Access to Power -SOG 30-day Challenge! Starting June 1st! Access & Access Deluxe

[Don Pablo]

 

[Dutch_Tooler]

Gonna start keeping it in my pocket now!
(Image removed from quote.)

Did yours come with that pocket clip? Just curious - I'd probably carry it in the sheath anyway...

[Don Pablo]

Gonna start keeping it in my pocket now!
(Image removed from quote.)

Did yours come with that pocket clip? Just curious - I'd probably carry it in the sheath anyway...

Yup, it did. 
And it’s a regular poweraccess, not a poweraccess deluxe.

[ddogu]

 

[Dutch_Tooler]

Gonna start keeping it in my pocket now!
(Image removed from quote.)

Did yours come with that pocket clip? Just curious - I'd probably carry it in the sheath anyway...

Yup, it did. 
And it’s a regular poweraccess, not a poweraccess deluxe.

Oh, I see, thanks - I was just trying to imagine pocket-carrying a Deluxe. Not my preferred option because of the bulk.

[Wspeed]

I hope everyone is ready for the Challenge tomorrow 
And Nix should be joining us on Wednesday to start the challenge

This will be my first 30 day Challenge
And I am looking forward to test the PAD
To see if it’s a good quality tool or not

Can’t wait to see what we can come up with
Good luck everyone that’s joining the challenge
And let’s have a awlsome time 

[Don Pablo]

 
Do we post the daily pics in this thread?

[Wspeed]

As far as I know yes Pabs 

[gerleatherberman]

Hey y'all. This will be the official challenge thread.
W asked me which thread it would be. This one has the rules and checklists in it already, so we can use this one.

[Wspeed]

Thanks GLBM 
At least everyone now knows where to post for the challenge 

[powernoodle]

You lads didn't think that Powernoodle would miss a PowerAccess Challenge, did you?

 

01 - Nix
02 - Wspeed
03 - gerleatherberman
04 - Don Pablo
05 - Dutch_Tooler
06 - Powernoodle

[Wspeed]

You lads didn't think that Powernoodle would miss a PowerAccess Challenge, did you?

 

01 - Nix
02 - Wspeed
03 - gerleatherberman
04 - Don Pablo
05 - Dutch_Tooler
06 - Powernoodle

Excellent Powernoodle nice to have you join us 
Did you print a copy of the PA checklist that you need 

[powernoodle]

I do, Sire.  Read to rock-n-roll.   

[Wspeed]

I do, Sire.  Read to rock-n-roll.   

Nice one 
And have a good challenge 

[gerleatherberman]

Welcome aboard, PN!
This should prove to be an interesting challenge to say the least. Doesn't seem like anyone has beat up on the PAD yet.
Well, that doesn't matter, since SIX of us are going to brave one of the latest frontiers of SOG design/engineering. 

[gerleatherberman]

Night before the 30 challenge. Removed and put away my "go-to" work gear and replaced it with the PAD, PAD sheath, and PAD bit set.

[Dutch_Tooler]

Day 1

First, some introductory pics. I notice that the official SOG publications and a few users carry the bit holder in the side loop of the sheath. I've been playing around with some alternative carry methods and found that the sheath's main pocket actually holds both the bit holder and the tool. This helps reducing the movement the tool would otherwise have in the relatively generously proportioned main pocket, at the cost of slightly more bulk out of the plane of the belt. See the first three pics below, where I illustrate that the side loop, now free, can be used e.g. for a light. This one is an Ansmann Future T50F, LED, AA battery available over here but I am almost sure this is a licence-built and locally branded Chinese light of some sort. The side loop is probably large enough to also hold a 2-AA size Maglite or the like, if you can live with the bottom part sticking out below the sheath.








Now, for today's homework, I have sacrificed 1 leaf of office-supplied Post-It (pssst - don't tell the boss).
As you all know, these are rather thin. By holding the Post-It between thumb and index finger and applying the PE blade perpendicularly to the edge, close (but not too close) to the thumb, and making slight sawing movements, the PE blade effortlessly slices through the paper.
Let's see if it still does this at the end of the challenge (as instructed ).

[Dutch_Tooler]

Day 1 - continued

Uh oh... that sheath... looking at it more carefully after only a few times opening/closing (apart from the slightly sloppy stitching) one can surmise that the hook-and-loop fastener (aka Velcro ^(TM)) is not going to last. The soft face is already detaching and becoming woolly, see second pic above. I have found at least 20 loops of the harder face, which had detached themselves, on my desk. This does not bode well.

I have seen that some people have added snaps to supplement weakened Velcro strips in other threads - might consider that... 

