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Counterfeit, anyone?
- Thread starter The Whip
- Start date
draggat
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2010
- Messages
- 2,927
How about buying 6 good Ti Lites?
Have to say I agree... I like the upgraded ones, but the
Also picked up a Tiger Claw and Black Talon.... I love a good hawkbill
As I've mentioned before, the counterfeiters are almost too prolific to bother documenting anymore. But I figured these two might be popular enough to note.
The four-inch Talwar, in a variety of colors, some offered originally by Cold Steel and some not.
The Lynn Thompson signature-edition six-inch Ti-Lite, again in both true and imaginary colors. (By the way, I received the genuine version of this knife for Christmas and it truly is an excellent knife.)
A bevy of Cold Steel fakery offered by just one (of many) eBay seller.
-Steve
The four-inch Talwar, in a variety of colors, some offered originally by Cold Steel and some not.
The Lynn Thompson signature-edition six-inch Ti-Lite, again in both true and imaginary colors. (By the way, I received the genuine version of this knife for Christmas and it truly is an excellent knife.)
A bevy of Cold Steel fakery offered by just one (of many) eBay seller.
-Steve
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2003
- Messages
- 1,687
That is amazing. For phonies, they are not that cheap. Given the unknown materials and bogus nature.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2018
- Messages
- 2,883
It’s getting harder to tell the genuine articles from the counterfeits. I’ve had a particularly difficult time differentiating the Broken Skull models, as they are so similar in actual pictures. The amount of steel left at the heel after grinding, and the logo etching are the best indicators for that particular model.
Sometimes I wonder if this thread is referenced by the counterfeiters as a guide to make them more accurate, and if there’s a better way to share the tells less publicly.
Sometimes I wonder if this thread is referenced by the counterfeiters as a guide to make them more accurate, and if there’s a better way to share the tells less publicly.
I used to worry about giving away too many details here, and I still won't identify everything about a counterfeit that I observe so as to not assist the counterfeiters. But I think the situation has progressed way beyond that, to the point at which such considerations don't matter much. The knifemaking expertise of Chinese manufacturers has really improved over the past half-dozen years. And China's dominion over Taiwan means that it has access to the construction specifications and techniques being employed by the original Cold Steel manufacturers, which then can be mimicked with sub-standard materials and artificially deflated labor costs to generate counterfeits that are almost perfect visual replicas.
We're seeing some of the unintended consequences of both producers and consumers seeking ever-lower product prices. You can't travel down that path unscathed forever.
-Steve
Given the choice between informing and educating buyers on how to spot and avoid counterfeits, or not doing so because there might be a slim chance that a counterfeiter will see one of my posts and revamp their production methods, I prefer to err on the side of helping buyers.
Same goes with educating people how to spot the telltale signs of a scam website.
I believe the very real benefits of helping people not waste their money on cheap, substandard, and potentially unsafe knives (and helping them avoid getting scammed by scam sites), is far more important than what I consider to be the very miniscule risk that counterfeiters and scammers might possibly see one of my posts and learn something that helps them produce more accurate counterfeits (or more convincing scam sites).
And considering how many people there are willing to knowingly buy cheap counterfeits, I doubt that once a counterfeiter has created the molds and tooling necessary to produce their counterfeit knives that they are going to spend more money to redo everything whenever people spot new ways of identifying their knives as fake.
Of course there is an easy way to avoid counterfeit knives- only buy from reputable sources that get their knives directly from the manufacturers.
Same goes with educating people how to spot the telltale signs of a scam website.
I believe the very real benefits of helping people not waste their money on cheap, substandard, and potentially unsafe knives (and helping them avoid getting scammed by scam sites), is far more important than what I consider to be the very miniscule risk that counterfeiters and scammers might possibly see one of my posts and learn something that helps them produce more accurate counterfeits (or more convincing scam sites).
And considering how many people there are willing to knowingly buy cheap counterfeits, I doubt that once a counterfeiter has created the molds and tooling necessary to produce their counterfeit knives that they are going to spend more money to redo everything whenever people spot new ways of identifying their knives as fake.
Of course there is an easy way to avoid counterfeit knives- only buy from reputable sources that get their knives directly from the manufacturers.
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I think it's worthwhile adding a new counterfeit to these pages. Unfortunately, a phony polished Large Espada has hit the market (which means that Medium and XL models can't be far behind).
I didn't bother mentioning it when this trash made its appearance last year, as it was just a cheap, poorly made clone that anyone would recognize was not a Cold Steel product.
But this one clearly is a true counterfeit, with box and markings (and even a brief performance video demonstrating the knife's sharpness!).
Telltale signs separate this from the genuine article. But buyers possessing only a passing familiarity with Cold Steel's products likely will be fooled (including resellers).
If you're looking to purchase a polished Large Espada (and I highly recommend that you do!), pay the extra money and buy one from a reputable, authorized dealer. You won't regret it.
-Steve
I didn't bother mentioning it when this trash made its appearance last year, as it was just a cheap, poorly made clone that anyone would recognize was not a Cold Steel product.
But this one clearly is a true counterfeit, with box and markings (and even a brief performance video demonstrating the knife's sharpness!).
Telltale signs separate this from the genuine article. But buyers possessing only a passing familiarity with Cold Steel's products likely will be fooled (including resellers).
If you're looking to purchase a polished Large Espada (and I highly recommend that you do!), pay the extra money and buy one from a reputable, authorized dealer. You won't regret it.
-Steve
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2003
- Messages
- 1,687
I've been looking on TEMU and eBay, and I see bogus versions of almost every knife manufacturer's product. Personally, I think it's more of a problem for us than the knife manufacturers. Nobody here believes that they can buy a Sebenza anything for $54.95, but they end up in the mix on the market.
jdk1
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2010
- Messages
- 2,017
What scumbags will do is buy the real deal on Amazon and return the ChiCom copy. I ordered a "returned NiB" Outdoorsmen from Amazon a few years ago and the box contained a $10 Chinese knife. It didn't even look like the correct product.
