The Ubiquitous Chinese SOG Toolclip knockoffs: Many Models Reviewed

ThePeacent · **Reply #150 on:** July 31, 2018, 02:47:22 PM

Quote from: gerleatherberman on July 31, 2018, 02:33:44 PM

Quote from: ThePeacent on July 31, 2018, 01:56:30 PM
Quote from: gerleatherberman on July 30, 2018, 09:22:23 PM
I think I know the outcome.

Collectors like them as a SOG first. But, I can't remember anyone actually using one recently. They aren't practical. $:-\$

Well, jimislash does carry one, but he's the only one so far and he's a weird guy
Cool that someone enjoys the ToolClip!
Which sub-boards does he frequent? I don't remember seeing that username.
Of course, I can barely remember my own name, so you can't take me too seriously.

d'Oh, sorry for the confusion

He's a youtuber, not a member here

gerleatherberman · **Reply #151 on:** July 31, 2018, 03:01:55 PM

That username(or lack thereof) makes sense now.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #152 on:** July 31, 2018, 10:30:41 PM

while I suppose I should have done it first, today is a review of the Type 1 version of the Coast Sport Mechanic. This is a spring-type plier, which dates it as 1997 or later. Unfortunately the spring in this copy is broken.

Jaws: A

The jaws in this tool are identical to the SwissGear tool. It is obvious the SwissGear was based on the Sport mechanic -- it's essentially a Sport Mehanic without scissors. These jaws are excellent. They have smooth action with only a hint of drag. There is some wear present on the jaw indicating that there was more drag in the past. It wouldn't have been noticable because of the spring, however. At any rate, these are needle nosed with very fine tips. They can easily pull out arm hairs and they're very precisely machined with no offset.

Cutter: A+

The cutters on this tool are shaped differently than the Pocket Mechanic series. They're more like the SOG cutters, in that they come together first at the front and then as they close they force the wire backwards in the cutter. These cutters manage to cut every single wire in my tests, from the 24 gauge on up to the 12 gauge, and all zip ties, without any problems whatsoever. What's more, they cut bare stranded 24ga wire, and left only a few stragglers. They cut bare stranded 12 gauge wire completely. These are absolutely excellent cutters. The only cutters I've tried that are better are the actual SOG ToolClip cutters.

Tools: A

The tool selection is more limited than the Pocket Mechanic. This tool drops the saw and the bottle opener, and gets a fish scaler with a metric and inch ruler etched into it. It is the same fish scaler from the SwissGear tool. It has a nice thick plain edged blade and a very nice pair of scissors, which can cut paracord in a few cuts. Slightly worse than vintage Wenger scissors, about on par with the more modern Evo scissors. The serrated blade has a nice aggressive file, but the serrations are not as nice as on some of the other tools.

Sharpening: A

The main blade has the factory edge on it still, and it still easily cuts receipt paper. The serrated blade is cut at a steeper angle than other tools (the SwissGear for instance), and this makes it difficult to sharpen on a lansky and is less desireable overall. It cannot cut paper without tearing it. That said, it still slices through paracord like butter. There is a wire stripping notch in the serrated blade that is nicely sharpened as well.

Peening: A+

The rivets in this tool are peened perfectly, ground down, and are every bit as good as the SwissGear's. This is how peening should be done.

Sheath: A+

Coast really does a great job with their heavy-duty ballistic nylon sheaths, and this tool is no exception. It's the same sheath as the Pocket Mechanic but with a different logo sewn on. Vertical and horizontal carry, double stitched, with quality velcro. I wish the sheaths for all the mutltiools I have were this nice.

Other Things of Note:

This tool and its sheath appear to be virtually unused. Likely the spring broke early on and it was shelved because of that. I do not know if all Sport Mechanics were like this, but on my copy the spring is on the backspring for the serrated blade. The serrated blade is an outside tool, and on the Sport Mechanic there is a plate to either side of the plier head. This means the spring was not directly in-line with the handle, and had to be bent slightly to the side to clear the plate and contact the handle. It appears to have broken at this bend.

