Clones vs Tributes

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WedgeAntilles

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So I just bought a Hilberg Norseman. (It hasn't arrived yet.)

I thought about it long and hard. I watched multiple videos on it. Here's why I decided it was ok.

Hilberg makes it clear they are not Grimsmo. They don't pretend to be. Their knives don't say Grimsmo. The box doesn't say Grimsmo. I've come to see this kind of thing as a "cover band" of sorts. I've seen cover bands ranging from DMB to Nirvana, who weren't those bands, but exclusively played songs from those bands. I've listened to some of my favorite bands cover other bands. And I'm ok with it. No one is claiming the cover is an original.

The difference with a tribute and a fake, is that the fakes try to pass themselves off as real. I've seen plenty of fake CRKs put in CRK boxes, packed with orphaned birth cards and passed off as real. I've seen some eBay listing that specify it's a "sebenza style" knife, but the vast majority of these that I've seen are fakes, meant to deceive buyers into buying what it's not.

So I bought a tribute. That from everything I've seen is an excellent knife that punches outside its weight class. And I'm ok with it. I also on 2 Grimso Norsemans, and a dozen CRK folders. So I really do see the Hilberg Norseman as a tribute to something I love.

What do y'all think? Agree or disagree?
 
Disagree, vehemently.
An homage/clone knife profits from the creativity, development, design, prototyping, support, marketing, improvement and quality development of the original knife. It is never cool or OK, in my opinion.

You can, of course, spend your knife dollars as you see fit, but there are better ways to support the industry. Buying clone knives doesn’t help our friends and legit knife makers.

Counterfeiting isn’t the only foul.
 
Except for actual falsely branded counterfeits , I don't much care about this issue .

But generally , this forum is very against most any "clone" or even vague copies .

Expect to be :poop: stormed .
 
In the Exchange, there is no difference between "fake" and "homage"

I have the same opinion.

Exchange Rules

How you should handle yourself in The Exchange
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
Fakes/Homages-
As fakes and homage items are a legal gray area and obviously hurt the hobby, no fake or homage items may be sold on the Exchange. Members may not knowingly sell unlicensed knockoffs or counterfeit versions of knives (or any other goods) based upon the designs of their legitimate owner, manufacturer or custom maker. Additionally, members may not sell any knife or item known or suspected to be other than as described in terms of its lineage and authenticity.
 
WedgeAntilles said:
Hilberg makes it clear they are not Grimsmo. They don't pretend to be. Their knives don't say Grimsmo. The box doesn't say Grimsmo.
Click to expand...
Says right in the ad copy "Grimsmo Norseman"........
bUkJoI7l.png
 
I am torn on the subject of tributes. I look at the guitar world and there are basically copies of guitars with different names everywhere. I dont see why more high end companies dont do more partnerships with smaller ones to produce a cheaper variant of their designs. I know some do but youd think more would
 
Hackenslash said:
Disagree, vehemently.
An homage/clone knife profits from the creativity, development, design, prototyping, support, marketing, improvement and quality development of the original knife. It is never cool or OK, in my opinion.

You can, of course, spend your knife dollars as you see fit, but there are better ways to support the industry. Buying clone knives doesn’t help our friends and legit knife makers.

Counterfeiting isn’t the only foul.
Click to expand...
Completely agree with this. Why did you (the op) purchase this clone? Well, it's because you got something that was like the original but you did not have to pay as much for it. In other words its a rip off of the original. The designer and manufacturers of the original are getting ripped off by that other company. I'm not supporting a rip off company with my discretionary dollars. Period the end. No amount of self justification makes it okay. Fakes are bad and so are clones. One is an outright scam and the other is the next thing to it.
 
LSUisSEC said:
I am torn on the subject of tributes. I look at the guitar world and there are basically copies of guitars with different names everywhere. I dont see why more high end companies dont do more partnerships with smaller ones to produce a cheaper variant of their designs. I know some do but youd think more would
Click to expand...
I still don't think that anyone is justified in ripping off another company because they don't like the price.

Oh and also Roll Tide 😁
 
WedgeAntilles said:
So I just bought a Hilberg Norseman. (It hasn't arrived yet.)

