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 blade pattern featured a convex false edge on the clip point of a Bowie knife. 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. The blade was typically parkerized or blackened to reduce glare. This was done so by applying a dark gun-blue finish (similar to those used on guns) on this carbon steel knife. The knife was carried in a leather sheath which contained a sharpening steel or whetstone.