Is this knife a copy of something else?

evilgreg

evilgreg

Why so serious?
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
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I recently purchased a very small flipper that I really like. It's a Chinese knife with titanium slabs and pocket clip that runs on captive bearings. It's stout but tiny, with only a 2.5" blade (it's about the same size as Spyderco Cat).

I love the knife, insomuch as I can love a knife this small, but I'm curious. Is this a close copy of some design (e.g. Microtech Matrix = ZT 0777 sort of outright copying)?

Here is a quickie photo:

04bHoPy.jpg
 
eschwebach said:
Looks a LOT like the Curtiss F3 Compact to me.
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That was my first thought, but it's shaped differently--I've compared the two. Particularly the finger choil on the blade, but also the shape of the handle as well is different.
 
Here's a lighter image, along with a ruler for scale, incidentally:

wD5Gyt4.jpg
 
eschwebach said:
Looks a LOT like the Curtiss F3 Compact to me.
Click to expand...

I borrowed a BladeHQ photo, here is the unnamed Chinese knife next to the F3 Compact (I just resized both images to be the same, I don't know that the knives are actually the exact same length):

ztRZHLC.jpg


Side by side, you can see that they're similar overall but different in a number of ways.
 
Definitely some similarities, but not sure I'd call it an outright copy.
 
I'd call it a "variation" on the same knife, like comparing a Hinderer mid-tech to a ZT - variations on the same knife, same design. Who makes the Curtiss knives? Where are they laser-cut and ground prior to finishing?
 
It looks like but slightly different than Anton Malyshev's Gnome. They're being sold out of China along with the rest of the new Russian knives. I don't know if it's done with his blessing or not.
 
wazu013 said:
It looks like but slightly different than Anton Malyshev's Gnome. They're being sold out of China along with the rest of the new Russian knives. I don't know if it's done with his blessing or not.
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Thanks for that, a quick search brings up Dicoria knives form China that specializes in expensive rip-offs of LOTS of designs, including Zero Tolerance, Boker, and CRKT products (they have an unattributed Kommer 2-Shot, theft of an American design right there).
 
wazu013 said:
It looks like but slightly different than Anton Malyshev's Gnome. They're being sold out of China along with the rest of the new Russian knives. I don't know if it's done with his blessing or not.
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I figured there was a good chance it was a copy of something, and I've never seen an Anton Malyshev Gnome (in fact, googling Anton Malyshev Gnome only seems to turn up Chinese copy listings). Digging around a bit, I was eventually able to find this:

[Link Removed]

Even knowing his name and trying to find it that was the best I've managed so far--thanks for the info. Interestingly a tour through the photos posted by CKF there seem to be more than one of the Chinese clones in their stream (the 0454 clone, for example)--I wonder if there is some sort of relationship there.

I suppose if anyone is guilty of being "inspired by" the Curtiss F3 design, it would be this Anton Malyshev then?
 
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Kevin John is another rip off artist of the same caliber. I'll bet he has a little to do with the 454 copies.
 
It is a very nice looking little knife. It reminds me of a Spyderco Native. Not even a close copy of the Native, but the smaller blade, substantial finger choil, and down-swept handle are very similar. I really love the ergonomics of the Native 5, so the one you purchased is very appealing to me. Where did you purchase the knife, and what was the cost, if you don't mind me asking.
 
Imitation is the most sincere form of ____________. You can fill in your own word. I did. I stay away from these. I like the design of the F3 Compact.
 
It's suppose to be a copy of a Direware Hyper 90, loose copy. Search for that on aliexpress and the same knife pops up.
 
wilazn said:
It's suppose to be a copy of a Direware Hyper 90, loose copy. Search for that on aliexpress and the same knife pops up.
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Uh, no. Read a up a bit in the thread, it's a copy of Anton Malyshev's Gnome (which may or may not actually even exist as a non-Chinese knife) which is itself, uh, probably at least inspired by the Curtiss F3 (though it is slightly different).
 
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