Overall: Buy it!

If you don't mind having a fish scaler and losing the wood saw and bottle opener, this is a good buy. I especially like the needle-nosed pliers, they come to a pretty fine tip and they're good for delicate work. The addition of the scissors makes this far more useful than the SwissGear tool.

gerleatherberman · **Reply #153 on:** August 01, 2018, 12:10:44 AM

Very interesting, Charles!

Is there anyway to drill/tap a hole for a piece of spring steel under the pliers handle? I know the hole for the tap would need to be drilled at an angle, but I think you could compensate the angle by bending the spring-steel piece into alignment with the pliers handle. I was thinking about a rivet, but getting a pop rivet in at an angle is sketchy at best.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #154 on:** August 01, 2018, 05:45:37 AM

I plan to disassemble the tool and replace the spring!

Charles.

Yadda · **Reply #155 on:** August 01, 2018, 05:48:31 AM

There is a Husky version. It comes with a nice set of bits and sockets. I have one if I can find it.

gerleatherberman · **Reply #156 on:** August 01, 2018, 05:54:11 AM

Quote from: ChopperCharles on August 01, 2018, 05:45:37 AM

I plan to disassemble the tool and replace the spring!

Charles.

Please post a thread in the mod section, if you possibly can. I don't think anyone has done a fixed-plier rebuild there yet.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #157 on:** August 01, 2018, 09:12:41 AM

Today I'm reviewing the SOG ToolClip. This is the tool everyone is trying to copy. So how does it stack up? Well first I'll do a regular review, and then I'll compare it to actual SOG copies as well as the Coast Pocket Mechanic.

Jaws: C

Surprisingly, the jaws on the SOG Toolclip are not the best. Not even close, actually. The action is extremely stiff. The jaws drag between the side plates, and the cutters drag on each other big time. This makes the jaws difficult to open and close. When the jaws are closed, the handle lies very, very close to the tool. So close that it is impossible to get a finger under it. It takes two or three tries with pinky or ring finger to push the handle out, because it has to be done from the side of the handle instead of from underneath. This tool is difficult to use with bare hands, and absolutely impossible to use with gloves on. All of the copies excepting the True Value have more space under the handle when the jaws are closed. But it doesn't stop there. The jaws look precise enough, but they cannot pull out an arm hair. Most of the copies can. They are big and beefy jaws, and quite solid. There's little side offset and zero play. So that's good. But looking at the jaws and the handle, they're covered in tiny pockmarks. These are all tiny voids in the casting. While there are no BIG voids present, I honestly expected better.

Cutter: A+

The super tight cutters do have one benefit. They cut EVERYTHING. Absolutely everything. Not just 24 gauge, but bare stranded 24 gauge, on up to 12 gauge. Everything is cut with a very solid snap.

Tools: C

The main blade is pretty great. It's 2.5mm thick at the tang, and has a nice belly and appears to be good material. The serrated blade is 2mm thick, and is disappointing. It has very sharp serrations, which make cutting rope and paracord difficult. The file is not aggressive at all, and it's very poorly cut. It can barely manage to file fingernails. The bottle opener blade is 1.5mm thick. The small flat screwdriver is loose and flops about. The bottle opener contacts the screwdriver blade and binds in the tool. There are chips in the blade where it smacks the screwdriver every time the bottle opener blade is closed. In fact, it's almost impossible to open the bottle opener blade with a fingernail, I have to use a metal fingernail or another multitool to extract the bottle opener. The backsprings are all very strong and solid, and the tools snap open and closed with gusto.

Sharpening: B+

The main blade has obvious signs of being re-sharpened in the past, so I will not rate that. The serrated blade will only tear paper, and it takes three forceful slices to get through paracord. The wire notches on the serrated blade and the bottle opener are sharpened, however. So that brings the score back up a bit.

