Knock Off Alert!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
The HKCA deeply appreciates the support shown on this forum and the good advice provided. It would help the cause and benefit the knife community even more if Forumites could help do one or more of the following:

1) Send a direct email to the show organizers to let them know how you feel about Linton's activities. The email for the NYCKS and SHOT shows are as follows: nycustknife@aol.com, inquiry@shot.reedexpo.com

2) Notify the manufacturers whose design rights have been infringed upon and suggest that they take action against Linton. These include Strider Knives and Ontario Knives. If Top of Texas Knives has a copyright on their website, then Linton can also be held accountable for plaigarizing their disclaimer.

3) If you have access to or can easily contact the US Custom's service in New York, please help us to report this situation. Our main mode of contact is by email and we fear that email will not reach the right people in this short a time frame. Tomorrow is Friday in the US and there is still time for inspectors to be assigned to the New York Custom Knife Show if they are contacted in the morning directly from New York.

4) If you are a distributor, dealer, maker/manufacturer, refuse to do any business with Linton Cutlery Co. If you are an end consumer, refuse to purchase their products.

Thank you.
 
crosman177: All the Jaguars I've seen are cheaply constructed with loose tolerances, poor QC and use "mystery" steel. There will always be a place (and market) for low quality cutlery at low prices and that's OK; as long as they are not ripping off designs of other makers and calling it their own. We prefer to teach our members that ultimately it is better to save for a little while and get something of higher quality and of intrinsic value. In the case of balisongs, we recommend Benchmade, Microtech for production, Darrel Ralph et al for custom. Thanks for your question. Robert Miu, H.K.C.A.
 
I dont see what the problem is. The person who buys a $30.00 Strider look alike is not the target market for Strider. Makers of $400.00 knives aren't looking to dominate in the sub $50.00 market.
One of the first knives I ever bought was a United copy of an Al Mar Warrior. It cost $25.00. Seven years later I regularly spend 10 times that much.
If the entry price to knife collecting was $400.00 there would be a lot fewer of us doing it. These makers of inexpensive knives introduce many (likely most) to the world of knife collecting. Collectors who, once immersed in our little world, are willing to spend virtually all of their discretionary income to buy nice custom and production knives.
Frankly I dont put too much stock in the HKCA. Strikes me more as a loose coolition of Taiwaneese knife manufacturers trying to stifle the competition.
 
Hello??? Is anyone home here? Look, these guys are raising an extremely legitimate concern. Naysayers and suspicious persons better wake up!

Please please please, DO NOT buy cheap ripoffs like these. You are only hurting the knifemaking community. Any forumite who would consider buying a Linton or any other knockoff should be ashamed of themselves. Don't you guys get it???? :mad: :mad:

I hope that someone will do exactly as the poster suggests and will stand at the door of the NY show and hand out sheets urging showgoers to boycott and cold shoulder this company. This is an opportunity to vote with your dollars for the good guys and support the great makers who help make the internet forum experience a positive one.
 
Why is it that people keep mentioning cheap ripoffs of Strider knives? Linton knives are not cheap. Let me rephrase that, they are cheap, they are just not inexpensive.

I have a big problem with this company. Not only do they rip off other companies designs, but then they have the nerve to flaunt this fact in the face of the companies that they are ripping off. They seem to love to attend shows that these other companies are also attending. The people that run this company need a good swift kick in ass.

This industry should not welcome companies like this into the fold. They should be snubbed by everyone who believes that ethics stand for something.
 
I have it on good authority from several companies being ripped off that Linton is now producing knives NOT with the Linton logo, but with the logos of those original makers!

I happen to own a couple of the real blades being knocked off by them, and I will be at the NY show tomorrow, with those blades in hand. Time to compare and contrast, eh? Time to get right in their faces and let 'em have it both barrels.

Oooh, can't wait for tomorrow!!!:mad: :D
 
All right Brian! This is the kind of welcome a company like this deserves. As my Aussie friends like to say, "Good on ya, mate."
 
This thread has been one of the most interesting ones around for the last couple of days and I'm so upset I don't get to go give these guys a piece of my mind at the show. :( Please, Please would you guys post on the forum to let me and all the others know what you did to give these guys a kick in the arse at the show? Facial expressions are a plus too.
 
