Saw my first counterfeit in the wild

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AntCaps

AntCaps

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Earlier this morning I was at a local flea market when I thought I saw a Meadford praetorian, when I looked at it a little closer I saw the price tag said $50.00. When I looked at it a little closer I saw that it had the Meadford logo on it and it was labeled as such.
No real point to this thread but I was surprised to see it none the less.
Where have you guys spotted clones or counterfits not online?
 
I have only seen such things at flea markets and gun shows. Actually now that I think about it a few guys actually sell some pretty questionable stuff at a few knife shows. The total counterfeits are usually kept under the counter. Which is funny because where these shows are held autos are illegal but they sell them freely.
 
PURPLEDC said:
I have only seen such things at flea markets and gun shows. Actually now that I think about it a few guys actually sell some pretty questionable stuff at a few knife shows. The total counterfeits are usually kept under the counter. Which is funny because where these shows are held autos are illegal but they sell them freely.
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I saw a whole bunch of super crappy "Microtech" & Dalton fakes just today at the gun show. Nothing that wasn't obviously fake at less than 30 feet.
I did get told about all about how the Microtech Jagdkommando is standard issue to Austrian SF by a guy selling real Microtechs.:rolleyes:

I don't think anybody really cares about automatics anymore outside of a few hyper-lefty metropolises.
I've seen them at shows everywhere since the 90s, and anyone with half a brain realizes you can open anything with a thumbstud/spyderhole/flipper just as fast if not faster, so they are ignored & treated like what they are; nifty gadgety knives that got a bad rap in the 1950s because of some ninnies.

Plus police tend to like the nice ones, and the shitty ones get played with by their buyers for a few hours & thrown in the trash when they break, or in a junk drawer for eternity if they don't.
 
I saw a china clone buck 110 at a flea market it had "China" stamped on it, picked it up.. NO SPRING whatsoever...
 
I was at a knife show a while back and saw a table full of knives for sale. To the side there were a few OTFs with a sign that said "Microtech Clones" that was pretty weird. It seemed like the guy was a dealer so I didn't know why he had clones
 
MattyLav said:
I was at a knife show a while back and saw a table full of knives for sale. To the side there were a few OTFs with a sign that said "Microtech Clones" that was pretty weird. It seemed like the guy was a dealer so I didn't know why he had clones
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Probably to demonstrate the difference to the guys who "just saw the same knife for $40 two aisles down."
Apparently there are some scary good ones out there, but I haven't seen one yet. (Or I thought I was looking at a real one :eek:)

Most of them are pretty obvious junk to even the average person if you show them side-by-side. Edit to add: The OSS Cobra clones I've seen look at least as nice as a normal Mikov, but have a single spring & lack the soft-lock plunger things the real ones have. They still won't be fooling anyone who knows even a little.
 
One thing that bothers me with these counterfeits is that many of them of are knives that most people have not even heard of, so a difference in features/price wouldn't stand out to them.
 
I saw two very vastly different quality CRK clones once at a gun show... One was the $25.00 alibaba special... the other, VERY hard to tell was a clone to be honest.
I nearly walked away with it... for $80.00, it would have been a great user/hand off knife. Lockup was actually VERY solid and the retailer spine whacked the bejesus out of it in front of me. Rock solid. Released buttery smooth, was insane how high quality it was... scary what han can do with his sweatshop these days.
 
Safe assumption: Saying people who make counterfeit knives are junk.

Unsafe assumption: Saying the counterfeit knives they make are junk.

Some counterfeits are junk, of course, and they're easy to spot. But the well-made counterfeits are nearly impossible to tell from the originals. How do I know? Because I've got one. Why did I buy it? Several reasons. But the biggest reason was to dispel the myth that it's easy to tell the difference between counterfeits and originals. Believe me, the counterfeit I've got (well, "homage" to be precise as it doesn't have the original trademarks on it) has fooled more than one discerning eye.

Solution: Always buy from an authorized dealer. And even then, be very careful. I mean if the experiences some folks reported in the link Craytab posted above don't send a shiver down your spine, I'm not sure what will.
 
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B34NS said:
Whoa! That's one heck of a ballsy scam. Glad you got sorted with the real deal though!:thumbup:
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Oh, I wasn't there to buy a knife. I had my real PM2 in my pocket. I was able to pick them out looking at stuff behind the counter.
 
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Down here there is a national camping store chain which sells fakes and counterfeits. I figure a supposedly reputable company selling fakes in brick and mortar stores might be more easily dealt with than online sellers so I notified the knife companies.
I have noticed the store has been cleaning up its act in recent months.
 
I don't have a lot of modern folders so I'm sure I couldn't spot a 'good' fake as quickly as others. I think I own three good quality 'modern' folders right now (all users). These types of stories definitely make me more hesitant about buying certain brand knives from gun shows or flea markets.

Reignman said:
I saw two very vastly different quality CRK clones once at a gun show... One was the $25.00 alibaba special... the other, VERY hard to tell was a clone to be honest.
I nearly walked away with it... for $80.00, it would have been a great user/hand off knife. Lockup was actually VERY solid and the retailer spine whacked the bejesus out of it in front of me. Rock solid. Released buttery smooth, was insane how high quality it was... scary what han can do with his sweatshop these days.
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I've read here about counterfeits that had VERY good fit and finish. I guess the better the copy, the more $ they can sell them for. While their steel/HT may be inferior, it clearly shows the factory/company's ability to manufacture quality knives. Unfortunately, they would rather profit off someone else's reputation instead of building their own. :(
 
craytab said:
I found a fake PM2 at Cabela's. Long story short, it was a returned knife. Some Scumbag bought counterfeits and returned them for cash or whatever. I posted about it over in the Spyderco sub forum. It is a pretty good read if anyone is interested.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1220121-Update-Fake-PM2-at-Cabela-s
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Darn. I knew it was only a matter of time before people started pulling that scam. This is why i say you have to be careful even when buying from sn authorized retailer.
 
PURPLEDC said:
Darn. I knew it was only a matter of time before people started pulling that scam. This is why i say you have to be careful even when buying from sn authorized retailer.
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Return scams are common. I'm surprised the scammer even put a knife in there.
I bought a modem from Comp USA years ago (when they were still in business & people still used modems) and the box was full of flattened soda cans. :mad:

I didn't realize Spydercos were expensive enough to bother to counterfeit. I guess it's been a while since I looked at them. I always thought they were ugly & I guess I missed their transition into making higher quality stuff.
 
Blades&Bullets said:
While their steel/HT may be inferior . . .
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I wouldn't go so far as to make that assumption. Even counterfeiters like steady customers. If they sell you something and it falls apart, what are the odds that you'll come back for more?

Once again, counterfeiting is a $500B global industry whose growth rate would make a successful business blush. They didn't get that way selling products people didn't continue to buy.

As far as I'm concerned, there's only ONE indefeasible reason not to buy counterfeit products, and that's because when you do, you're transacting with criminals. Stay on that side of the argument and no one other than a criminal himself could argue with you. Cross over into talking about the products those criminals are capable of producing and the further you go, the thinner the ice gets. And I would really caution people against thinking that counterfeiters don't know how to conduct business successfully. Nefarious though they may be, nothing could be further from the truth.
 
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