• The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
    Price is $300 $250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.

  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

Ladies & Gentleman meet a 100% fake Spyderco Military

Status
Not open for further replies.
vwb563

vwb563

Gold Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
3,085
I recently bought what I thought was Spyderco Military at a really good price from evil bay. I guess I should have known it was a fake because the price was fairly cheap and the photos were not so clear. I'm posting several pics of it that i took while I still had it in hopes that it might help all Spydie lovers out there. The lock engagement was so poor that it could easily be defeated with slight pressure. The lock bar itself was not typical . Also there are several imperfections in the blade, grind lines, and final edge. It was returned for a full refund and appropriate feedback was left for the seller. Live and learn I guess. If anyone comes across him the sellers name is cuttingedge14
 
Last edited:
It was even hard to tell the box was fake. The box on the left is a real Spyderco box from an Endura. Notice the fake has no label and the grey stripe on the front is darker than the real one. The edu letter was on a shiny like paper and not normal.
 
Last edited:
Glad that you were able to return it. It's worth it to spend a little extra at reputable dealers!
 
Glad you got a refund, but I feel threads like this only help the fakes even more.
 
Sparki said:
I feel threads like this only help the fakes even more.
Click to expand...

How is that? I posted these pics in hopes that it helps others spot the fakes. It was so close to real thing that it fooled me until I actually got it in my hands then I could tell it was not real.
 
I don't get it either. :confused: If anything, you've done a service to this community by showing us what to look out for . . . not a disservice.

The writing is on the wall. If people are not careful, they WILL get burned.
 
Last edited:
The only dead giveaway for me in determining a fake from a picture is the grind and the jimping. The jimping will have more of a v shape rather than a u. I recently read that they had come out with a new fake version that corrected the jimping, grind, etc. Its getting harder and harder to tell from pictures anymore.
 
The theory is that detailed punch lists of departures from the form give fakers guidance in building better fakes. Not that the fakes are getting better or anything like that.
 
vwb563 said:
How is that? I posted these pics in hopes that it helps others spot the fakes. It was so close to real thing that it fooled me until I actually got it in my hands then I could tell it was not real.
Click to expand...

I don't think there is any problem with posting the pics. The thieves already know what the knives look like...they made it. The problem would be if we started pointing out all the things that tip us off as to it being a fake. That information could be used to make better fakes. It's hard for me to figure out the best course of action regarding this subject. I understand the point of not wanting to give more information to the counterfeiters, but I for one appreciate seeing what a fake spyderco looks like. I think posting pics is good as long as we don't go into pointing out all the tells. I dunno.

I said it a few weeks ago and met some resistance but I'll say it again. The best way I know to not get burned is to buy from reputable dealers. I never buy knives off of eBay because there's just too many scammers and fakes on there. I hear the supporters say as long as you research the seller and aren't an idiot you are fine with eBay. I don't know...I'm not the smartest guy so I practice not "being an idiot" by not buying knives off of eBay and I haven't ended up with a fake yet.

Glad you were able to get your money back on that junk vwb!! :thumbup:
 
Thomas Linton said:
The theory is that detailed punch lists of departures from the form give fakers guidance in building better fakes. Not that the fakes are getting better or anything like that.
Click to expand...

I can see that. But with these fakes becoming more common and better in quality I feel one of the best ways we as consumers can protect ourselves is to be better informed. The only way that we can be better informed is to read how to spot fakes and see how to spot fakes in my humble opinion.
 
Thomas Linton said:
The theory is that detailed punch lists of departures from the form give fakers guidance in building better fakes. Not that the fakes are getting better or anything like that.
Click to expand...

I kinda roll my eyes at this as a valid reason for NOT discussing something.
All the bootleggers need is a legit Millie and they have everything they need for comparison.
I don't think pointing out a list of differences "helps the counterfeiters". It seems to imply they are being held back only by lack of specific details on the legit knife. That's ridiculous. The reason they are not 100% identical clones is because they use cheaper materials, cheaper manufacturing tools, shitty QC and so on and so on.

If you're picturing some Chinese knife counterfeiter reading this forum and going "Aha! Eureka! Now I've got it! Now I know how to produce the PERFECT FAKE", I think you're way off base.

In the end, the problem lies with dudes like the OP, who admittedly didn't do his homework, and got caught up in the excitement of a "good deal".
Regardless of the quality of the fake item, there will always be this impulse and there will always be bootleggers who take advantage of it. The quality of the fake is distant secondary factor in how this scam was pulled off.
 
