New Cooper Cutlery knives?

Okay, this is fascinating. Surely Cooper Cutlery releases aren't popular enough yet to merit copying? It just doesn't seem like the demand would be there, or that the expense of copying all of the odd choices made on that knife would make sense when compared to, say, cranking out a generic slipjoint with stag covers.

Also interesting: In one very tiny spot on the listing for the Big Chief on the CC site it notes "made in the USA with domestic and imported materials," while the rest of the site trumpets their knives being made in the USA. Assuming they're using the qualified claim correctly on the Big Chief listing (and assuming I understand the FTC regulations correctly!), why not make the Big Chief in the USA instead of having to make a qualified claim for US manufacture? Why that one model, when the rest are made here?

There are plenty of possible explanations, but man for some reason my shenanigans radar is a-pinging.
 
Wharn said:
Yikes… I’m interested to see how this unfolds.
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Me too, because I don't really have instruments to investigate this anyhow further. I just asked seller to confirm if those are made in China, and I'll see what their response will be. Though that is quite a stupid question, because pretty much anything being sold on express by Chinese sellers is made in China (apart from the Leathermans in "official" LM store maybe? Or...). If anyone is interested and have an opportunity to investigate deeply, I can PM the link to the store.
 
Alex.Y. said:
I just feel I should share this. In famous Chinese express website I had spotted a store that sold bootleg Frost Cutlery (and their other brands like Steel Warrior etc.) knives. I don't know if they actually make them for Frost, or they just copied from the actual OEM. Today I looked into that store, and guess what I've found?

View attachment 1935006View attachment 1935007View attachment 1935008View attachment 1935009

They sell them around 80 bucks or so (can't tell for sure because it automatically converts to my country's currency).

What do you all think, folks? Are those just fakes? Or...
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If these are knock offs, they really put a lot of work into details to make them look real. I went to Cooper Cutleries website, and they don't have any click throughs to pics of sold-out items, but I did find some good images on a dealer website.

I don't know what to think about this discovery, thank's for sharing this.
 
Dadpool said:
I wonder if they'd tell you if they're Cooper's OEM. If you asked?
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I can certainly try. But their answer won't really mean anything. There are literally hundreds of stores there that sell fake Kershaws, and each one claim that they are the truly OEM for KAI. One seller even claimed that he is making genuine Extrema Ratio... in China, yeah... So you get the idea. But I'll try.

Edit: they may actually not know a thing about those knives, but answer positively only to sound legit and give you more confidence, at least that's what they think they'll achieve by saying so. On the other hand, they may become suspicious and answer negatively to avoid unnecessary consequences.
 
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Dadpool said:
I wonder if they'd tell you if they're Cooper's OEM. If you asked?
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Here is what they say
image20.jpg

But again, for people who maybe haven't read my previous post: sellers there would tell you anything they think might be appropriate to tell. It is not necessarily truth. They might have answered that way just to pose as an "official" manufacturer. Their reply can't be used as a direct proof of anything.
 
Alex.Y. said:
Here is what they say
View attachment 1936523

But again, for people who maybe haven't read my previous post: sellers there would tell you anything they think might be appropriate to tell. It is not necessarily truth. They might have answered that way just to pose as an "official" manufacturer. Their reply can't be used as a direct proof of anything.
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I appreciate that it's not definitive! But it suuuuure is interesting. 🧠 Thank you for asking them.
 
Just for the information, seller also said that they don't have any other models of Cooper.

image21.jpg

Auto translation is a bit awkward, but obviously they meant they only have as many as one can see in the store.
 
Alex.Y. said:
Here is what they say
View attachment 1936523

But again, for people who maybe haven't read my previous post: sellers there would tell you anything they think might be appropriate to tell. It is not necessarily truth. They might have answered that way just to pose as an "official" manufacturer. Their reply can't be used as a direct proof of anything.
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I have been acquiring a few Coopers. I was assured by someone that visited their facility that they are DEFINITELY made right there in Ohio. They were impressed with what they saw and are excited to see how they do in the future. I consider them a very reliable source. So take that for what's it worth. I wish them luck.
 
Doesn't seem super plausible that legit Cooper Cutlery is being made in China. Super easy to be discovered, customers who would absolutely care enough to investigate, legal issues with false advertising, the company would be an inch from total collapse at all times with that hanging over their heads.

Dumber things have been done though I guess
 
Angry Angus said:
I have been acquiring a few Coopers. I was assured by someone that visited their facility that they are DEFINITELY made right there in Ohio. They were impressed with what they saw and are excited to see how they do in the future. I consider them a very reliable source. So take that for what's it worth. I wish them luck.
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That’s good to hear. I’m honestly rooting for them, the more competition the better.
 
Dadpool said:
Okay, this is fascinating. Surely Cooper Cutlery releases aren't popular enough yet to merit copying? It just doesn't seem like the demand would be there, or that the expense of copying all of the odd choices made on that knife would make sense when compared to, say, cranking out a generic slipjoint with stag covers.
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It does seem an odd choice for cloning. Buck, Benchmade, Spyderco are all widely counterfeited, but Cooper wouldn't seem to have the demand or name recognition.

Carboniferous said:
Doesn't seem super plausible that legit Cooper Cutlery is being made in China. Super easy to be discovered, customers who would absolutely care enough to investigate, legal issues with false advertising, the company would be an inch from total collapse at all times with that hanging over their heads.

Dumber things have been done though I guess
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I'm not buying that some con man has hired actors to play a knife making family in southern Ohio while surreptitiously having the knives made in China. Might be a decent made-for-tv movie 🎥
I suppose it could be a John DeLorean type of deal where somebody got in over their head and did something stupid to try and save their company.

I bought a factory second ("EDC" in Cooper parlance. Think GEC store knife) German Hunter for a very heavily discounted price. Its overall quality is on par with Case. My only real problem with it is I misread the specs. I thought I was getting a knife just a little bigger than a Case 54 Trapper. More like a GEC 65. What I got is a knife that's a skosh bigger than a Buck 110. Definitely a sheath knife and if I'm going to carry a folding sheath knife, it will be a Buck 110 or 112, so the Cooper probably will not get carried. Not a bad knife all in all.

I would like to see Cooper do well. This Chinese thing seems strange.
 
mbkr said:
I suppose it could be a John DeLorean type of deal where somebody got in over their head and did something stupid to try and save their company.
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This is the scenario my inner cynic leans towards. It also lines up with the Big Chief, and its use of imported parts.

It's definitely weird, no matter what's going on.
 
I could see the possibility of them undertaking their own venture with their old Queen machinery and unskilled labor. Then, when things didn't go as planned, as witnessed by their early attempts, they shipped production overseas... while hiding the fact.
 
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