• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

A question of legitimacy, G10 Civilian

R

Ralfbonk

Joined
May 21, 2014
Messages
15
Hi guys, I have just taken delivery of a couple of Spydies, which are second hand. 1 of them has turned out to be a knockoff Dragonfly H1, which I spotted straight away. Also in the box is a Dragonfly tattoo, which I know to be fine, feels like a spyderco, and has the sticker on the box from where it was bought from (Lorax, Heinnie Haynes), so thats fine.

However, as there was one counterfeit in the bag, all of a sudden I find myself not trusting the Civilian G10 also in the box. The fit and finish IS that of Spyderco, and all the text seems to be okay. The only thing niggling me is the back lock. As far as I can work out, the older Civilian with the ATS55 steel had a flat back lock, and the newer vg10, has a scalloped lock release... What I have here is a Vg10 with a flat lock...

Would anyone care to make and comments? As I will be contacting the seller in regard to the Dragonfly, and if this has to go back as well, then so be it.

Many thanks, Ben

photo8.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo6.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo9.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo5.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo7.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
It's either an outright fake, or it has been re-bladed. Spyderco added the Boye Dent to the Civilian's lockbar over ten years ago but the "bug" logo did not appear on the blade for several years after that, so a knife with the logo but without the dent would not exist. Spyderco does not replace blades or sell blades, which makes me think fake, but given how good the serrations look, I can't totally rule out someone having swapped blades.
 
Hmm, thats slightly alarming, and inline with what I thought... I should also mention it has a new style box, however, it seems to have been held shut with tape at one point, and has removed the part of the label with the date code on. Code top left of the sticker is C28PT.

Is there anything else I should look out for to help determine whether Its fake or not? Bolt head sizes/interface etc? I will question the seller, but I need a little more to go on at the moment.

Thanks for your help thus far!

Ben
 
One thing I can say with certainty is that the Civilian is one of the models that has an outright clone, down to the box. I never owned a Civ so Im not gonna make that call. Good luck bro
 
C28 is the dragonfly. C12 is the civilian.
 
From the last pic, it looks like it has two liners. Not sure about older models but mine one has one liner on the clip side.
 
I was unaware there was an outright clone of the civi... After a little more investigation, it appeared the logo on blade is slightly the wrong size, and a little out of place, in relation to the hole, although I am only gauging this on images... Also the text, although is indented, is also blackened... whereas in pictures, and indeed all my other Spydies, they are just indented...

Is the back lock supposed to be really stiff?? Doesn't feel normal to me...

I think I'm going to send it back, I have little interest in fakes, although this does appear to be quite well made...
 
I'm definitely not liking the G10 or the screws. Did it come with a box? Blade stamping looks off is well.
 
This is the box it came in, with no literature. It looks about right... Though I probably do not have enough boxes to make a proper comparison.

photo12.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo13.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo10.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
photo11.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Civilians traditionally don't come in boxes. I have one from 2012,it came in the proper zippered pouch.
 
rycen said:
I'm definitely not liking the G10 or the screws. Did it come with a box? Blade stamping looks off is well.
Click to expand...
Screws are definitely wrong for a "non Boye dent" era knife. G-10 is a tougher call, I've
seen a fair amount of variance in texture between colors and even within black. It's looking more like either the knife is a fake or someone swapped an older lockbar into a newer knife.

rycen said:
Civilians traditionally don't come in boxes. I have one from 2012,it came in the proper zippered pouch.
Click to expand...
Tilting the odds even further toward it being a fake.
 
Thanks to everyone who helped me out here, it is been confirmed as a fake. The seller has agreed to take it back and give me a refund, which is good. Though I am a little gutted now, going to have to buy a real one! I think when I get paid I'm going to upgrade to Gold membership, this forum is a nice place to be :)

Ben
 
One thing for fakes... look at the bar code, the numbers under the bar code should be touching the bar itself, there should be no space like there is in your picture.
 
No input on the knife, but just wanted to say that the knowledge on this forum is amazing. Unreal.
 
For a knife still in production, I like to buy new from an authorized dealer.
As in someone recognized by the knife manufacturer as an authorized dealer.

Too many fakes out there, and I don't like getting scammed.
 
stabman said:
For a knife still in production, I like to buy new from an authorized dealer.
As in someone recognized by the knife manufacturer as an authorized dealer.

Too many fakes out there, and I don't like getting scammed.
Click to expand...

This approach would solve 99% of the "Is this knife fake??" posts I see on the internet.
 
Hi Ben,

Welcome to our forum.

The counterfeit problem is eventually going to hurt all American brands beyond just knives. Sorry.

sal
 
I can spot that knock off a mile away. The lock and the fact that it has 2 liners..... or a liner on the wrong side?
 
josephrogers said:
One thing for fakes... look at the bar code, the numbers under the bar code should be touching the bar itself, there should be no space like there is in your picture.
Click to expand...
I'm not saying that the OP's Civilian is not a fake, but your "tell" is unreliable....

UKPK_LABEL.JPG


...the box it the photo above belongs to a CC#d Spyderco, purchased while I had that number (043), from the dealer who serviced my account, so I can say with 100% certainty that it, and the knife it contained are genuine.
 
The clones on aliexpress are getting really good. They're even using decent metal on them. 9Cr18MoV, so they claim.
They cost under $30.00, but I wonder when that lockback is going to fail on you. Not worth losing an index finger over.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top