FAKES CRK Knives

I'm moving this to TGB&U. Rpi-off knife threads should go in there to better inform everyone, not just the CRK crowd.
 
The Schrade knife is sold in Europe: one piece high carbon steel= 440C
Nothing is mentioned to refer to CRK =130$. I have 7 one pieces CRK and am very pleased with the quality but a price asked for a classic Sebenza over 1.000 $ in the shop is a rip off.A Tanto costs 800 $.
I will judge after having bought and used one in the same conditions than my CRK.I wil post an honest test and will try to make decent photos.
 
deovolens said:
The Schrade knife is sold in Europe: one piece high carbon steel= 440C
Nothing is mentioned to refer to CRK =130$. I have 7 one pieces CRK and am very pleased with the quality but a price asked for a classic Sebenza over 1.000 $ in the shop is a rip off.A Tanto costs 800 $.
I will judge after having bought and used one in the same conditions than my CRK.I wil post an honest test and will try to make decent photos.
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Is this the cheap CRK copy that you speak of? It looks like another cheap rip off to me!:thumbdn:

FakeCRKknife.jpg


http://www.crocblades.com/store/catalog.cfm?product=SCHF1
 
:)
Just arrived from the good old USA:
to put things straight: I bought seven one pieces and five Sebenza's so I am a real CR fan and I consider his quality top notch.
After very careful examination (yes its one piece all steel) the visible quality is there, its cuts well.The inside of the hollow handle is at the end not so well finished and the cordura sheath is no match for the original. It is not a real copy, no mention to CRK is made and Schrade is clearly marked.What to think about this: labour is almost free, they buy in Germany the most expensive CNC, their money is way underrated and the governement gives huges susidies to their factories. Competition is unfair and I don't like copiers.Is this a threat for CRK: no, people who couldn't afford (and never bought) CRK will buy it. I will stay with him in the future as a very satisfied customer but don't underestimate China.In the sixties Norton laughed with Honda.
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It is not a real copy, no mention to CRK is made and Schrade is clearly marked.
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Schrade went out of business. Taylor is now marking his cheap imports with the former Schrade trademarks. Basically what you have there is a copy of a CRK knife with a copy of a Schrade trademark ... kind of mix-and-match copying....

Is this a threat for CRK: no, people who couldn't afford (and never bought) CRK will buy it.
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Many people imagine that cheap copies don't affect sales of the real thing. Those of us who get our facts from the real world instead of pulling them out of our imagination know better.
 
Generally speaking yes, but premium brands don't suffer so much.In the USA it is different. Here in Europe Lexus has not 1% of the market.BMW and Mercedes stay easely on top.We can not survive by getting angry;our FN pistol was copied by the chinese, now we have Minimi, P90 and other top products.
 
Well, if one is able to look beyond the fact that the Schrade is a blatant copy of the CRK, it doesn't look too bad. I mean, there are worse things to be had than a solid, one piece hollow handled knife made out of 440C(still a great steel, IMO). Not sure if I can look beyond the copy part, though.
 
There's also the question of what steel a knife made in China and advertised as 440C is actually made of.
 
The Spyderco Bird is an example that they can make good knives.An denigrant attitude to a competitor has never been productive. Browning has their shoes produced there and I pay here 450 $ for them Timberland has my leather jacket made there for 1500$ and both are of excellent quality.
 
Chinese manufacturers can manufacture what the customer wants. When companies like Spyderco, Browning, Timberland, want reasonably good quality low-buck stuff made in China, that is what they get. It is not in fact 440C, but it can be reasonably good stuff even so.

Other companies, such as Taylor Cutlery, Frost, Jaguar, Fury, etc., are aiming at a different market.

Recently Taylor has been expanding into a somewhat upscale market, selling some somewhat less junky knives while continuing to sell cheap junk. This one might not be as junky as most Taylor knives -- or it might be; he is not abandoning his traditional place in the market.
 
Throw a little tan DuraCoat on it and it looks like this:
Schrade_SCHF1.jpg


I also have a genuine CRK Shadow IV. I bought this one so I could have a knife in the same style, that I wouldn't be afraid to use, or even lose. Quality on these is actually pretty good. Mine had a few small burrs left over from machining that I had to remove with a jewlers file along with some very light mill marks near the base of the blade. Construction is a true one piece design, I could find no signs of the blade being welded or brazed on. It's definitely not stainless steel though. I tested a small section of the leading edge with some cold bluing solution, the steel immediately became dark blue/black in that area. Testing the same solution on various stainless steels produced no effect. Hardness of the blade also seems pretty good. Definitely in the high 50's. It had a very slight asymetry in the edge from the box, it took quite a few passes with a coarse diamond sharpener to restore the correct angle. The sheath on this knife probably my bigget complaint. It's not MOLLE compatible, and the inner kydex liner is a little too wide for the blade so it rattles around a lot. I've replaced mine with a Spec Ops Combat Master sheath, and am now quite pleased with the combo.
 
I asked Joe Byrd (Taylor's PR guy) about the Schrade. His response:

First, let's talk about the Chris Reeve's knife. The knive that was offered to us is different than the one that Chris is selling. (I did go look at his website to confirm) Our is shorter, and has magnetic tool set inside the handle of each one. The Taiwan manufacturer assured us that he had already been in contact with Mr. Reeve's concerning this knife and that there would be no problems in producing it. I don't know the details of that discussion.

You can imagine over the last hundreds of years in our country, and millions of inventors there has to be some kinds of cross overs. Even with research in the patent office. During our research through our patent attorney we've even found knives with tools in the handles from 1910 (had cigarette lighter instead of matches).
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I know, but that's Taylor's official answer.
 
I've seen it, and while it's a blatant copy, I'm forced to admit the quality is top-notch for the money. I think I'd be happier with it if it sucked!
 
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