New guy with A Cold Steel Knife Question

A

Al_G19

Joined
Jan 1, 2008
Messages
1
Hello all,

I found this site while trying to find some information about a COLD STEEL Magnum Tanto IV knife.

I recently got one from a guy in a trade, and I think it's a fake but I would like to be sure so I can find out if he knows or not.

From what I have been able to find is that the knife is a fake/copy if:

There is a space where the blade goes into the handle/handguard section.

The "Cold Steel" markings are supposed to be black and not gray.

The sheath should be marked "Japan" on the back.

The handle textured section fit to the endcaps should be an exact fit.

And the last one I'm not sure if I have it correct, is that you should be able to see some sort of direction change in the blade steel.

I would liketo offer a sincere thank you in advance for any and all information/advice that anybody is willing to offer.
 
You should be able to tell just by examining it. San Mai has a line running down the blade next to the edge where the steels come together. Also, fake knives and knock-offs just appear cheap. I don't have a Boker, for example, but I'd most likely be able to spot a fake one just by looking at the various parts of the knife: blade, handle, weight, sheath quality, that sort of thing. A fake is going to be obviously cheap and the grind is going to be terrible.

Most fakes are linerlock folders. Fixed blade knives will be full tang and not have the hilt (or anything else) rattling. Sheaths won't have uneven threading or strands. If there is a space where the blade goes into the handle/handguard section, yes, that's a bad sign. Chipping or peeling of the chrome is another giveaway.
 
Wow.
Just a few days ago I saw some Cold Steel Magnum Tantos, in a store, and they didn't look right to me. The fit and finish on them were rather poor, and the price on them was kind of low. Something wasn't quite right, I thought...counterfeit maybe?

I'm not particularly familiar with the Magnum Tanto line, but the few Cold Steel knives that I have, and the ones that I've seen in other stores (Lebaron, Al Flaherty's), all have pretty good fit and finish.

And I just looked on Google quickly, and I see that there are counterfeit Magnum Tantos out there.

So the ones I saw must have been counterfeit.
The store also had a Benchmade Stryker that didn't look right, and was priced kind of low. Probably counterfeit as well.
There were also some CRKT stuff that looked legit.

I've been in the store before, and the owner is a something of a knife enthusiast himself. So I figure that the guy knows that the knives are fake.
It has that feel about it. No, I didn't ask him.

The store is : Army Outfitters, on Avenue Rd., north of Lawrence.
Sort of a small Army Surplus store. He previously was Sgt. Bilko's, on Bridgeland. Buyer beware.
 
Hmmm. Why didn't you ask him? If he really is a knife enthusiast, the least he could do...should do...is to sell them as conterfeit knives. Or would selling them under any circumstances be illegal?
 
I think I know exactly the store your talking about. If it is run by Father and Son than it is the store that I have been in a few times years ago. All I can say is from personal experience that who ever was running that store did not know their knives. Guy was trying to sell me smith & wesson knives and said he doesn't deal in Spyderco, because they get confiscated at customs and he doesn't want the hassle:eek. He really wasn't a knife enthusiast if he would make a claim like that & sell bad knives to his customers. He also had a bucket and it was full of knives and he said anything in the bucket is $30 bucks or something.lol

just my opinions your welcome to disagree

aj
 
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