[XDJ]

I bought a SOG Field Pup by mail order. When I got it I placed the knife in the leather sheath, pulled it out, and saw visible "clear" oil on the blade. I smelled it and it smelled like fish oil. I then realized the inside of the sheath feels oily and smells very fishy.

The packaging looked perfect when I opened it so I doubt someone returned it after gutting a fish. Any ideas what the oil is and why it smells fishy? Is it something they use on the leather?

I'm trying to decide what to do with the knife. I don't want to return it and get another one that also smells like fish. Right now if the sheath gets within a few feet of my face it makes me gag.

[coelacanth]

it can sometimes go a bit rancid or it may have reacted with the dye or tanning chemicals in the leather sheath. Try wiping the excess oil out of the sheath with some cloth or a Q-tip. Clean your blade with a solvent and re-oil it with something more to your liking. SOG may be using Ballistol or something similar which has a bit of an odd aroma to the uninitiated. It really doesn't strike me as a valid reason for returning the knife though, unless you're unhappy about something else.

[XDJ]

Thanks for your input. I tried wiping it out which took some of the oil out but that fishy smell makes me gag. I let my Beagles sniff it. If it was truly fish, they would have been all over it. They didn't seem to care.

I really like the knife it's just the sheath that I'm not sure I can even use.

[hso]

Send it back to them with a note and they'll replace it. Request the non-fish skin leather. ;)