumbled on a Powerlock at half price on Amazon  .  Without even taking the time to gather my thoughts it was purchased  .

It arrived on the Thursday much to my delight (and much to my disappointment on the Tuesday and Wednesday  , we all know how that is  ).



The Powerlock I purchased is model number B63L.  The sheath is made from good quality leather however the way in which its put together leaves a lot to be desired  .  I guess SOG tried to put a twist on the classic Leatherman leather sheath.  Very similar in design but SOG seem to have over complicated its simplicity by locating the rivets in a different place and adding an extra rivet at the back  .



This extra rivet holds together the overlapping leather which on inside the sheath causes a bit of an obstruction to the tool  . 



The sheath is also vastly oversized compared to the length of the Powerlock  . 




Also the length of the folds of leather is different and can easily been seen in the photo where the top two rivets are located  .



The final issue I have is when putting the sheath on a belt its very easy for the belt to end up inside the sheath through the gap between the leather  . 



I have found that the tool rides quite high on the belt as well, and as you can see from the picture its massive, I am a pretty tall chap and 6ft2 and the sheath looks huge on my belt.



These are just some thoughts and observations I have made after a couple of days.  I am very happy with my new SOG MT.   

More to follow soon...
 

[edcgear]

PL is awesom tool, and that BO looks just yumm!! 

[Gareth]

my only SOG is a PPP and I have to say I think the sheath is one of the best bits.   However having read your review and looked at your pics I quickly dug out my PPP and had a look again, basically it's exactly the same design as yours but with none of the build issues you have.  Perhaps you've just got a Friday afternoon reject.

[colinoutdoors]

Now onto the tool itself.  .



The black oxide is very good, and very even. In comparison to the MUT EOD and Gerber Flik, the Powerlock has the best BO finish I now own.  .
After playing with the tool straight out the box my hands did turn black, something I had experienced before with a Gerber Diesel, not a show stopper for me though and after a couple of days of fondling the problem is gone I am pleased to report.

Onto some of the tools, my B63 came with the V-Cutter, I usually prefer scissors but at that price I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to get my hands on a Powerlock.  The V-cutter is very sharp and my initial concern was how I would go about sharpening the tool if it got dull?  There simply doesn't look enough space to use any sharpening tool to touch it up.  After worrying about this for a while I remembered SOG sell the tools individually and all was forgiven.   .



The 1/4 socket adapter was something that has appealed to me for a while.  One of the first things I did was to get out a 1/4 socket and try it out.  Intentionally I put the hex bit in the drive that works on the Powerlock's pivot points. 



It worked great, really snug fit with the spring.  Now as for the spring, after playing about with the tool some more and upon opening the 1/4 adapter again the spring to my surprise came off the tool.  Hmm, lucky I caught sight of where the spring went.  Putting it back on I noticed it was very loose.  Its only held in with the groove on top of the adapter and the spring itself.  To remedy the looseness I took out my ALX and gently bent the spring inwards, refitted onto the adapter and all is good, however I shall be keeping my eye on this.  I also like how the adapter locks in a 90 degrees allowing for quite a bit of torque.  To use it in this fashion the pliers must remain open. 

[colinoutdoors]

my only SOG is a PPP and I have to say I think the sheath is one of the best bits.   However having read your review and looked at your pics I quickly dug out my PPP and had a look again, basically it's exactly the same design as yours but with none of the build issues you have.  Perhaps you've just got a Friday afternoon reject.

Hi Gareth, sounds like your sheath is a winner  .  I do like the overall style and the looks, the issues slightly put it on a downer for me but I shall still use it. 

[colinoutdoors]

Lets now talk about the handles of the Powerlock and the unique handle covers.



Given the Powerlock has exceptionally strong clamping power thanks to the gears its nice to have a comfortable handle.  The handle covers are indeed comfortable.  However curious as to what it would be like without them I gave it a try with the covers raised and I must say its not too uncomfortable. 



I find it very similar to the comfort level of the original Leatherman Super Tool.



And SOG have given us the option of removing them altogether if we so desire.  For me I shall be keeping them in place, in fact I haven't even attempted to remove them nor do I desire to.  One benefit of removing the handles would give you is quicker access to the tools inside the handles.

[Nikos]

I believe the bottom part of the sheath (the one that appears to be open on the sides) is for holding the SOG bit adapter. At least it is that way on my PT-540 and PL sheaths...

[colinoutdoors]

Some side by side comparisons now between the Powerlock, Super Tool 300 and SwissTool.

Closed



Pliers open



Depth

[parnass]

I presented a couple of methods of forcing sheaths to ride lower on the belt in the thread entitled "Simple adapters lets holster ride lower on belt".

[PyroJames]

congrats colin!  The powerlock was my first ever MT and I still love it. 

[macabee]

After contemplating getting a SOG MT for quite a while I stumbled on a Powerlock at half price on Amazon  .  Without even taking the time to gather my thoughts it was purchased  .

It arrived on the Thursday much to my delight (and much to my disappointment on the Tuesday and Wednesday  , we all know how that is  ).

(Image removed from quote.)

