Knock-offs... Question for Sal.

Fozzy

Fozzy

Joined
Nov 1, 1999
Messages
223
I was at a gun and knife show last Sunday. I happened upon a table where there were "Spyderco" and "Beretta" knives for sale... For $3.00! Naturally, they were knock-offs.

There is no question that they were selling cheap junk as brand name goods. Nowhere on the display did it say that these were not the real thing. Their flyer refers explicitly to "Beretta" Airlights for $3.00.

My question for Sal: Do you want the information on this retailer? I know you have strong feelings in this arena as do I. I owuld prefer not to post the retailer's name publicly but I will certainly provide it privately to Sal or anyone with a legitimate interest.

Ben



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"If you're upside down and burning, you probably went too fast."
 
Fozzy - thanx for the info. If it a larger volume mover, then Peter Jhones (Spyderco Legal) would appreciate any info you gather. If it's just a small time fly-by-night crook, then it is difficult to pursue.

I guess my attitude on this is more a case of, "It takes all kinds of animals to make a forrest. Without the leech and the mosquito, you don't appreciate the hawk & the deer".

This is prevalent in all industries, not just ours. You spray the bug poison today, but you still have to spray again tomorrow.

sal
 
This wasn't a 'mom and pop' set up. It is an established firearms retailer selling items such as Barrett .50 cal. rifles. ($2,000.00 to $6,000.00) If you post or send me Peter Jones e-mail address, I'll forward the info to him.

Ben

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"If you're upside down and burning, you probably went too fast."
 
Hmmmm . . . With mislabeled knives on the table, should we wonder about the guns too? Maybe BATF should go through their papers very very carefully.
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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
 
Trust me- The Barretts were the real thing!

Ben

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"If you're upside down and burning, you probably went too fast."


[This message has been edited by Fozzy (edited 04-13-2000).]
 
Gawd! If their selling top shelf stuff like that, you'd think they would at least spring for the real Spyderco deal!
mad.gif

It continually amazes me how a firm will sell line after line of first rate product and then when it comes to knives they offer up cheap POS knock-offs! JEEZ!
My feelings are, if your gonna go first cabin, then go all the way or don't bother.
My closing thoughts are: SIC'EM PETER!!!
 
guys,
if you noticed latley knockoffs are not just $3 POS but also knives coming from respectble firms.
has any of you saw an accesscard lately from SOG it looks very much like a spydercard.
scorpio.
 
The funny thing about knockoffs is the proliferation out there. The companies whose knives I've seen directly ripped off (i.e., not a different company's take-off of a product, but direct knockoffs) include:
Spyderco
Benchmade
SOG
Cold Steel
Gerber
Buck
Victorinox
CRKT
Kershaw
Microtech
I'm sure there's more, but you get the idea. As soon as a company comes out with a knife that's popular, out comes an inferior clone from some maker (usually located in the PRC). You'd think with their ability to manufacture, and obvious access to dealers willing to buy/sell their product, such unscrupulous manufacturers would want to develop some of their own ideas, and introduce quality materials/QC, all that AND become thought of as respectable.

Hell, if I was in such a position to design my own knife and have it put into production, I'd sure want to take advantage of contributing to the world of knives in a good way.
Jim
 
I'm obviously not seeing the whole picture from PRC's perspective, but James Y brings up a good point.
Why not invest a little more into their own designs and step up the materials and QC and jump on the bandwagon?
Hell, knives are enjoying an explosion in popularity these days.
I can't understand why a superpower like China would choose to act like corporate Jackels and Hyenas, sniffing around and stealing off the tables of others, when they can be Lions and take part in the hunt and dine with the other big cats at the table and get their Lion's share. Rather than sneaking around deceptively and thieving like lowly scavengers and looking to the whole world like a bunch of un-inventive rip-off artists who have no problem stealing the fruits of other's labors.
This applies not only to China but to all nations who condone this reprehensible Corporate behavior. Shame on ALL of you!
Please forgive the mini-rant as knock-offs really piss me off.
mad.gif


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My new bumper sticker:

Let me tell you about my SIFU!
 
scorpio,

I can see to an extent where you could say SOGs access card is a 'knock off/rip off', but I did a visual comparison of form and specs. between the two and saw way more differences than similarities.

