Trying figure out if knife I got today is a fake (Benchmade)

A

Adam Baker

Joined
Oct 24, 2015
Messages
5
So I was at a local antiques & such fair, and I bought a knife from a knife dealer that was there.

Supposedly the knife is by Benchmade.

My first concern was the box it came in, and upon further inspection, the logo on the blade doesn't quite match what I'm finding online. And then the last thing is the fact that I can't find this blade listed on any sites that I feel are affiliated in any way with Benchmade. So far the closest thing I can find is a Megumi, but there are some pretty noticeable differences.

It's an assisted blade, w/ wood & faux carbon fiber on the handle. On the blade, it has the Benchmade butterfly logo, but where it should have USA on it, it has some weird looking glyph kind of thing.

I don't have any images of the box, but it has a 2003 date on it, so I suppose it could just be a pretty old model, but I'm doubting it.

Below are a couple pictures I took of the knife.

20151024_185700.jpg


20151024_185736.jpg


Any help here would be much appreciated.
 
Dang,,, that's as fake as most D's in LA... Sorry bud

Next time do your research,,,, there's are tons of videos/reviews for almost every knife out there
 
Thanks everyone. Unfortunately after I did some research, this is what I began to suspect. Thankfully I'm not out much, only 25 dollars, but it still pisses me off.

Thanks for the link benchwarmer. I looked in the Benchmade forum for just that kind of thread, but it's obvious that I didn't look hard enough.

benchwarmer380 said:
Sorry friend, it's a fake.

It's the same as the example in the second post.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...enchmade-Fakes-knock-offs-counterfeits-thread
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rcb2000, I had no knowledge of this manufacturer, had never heard of them before today. I made the assumption it was legit, which was my mistake, but to tell me to do my research, when I'm just walking around a fair looking at vendors is of no help to me. I did my research after the fact, which is why I'm even here. At least at this point, I can make the organizers of the event aware that this vendor is selling fake merchandise, and hopefully prevent someone else from having this happen.


rcb2000 said:
Dang,,, that's as fake as most D's in LA... Sorry bud

Next time do your research,,,, there's are tons of videos/reviews for almost every knife out there
Click to expand...
 
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Adam Baker said:
rcb2000, I had no knowledge of this manufacturer, had never heard of them before today. I made the assumption it was legit, which was my mistake, but to tell me to do my research, when I'm just walking around a fair looking at vendors is of no help to me. I did my research after the fact, which is why I'm even here.
Click to expand...

Sometimes you have to do your research beforehand.

Last gun show I was at, I ran into a guy selling PM2s for $75 apiece. They were decent looking facsimiles, but facsimiles nonetheless. I told the guy his PM2s were selling very cheap just to see what he would say. He told me he had one of his wholesaler buddies who needed to "offload a bunch" of them, so he gave him 80 units for a hell of a deal.

At least you were wise enough not to be out a bunch of money on an unknown item.
 
Its hard to get other folks to care much about fake goods, but its worth a shot. Just be aware that some people don't like it when someone is seen to be taking gravy from someone else's table, little guys vs. big corps and all that. So don't get down if they don't care.

I've been burned too, lots of us do eventually. Do some research and know your prices, and you will find things others pass by. You might only save a couple bucks, but from time to time, if you know what you are looking for, you can get used knives for fair prices. Helps add to the collection. You will find over time that there are some to just stay away from, but I've gotten some really good swiss army knives, and others, just by knowing what I was looking for. Don't be afraid to walk away, or snap a pic for later research, if they get twitchy about it, that tells you something too. someone selling goods straight up won't be concerned. In general farmers markets, fairs and others are littered with fakes, but its always fun to look. Any vendors selling NTSA stuff are worth looking at, remember that even then there might be fakes in the mix, but that's because lots of people carry crap knives, but there might be some gold hidden in the mix.
 
Yea, unfortunately this isn't going to be a mistake I wont make again.

I understand doing research on something like this is important, and I didn't, which was stupid, and I realize that now.

And I'm sorry rcb, I misread your comment and shouldn't have responded to your comment the way I did.

Velitrius said:
Sometimes you have to do your research beforehand.

Last gun show I was at, I ran into a guy selling PM2s for $75 apiece. They were decent looking facsimiles, but facsimiles nonetheless. I told the guy his PM2s were selling very cheap just to see what he would say. He told me he had one of his wholesaler buddies who needed to "offload a bunch" of them, so he gave him 80 units for a hell of a deal.

At least you were wise enough not to be out a bunch of money on an unknown item.
Click to expand...

Thanks gadgetgeek. I did hesitate when buying the knife, and almost didn't, and definitely wish now that I hadn't.

gadgetgeek said:
Its hard to get other folks to care much about fake goods, but its worth a shot. Just be aware that some people don't like it when someone is seen to be taking gravy from someone else's table, little guys vs. big corps and all that. So don't get down if they don't care.

I've been burned too, lots of us do eventually. Do some research and know your prices, and you will find things others pass by. You might only save a couple bucks, but from time to time, if you know what you are looking for, you can get used knives for fair prices. Helps add to the collection. You will find over time that there are some to just stay away from, but I've gotten some really good swiss army knives, and others, just by knowing what I was looking for. Don't be afraid to walk away, or snap a pic for later research, if they get twitchy about it, that tells you something too. someone selling goods straight up won't be concerned. In general farmers markets, fairs and others are littered with fakes, but its always fun to look. Any vendors selling NTSA stuff are worth looking at, remember that even then there might be fakes in the mix, but that's because lots of people carry crap knives, but there might be some gold hidden in the mix.
Click to expand...
 