Peening: A+

The SOG ToolClip shows the other brands how a rivet should be peened. I thought the Sheffield and the Coast tools were good, but the SOG ToolClip is above and beyond in quality round large-headed rivets.

Sheath: n/a

The SOG ToolClip does't come with a sheath.

Other Things of Note:

The dark gray color of the jaws and handle is a nice touch. Some people say the copies are worse because they're sharp-edged and painful to use and operate. That's not true. It's just as uncomfortable to hold as the copies. In fact, it's MORE uncomfortable than several of the copies, because the tools stick up farther out of the handle, and the back of the blades is a sharp point that can and does dig into my palm.

Overall: Pass

Yeah, seriously, pass. New the ToolClip goes for about $150. Used they can be had for $50-$80 in various conditions. It's sad to say, the but a used SOG ToolClip is not significantly better than a new True Value copy. It's riveted better and it has a clip. The True Value version has a better serrated blade, better sharpening, and a small phillips driver that doesn't contact the bottle opener. It works BETTER than the ToolClip after peening the rivets myself. The jaws open smoothly without sticking, the bottle opener doesnt jam or contact the screwdriver, and the serrated blade can cut paper and go through paracord like butter.

All the spring-loaded copies are slightly worse in the tool department. The serrated blades are often better, but the wire notches are almost never sharpened, and the small screwdriver tool almost always is missing a washer, meaning it contacts the bottle opener blade. The jaws on the spring-loade copies don't open quite as far. However, the smooth operating jaws and spring-action makes them much easier to use as pliers.

That said, none of these 3-layer ToolClip clones, nor the ToolClip itself, are very useful as multi-tools. They all have three cutting blades, two sizes of flat screwdriver, a very bad file, and a bottle opener. For a multi tool, that's a very poor showing. The Coast Pocket Mechanic tools are far more useful and far more comfortable to hold, with quality that is on par with the SOG. They have two sizes of flat screwdrivers, one size phillips driver, two cutting blades, a very good file, a saw, and a bottle opener. Later models are spring-loaded. They are all sharpened very well.

If you're wanting to actually use your tools, the SOG ToolClip is just not what you want in your pocket. I'm sorry to say, it's a very poor pair of pliers. The jaws are too stiff, the handle too awkward, and the shape painful. It's a very poor multi-tool as well. Too many cutting blades and flat drivers, coupled with a useless file and jamming bottle opener. There aren't enough useful tools to warrant the awkwardness of the pliers.

Note: I filed my micro driver slightly so it no longer binds. But as received, in used but not abused condition, the bottle opener was jamming against the micro driver.

Charles.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #158 on:** August 01, 2018, 09:13:55 AM

Here is a video comparison between the SOG ToolClip, several of the copies, and then two versions of the Coast Pocket Mechanic.

Charles.

gerleatherberman · **Reply #159 on:** August 01, 2018, 02:27:15 PM

Very nice write-up, Charles! Thank you!

I have to agree with everything you wrote about it. It is amazing, as a collector's piece, but as I've noted before, not even close to ideal for EDC.

Wspeed · **Reply #160 on:** August 01, 2018, 02:31:28 PM

Excellent reviews

Poncho65 · **Reply #161 on:** August 02, 2018, 05:46:49 PM

This is a great thread CC

I have learned quite a bit from it and thanks for taking the time to do all of this

I am a bit surprised that the SOG rated lower than some of the knockoffs though

but that's the way it goes sometimes

ChopperCharles · **Reply #162 on:** August 02, 2018, 06:45:05 PM

Yeah, and surprisingly the SOG was well used. You'd think that time and use would have caused the dragging to get better over time as things wore against each other. And the fact that the opener blade jammed against the screwdriver was surprising. I had assumed that was only a problem with the copies. It may just be a manufacturing defect with my copy. I'm guessing if it was a common problem other people would have chimed up about it. At any rate, I fixed mine by grinding a little bit of the screwdriver. It still contacts, but it no longer jams now. The real fix I think is to sharpen the opener blade to 25 degrees instead of 45 degrees, but holy balls that would take forever.

