if anyone has them and if not, what do you think.
Hi
M
Maxrez74
and welcome to Blade Forums. I'm going to answer your question directly, but then I'm going to answer from a standpoint as to why knockoff/homage/clone knives are bad for the industry.
In direct answer to your question,
I have handled many of the knockoff Spyderco knives. I've also handled many of the knockoff Benchmades, but not any of the Bugout.
In every case the knockoff/homage/counterfeit knife DID NOT offer the same experience as the real thing.
Most often the failure lies in the make-up of the blade steel or the heat treat. If a counterfeit manufacturer is willing to copy a design, branding, trademark or feature, how can you expect them to use the same steel as they advertise? Even if the blade steel chemically matches the claim, you then are likely to find poor heat treat and edges that roll or chip. It's not just the blade steel that's suspect. I've seen these clone knives with "stainless" liners and hardware that are prone to rusting and/or stripping.
Following integrity of components, the next most common failure of knockoff/homage/counterfeit knives is in action. I've handled a lot of axis-style locks on these knives and the action never approaches that of a genuine Benchmade, Hogue or Millit. Other legit manufacturers are stepping up to offer their take on an Axis-style lock (Hogue = Able Lock) and doing a good job, but I've never seen a knockoff axis-style give the same pleasure and fidget factor that can be enjoyed with the original thing. An axis-style lock requires precise manufacturing, as does the compression style lock in the PM2. If the action of these clone knives are bad, I'd have to also suspect the stability of the lockup.
The third shortcoming of knockoff/homage/clone knives is in fit and finish. I've seen liners and scales not fit, blade centering off and clips that are either too tight or too loose.
Now to address the bigger problem with knockoff/homage/clone knives...
If it were simply a matter of your experience with a clone knife, I guess one could rationalize that 60% of the real thing is close enough. The problem is, in addition to compromised performance, these knives represent theft in the simplest form.
It takes money and resources to design a knife. The legit companies bear the burden of employing designers, mechanical engineers and equipment fabricators. They pay the cost of prototypes and testing. They absorb the financial obligation to advertise and market the new designs. In some cases they contribute considerable funds to obtain and maintain patents and trademarks. In most cases a legit manufacture will pay their employees a living wage with health care benefits and a retirement plan; anyone in business knows how huge this cost is relative to overall operating expenses. A clone/homage manufacturer avoids these costs and steals the labors of others (sometimes even their own workers) to bring a less expensive product to market.
That's not all. The cloners continue to steal because every time a clone Benchmade or Spyderco fails to perform it acts as a "black mark" against the legit manufacturer. Probably the most cloned brand has been Benchmade. Benchmade also probably has the most quality complaints of any major manufacturer. We have to consider that some of those failures in "Benchmade quality" are actually clone knives that are damaging the original's reputation. Is it possible that many of the negative reports of Benchmade quality are indeed caused by clones?
It also extends to knife retailers. Legit vendors have seen themselves undercut on price by imported clone knives. Upright distributors in the knife community lose out on business because clone knives are available at a lower cost. A legit dealer won't knowingly sell clones, so they watch their genuine stock linger on the shelves in the face of cheap/fake competition.
These cloners even steal from you and me; the knife consumer. Many folks will buy their first knife from eBay or Amazon and unwittingly receive a clone. Even a purchase from a big box store is no guarantee of a genuine knife. It's a known scam to order and import a clone, return that clone to a big box store for store credit and use the credit to select a genuine knife. Then some poor schmuck happens along and buys the returned clone and is never the wiser.
There is no way that knockoff/homage/clone knives represent an acceptable alternative. It becomes even clearer in the knife enthusiast community. We have designers and manufacturers who interact freely with us Knife Knuts on this forum. They are real people who are impacted each and every day by these clone knives, not faceless entities who seem so far away.
I'm glad you came here to ask your question. I apologize for writing so much, but this is a vitally important issue in the knife community. I'm happy to continue the discussion and help you find alternatives to a PM2 or a Bugout if they're not in your budget at this time. Welcome to Blade Forums and enjoy your time here. I know I have.
Tim
Not your post. 
But now that we are here...food for thought...If you were in the bathroom, and the **** hit the fan, would you want to grab a Sanrenmu or a Protech Strider Auto PT?
what he said