The access card uses a different lock, has a different shaped blade, uses a pocketclip(not a favorable feature for this design IMHO, but it's removable, I think), SOGs website also states that it will pack tweezers, toothpick,and straight pin somewhere in there.
The thing I personally feel might catch Spydercos attention is the use of that opening hole. Other than that, The access card appears to fold along the vertical line of the CC shape, where the Spydercard uses the longer diagonal line to fit more cutting edge into. On the whole, I still prefer the Spyderco design because it fits more blade/edge in the CC dimensions, and just looks a bit more elegant IMHO.

They both are similar in that they fold on a pivot and are in the shape of a CC when closed(moreso for the Spydercard), and both use a hole for opening.

Spyderco is not the first company to make a CC knife(They were in my opinion the first to make a high-quality/class one, however), and won't be the last. I just hope all those that follow will use the Spydercards high quality features as 'inspiration' and not a template to copy from.

I'm not directing this as a blast toward you in anyway, I read your inquiry on the SOG forum also and just wanted to share my perspective on this forum.

Ken
 
I just read some of the link you posted James, and your point is well taken.
I suffer from the "Sheltered American Point Of View Syndrome". A ready cure for this would be a quick trip to Ethiopia or China for a wake up call.
Living in such a privelged country as ours can put blinders on a person as to what much of the rest of the world is suffering through. Treating their own people like that, why would they care about the rights of others who are not in their satanic, tyrannic grip?
I can't decide which country needs overthrowing more, China or Cuba or any one of a dozen countries all in the grip of satan. The only good news I can add to that is one day Jesus is going to return and there will be hell to pay for tyrants and their minions and then there will be peace at long, long last.

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The individualist without strategy who takes opponents lightly will inevitably become the captive of others.
Sun Tzu
 
Fozzy,

A good way I have found to this, is whenever I find a POS like that in one of my friends pockets, I make a note to get him a "real" knife in the nearest possible occasion - so he will feel the difference.

A simple Endura is usually enough to open their eyes. It's their trip from there on..

They usually never look at the nock off's anymore.

We need to educate - not only bash people for buying something that looks like the real thing - only cost a fraction of it.

 
Speaking of knock-offs.... has anybody watched the Discovery Channel premier of "Raising the Mammoth" ??

It showed one of the scientists digging away some of the mammoth flesh and hair, using a Spyderco knockoff (I'm sure it's a knockoff, based on the plastic stud instead of the hole)

Has anybody noticed that as well?

Dan
 
Danny:
I could have sworn it was a real Spyderco with thumbhole. When I noticed it I tried to see which model it was and it looked like a fully-serrated Delica (??)
Jim
 
speaking of knock-offs...
i went in to my local knife shop and two brothers came in to get a blade sharpened.
it was a P.O.S. that looked like a merlin.
i talked to one of them and he showed me his other knife which was a cheapy chinese liner lock. the knives they carried everyday were junk but the two items they drooled over in the store and were actually planning on buying at somepoint were that new hibben monstrosity with the 3 blades and a cheapy peter chen battle-axe. it just seemed kind of ironic to me.
 
James,

I watched the show three times, and looked at the knife carefully. That huge black plastic stud was a dead giveaway for the knockoff.
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For a while there, I too, thought it was a real Spyderco, since it only showed the tip digging into the mammoth hide. But when the camera backed away, you can imagine my disgust.
smile.gif


It would look cool though, if it was a real Spyderco used...
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Imagine, Spyderco - first production knife to ever touch (or stab) a 10,000-year old beast.. hehehehe..

Dan
 
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