I was expecting rather an uproar after posting that. When I first started this thread everyone bashed the copies and said how "all the wrong stuff is sharp and all the wrong stuff is dull" and "[the] kind of tools when you don't want nothing to get done but like wounds in you hands." I've found a few tools like that, but many of these are actually decent, and several are better than the SOG. The True Value for instance. It may have a worse surface finish and inferior riveting, but it fixed some design flaws in the original SOG, and it has better tools.

Overall, my recommendation is to skip the SOG, and skip most of the copies. I'd skip the Sheffield, skip the Ruko and Alltrade tools, skip the direct copies of the SOG (Even the True Value), skip all the three-layer all-metal tools, and buy the Coast tools. Type 1 or Type 2, just depends on how big you're wanting. The Type 1 plier is far, far more pocketable, and i prefer it slightly to the Type 2, even though the Type 2 has that awesome long-reach phillips driver. The Coast tools (type 1 with the spring-loaded jaws in particular) are made very well. They're far, FAR more comfortable than the SOG ToolClip to use, and they have a more useful tool load. The cutters work well and the plier jaws are bigger and open wider. For a collector, I can see having the SOG. But for someone who needs a beefy pair of pliers with a few useful tools thrown in, the Coast Pocket Mechanic or Sport Mechanic is the way to go.

Then, because the scales are plastic, screw on the pocket clip of your choice

Charles.

Poncho65 · **Reply #163 on:** August 04, 2018, 11:35:14 AM

It's all good and I may even try to track a Coast MT down now

geequeue · **Reply #164 on:** September 24, 2018, 11:37:05 PM

THIS THREAD IS AWESOME - mainly because FOR YEARS I have owned a 'nano' version of the toolclip (3 inches long) and have been searching every year to find more of them. Only about halfway through reading all the posts, but hoping someone knows where I can find more of these tiny versions.

Will post a few pics once I get home with some coins in the pic for perspective.

geequeue · **Reply #165 on:** September 26, 2018, 08:46:37 PM

As promised. Would LOVE to know where I could get about a dozen more of these!!!

Edit: cannot seem to get the pic embed to display, but here is a direct link to image:

http://www.lmctf.com/misc/nano_toolclip.jpg

gregozedobe · **Reply #166 on:** September 27, 2018, 05:26:01 AM

Quote from: geequeue on September 26, 2018, 08:46:37 PM

As promised. Would LOVE to know where I could get about a dozen more of these!!!

Edit: cannot seem to get the pic embed to display, but here is a direct link to image:

http://www.lmctf.com/misc/nano_toolclip.jpg

I'm getting a 404 error - page not found when I click on that link.

I'm assuming you're not after the genuine SOG micro ToolClip as it is 4" long
http://wiki.multitool.org/tiki-index.php?page=Micro+ToolClip

geequeue · **Reply #167 on:** September 27, 2018, 02:15:03 PM

Link is fixed, I had forgotten about a htaccess redirect in that webspace.

Anyhow, these appear to be about half the size of an official SOG micro toolclip.

gregozedobe · **Reply #168 on:** September 27, 2018, 05:07:31 PM

Quote from: geequeue on September 27, 2018, 02:15:03 PM

Link is fixed, I had forgotten about a htaccess redirect in that webspace.

Anyhow, these appear to be about half the size of an official SOG micro toolclip.

Link works OK now

And yes, it does look like (very) miniature SOG ToolClip (the larger one, not the Micro). Probably made in the same chinese factory that makes the full size knock-off of the Og ToolClip.

