Customer Reviews

SOG Specialty Knives & Tools B66-N Power Assist Knife, Black Oxide

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased this a a gift for my father and I own the same tool in the plain stainless steel finish. It's a great multi-tool. Super durable and just plain beefy. If you're looking for a light little pocket knife/tool this probably isn't it. Maybe a Leatherman Squirt or even a SOG Paratool. The black finish is actually a lot nicer than the stainless steel because it doesn't show fingerprints as badly. I have found that this tool has replaced my daily carry pocket knife (a SOG Flash II) for a couple of reasons. First, the pair of assisted blades. Having a quick choice between the straight or serrated blades rather than having both in one blade is nice. The other thing is that carrying a multi-tool rather than a dedicated pocket knife tends to be less intimidating to people in the general public. When I pull out the Flash II people's eyes tend to widen a little and they make snarky comments. The PowerAssist blends right in as just another tool for most people and the only raised eyes and comments have been from folks admiring the thing.

The fold-out tools are of the same super high quality and the locking mechanism works well. I also appreciate the V-Cutter for cutting paracord, straps, etc. I wish there was a more elegant way to operate the little cover that goes over the tools, but it serves it's purpose well in allowing a very comfortable grip on the pliers.

This thing makes an awesome gift. My father received his and called me within minutes of opening to talk about how nice it was and how he'd probably never need another multi-tool again. It will definitely be appreciated by those who are handy, or who work on machines for a living. Although, one of the things my dad mentioned was that he wasn't sure when he would ever need the blasting cap crimper, but hey, ya can't win 'em all. :)

Great tool, 5 stars, you will not be sorry that you purchased this tool and the price on Amazon pretty much cannot be beat.

I am in Maintenance in the Marine Corps... I maintain Amphibious Assault Vehicles, and multi-tools come in very handy. I have owned a Sog Tool before, and liked it very much. The reason for this recent puchase of another Sog Tool is because someone else liked it very much too.

I chose this particular model because the knife blades could be opened without having to open the pliers. Plus I wanted the power assist with the knife blades. I also like the black oxide finsh; it is very durable, and in my opinion better than the shiney finish. The grip the pliers have beat any other multi-tool due to the compound leverage. This is noticable as the jaws down't slip as much when using them. I also like the fact you can order components for Sog tools. I am going to get the wire stripper this one.

There were a couple of things that could have been better; The power assist for the regular knife blade does not work that well. The locking mechanism for the blade is really hard to work as well... This is in stark comparison to the serated blade which works perfectly. I am hoping it needs to get broken in, or lubricated. I am going to try that today. I also read someone else had this problem. Another issue I have is with the tool components. The V-cutter, and can opener/small screwdriver catch on each other. I think I can fix this by rearanging the tools. It makes it hard to close the tools.

Overall I like this tool.

I got this multi-tool as a birthday gift having never heard of SOG, but having advised people that I needed to replace my Leatherman. When I opened the package, I was surprised at how "solid" this item felt. There was no doubt that it was well made. I proceeded to go through all of the functions and was happy with what was included and the make appeared to be extremely good. After having used this for almost three weeks now, I will say that indeed, this seems to be the case.

I did not give this a five start rating however as there are two "cons" that I have discovered. Hopefully with time, I will find that it can be raised to a five start but, the weight of this is a bit heavy. Not a necessarily a lightweight hiking tool, but then again, this is for military applications and the nearly perfect make and obvious quality of this means they used "quality ingredients" as well and so it SHOULD be a bit heavier. No stars deducted for that as I think the weight is justified. However, the supposed power assist for the knives is not so powerful. Or this particular unit needs oiling (which should not be the case) or perhaps it just needs to be worn in. My serrated knife does snap open with the power assist if I really apply pressure to get it started. The flat blade does not. I always have to pull it out and open just like any other knife. Also, when returning the knives to the closed position, both locking mechanisms can be a bit sticky and not allow for easy closing. Perhaps over time as it is worn in, these issues will go away, but be aware that I at the very least had them. Quality knife, very sharp, and does what you need.

Cons--
1. Heavy- You can tell that its on you belt.
2. Philips Screwdriver hard to get to- I find myself pulling everything else out just to reach the screwdriver. (this was the reason it got 4 instead of 5 stars)

Pros-
1. strong set of pliers
2. easy to get knife out- I read other reviews about the power assist not opening up right, and the locking mechanism is hard to unlock, but after i lubed said areas, it works perfectly.
3. V-Cutter sticks to can opener when opened- I put this in the pros because if this didn't happen it would be hard to get the can opener out. (yes, I use the can opener, it comes in very handy at lunch time.)

Over all The cons are pretty miner. but maybe for you it might be more of an issue. the main thing I use is the actual pair of pliers, they are very well made and useful, I actually find my self choosing them instead of my real pliers. Had them 3 months now and use them every day. Hope this was useful.

First off I believe I received a defective unit and that greatly lowered my satisfaction with the unit. Mine came with the bottle opener/screwdriver crossed into the blade of the V cutter.

The good: The power assist worked great and made for easy 1 hand opening. The finish was nice and the pliers look top notch. The ability to switch out tools was the main draw, but would probably be most useful to switch out blade.

The bad: The cover for the tools is really much more annoying than you think it will be. I thought it would rate somewhere near a 5/10 and be bearable. Not so, it really kills the usefulness of the item and I would probably never carry it. All of the tools co deploy no matter what you pull. The piano keys in the middle require another tool to depress and unlock if you don't have long finger nails. And as mentioned above the quality control seems to be poor, crossing implements is just never good. Especially when putting metal onto a blade. The spring action is very weak compared with SOG folders. The safety is jagged and sharp, and the exterior blade release required 2 hands to operate for me.

