SOG Tellus MT Review: A Brilliant Plier Design Held Back by Everything Else

Introduction

After roughly a year of silence on the multi-tool front, SOG returned with the Tellus MT, a newer release aimed primarily at the outdoors. It carries the brand’s signature compound leverage plier system, a spring-loaded plier head with an integrated quarter-inch bit driver, and a full complement of small implements in a sheath-carry package. On paper, that reads like a strong outdoor multi-tool. In practice, it is a mixed result: genuinely brilliant in some areas, and surprisingly short-sighted in others.

The question worth asking is simple: is it worth it, and did SOG accomplish what it set out to design? The short answer is that the pliers deserve real praise, the blade is decent, but much of the rest falls flat, especially at the current price. Here is the full picture.

Who This Tool Is For

The Tellus MT is a sheath-carry-only multi-tool, and that detail shapes everything about how it should be judged. Sheath carry puts it in competition with heavy-duty tools like the Leatherman Super Tool 300 or SOG’s own PowerLock and PowerAssist. Once a tool rides in a sheath rather than a pocket, the difference between something weighing around 6.6 oz and something closer to 9 oz becomes nearly irrelevant on the belt. Comfort depends far more on how the sheath is designed and carried than on the tool’s raw weight.

So the fair comparison set here is not pocket-sized EDC tools. It is the larger, heavier sheath-carry category, where the Tellus MT has to earn its place on design quality and implement selection rather than weight savings.

The Main Strengths

The compound leverage plier system is the star. The design has always had potential, but older SOG frames used soft materials that deteriorated quickly under load. The Tellus MT’s plier head takes the concept further with a blunt, angled jaw profile similar to a water pump plier, paired with integrated wire cutters, a combination not commonly seen before.

The genuinely clever part is the spring-loading. Instead of building the spring into the pivot, which would weaken it, SOG incorporated it into the existing spring that also serves the lock, pressing in both directions. The result is a spring-loaded plier that does not compromise the joint. It is one of the smartest engineering touches on any recent multi-tool.

The newer plier design also includes a spot at the rear that accepts a standard quarter-inch bit, held in place by small built-in magnets. Pressure on the plier keeps the bit from opening the jaws. Combined with the compound leverage action, this is arguably the best thing SOG is doing right now, and it is the single strongest reason to look at this tool.

The included sheath is also genuinely good and well made. One improvement would be horizontal carry straps, which would make it more comfortable on the belt, but as supplied it works well. The tool also ships with a small ferrocerium rod, though that is less of a selling point: thicker ferro rods with a lanyard hole can be found for around five or six dollars and will last much longer.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The blade deploys easily with a thumb stud and is serviceable, though the stud sits a little too far forward and slightly traps the blade even though there is space to move it back. The bigger frustration is the locking mechanism: disengaging it requires opening the frame every single time. SOG has already solved this on other models with small tabs that let you press the lock back after opening the blade, so it is disappointing to see that lesson forgotten here.

The small implements are a similar story. On one side, the little finger hooks make deployment easy, and you get a flathead, a punch, a small flat, scissors, and a file. The small flat is rounded rather than sharp, and with the soft 420 stainless used throughout the small tools, edges do not hold long. The main flathead is cut too thin for its width. The file is a straight-cut design with little texture, essentially useless, and the ferro-scraping surface is best avoided since it will chew divots into the rod; the sharpened back of the saw is a better striking surface.

The scissors earn roughly a C grade. They are left-handed oriented, so right-handed users need to press the tab underneath and push left to keep the blades pressed together. Only a few makers, such as Victorinox, Nextool, and Leatherman-style tuned scissors, cut cleanly without that extra pressure.

Then there is the saw, which is the biggest single misstep. It is a pull-cut saw, reasonably sharp and tapered, but someone decided to put a thumb stud on it. A saw passes fully through material, so the stud traps roughly three-eighths to half an inch of cutting length behind it. On a saw, where usefulness is directly proportional to length, that is a costly loss. Comparable saws offer about an extra inch of usable cutting edge. A simple cutout for two-handed opening would have fixed it.

Deployment on the opposite side is also clumsy. The Phillips driver is a little too rounded and tends to slip out of fasteners, and when the tool is fully closed, the finger cutouts on that side are too deep to reach comfortably. The cutouts should have been moved up, even at the cost of the ridges lining up perfectly.

Price and Competition

At $70, the Tellus MT is not positioned well. SOG’s own PowerLock and PowerAssist are less expensive and are excellent tools, and the sub-$40 Surge-style clones, at around $30 to $40 with sheaths, deliver better files, full bit kits, diamond files, saws, and decent blades in the same sheath-carry format where weight differences barely matter.

The sharpest comparison is the Leatherman Wingman at the exact same price: better materials, better quality control, better fit and finish, easier carry, assembled in America with a long 25-year-class warranty backing. Against that field, the Tellus MT does not stack up. At around $50 it would enter true budget territory and become much easier to recommend.

Buying Advice

If SOG ever revisits this platform, the path forward is clear: repackage it as an EDC tool with a pocket clip, a larger scissors instead of the saw, locks that disengage without opening the frame, better implement access, and bit storage. That version would be genuinely compelling. As shipped, this is an outdoors tool with a superb plier head, a decent blade, and a lot of mediocre small implements that feel a bit flimsy.

Buy it if the spring-loaded compound leverage plier with the magnetic bit driver is exactly what you need and you accept the trade-offs. Skip it if you want a well-rounded tool, because competitors deliver more for the same or less money.

Conclusion

The SOG Tellus MT is a tale of two tools. The plier head, with its angled blunt jaws, integrated cutters, smart spring loading, and magnetic quarter-inch bit driver, is a stroke of genius and the highlight of the package. The blade is decent, and the sheath is good. Nearly everything else, from the saw’s thumb stud to the lock design, the rounded Phillips, the thin flathead, the weak file, and the mediocre scissors, feels like a missed opportunity. At $70 against tools like the Leatherman Wingman, it is hard to recommend as a complete package, but if the plier design alone solves a problem for you, it is at least a tool worth a close look.