Fake/Clone Cold Steel 4-Max

Jimislash

Jimislash

Joined
Jul 7, 2016
Messages
522
I am posting this to let folks know that there are fakes on ebay of the Cold Steel 4-Max. I looked everywhere for information regarding this, but I didn't see any fakes of this particular knife. Hopefully, this will help somebody else not get duped.

This is a picture of a real 4-Max. I circled the notch on the bladelock that is missing on the fake.


bH4XmWn.png


Here are pictures of the fake. You can see the notch is missing and that the bladelock and scales are not flush.


ybGii9d.jpg


pUqzNYe.jpg


I have a dozen Cold Steel knives, and none of them are off like that, even my Micro Recon. :)

The add has a stock photo, which should have been worrisome, but it also had what looked to be a real photo. However, I found out too late that it is a photo of somebody holding a prototype of the 4-Max.

GUxgzY1.jpg


The guy told me that he has sold a bunch of these. He has a perfect ebay rating, so be careful.
 
Mine came in today from a well known dealer, cs. It does not have the notch on the backlock , slightly raised lockbar and just a little off on scale where jimping is. If you go to youtube , gp has video only 2 days old with the same knife with no notch and raised lockbar. I am thinking cold steel changed the notch,ect unless everybody is selling fakes.
 
Thanks, KTM. Here's the vid:

[video=youtube;K6m6I1q79Lo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6m6I1q79Lo[/video]
 
It's real. Ecop is a reputable dealer. Looks like a bad one slipped by QC. In a case like this, you must demand a return label. If the seller won't cover return shipping and a full refund/ replacement, Ebay will step in and make things right. They always side with the buyer.
 
No, this wasn't Ecop. It was somebody else. Thank you all for clearing this up. I apologize for the big tadoo.
 
I don't think there's any reason to get rid of this thread. There are bound to be others who will get a new 4-MAX and have the same doubts. Perhaps their search will lead them to this thread and ease their minds. I thought your 4-MAX was a fake, myself, until I searched out the video KTMADV mentioned (along with the corresponding pics at GP Knives). You didn't call out the specific ebay seller either, so no worries there. The lock bar on yours does appear to stand much prouder than the one in the pics and vid at GPK, so maybe you could end the return process with the seller and try to get an exchange instead. Just tell them you found out the knife was legit, apologize, and see if you can work something out. Heck, give them a link to this thread. That may help your case too. :thumbup::cool:
 
hermit dave said:
It's real. Ecop is a reputable dealer. Looks like a bad one slipped by QC. In a case like this, you must demand a return label. If the seller won't cover return shipping and a full refund/ replacement, Ebay will step in and make things right. They always side with the buyer.
Click to expand...

I'm curious what the current crop of 4max "should" look like. I just received one and it looks similar to the one in Jimislash's post. My question is - what appears to be the problem? This is the only one I've handled and it is very comfortable even in a hard grip, the lockup is tight, no blade play open or closed in any direction, blade perfectly centered. It is a good as I would expect a knife to be, much less one in this price range. I don't have my other CS triad-lock folders on me at the moment, but are we just talking about the lockbar height? Does this appear to be non-standard for a 4max? I'm really just curious because I don't know.
thanks and thanks for the pics and vid links too - always fun (except when I'm at work ;) )
 
I normally defend Cold Steel, but the position of the lock-bar is unacceptable in a $300-$400 knife. The vertical dimension to the lock-bar pivot pin is way off. At the VERY least, it should have been marked as a 2nd.
 
It does not look like the profile picture on the CS webpage for the 4max, but it does look like the one in the GPK video (55s) [copied here from there] -
View attachment 666442

It's hard for me to tell if the one in Jimislash's picture is worse than this because angle of view might be different, and in both cases the lockbar definitely is raised relative to the handle scales. That the GPK video shows this makes me wonder if the batch that recently appeared at a bunch of vendors all look like this, and that might be all that are out there for purchase now. I'd love to hear CS on if this was for some reason an intentional change, and what and when they will do something?? I've been waiting a long time for these to be available, as I am sure have many... Just not sure what to do about it.
 
dogrunner said:
I'm curious what the current crop of 4max "should" look like. I just received one and it looks similar to the one in Jimislash's post. My question is - what appears to be the problem? This is the only one I've handled and it is very comfortable even in a hard grip, the lockup is tight, no blade play open or closed in any direction, blade perfectly centered. It is a good as I would expect a knife to be, much less one in this price range. I don't have my other CS triad-lock folders on me at the moment, but are we just talking about the lockbar height? Does this appear to be non-standard for a 4max? I'm really just curious because I don't know.
thanks and thanks for the pics and vid links too - always fun (except when I'm at work ;) )
Click to expand...

You are spot on in your description of the knife. It is solid all around. I just noticed the differences in the lock bars between the knife I received and those in the Youtube videos I was watching. The lock bar is not flush with the scales on the side. I may give CS a call to get further clarification.
 
Ok, I just got off the phone with Cold Steel's customer service, and they said that they had not changed the design. So, I am sending them some photos of the knife.
 
I've seen another 4-MAX in person from this newest batch that was purchased from still another reputable, stocking dealer and it also looked like Jimislash's. The lock functioned perfectly, however, and the lockbar actually began to position more properly even during the half-dozen or so times I manipulated it. I understand why someone would think it's fake or poorly constructed, but I'm not so sure it isn't an intentional design change, with normal introductory use causing it to seat correctly.

For the record, I'm a firm believer that a knife should be perfect out of the box, too. But I think this one is a "flaw" that I would be able to live with, particularly if it began to self-correct.

-Steve
 
Jimislash said:
Ok, I just got off the phone with Cold Steel's customer service, and they said that they had not changed the design. So, I am sending them some photos of the knife.
Click to expand...

Well, so much for my theory! I'll be curious to see what Cold Steel says, whether it's an issue or not.

-Steve
 
Jimislash said:
Ok, I just got off the phone with Cold Steel's customer service, and they said that they had not changed the design. So, I am sending them some photos of the knife.
Click to expand...

Please let us know what you find out.
@ The Whip - I will open and close mine and see if the lockbar changes position. One of the reasons I was trying a hard grip was to see if I could even feel it. It was subtle and not uncomfortable, nor did it feel like accidental depression was a likely risk. Still, it should be perfect. But seemed perfectly functional, at least. The online vendor I purchased from is out-of-stock again, a reputable vendor I've purchased from many times, but as I said, been waiting a long time... And I bought it to use it, so I want to be sure no issues on that count.
 
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