You're probably right, Adam Baker, but at least you are on good ol' BladeForums dot com and getting edu-ma-cated. Good on ya.

I could roll into a car lot tomorrow, and some guy could sell me a Ferrari that's actually an Opel GT with a horse sticker on the front.

Give me a few days of education, though... and I'll probably know enough to walk away from the damned thing.

So it is with knives, Coach purses, Roberto Cavalli jeans, and Rolex watches. Knowledge is power for you... Naivete' not so much.
 
Pfft. For $25 clone or not I think that's a descent price for a CF knife. I would not be upset at all if I was you. $100-200 spent and ending up with a clone yeah but for $25 I gotta admit at least it looks pretty good. Probably won't hold an edge for more than a day but for $25 big deal. I'm just thankful their not making "identical" Benchmade clones for the most part yet. If identical clones do start showing up, I'm done buying Benchmades. I'm already done buying Spydercos, CRK's, some models of ZT'S because the cloning of them is out of control. I can't stand it. These counterfeiters are making it hard for me to enjoy knives anymore. Why they just don't create their own designs or even make something similar but not "identical" is beyond me. Their just going turn people off to the brands or have people lose interest in knives all together. I'm done buying certain brands because of this $h1t period. Depressing.
 
As I mentioned before, I don't know much about knives. I've not owned many, and it's not something I use much.

Just looking at it as a knife, with no other expectations, it seems decent enough. I was just looking for something to keep at work for opening boxes & cutting things when needed. It has a fairly solid feel to it, it doesn't rattle or what not. A couple of the screws holding the wood pieces on are just a bit loose, but not a huge deal. The blade opening is smooth, and it has a pretty decent edge on it, but now I have no clue whether it will stay sharp or take an edge in the future.

I'll probably just throw it in my desk drawer at work and use it as I intended, and it'll be a reminder to research things in the future so I don't get burned again.

I have notified the group who organized the event today that one of their vendors was selling fake/counterfeit merchandise, so hopefully that will help keep someone else from buying from this seller. At the very least, hopefully it means that if this same seller tries to sell at this event next year, they won't be given a spot.


That was the same thought I have. 25 bucks wasn't too much, and if it works for awhile at work, then I guess I can live with it. The fact he was only asking 25 dollars was why I got it. If he'd wanted more than that, I'd have walked for sure.

Ulf Krogstad said:
Pfft. For $25 clone or not I think that's a descent price for a CF knife. I would not be upset at all if I was you. $100-200 spent and ending up with a clone yeah but for $25 I gotta admit at least it looks pretty good. Probably won't hold an edge for more than a day but for $25 big deal. I'm just thankful their not making "identical" Benchmade clones for the most part yet. If identical clones do start showing up, I'm done buying Benchmades. I'm already done buying Spydercos, CRK's, some models of ZT'S because the cloning of them is out of control. I can't stand it. These counterfeiters are making it hard for me to enjoy knives anymore. Why they just don't create their own designs or even make something similar but not "identical" is beyond me. Their just going turn people off to the brands or have people lose interest in knives all together. I'm done buying certain brands because of this $h1t period. Depressing.
Click to expand...
 
Why not purchase from reputable dealers or direct if your that worried about clones? I personally don't think THAT many clones are identical and plentiful to where if you bought a knife from most places it would be fake.

But if I was super paranoid about clones i'd purchase from bladeforums dealers or the manufacturers.

Many reputable dealers offer money back guarantees if something is fishy..


Prices while higher on manufacturers websites are not so high you couldn't purchase one if you really liked it..
Ulf Krogstad said:
Pfft. For $25 clone or not I think that's a descent price for a CF knife. I would not be upset at all if I was you. $100-200 spent and ending up with a clone yeah but for $25 I gotta admit at least it looks pretty good. Probably won't hold an edge for more than a day but for $25 big deal. I'm just thankful their not making "identical" Benchmade clones for the most part yet. If identical clones do start showing up, I'm done buying Benchmades. I'm already done buying Spydercos, CRK's, some models of ZT'S because the cloning of them is out of control. I can't stand it. These counterfeiters are making it hard for me to enjoy knives anymore. Why they just don't create their own designs or even make something similar but not "identical" is beyond me. Their just going turn people off to the brands or have people lose interest in knives all together. I'm done buying certain brands because of this $h1t period. Depressing.
Click to expand...
 
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Adam Baker said:
rcb2000, I had no knowledge of this manufacturer, had never heard of them before today. I made the assumption it was legit, which was my mistake, but to tell me to do my research, when I'm just walking around a fair looking at vendors is of no help to me. I did my research after the fact, which is why I'm even here. At least at this point, I can make the organizers of the event aware that this vendor is selling fake merchandise, and hopefully prevent someone else from having this happen.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that, it sucks I know. At least it was only $25,,
Next time snap a quick pick of it,, post a question on bladeforums and take a 10 minute walk,, I'll bet you get an answer quick.
Good luck with your next blade! No hard feelings,
 
Sorry to see you got screwed on the knife... That was my reason for starting this thread, but not everyone will see it.

On the plus side you didn't get screwed as badly as the two people that bought the same knife on the bay...
 
Yea, I suppose at least that's the one saving grace in this, that I didn't get shafted too bad.

If the blade will hold an edge (not holding my breath), then I'll be happy with it just being a knife I can use at work.
 
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