The regulator only weighs 14.5 ounces, per Dan's original "specs" post. It's not as heavy as it's being made out to be.
I couldn't find a weight specification for the SOD, but the very similar and much-loved-for-a-camp-knife Camp Tramp weighs in at 13.75. Really not that much of a difference.
The blade geometry is different. The Camp Tramp and SOD are
designed as camp choppers. They work very well for that. The Regulator is a bowie knife. It can chop and stick and slice like any good bowie, but if I had to choose between the Regulator and the SOD for a camp knife, I'd go with the SOD, either in CG or LE version.
Definitely not arguing that - I too would choose the SOD for camp chores, if I absolutely HAD to make a choice between the two.
But I do find it funny when people act like the Regulator is this ridiculously heavy mega-blade when it's actually a quite svelte slasher that can also chop and poke. If for some reason I had to, say, bore holes in wood, I would much rather use a regulator.
But for chopping and splitting logs, it's hard to go wrong with a SOD. The regulator's performance in my real-world testing, however, makes that choice NOT QUITE as obvious as you might think at first glance.