I thought about it long and hard. I watched multiple videos on it. Here's why I decided it was ok.

Hilberg makes it clear they are not Grimsmo. They don't pretend to be. Their knives don't say Grimsmo. The box doesn't say Grimsmo. I've come to see this kind of thing as a "cover band" of sorts. I've seen cover bands ranging from DMB to Nirvana, who weren't those bands, but exclusively played songs from those bands. I've listened to some of my favorite bands cover other bands. And I'm ok with it. No one is claiming the cover is an original.

The difference with a tribute and a fake, is that the fakes try to pass themselves off as real. I've seen plenty of fake CRKs put in CRK boxes, packed with orphaned birth cards and passed off as real. I've seen some eBay listing that specify it's a "sebenza style" knife, but the vast majority of these that I've seen are fakes, meant to deceive buyers into buying what it's not.

So I bought a tribute. That from everything I've seen is an excellent knife that punches outside its weight class. And I'm ok with it. I also on 2 Grimso Norsemans, and a dozen CRK folders. So I really do see the Hilberg Norseman as a tribute to something I love.

What do y'all think? Agree or disagree?
Click to expand...
You aren't going to find many supporters of your way of thinking here. If you already own 2 real ones, why waste money on a fake?
 
It's amazing the amount of bs some people will spout to justify the things on which the spend their money.
The basic reality is that if you hadn't needed to justify it somebody (yourself?), none of us would have known or cared. The only purpose this thread has served is to bring your choice(s) into the light to be judged by those that choose to do so.
 
Sorry, this thread reeks of justifying IP theft. This isn’t the watch world in which every company in the game makes a Submariner homage. This is the knife world and the Norseman is an extremely unique design. This also isn’t computer programming. They’re not using the design for the purposes of doing something new; they’re doing it to profit off of the design by offering a low price alternative. That’s IP theft. I promise you the legal system disagrees with your opinion completely.
 
I can only think of one person on the site that will be supportive of this post. Clones are horrible for the knife industry, as are the companies that produce them. Also a lot of times they’ll advertise the clone without blade markings and trademarked logos, but actually include them on the actual product.

If you want to brag and show it off, I’d suggest head to Reddit. They seem to be okay with fakes. Good luck with your knife, hopefully it encourages you to support the actual maker in the future.
 
Jdottinger said:
I can only think of one person on the site that will be supportive of this post. Clones are horrible for the knife industry, as are the companies that produce them. Also a lot of times they’ll advertise the clone without blade markings and trademarked logos, but actually include them on the actual product.

If you want to brag and show it off, I’d suggest head to Reddit. They seem to be okay with fakes. Good luck with your knife, hopefully it encourages you to support the actual maker in the future.
Click to expand...
He said he actually has two real ones, which makes me wonder why he's not using one of those instead of wasting money on IP theft.
 
WedgeAntilles said:
So I just bought a Hilberg Norseman. (It hasn't arrived yet.)

I thought about it long and hard. I watched multiple videos on it. Here's why I decided it was ok.

Hilberg makes it clear they are not Grimsmo. They don't pretend to be. Their knives don't say Grimsmo. The box doesn't say Grimsmo. I've come to see this kind of thing as a "cover band" of sorts. I've seen cover bands ranging from DMB to Nirvana, who weren't those bands, but exclusively played songs from those bands. I've listened to some of my favorite bands cover other bands. And I'm ok with it. No one is claiming the cover is an original.

The difference with a tribute and a fake, is that the fakes try to pass themselves off as real. I've seen plenty of fake CRKs put in CRK boxes, packed with orphaned birth cards and passed off as real. I've seen some eBay listing that specify it's a "sebenza style" knife, but the vast majority of these that I've seen are fakes, meant to deceive buyers into buying what it's not.

So I bought a tribute. That from everything I've seen is an excellent knife that punches outside its weight class. And I'm ok with it. I also on 2 Grimso Norsemans, and a dozen CRK folders. So I really do see the Hilberg Norseman as a tribute to something I love.

What do y'all think? Agree or disagree?
Click to expand...
giphy.gif
 
Is someone making money by using someone else's design without permission? Then it's theft.

They put in all that work to copy a design, they could have put in a little extra effort to come up with their own design.
 
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