Possible fake C81

[hfxdesign]

Hey guys, I was going to make a post much earlier than I have, but things have been rather busy. I wish I had pictures of this for better description but since I don't I'll try explaining in detail.

I bought a C81 Para Military in black from a knife dealer when I was stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA and have been somewhat wary as to whether or not it was a counterfeit. I paid $140 for it, and thought 'wow what a deal'. However, something on the knife caught my eye.

Everything on the knife checks out, all the markings (the spyderco logo, SAL's logo, blade steel and place of origin). The blade is the right shape and size, and seems durable enough, but the logo of the little 'spydie' seems like it has a small flaw in it.

Beofore I start, the knife is one of the black coated ones, which I thought might be part of the issue. Anyways, the little spyder is etched clean, but where there should be shiny reflective metal behind the spyder, it looks like the black coating streaked down the logo. I was just wondering if anyone has seen a less-than-perfect spydie etch on their blades before.

[224477]

Picture would help a lot, of the actual knife, but I doubt you have a fake there. PMs were not copied yet afaik.

[swissknife]

Picture would help a lot, of the actual knife, but I doubt you have a fake there. PMs were not copied yet afaik.

which knives are copied?

[ChrisR]

If you look through the "Spyderco-like knock-offs, "replicas" and fakes." forum you'll see most of them. Off the top of my head: UKPK Black G10, Gunting, Lil' Temp, Poliwog (but usually with a bad camouflage coating), Native (with bad fake damascus blade) ... plus a host of knives that use the Spydie-hole without permission and on models that look vaguely like a Spyderco.

[swissknife]

thanks, i was kind of unaware of that.. sad.

[hfxdesign]

Yeah I had pictures back when I got it, but since that time they got lost somewhere. I'll see if I can get new pics of it. I contacted customer support and they said they were pretty sure it's authentic. I just never seen the spydie logo look flawed on a knife before. :\

[224477]

which knives are copied?

Hi, check this subforum for the particular models, quite a lot of them. I dare to say we covered all current counterfeits here.

[224477]

Yeah I had pictures back when I got it, but since that time they got lost somewhere. I'll see if I can get new pics of it. I contacted customer support and they said they were pretty sure it's authentic. I just never seen the spydie logo look flawed on a knife before. :\

Things like that may happen in life ;)

[hfxdesign]

They always seem to, murphy's law :\ If anything can go wrong it will.

[swissknife]

Hi, check this subforum for the particular models, quite a lot of them. I dare to say we covered all current counterfeits here.

thanks, i have and will now even more so! :rolleyes:

[Creepo]

The etching of the bug can vary a bit from knife to knife, on my Poliwog for example its vey crisp and dark, whereas on my Rock Lobster it's somewhat faded, was a bit like that from the start, then it faded a bit in use. It's just cosmetic. I highly doubt it's a fake.
Oh and just a side note: 140$ is a pretty standard price, you can find it often around 130$ so it was a decent deal, so no need to doubt it because of the price.

[hfxdesign]

Alright thanks guys :) The guy I bought it from sold me a fake native 4 (one of the damascus fakes). I talked to him and he said the same thing, he thought it might have been a promo run of spyderco knives. I got a full refund ($40 I believe) for the knife, and used the money to purchase this one. As I said it seems legit, the blade holds up to all kinds of abuse (lots and lots of whittling, cardboard cutting, everything) and retains it's edge. So I suppose the guy was duped with the fake as well, all his other knives were legit that I seen (kershaw, benchmade, cold steel, he had a few mtech rip-offs and he knew they were fakes, the guy seemed to know his knives rather well too.)

[224477]

Glad you got your refund, but the story is nothing worth w/o any pictorial reference.

[hfxdesign]

I just got ahold of my knife again after 2 years. Long story, got some pictures. What do you guys think? Dirty laser?

20514

20515

[rycen]

I can't tell much from those pics.

[hfxdesign]

Look at the spyder on them, looks like the laser didn't etch all the way through the coating, so it looks washed out. As I said before, all the other markings are there (Spyderco CMP S30V, Golden, Colorado U.S.A Earth, and Sal's mark.)

[Donut]

Judging from what I can see in the pics, it looks legit. I can't see the Spyder logo well, but I can see the other laser etching, which seems to be in line.

It is a Paramilitary 1, which had a somewhat more expensive street price than the Paramilitary 2. Best price I would see anywhere on a Paramilitary 1 was in the $120's. Also, judging by the amount of wear on the coating. If a company is going to copy at a lower quality, I would say they're going to skimp on the quality of the coating.

Compression doesn't seem to be a very easy one to copy, a lot of companies will copy the Paramilitary and put a liner lock, or other lock on it.

[hfxdesign]

Yeah, the scratches on the coating were my fault, DMT sharpener + caffiene. I was just concerned about the spyder not being etched all the way through. I can vouch this knife is definitely my favorite, love it more than the Delica 4 I had for 2 years, blade stays razor sharp for a very long time. That knife has been through hell and back too!