The SOG Knife was designed for, and issued to, covert Studies and Observations Group personnel during the Vietnam War.
Design
The SOG Knife was designed by Benjamin Baker, the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Counterinsurgency Support Office (CISO).
A chrome-moly steel known as SKS-3 was chosen for the blade and hardened to a Rockwell hardness of 55-57.
The stacked leather handle was inspired by a Marbles Gladstone Skinning Knife made in the 1920s owned by Baker, into which finger grooves were molded.