[Wspeed]

Day 1

The paper cutting test
It’s a very sharp blade and cut the A4 paper with no problems
I will be testing the blade more throughout the challenge
To see if it will still be sharp at the end of the 30 days

I am not liking the sheath at the moment as it’s to bulky for me
I think I would have to get a
pocket clip for my PAD at some point
But I will use the sheath for the Challenge
I might get used to it   

[ThePeacent]

I like that sheath in that it has a side attachment for the light, I always carry my AAA/AA lights that way when possible, but the ideal setup for me would be a pocket on each side (like LM's sheaths, some of them), plus a button snap or button + velcro but not velcro alone.



So like this one above from Leatherman but with a button, I do find that velcro lasts for short periods of time if you carry daily and gets gummed up, dirty and degraded quickly 

Good luck with the challenge people!   

[powernoodle]

Powernoodle Day 1


The paper cut test was about a 7/10 for me.  The blade seems sharp, but I was getting some tearing as well. 

First impression of the PowerAccess Deluxe is that its Chinese construction is apparent.  It has a somewhat cheapy feel to it, which is magnified a little due to the thinness of the main blade (edge to spine dimension) and other thin tools.  I think I could break off the main blade with my bare hands if I tried.  The tools can be accidentally deployed past 180 degrees if the lock does not engage, which lends to the cheap feel.  Deployment of the plier is smooth and what you come to expect from SOG, and the gear pivot is at the heart of the MT.  I like the real, 3D phillips driver with long shank. For me this is an important component which is lacking on the Wave, etc.  The saw is short and takes a good amount of effort to get through a 1" branch, but its far better than not having a saw with you.  The PowerAccess Deluxe has a stonewashed finish.  The PowerLock and PowerAssist series have a polished finish which may add a subjective level of quality to the MT, but this presumably would add to the cost.  And lets be honest - the file on the PAD is of low quality. The single-cut side is almost smooth and will not shape a fingernail.  The opposite and double-cut side is not much better.  But I'll try it on some PVC or other material and see how it goes.



Polished finish on the PowerAssist.

At $69.99 in the U.S., the PowerAccess Deluxe is priced about right relative to the competition, and you get what appears to be a decent sheath (have to keep an eye on the velcro) and the small driver set.  My lifestyle (working from a laptop at my kitchen table) does not require Torx bits on the belt, so I will mostly - though not exclusively -  carry the PAD in the vertical pocket of my usual 5.11 Taclite Pro pants without the sheath and driver set.  I can carry a full size MT in this manner without noticing it, because the pocket is high enough up the leg that the MT does not flop around. 

I own several SOG MTs, along with maybe a couple of dozen SOG folders and fixed blades, and am a fan of the company.  The Chinese construction, though not up to the competition, has never compromised function and I expect a good 30 days out of the PAD.

[Dutch_Tooler]

Thanks powernoodle, this prompted me to take a closer look at the saw. Not sure this is intentional - there are what appear to be small curls of steel in places where some facets of each of the teeth meet. I have attempted to capture what I mean below. I have yet to test whether that impairs function.



Sent on my SM-G930F with Tapatalk

[Don Pablo]

I believe things like that disappear the first time you use the saw?
I see them to a lesser extent with unused SAK saws.

[Wspeed]

I just checked mine and it hasn’t got anything like that 

[powernoodle]

Me neither, but I have used my PAD's saw as well.  I think that DT just got a sub-optimal grind job on his saw.


Note how the saw teeth on the PowerAssist Deluxe (left) are canted slightly toward the MT, whereas the teeth on the Swisstool Spirit (right) are not canted.  This configuration presumably makes the PAD cut only on the pull stroke, with the Spirit cutting in both directions.  Just a guess.

[Dutch_Tooler]

Maybe mine did... let's see what happens after I've used the saw to down the tree in my back yard.

Jokes aside, saw and file (did I say file?) seem shortish...

[Wspeed]

I just want to make everyone aware
that when they are testing the cutters
On the pliers that they are only Soft Cutters
As you can see in the  pic
So personally I wouldn’t try to cut fencing etc.. 

[powernoodle]

Yeah, W, I saw that on the box yesterday when my PAD arrived.  Its a bummer when you ding up your cutters, especially when they can't be replaced.  In my view, any MT cutters "should" be able to take down hard wire (nail, fence), but that is not always the case.

The PowerLock has a hard wire cutter:   https://www.sogknives.com/powerlock.html

[Don Pablo]

Is brass rod (under 3mm/ 1/8” ) considered “hard”?

[Wspeed]

I agree you should be able to cut a nail or a fence etc
But I don’t want to try it as it would not be covered under warranty
And this is my first SOG so don’t know how good they are