I own about 13-14 Militarys, one of my most carried and used knives ever. That is a really bad fake. Folks that know what to look for can spot a fake in seconds, that has quite a lot of tells that indicate it's a counterfeit Spyderco. I'm not an expert by any means, but I'd like to think I know a thing or two about this model in particular. I won't go into detail on what is wrong with it (not going to help the thieves get better). You can roll your eyes if you want to, but if someone thinks counterfeiters don't read online forums and do research then ignorance is a strong virtue in that person.

I've said it over and over again, here is one more:
The only way to protect yourself from counterfeit items is to buy from reputable vendors. This is the kind of thing that happens more often than not when people try to save a few bucks on something.
 
I agree 100%.
I would say the only time you should even *consider* using eBay to buy a knife is if it's a sprint run, limited edition, or in some other way, NOT a standard production knife.
You're seriously going to risk getting ripped off to save $20 or $40 on a knife?
The standard black/satin Military can be found on DOZENS of sites at a reasonable price.

Spend a little bit more and buy from a reputable dealer. One bad move like this and you've negated any perceived "savings" you got over a more traditional retailer.
 
RevDevil said:
I own about 13-14 Militarys, one of my most carried and used knives ever. That is a really bad fake. Folks that know what to look for can spot a fake in seconds, that has quite a lot of tells that indicate it's a counterfeit Spyderco. I'm not an expert by any means, but I'd like to think I know a thing or two about this model in particular. I won't go into detail on what is wrong with it (not going to help the thieves get better). You can roll your eyes if you want to, but if someone thinks counterfeiters don't read online forums and do research then ignorance is a strong virtue in that person.

I've said it over and over again, here is one more:
The only way to protect yourself from counterfeit items is to buy from reputable vendors. This is the kind of thing that happens more often than not when people try to save a few bucks on something.
Click to expand...

Rev I'll be the first to admit that I didn't do my homework on this one. Normally I would have caught that fake in a nano second but the pics weren't clear but seeing the guys feedback was 100% I made a hasty decision and made a boo boo. Luckily I was able to file a quick paypal dispute and the seller refunded.
 
I am very glad you got your money back. Losing money always stings more when it's the result of a counterfeit item.
 
Inform the masses on how to spot fakes and make the counterfeiters spend more and more trying to make better fakes! At some point they stop being so profitable to make, and no matter how hard they work it's still pretty obvious (to people who know what a normal spyderco looks like) that they are fakes. I've been sufficiently amazed at how prevalent fakes are to steer clear of buying any knives on auction sites.
 
They have all the info they need to make excact copies because I'm sure they have the actual knives themselves. So trust me they aren't reading the forums
looking for clues. They have the knives. So it is in our best interest to be as informed as possible. That means sharing all and any information we can with eachother
regarding these fakes.
I'm in the market for a military and I too like getting a good deal. But with all these fakes flooding the market I don't think I'm going to risk buying from the exchange
or ebay. And don't really feel like paying $30-40 more at a dealer. So these fakes are making a impact and its really not a good one.
 
reapinItUP said:
They have all the info they need to make excact copies because I'm sure they have the actual knives themselves. So trust me they aren't reading the forums
looking for clues. They have the knives. So it is in our best interest to be as informed as possible. That means sharing all and any information we can with eachother
regarding these fakes.
I'm in the market for a military and I too like getting a good deal. But with all these fakes flooding the market I don't think I'm going to risk buying from the exchange
or ebay. And don't really feel like paying $30-40 more at a dealer. So these fakes are making a impact and its really not a good one.
Click to expand...

If you've owned or own any Spyderco's then you will know what to look for. Just be sure the pics are clear and are of the entire knife. Not just from one side. If the seller hasn't posted good pics of all angles then ask him to. If he doesn't then don't buy. Where I made my mistake was not demanding better pics and trusting his feedback.
 
reapinItUP, not really sure what you mean by "paying $30-40 more at a retailer".
"More" than what? the price on eBay? You wouldn't pay an extra $30 to buy a knife from a reputable dealer like BHQ, KW, KC, etc, etc???
I don't mind paying a little more for the piece of mind that comes with knowing I will never receive a fake knife from these sites.
Again, if $30 is a deal breaker for you, maybe you should be looking at the Tenacious or the Resilience rather than the Military.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top