Can't really give a review on use as I don't touch stuff with low grade manufacturing on tasks that could impose injury.

Verdict: I've used $30-$100 MTs and this was by far the most disappointing. Your money will go further elsewhere, with more tools and for less weight. I would not want to depend on this tool, RMA created within an hour of receipt.

This tool is very well thought and Innovative. It has like engrains, that makes that the force you apply to the handle gets multiplied to the front end.
The finish is like a perfect black hand-gun. The blade opens in a mazing. Yous push a litle with your thumb and it pops out, like an automatic folding knife.
The tools inside are replacebel by the user! you juts buy the components you need from the web site and buy them, I've never seen this in a pocket tool.
The piano lock is very clever. Compared to the Victorinox, maybe it looks a little more like "feminine" or "shiny", the SOG looks like on testosterone. Looks terrific, impressive, intimidating almost.
The Leatherman is the worst in finish, and material quality. I broke my leatherman, the fine flat screwdriver, after somewhat 5 uses... and I was using it properly (I take care of tools)...The leatherman feels like sticky to open, even after quite some time.
Every where you look, you find ingenious and well thought details.
The pliers are more process than anything I have seen, each tiny tooth engrains perfectly with its negative par on the other jaw.

I have been wanting this tool for about a year or so and have only just now gotten one. That being said, my background is in Tactical Tools and Weapons, so there are certain qualities that I look for in a tool. I will attempt to answer the two most important questions in this review...

1- Does it do what I think it should?
2- Is it a good buy?

The SOG B66-N has been long awaited. When I received it I was happy with the weight and feel. It's packaging was plain and simple (a Plus in my book) and it operated surprisingly smooth. The case is double-stitched black nylon webbing with a velcro closure. I was able to manipulate ALL of the tools one-handed. I did not like how complicated it was initially to open the two PowerAssist Blades (Plain grind and serrated). There is a small slide lock that prevents the blades from coming open when you don't want them to which is more tricky than I thought it would be (It has a mind of it's own and likes to lock itself indiscriminately). The second thing that I did not like was the small circular studs that must be pushed up to unlock the open blade and allow it to close, are very small and have 90 degree edges, so they are not comfortable to operate. The good news is that unlike many knives and multi-tools I have purchased in the past, the secondary tools stay where they're supposed to when they are supposed to, but are very easy to open and close one at a time. The "Compound Leverage" Pliers are The Heat, and they function very well. Overall, this knife does do what I think it should for my uses, and once you understand how it operates, is is not at all difficult to use.

The B66-N is a good buy for my purposes (Law Enforcement). I have read a review on here about the spring assist function failing and the screwdriver tool snapping off, but nothing is perfect and those reviews do not address the manner in which these tools failed (Were they torture-testing their tools?). More importantly, SOG advertises a LIFETIME WARRANTY on this item. While it would be a hassle to send it back and await a new tool, SOG does indicate that they stand behind their product for a LIFETIME of usage which is better than most other companies that I have had experience with. Also, according to SOG's website, the founders are Military Men, which means they know what tough tools are made of.

All things considered, I think this tool is a great buy. I consider the price I paid ($71.00) to be a fair price for what you get. The LIFETIME WARRANTY is a reassuring feature if you have not had any experience with SOG in the past (This is my first). Although there are some downsides to the knife, It is still an excellent tool that is deserving of a good review. Also, check out the following YouTube review on the B61(?) by "Nutnfancy". It is a review of a different knife, but it is very similar to the B66-N and very applicable...
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Had mine for a week and the phillips head screw driver snapped off, while I was using it to back out a screw. Not easy to use one handed, too many child proof locks. The assist open only works about a quarter of the time.

I've owned this multitool for a little over a year.
I purchased the item for 2 reasons. One, because of the black oxide finish, and two, the power assist.

My work as a wild land firefighter requires me to carry, use, and abuse many tools. My SOG power assist multitool is one I carry and use daily.
The features I like most about it are the power assist pliers. It's got the guts to cut through double strand barbed wire fence, no problem. And I also really like the two power assist blades. Straight, and Serrated both spring out with ease. I do however feel the locking switch to hold the blades in place while not in use are a bit flimsy, but acceptable.

If you're looking for a high speed, well built piece of kit, I recommend the SOG power assist. It won't disappoint.

I had an original Gerber for almost 20 years. It was dropped out of my pocket one day, and I didn't notice it fall. No one ever returned it of course. This SOG was bought as a replacement. When I first got it, I was pleased with the apparent quality. It was carried around for a couple weeks and used in various ways. Then one day I needed a Phillips screw driver to tighten a screw. Instead of going to get my tool box, I whipped out the SOG. The screw I was tightening was steel and going into an aluminum screen door. This is a tiny little screw driver of course, and I did not bear down on it very hard at all. As soon as I tightened the screw, the tool broke in half.

Instead of returning it to Amazon, I emailed SOG directly to get a warranty replacement. It took multiple emails and more than two weeks for Giovanni Guajardo to get a replacement sent out. Then once I got the replacement, it was the wrong finish. Instead of bothering with asking for a black one, I just installed the silver finished one he sent. Hopefully this one does not break on the first use however. If you actually use your multitool, I'd seriously consider another model. This one is definitely not as rugged as I had hoped it would be.

Update: The mechanism to unlock the main knife blade is now broken too. The only way I can keep the knife in place is by using the sliding lock lever. If that is removed, the knife flips out on its own without even hitting the release button.