You wont go far wrong with the powerlock, the ratchet pliers are truly brilliant 

The Powerlock I purchased is model number B63L.  The sheath is made from good quality leather however the way in which its put together leaves a lot to be desired  .  I guess SOG tried to put a twist on the classic Leatherman leather sheath.  Very similar in design but SOG seem to have over complicated its simplicity by locating the rivets in a different place and adding an extra rivet at the back  .

(Image removed from quote.)

This extra rivet holds together the overlapping leather which on inside the sheath causes a bit of an obstruction to the tool  . 

(Image removed from quote.)

The sheath is also vastly oversized compared to the length of the Powerlock  . 

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

Also the length of the folds of leather is different and can easily been seen in the photo where the top two rivets are located  .

(Image removed from quote.)

The final issue I have is when putting the sheath on a belt its very easy for the belt to end up inside the sheath through the gap between the leather  . 

(Image removed from quote.)

I have found that the tool rides quite high on the belt as well, and as you can see from the picture its massive, I am a pretty tall chap and 6ft2 and the sheath looks huge on my belt.

(Image removed from quote.)

These are just some thoughts and observations I have made after a couple of days.  I am very happy with my new SOG MT.   

More to follow soon...

Congrats. A great tool

[J-sews]

Great write up and pics so far Colin. I'm looking forward to more.

Not a fan of the flappers here. The edges of the handle don't cut into my hand at all, so I generally take the gaurds right off and leave them off.

[scrappy]

Very nice photo review

[colinoutdoors]

congrats colin!  The powerlock was my first ever MT and I still love it. 

Thanks James, I am really enjoy the Powerlock so far.

I presented a couple of methods of forcing sheaths to ride lower on the belt in the thread entitled "Simple adapters lets holster ride lower on belt".

Some great ideas Parnass, something I may consider trying in future. Thanks for sharing.

Great write up and pics so far Colin. I'm looking forward to more.

Not a fan of the flappers here. The edges of the handle don't cut into my hand at all, so I generally take the gaurds right off and leave them off.

Thanks Bob. I tend to agree with you on the handles, I don't find the tool without them to be uncomfortable.  I have not tried to take them off yet though. 

Very nice photo review

Thanks Scrappy 

[colinoutdoors]

Some thoughts on using the pliers now.  One thing the Powerlock has going for it without question is the cutting power of the pliers  .  The gears gives a ratio of 2:1 I believe meaning twice the cutting power of normal pliers.  One downside to this is the fact that to achieve this the handles will open much wider than the plier head which for the user with average sized hands could mean problems  . 

Here is a look at the difference between the Powerlock and the ST300 with the pliers open at equal distance.



As you can see the ST300 is a lot more manageable with one hand.  On a positive note for the Powerlock the pliers do open quite a bit wider  .




Another thing to consider is with the use of the gears, when one handle of the SOG is opened the other moves by the same distance.  For me I like to be able to fold the pliers in one handle when using a tool for more leverage or just even when acessing the interior tools.  With the Powerlock you have to open the pliers right up to access the interior tools and of course lift up the handle covers as well whereas with a ST300 for example you can open one handle up with the pliers folded into the other handle thus having more room. 

[Argento]

As i told you already on youtube, i had the same problems with the sheath.
I ended up cutting away that flap inside and setting the push-button snap a little bit deaper on the sheath.
this way its fits very well now.
But after some weeks of edc, the leather was getting really soft and wobbly/flimsy.
so i tried a little bath of soda on it to harden it, works better, at least for the moment

don´t have a problem with it riding so high, after my mod it carries deeper anyway.
Have fun with your new tool

Best wishes
Robert

[colinoutdoors]

As i told you already on youtube, i had the same problems with the sheath.
I ended up cutting away that flap inside and setting the push-button snap a little bit deaper on the sheath.
this way its fits very well now.
But after some weeks of edc, the leather was getting really soft and wobbly/flimsy.
so i tried a little bath of soda on it to harden it, works better, at least for the moment

don´t have a problem with it riding so high, after my mod it carries deeper anyway.
Have fun with your new tool

Best wishes
Robert

Hi Robert, sounds like you have sorted your sheath out good and proper.  I don't think I have the skill to relocate the button snap.  Perhaps I shall give it a try in future. 

[Argento]

Made some pics for you guys


That shows it besides my pretty worn Leatherman Core sheath, wich i carried for 2 years everyday at work ( yes, really) 



Besides that sheath, the SOG looks really worn out, i didn´t really noticed that until i shot the pics. could be from the soda, maybe
Was definitly worth the mod i was doing, but that leather still sucks.

[colinoutdoors]

Interesting that Argento shows the SOG and Core sheaths (love the well worn look of the sheaths my friend  ), one of the things I tried was to see if the Powerlock fitted inside the Core sheath.




It actually fits very well, 'like a glove'  .

However I am always one for keeping the original sheath with the tool, and as I like the quality of leather just not the fit and finish.  I will make it work somehow.  The first thing I have done to make the tool fit better is simply to add a couple of cotton wool balls in the sheath.



This makes the tool ride higher and when the button is snapped shut it gives it a very good and tight fit.  And of course extra tinder is always good to have  .