Fake XM-18?

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celticpride2133

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So being new to high end knives I wanted to ask a question, I have seen a few xm 18 fakes that look really ..... well real. This kinda sucks and I was wondering if when in hand you could tell a difference and be able to spot a fake. Thanks guys
 
Where do you see these supposed fakes? In person, online? The source of the knife is your first clue.
 
If you suspect they are fakes just by looking at them...them who needs to hold them? They are most likely fakes.

Beyond that, like CWL said, it's "price" and "source." If some guy on eBay is selling them for $49.95, again, you don't need to hold them. Fakes.
 
I'm not a sucker, and I hate the idea of folks copying someone else's work, but I've seen a couple "Fakes" that were mighty tempting, considering that they are coming in at 1/10 the price of a real one. They were not claiming to be real, but the knives were almost identical, and looked GOOD! :eek: Only obvious difference was the intentional mis-spelling of "HINDERER" which on the two items I saw, were even in the same font.
 
ok, thanks dan, I was meeting someone for a private sale so i didnt have the help of a clearly fake website! Ill look close!
 
celticpride2133 said:
ok, thanks dan, I was meeting someone for a private sale so i didnt have the help of a clearly fake website! Ill look close!
Click to expand...

"Meeting up with some guy" is minor warning sign #1. Maybe he's on the level...but be careful! Caveat emptor! If his price is too good to be true...
 
Dont do it, if you really must have a Hinderer, go for the ZT0560.

FakeKnives.jpg
 
I'll probably be crucified (it is my money though, right?), but I own a Chinese XM and it's 90% the quality of the real thing
at 10% the cost. Why pay the price for an American
XM when you can determine if you like the design for much less? Buy
the American version if you have too if you like the design.
I'm going to order another Chinese Hinderer soon. Get one, you won't regret it.
 
yerscattergun said:
I'll probably be crucified (it is my money though, right?), but I own a Chinese XM and it's 90% the quality of the real thing
at 10% the cost. Why pay the price for an American
XM when you can determine if you like the design for much less? Buy
the American version if you have too if you like the design.
I'm going to order another Chinese Hinderer soon. Get one, you won't regret it.
Click to expand...

If you think a crappy fake XM is 90% the quality of a genuine XM, you've clearly never held a genuine XM.
 
yerscattergun said:
Actually, I have. A 3 in. XM. No significant difference in quality. Have you
held a Chinese Hinderer?
Click to expand...

You must have poor eyesight, poor attention to detail or no idea of gauging quality.

No such thing as a Chinese Hinderer and have not held a fake Hinderer, why would I? fake = junk.

Why not just pick up one of the legitimate Gerber models such as the Torch 2? - you get an honest knife and maintain your self respect.

It is not about buying American either, a genuine Hinderer is an original design produced from the hard work of a talented knife maker. You get original design, high quality, lifetime warranty, excellent customer experience and support, spare parts, custom parts and lastly an excellent knife which will last a lifetime.
 
I'm not saying that a real hinderer isn't worth the money but in general as the quality of the knife increases the price increases at a quicker rate. If you were to graph price and quality it would look something like an exponential curve. a $100 ZT may be 10 times better in quality than a $10 china special but an $800 hinderer isn't 8 times better in quality than a $100 ZT.

This is my opinion.
 
yerscattergun said:
I'll probably be crucified (it is my money though, right?), but I own a Chinese XM and it's 90% the quality of the real thing
at 10% the cost. Why pay the price for an American
XM when you can determine if you like the design for much less? Buy
the American version if you have too if you like the design.
I'm going to order another Chinese Hinderer soon. Get one, you won't regret it.
Click to expand...

I won't lie, I bought one as well. I've owned a few XM's and I still have my Gen. 1 that I'll most likely never get rid of. I really wanted it to compare to the real deal. Because I've owned and know the real deal, I was easily able to see the differences.

The first tip off was the fact that the blade is marked CTS\HP. Secondly, the blade stock is much thinner and the stonewash finish isn't nearly as well done. One of the most easy to see differences was the steel lockbar insert that is affixed with two small torx screws. The flipper also looks a bit angular and funky with less jimping. The G-10 side Ti liner is thicker than the real deal to make up for the thinner blade. The standoffs aren't nearly as thick and bulky. The G-10 scale is sized perfectly to the liner, on the real XM the G-10 scale overlaps the lockbar, this isn't the case on the fake. The G-10 itself is textured very similar to the real deal, but if you really look at it the texture is "softer" on the fakes. The lines just aren't as sharp and defined. The clip is not as thick as the real deal.

Upon disassembly I found that the knife has phospher bronze washers whereas the real deal uses Nytralon (sp?). I was pleasanlty surprised to find that this knife uses a pivot bushing similar to that of the Sebenza, Spyderco Para 2, and Manix 2. It makes for pretty smooth flipping with a fully tightened pivot. The downside is that it was a bit wider than it should have been so there was a bit of play in the blade. I fixed that by sanding one side down.

For the $60 it cost me I can't deny that it is well made and a pretty solid knife. Is it a real Hinderer? No way. Does it do a good job of looking like a Hinderer? Unfortunately, it does. I'm not exactly proud to own the knife, but I was just too damn curious not to see for myself.

I bought a fake Strider SMF as well. Unfortunately, this one was even better made than the fake XM-18.

Don't bring the hammer down on me everyone. I post this simply to explain the differences and how you may be able to spot one.
 
Can someone PM me and tell me where to buy one of these xm fakes? I'm curious if i can tell the difference just by looking at a picture.
 
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