Born in 1955, Spencer Frazer was a creative kid with a great curiosity for how things worked. As he grew older, while in the Boy Scouts, he gained an affinity for knives and axes. But it wasn't until much later that this interest would be channeled into actually creating knives and tools.

After graduating from UCLA as a math and science major, Spencer started his own company in the professional audio industry, designing a whole new style of speaker system.

"I learned to work with many different materials as I built models and prototypes," he says.

Then Spencer went on to work in the aerospace defense industry - in the Top Secret Black Projects Division - as an R&D tool/die and model maker. He recalls, "I saw things there I still can't talk about."

At about that same time, while becoming involved in the modern art movement and meeting with top artists, Spencer learned a lot about scale and color. He went on to work in product development, creating toys and consumer products.

All these life experiences converged the moment Spencer saw his first Vietnam SOG Bowie: "The knife was magical in how it looked and felt. You could see the history as well as the functional aspects of the knife."

That single knife spawned the birth of SOG Specialty Knives & Tools, Inc. His one goal: to reproduce the mystical knife... the SOG Bowie.

"We started our company by having to sell a one-knife line at the very high price of $200 retail!"

Today, SOG is a true innovator in the knife industry. Having won many industry awards, SOG was one of the first companies to be synonymous with a high-tech modern image.

"SOG was the first company," says Spencer, "to produce a sculptural faceted folding knife. We called it the Tomcat. With the Paratool, SOG became the second company ever to produce a folding multi-tool. And we remain the only company that uses compound leverage in our multi-tools; the only company to have adjustable lock-on clips on our folding knives; the only company to employ one of the strongest locks in the industry with the Arc-Lock; the only company to use exotic BG-42 steel cost effectively in the production of our knives; and the first company in the world to offer an automatic opening multi-tool."

But those are just a few of the landmarks Spencer Frazer has helped SOG achieve.

"For years, I designed each one of our products," he says, "to be functional and comfortable to use, as well as aesthetically pleasing. If I personally don't like them or wouldn't use them, they don't make it into production."

Today, SOG is distributed and sold throughout the world. Law enforcement specialists, military, hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, industrial professionals, and everyday carry knife enthusiasts have come to rely on SOG in the most extreme conditions.

"We don't settle for ordinary," says Spencer. "We never did, and we never will."