I can't really tell if it's a gap or not.. if it is, it's so small that I can't put through a piece of newspaper through. But yeah it does have like a "dark" spot..
What about the blade tip pattern difference in my original post?
It looks like one has a deeper hollow grind than the other. Maybe a mid-production change? They still all look legit to me. They can't seem, to get the pommel and guard right on all the fakes I've seen, not to mention the crappy grinding and BIG gaps between the ricasso and guard.
Got it. I should have taken a second look before commenting. I have two of these and they both look like the 2nd one (from left). The one's your showing with the upward sweep just look wrongI see.. yeah just to be clear, I was talking about this line below.. in one version (the two on the left), from right to left they go downward more and in the other version they go upward more.
In all the pictures I could find in dealers' website, they all have the "downward" version.
I messaged Cold Steel's support twice last week asking them if it's a production change.. but have not heard anything back. Do you know if they normally respond slowly or something? I wonder what the best way is to contact them?
Try calling them, I did and got someone. She was very nice and totally clueless. She said some one would call me back but it never happened. I was looking for a replacement sheath of a current production knife. My 3V XII, Japan XII/IX all are down sweep, however to my untrained eye they both look authentic.I see.. yeah just to be clear, I was talking about this line below.. in one version (the two on the left), from right to left they go downward more and in the other version they go upward more.
In all the pictures I could find in dealers' website, they all have the "downward" version.
I messaged Cold Steel's support twice last week asking them if it's a production change.. but have not heard anything back. Do you know if they normally respond slowly or something? I wonder what the best way is to contact them?
Yeah I was a bit surprised to cold steel's support.. I thought at least they would send me a response of some sort..
Thinking the "gaps" are just shadows, due to the edges being rounded off a bit instead of square. If you look close at those spine/edge shots for 3 and 4, you can actually see the little sideways "V" on each side, like >-----<.
I see, thanks for the input
Yeah I couldn't really conclude anything from those spots. The only thing that stood out to me was that for 3 and 4 (on the wide sides), there is a black line at where the blade meets the guard, almost like there is welding.
Yeah I couldn't really conclude anything from those spots. The only thing that stood out to me was that for 3 and 4 (on the wide sides), there is a black line at where the blade meets the guard, almost like there is
Still wish I could get a confirmation from cold steel.
Serious as the fake products are from China (AliExpress / Alibaba) the worst is that the ChiComs have been counterfiting US Dollars and Euros for decades. They even use the same paper. State-sponsered. Estimates are that CCC produces somewhere between $1B and $3B PER YEAR - meaning that approximately 20% of all dollars and euros circulating worldwide a genuine-fakes. Not detectible with a yellow pen or any common commercial test. Only a few certified labs with atomoic sceptroscopy can attempt it. I hate fiat currency for that any many other reasons.
