Anybody else notice BladeTech ripoffs at Big5

3Guardsmen

3Guardsmen

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Mar 16, 2005
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I was at my local Big5 today, decided to check out the knife cabinet, and saw two knives that appeared to be BladeTech Pro-Hunter Lites. I asked the sales clerk to let me see 'em. Upon looking at them, I saw that they were identical to the BladeTech Pro-Hunter Lites, down to the rippled steel backspacer/spring-holder, except they said "JEEP" on the blades. Nowhere on the blades did it say BladeTech or Wegner, but it did say "designed in USA," "made in China," and "440 steel." Just to clarify, I'm not talking about knives that look similar to the BladeTech Pro-Hunter Lites, I'm talking about exact freakin' copies, down to the three different areas of jimping on the blade spine! I think I'll get some pictures of em' tomorrow and shoot BladeTech an email about it.

On another note, I saw a few CRKT's that I'm pretty sure are not legit as well. I saw the small Kasper/Crawford KFF model with a black, checkered G-10 handle, along with the Mt. Shasta with a black, checkered G-10 handle. Both knives said "CRKT" on the blade. To my knowledge, neither of those two models are offered by CRKT with black, checkered G-10 handles. Also, I took a look at the CRKT Viele model (with the blue and black micarta scales) they had on sale, and the CRKT box said "product of China" on it, so either CRKT is making new copies of discontinued models in China (the original was made in Taiwan), or that one was a fake as well. Has anybody else here seen fishy looking knives at Big5?

Regards,
3G
 
I noticed that issue a while back, on other brands & models from Big 5.

I looked at the knife you talked about, and almost bought it, but I just couldn't remember where I'd seen it before. I came home and finally figured it out.

The "JEEP" knife I saw had some pretty serious issues, as far as fit & finish goes.

thx - cpr
 
orca8589 said:
I noticed that issue a while back, on other brands & models from Big 5.

I looked at the knife you talked about, and almost bought it, but I just couldn't remember where I'd seen it before. I came home and finally figured it out.

The "JEEP" knife I saw had some pretty serious issues, as far as fit & finish goes.

thx - cpr
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Thanks, CPR! I was hoping someone else had seen one of them too. I'm going to get BladeTech and CRKT up to speed on this, and quick. There's no reason a big, American chain like Big5 should be selling this type of junk that infringes on the rights and intellectual property of American designers and manufacturers!

Regards,
3G
 
3Guardsmen said:
Thanks, CPR! I was hoping someone else had seen one of them too. I'm going to get BladeTech and CRKT up to speed on this, and quick. There's no reason a big, American chain like Big5 should be selling this type of junk that infringes on the rights and intellectual property of American designers and manufacturers!

Regards,
3G
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Playing the devils advocate here, but
if the designers/makers being infringed
don't care (why not sue ),
why should Big5 ?
 
i think the CRKT's might be licensed by them...but not necessarily made by them (like...some chinese factory makes it for them) i doubt big 5 will be carrying a knockoff that actually says the name of the company they are copying (knockoff of a design is one thing....but a company actually claiming to be another is different in my opinon.) just my two cents.


and i did notice them. haha.
 
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thomasvsgodzilla said:
i think the CRKT's might be licensed by them...but not necessarily made by them (like...some chinese factory makes it for them) i doubt big 5 will be carrying a knockoff that actually says the name of the company they are copying (knockoff of a design is one thing....but a company actually claiming to be another is different in my opinon.) just my two cents.


and i did notice them. haha.
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Well, after I take a few pictures tomorrow and speak with BladeTech and CRKT, we'll see. The BladeTech copy doesn't say "BladeTech" on it, it says "JEEP." Jeep doesn't officially endorse that knife though, so I'm not sure what's up with it. The CRKT ripoffs actually say "CRKT" on 'em though, so that should be interesting.

Regards,
3G
 
3Guardsmen said:
Because their customers don't want to unknowingly be sold counterfeit items.

Regards,
3G
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They may be copies. But if they say "Jeep", and not "BladeTech" or "Wegner", they would probably not be counterfeits.

just10minreader has a good point. It's up to those being infringed to enforce their own IP. If there is an infringement, they can at least be thankful that Big 5 is easier to target rather than some fly by night operation.
 
3Guardsmen said:
Well, after I take a few pictures tomorrow and speak with BladeTech and CRKT, we'll see. The BladeTech copy doesn't say "BladeTech" on it, it says "JEEP." Jeep doesn't officially endorse that knife though, so I'm not sure what's up with it. The CRKT ripoffs actually say "CRKT" on 'em though, so that should be interesting.

Regards,
3G
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yeah the jeep knife seems a little shady. the CRKT knives on the other hand...just seem like cheapo versions to me. since i have seen cheapo CRKTs at some crappy outdoors stores (by crappy i mean, they have like...5 knives in their knife department, all chinese Winchesters, remington and such). perhaps there both knockoffs or both just cheaply made CRKTs. if they can make money out of it, im sure theyll be willing to make it. they also may have just sold their name to a chinese company to make cheap knives for them for big 5. of course this is all just speculation on my part.

peace,
thomasvsgodzilla.
 
i'm not good at all at identifying counterfeits. i'm just hoping that the CRKT point guard i got from big 5 isn't one.
 
John T Wylie Jr said:
In my opinion , if they are made without permission of the original designer they are.

But feel free to elaborate.
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Your opinion may be yours to hold, but it would be incorrect. A counterfeit is a copy meant to be passed on as genuine. A copy is just... a copy.

I don't think anybody is being fooled into thinking those "Jeep" knives are in fact BladeTech knives. That would be because they are copies, not counterfeits. If someone were to grind off the "Jeep" logo, paint on a BladeTech logo, and sell them as such, then they'd become counterfeits.

As for getting the designer's permission, unless the original work is trademarked and/or patented, copying is pretty much fair play.
 
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