For those going, don't forget to bring your digital cameras so you can share photos of these clowns (or even more exciting ass-whoopin' action) with those of us who can't attend.
 
Tickblade is thinking same way I was, except I want videos. want to see AND hear them. :)
 
It appears that Linton may be a cheap knockoff brand.

That being said...

Why is it that someone we've never heard of before is writing letters on 4 forums?

Who are they? For being a "large group" with regular meetings, that is in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, I can't find anything about them. (At least, in English). I did find the Hong Kong Chiropracters Assosiaton, at www.hkca.org. Most groups, especially internet capable ones, have some internet prescence, through local newspapers, their own websites, email, forums, etc.

How do we know they are not from a competing brand, looking to one-up the competition? It sure would be a big boost in sales to prevent a competitor from attending major trade shows...

Or maybe a sneaky way to advertise their own product?

I know there are regular BF posters from Hong Kong/Taiwan. Have they ever heard of this HKCA group? Or linton knives?

How do we know the web page is legitimate?

Anyone could put up a web page that makes it look like any company are producing cheap ripoff knives. Domain names don't particularily mean anything. The internet is full of fake pages and scams.

Call me crazy, but I can't seem to get to those links by using the linton web page. Maybe I just am not following the right links, though. Today, I can't even get to the .com.tw page.

It's not like we're looking at a physical catalog. I would take this with a grain of salt.

Given a few hours, any vaguely talented 14 year old could even make it seem like companies such as Spyderco or Benchmade are making cheap knockoff knives.

I understand that it seems like the HKCA is trying to help. But, without some information about them (a hotmail address? :rolleyes: ).. and more proof that linton is a knockoff brand...

Let Linton come to the knife show. Let's see they're knives in person. If they're knockoffs, there will be real evidence of such. Kick their *ss out then. Don't ban them based on a web page and a letter.

This could be just another internet smear campaign.

Just my $.02
-- Rob
 
Rob,

I thought that was cool and astute thinking on your part to look at the other possibilites, so I double-checked, and asked my knife company contacts if Linton was the one they were talking about. Linton was NOT the one -- this is a new thing, so now I REALLY get to have fun in NYC tomorrow (Actually, Duane Dwyer is there, and he will easily beat me to the fun -- rightfully so, since they are ripping off his knives...I'll just play with the table scraps he leaves behind). Linton is registered on the exhibitor list at the NY Custom show site (Page 2 of exhibitors) and as an exhibitor at the SHOT show. So, the company is real.

NYCKS Site:
http://www.depass1.com/nycustomknifeshow

SHOT show site:
http://www.shotshow.com

Best,

Brian.
 
Originally posted by baraqyal
I know there are regular BF posters from Hong Kong/Taiwan. Have they ever heard of this HKCA group? Or linton knives?
Click to expand...

I personally haven't heard of the HKCA, but I haven't looked around for knife collecting clubs in Hong Kong. I know that CactusTan is a big Strider collector in Hong Kong, and Supreme Co. (website) is a Hong Kong-based Strider retailer. Might want to ask them.
 
Hmmm...

Well, I hope, for their sakes, that Linton is not riping off Strider.

Of all the companies to rip off.

Not too smart...

Hopefully, it's all just a bad rumor.

We'll see. Have fun at the show. Take some pictures for us! :)

-- Rob
 
there were two given links, one of them sends you to a homepage site where all the links don't work and another link sends you to another homepage where you can view the products, when i read their disclaimer that they directly copied from another site without even removing the sites name it was so FUNNY! And when i look at the knives i'm thinking WTH? these knives aren't cheap! they're like 100 dollars and up! And i'm not advocating knockoff companies but isn't it possible that a non knife knut can pick up a 5 dollar knife and then later on become interested in knives and start buying quality brands?
 
$180 for a Strider Ripp-Off????? Ussually companies rip off designs to sell them dirt cheap , I understand that they are cheaper than the real deal, But $180??
 
rev_jch, if you go to Lintons Taiwan site and click on catalog then go to brands and pick Linton Cutlery. Go to the bottom 4 knives. They are the L-91009 which is a copy of the Tiger, the L-91011 copies the WB, L-91012 which I think is a copy of the HT and the L-91013 which looks a lot like the MG. These knives are not exact copies. They are a little larger, but the profiles are the same.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top