If I come across any I'll let you know.

geequeue · **Reply #169 on:** September 27, 2018, 05:57:53 PM

Thanks, I cannot help but keep imagining there's a pallet of these sitting somewhere out there in a warehouse

Figured it would be intriguing to know there's an even more micro version out there. The build quality on this one is really good.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #170 on:** September 27, 2018, 11:43:56 PM

Those super tiny ones are sold on Amazon and eBay. Kikkerland makes one with wooden scales. Lewis and Clark Urban Gear makes one that looks more like a coast Sport Mechanic with plastic scales. And then there are hundreds of them on eBay... but you'll have to search through a bunch of related crap to find them.

Charles.

geequeue · **Reply #171 on:** September 28, 2018, 03:32:21 PM

If I find any, will be sure to share a link....but I have been searching for YEARS.

If you guys happen to have a product link for amazon, etc please share - the tiny ones are incredibly useful for ultralight camping, fly fishing, etc.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #172 on:** September 28, 2018, 06:02:09 PM

20 seconds of searching later....

https://www.amazon.com/Kikkerland-Mini-Keychain-Pliers/dp/B07BKQK5VZ

https://www.amazon.com/Lewis-Clark-Urban-Minipliers-Black/dp/B01I78X0K8

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lewis-Clark-Urban-Gear-Minipliers-Red-Tool-Pliers-Keychain-Pocket/173556515938

Charles.

ChopperCharles · **Reply #173 on:** September 28, 2018, 06:41:52 PM

That said, if you want a small keychain-sized pair of pliers, I don't recommend either of those. I suggest you find an old Coast Micro Pliers. These: https://www.ebay.com/itm/163276214074

They fit on a keychain just as nicely as a minichamp, but have functional, usable pliers. FAR more usable than those super tiny keychain pliers.

Charles.

geequeue · **Reply #174 on:** October 01, 2018, 08:08:07 PM

Thanks - would be curious what search terms you used as I have obviously been striking out on that front.

Purchased a couple of those just now. Thanks again!

cody6268 · **Reply #175 on:** October 01, 2018, 11:46:13 PM

Quote from: geequeue on September 28, 2018, 03:32:21 PM

If I find any, will be sure to share a link....but I have been searching for YEARS.

If you guys happen to have a product link for amazon, etc please share - the tiny ones are incredibly useful for ultralight camping, fly fishing, etc.

I had one (with a broken spring) that came in a lot on my keys for some time. Those little pliers just really couldn't do anything.

For size, I'd recommend the SwissTech tool or the Sebertool line. Very robust pliers for that tiny size. All but the Sebertool M4 don't have a blade, but there's also the SOG CrossGrip (discontinued and somewhat scarce) as well as the Leatherman Squirts. The older Squirts (P4, S4, E4) are what I recommend, as the scissors have a return spring that breaks easy.

geequeue · **Reply #176 on:** October 02, 2018, 06:42:38 PM

Agree, those pliers don't do much....but they're great for clipping and tying small objects like fishing flies....and dare I say....roach clip?

ChopperCharles · **Reply #177 on:** October 02, 2018, 09:32:28 PM

Don't forget nose and ear hair extractors!

Charles.

WoodsDuck · **Reply #178 on:** October 04, 2018, 07:55:57 PM

I bought one of the SwissGear models for cheap, but it too has a broken pliers spring. Seems to be a really common failure point.

I would really like to get a Toolclip, or even a SwissGrip, but the prices are just too high for me. Maybe I should start looking for a trade

ChopperCharles · **Reply #179 on:** October 04, 2018, 09:21:47 PM

Well, the early models don't have a spring, and the pliers are very useful without it. It can be replaced. I replaced it in a mod I'm working on, and can detail it in another post when I'm finished with the mod. But essentially I cut a piece of metal out of a Leatherman pocket clip, bent it, dremeled it, and fit it into the backspring. I had to disassemble the tool and re-peen everything to do it, though.

Unfortunately the SwissGear isn't the most useful model, because of the fish scaler. But it's still a great pair of needle nosed pliers.

Charles.

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The Ubiquitous Chinese SOG Toolclip knockoffs: Many Models Reviewed

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