Fake Starbenza I ran across

[TechDoc]

Just wanted to post the pics of a fake small Starbenza that someone sent me pictures of while trying to do a knife trade on a FB group. He didn't seem to know it was a fake so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I pointed out the half-dozen or more ways this knife was "off".

 

[metallikat87]

Other than an overall "off-ness", what specifically told you it was fake? I'm new, pointers would be appreciated.

 

[Officer's Match]

^ I humbly suggest this question be answered by pm or email rather than tip counterfitters off as to their errors.

 

[TechDoc]

^ I humbly suggest this question be answered by pm or email rather than tip counterfitters off as to their errors.

Good idea. I've send him an email. I found 9 differences but someone may be able to find more.

 

[rishma]

Crap, I can see one maybe. I should just stick to authorized dealers.

 

[rishma]

Oh. Found another obvious one.

 

[Officer's Match]

FWIW, I see 6 tip-off's.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Yuck!!!!

 

[Nrthfce]

I am by no means as knowledgable as most who regular this forum, but I count seven....

 

[ice_man]

I think I counted 9...

 

[Haze]

^ I humbly suggest this question be answered by pm or email rather than tip counterfitters off as to their errors.

While this is a good idea and there is no harm is keeping "quiet", I think it's fair to say that the people making the fakes are fully clued into what they are getting "wrong". We shouldn't kid ourselves that "they" can't see what we see when they look at the same knives we look at. It's basically just hardwear and tooling differences you're seeing in these "better made" fake knives. They obviously don't have the original CAD to work from either, but with a genuine CR knife you have a p-proto to work from.....

I also don't believe I have met anyone with a fake CRK that was genuinly duped by it. They may pretend they were but with questions like: Where did you buy it ? How much did you pay ? Have you got any other CRKs ? etc.... it becomes clear they know full well what it is.

 

[Officer's Match]

Yeah Haze you are probably right, but no need to make it easy for the slackers out there.

 

[Haze]

Yeah Haze you are probably right, but no need to make it easy for the slackers out there.

I do agree, the whole thing bothers me greatly, as it does us all, but we need to be realistic about it. It is a fact that "they" know what we know, they just can't execute the design to the exact specs that CRK do.
We need to spend our time stamping on the places that sell them and the people that talk them up and not worry about helping with the one thing "they" don't actually need any help with......if that makes sense.

 

[Officer's Match]

Indeed it does, I wholeheartedly agree with pouncing on purveyors of this type of sleaze.

 

[metallikat87]

I appreciate the email sir. It definitely looks off to me but I appreciate the tips

 

[hhmoore]

Yeah Haze you are probably right, but no need to make it easy for the slackers out there.

So your thought is that it's better not to help educate the people that might be fooled by the copy because it could make the copies harder to spot?

 

[Officer's Match]

So your thought is that it's better not to help educate the people that might be fooled by the copy because it could make the copies harder to spot?

Not at all, although I can see enough ambiguity in that individual statement to draw such a conclusion if removed from the context of my dialogue with Haze. I meant the less skilled counterfeiters such as the one in this case could more easily "improve" their illegal and immoral "product".

 

[hhmoore]

Oops - quote fail. I had initially multi quoted, then decided to remove 2 of them & go with a quicker post. My statement was made in reference to your recommendation that the information be conveyed privately...whereas posting it is more likely to be of benefit to people that don't already know how to tell. Apologies for that confusion.
On an unrelated note, your recommendation would have been better if YOU were the one that would be receiving the inquiries, lol.

 

[Officer's Match]

As others have sagely advised, for the less experienced and therefore knowledgeable perspective CRK buyers, direct from CRK or an approved CRK seller is the prudent course. I'm probably somewhere in the danger zone between those and the truly savvy CRKist, but have fared well thus far with my purchases.

Perhaps I'm wrong in my thought we could unintentionally aide the miscreants who steal from honorable reputations, but that is what my thought process was/is.

 

[hhmoore]

I don't argue the recommendation; but we both know that not all prospective CRK buyers purchase new for their first, or even subsequent knives...and I suspect that you aren't saying the Exchange is only for highly experienced and knowledgeable buyers within any given category .
I'll admit that I have only a cursory knowledge of CRK, and that I'm not necessarily looking to purchase; but that's exactly why I looked at this thread - I was hoping for information on how to spot the fakes. It would be useful to have (and think about the "Is this a fake?" threads that could be avoided).
*edited to add* For the record, while a casual glance didn't scream FAKE to me; I was able to spot a couple of issues when comparing to an image of what I assume is a legit Starbenza.

Regards,