So i guess both my live and trainer P'kals are fake

N

Nocternum

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Oct 28, 2013
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Bought them about a year ago from ebay. Both for both about $120 give or take from two different sellers. Both sellers had real good feedback too!
I knew there were a few fakes out there but they only seemed to be of the more commonly bought/popular models. Couldn't find any info anywhere of fake p'kals and coupled with the price and sellers' feedback i felt pretty safe about the purchases. silly me...

For some reason i started watching the how to spot a fake spyderco vids on youtube couple nights ago and compared them to mine. First, it seemed just the live was fake but after more vids and thinking it seems even the trainer is too! damn...

I'll post some high res pictures later when i get back from work tonight if anyone is interested but in the mean time i just wanted to put this info out there in case anyone didn't know there were fake P'kals out there.
 
If you've owned them for over a year without thinking they are fake, they are probably real. You'd most likely run into a problem or notice something was "off" before watching a YouTube video
 
I would think that neither of those knives are popular enough models to warrant scammers to make counterfeits. But I suppose I wouldn't put it past them..
 
Doesn't seem like popular models to fake but nothing would surprise or shock me.

Look forward to your pictures.
 
I appreciate all the comments and feedback guys! Im trying to get these pictures onto my pc as we speak. Only got home from work an hour ago.

Munchy, fair point but i should have mentioned that these are the only spydercos that i own so far. its difficult to get them in England where i am. As such i don't have a comparison point.
Also, i haven't actually used the live version. I have a few other knives that i use for everyday tasks. The live P'kal just kind of sits in the box. Iv played around with it a fair bit and not noticed anything off about it but like i said, i haven't owned any other spydercos. As for the trainer, well i do play around with it a lot practicing drills etc and haven't noticed anything off about that model either. Reading about the fakes and watching the videos however, a lot of the comments point out that some of them are quite well made and its only with very close scrutiny and comparing to a genuine of the same model can one maybe notice differences in the quality of the knives workings so im kinda at a loss here.

Mark and Deric, i haven't found any forum posts or websites or vids talking about p'kal fakes either and yeah i agree, since its hardly a very popular model i didn't think there'd be a big enough market to justify faking that model.


Kreyz, what i read and saw in the vids relates more to the knife boxes than the actual knives. ill explain why in a sec.
The font on the sticker with the bar codes is different for each of the two boxes. ill show this in the pictures when i manage to upload them.
Then there is the V shaped thing at the top of the golden spider where the spiders "mouth" i guess would be. The two "v" bits are different. Also one is missing the "r" registered mark at the bottom right of the golden spider on the top of the box. There's a couple of other little details as well ill show with the pictures.

As for the actual knives, i wasn't able to check anything coz again - no other vids etc on p'kals looking at such details. I know another fake vid showd how the jimping on some fakes was flat where on genuine ones it was slightly diagonal. This sort of stuff i couldn't check.
 
Nothing I would worry about. The left spider was just printed with a less bit gold. You can even see the silver stripe through it. Less gold paint probably accounts for the V to be thinner.
 
Jens Schuetz said:
Nothing I would worry about. The left spider was just printed with a less bit gold. You can even see the silver stripe through it. Less gold paint probably accounts for the V to be thinner.
Click to expand...

how about the missing "r" on the bottom right of the spider?
 
From what I can see the knives look fine though I wish the hosting site didn't distort your pictures.
 
rycen said:
From what I can see the knives look fine though I wish the hosting site didn't distort your pictures.
Click to expand...

im gonna try find a better way to show the pictures.

So, no big deal about the boxes then? Also they came with a card rather than a piece of A4 paper.
 
The boxes have had a few slight changes. As for the paperwork I have to check mine.
 
Just checked mine and although I have no paperwork in mine that doesn't necessarily mean anything as I'm not the first owner. Interestingly my trainer which is from the same time period as yours also shares the 305 sticker on the box flap.
 
Those are legit. The reason why the black one has a black plastic lock rather than clear is because they updated them early last year on that one and the manix.
 
rycen said:
The boxes have had a few slight changes. As for the paperwork I have to check mine.
Click to expand...
Exactly. The trainer was made in 2008, the live blade in 2013. Lots can change in 5 years, boxes, paperwork (or lack of same), bags (or lack of same), logos, labels, ball cage color, the list is endless. Heck, even two specimens of the exact same model made that far apart might show considerably differences.
 
Dude you are paranoid and those knives are legit. Boxes printed in china by the 1000s, so ones a little different under a microscope. Just saying, IMO, don't worry so much. Unless you bought them from allababa or what ever or straight from china for $20
 
jtho8774 said:
Dude you are paranoid and those knives are legit. Boxes printed in china by the 1000s, so ones a little different under a microscope. Just saying, IMO, don't worry so much. Unless you bought them from allababa or what ever or straight from china for $20
Click to expand...
P'kals are probably pretty safe. At least I've been unable to find any sightings of fake ones reported in the appropriate threads here and on Spyderco's own forum. OTHO, it's not just vendors located in China you have to watch out for anymore. There are plenty of eBay sellers in the USA and some in Canada trying to pass off the counterfeit knives they purchased from alibaba, or from someone who got them from alibaba, as genuine. Personally, I wouldn't trust gun shows or flea markets either anymore and, aside from the big name shows, might even be leery of buying at a knife show. I don't see that as paranoia, or at least not paranoia beyond the degree of it that's a synonym for common sense.
 
Guys, thanks a lot for the input. I wasnt actually hoping that they were fakes although it might have sounded like that! ;)
It just really peed me off after watching those vids and tginking they might have been. Thanks for clearing that!
 
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