Counterfeit, anyone?

jux t

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Jan 10, 2018
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The trouble with telling if something is a CS counterfeit is thet some of the junkier stuff that CS actually makes is difficult to tell apart. Don't get me wrong there are quite a few CS Knives that I really like but, there are also some real stinkers, and now that they have been taken over by another company, who knows what they might make. Perfect examples are in the OP; if those are not fakes they should be. They really look like shite.
The knives in the OP are not even copies of actual cold steel blades, just rebranded Bud K catalog type stuff.
 

killgar

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Sep 24, 2002
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Looks like the cloners are using real CS pictures mixed in with theirs. Notice the clip.

View attachment 1920678 View attachment 1920679 View attachment 1920681 View attachment 1920682 View attachment 1920688

One obvious sign of a fake Spartan is the 10 grooves in the handle scales. The genuine Cold Steel Spartan has 11 grooves per scale. If you look at the Spartan on the CS website, 11 grooves.

It was nice of the counterfeiters to make that mistake.


EDITED TO ADD: To be clear, 11 grooves does not guarantee a "Spartan" is real, but 10 grooves does guarantee that it's a fake.

Picture below of the real thing direct from the Cold Steel website.

1Me3dPz.jpg
 
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Does anyone know if the ‘knife rights’ AD10 and Swift I’ve been seeing around are counterfeit? There are some on the big auction site. Same seller has quite a few Randall’s up as well which appear to be legitimate based on previous transactional feedback. I’m not personally interested in buying, they just look a little strange to me. Maybe from some contest or something? I saw a few on another consignment site recently too.
 

killgar

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Does anyone know if the ‘knife rights’ AD10 and Swift I’ve been seeing around are counterfeit? There are some on the big auction site. Same seller has quite a few Randall’s up as well which appear to be legitimate based on previous transactional feedback. I’m not personally interested in buying, they just look a little strange to me. Maybe from some contest or something? I saw a few on another consignment site recently too.

That was a limited edition collaboration between Cold Steel and Kniferights.org back in 2020. Kniferights.org is the countries (USA) largest knife rights lobbying group.

I just checked the 4 big China sites, and although the AD10 is heavily counterfeited, I see none with the Knife Rights logo. I'd wager the knives you are seeing are genuine.
 
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
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Does anyone know if the ‘knife rights’ AD10 and Swift I’ve been seeing around are counterfeit? There are some on the big auction site. Same seller has quite a few Randall’s up as well which appear to be legitimate based on previous transactional feedback. I’m not personally interested in buying, they just look a little strange to me. Maybe from some contest or something? I saw a few on another consignment site recently too.

I don't know how many were made, but I'd be leery. The only legitimate models I've seen were raffled at past Blade Shows directly from the Knife Rights booth, and there were only one or two (refer to my photos in the Rare Gems thread). Though it would be strange to counterfeit knives with the Knife Rights etching, it seems to me like too many are showing up for sale all of a sudden.


-Steve
 
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Nov 25, 2014
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AD-10 Carbon Fiber handles. Seller on AUCTION site is selling these. I almost bought it without investigating then I did. The major counterfeit seller Ali-Express sells them. Obviously counterfeit. Buy with caution. I had hoped with the different colored handles maybe it was true and it was too good to be true .

Cold Steel AD-10 M390 Blade Carbon Fiber Handle High Hardness Folding Knife Outdoor Tactical Survival Sharp Hunting Tool Knives​

 

GusSharp68

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Jun 9, 2021
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Thought I found a Rick Hinderer Specoal Project Tab on eBay (I know, big mistake).

Well it arrived today and it doesn’t seem like the lettering and designs are as crisp and prominent as they are on Rick’s website. I suspect I may have been flamboozled.

Anyone care to weigh in?

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