Is my AD 10 fake? Help please.

insta9ves said:
It's a real deal. Don't compare with the fake one because it doesn't tell you whether it's genuine even if it's different from the fake one. There could be multiple variation of fakes. Also don't look at fonts since CS change it all the time, especially with the latest logo changes. You have to look at the construction and if you have owned many CS folder produced in Taiwan you'll see some consistencies in the way they are manufactured.

Here's a few things that tells me it's real, some are technically flaws that's hard to fake, but present in most CS folders due to the way they make their knives:
1. If you look at the lockbar where you unlock the blade, one side at the end is slightly rounded than the other. This is because the lockbar is stamped. Most triad lockbar has this unevenness, ranging from very subtle to very obvious.
2. The satin finish is spot on. Always horizontal on the spine and vertical on the bevel and swedge. Another thing that's on all satin finished CS folders made in TW.
3. The blade grind has some subtle flaw right below the thumbstud. See your 3rd picture, there's always a slight uneveness at the very beginning of the blade grind near the handle right below the thumbstud. There's a little "smile" or upward curve. This is present in many AD10 and AD15 model. CS has gotten a lot of complains about the shitty blade grinds from these 2 models, and yours is consistent with that. See @Zephyr One/Zero 2nd picture of his post also, his AD10 blade grind also has a slight "smile" towards the handle.
4. The G10 "weaves" has the right density. High quality G10 is hard to get. Even very high end Chinese manufacturer like WE knives is using shitty quality G10 with lower "weave" count. This is why peel-ply Chinese G10 is never as rough as the ones used by American companies i.e. CS, Spyderco & ZT. One of the very obvious sign of fake is the low quality G10. When you machine lower quality G10, it'll appear more porous and you see more holes like the surface of the moon, due to the lower weave count. Your G10 looks good, just like the real one.
5. Look at your last picture, the aluminum liners are very rough, it's consistent with the real one. CS just didn't bother to clean it up.
6. Hardware sizes are all consistent with the real one. Probably not a good indicator of real/fake by itself, but it's another point.
7. Can't tell from this pic, but the blade should have a very very subtle(hard to tell, unless you have other satin blade to compare to) yellowish/straw color sheen to it from the heat treating process. Sometime you may see a distinct region in the blade that's more yellow than others. Many CS satin model has this, including the AD10, AD15, the Ultimate Hunter etc. Also very hard to fake.

All of these things above, including the flaws are consistently present in most CS folders, include the AD10. 1 or 2 things might be easy to fake, but it's hard to fake them all together. So you got a real one.
Click to expand...

I just got this from Amazon. I looked at your guide but can't really see anything that makes an obvious fake, aside from the logo which I've never seen anywhere, fake or legit:

https://imgur.com/HuZijI6
 
jlauffer said:
That's the new logo, introduced right after GSM bought them.
Click to expand...
Is there anywhere to confirm they are putting that logo on their knives? I searched their website, every legit website, every ebay listing, every youtube video, every aliexpress listing, nowhere could I find this logo on an actual blade.
 
Synapse777 said:
Is there anywhere to confirm they are putting that logo on their knives? I searched their website, every legit website, every ebay listing, every youtube video, every aliexpress listing, nowhere could I find this logo on an actual blade.
Click to expand...
My mini recon 1 has the new logo
 
Synapse777 said:
Is there anywhere to confirm they are putting that logo on their knives? I searched their website, every legit website, every ebay listing, every youtube video, every aliexpress listing, nowhere could I find this logo on an actual blade.
Click to expand...

I'm curious to hear what more knowledgeable people will say, but I think that the new logo is a good sign.
 
Interesting. I hope the build quality and blade quality remain the same (or better).

I love Cold Steel knives. Hopefully the quality continues.
 
pleased to meet you all.
There are several CS items that friends have come across with the new logo.
Here are some , all confirmed as purchased from ADs and/or directly from CS, and no significant issues with QC reported:

Espada XL w/Alum. bolsters
Recon1 spear point
AD 10
Hide Out
SRK

Whether that says anything about ongoing production of their XL products cannot be confirmed (but one can hope).
 
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