Spyderco Farid K2 - knockoff or clone or doctored original?

K

ksskss

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May 25, 2006
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As I am a big fan of Farid Mehr, and owner of two Spyderco K2s, I was very surprised to see a posting for this knife on EBAY :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262730512556?ul_noapp=true

titled:
[h=1]OEM Large SPYDERCO FARID-K2 Titanium handle CPM10V Blade Folding Knife Kitchen[/h]
for the ridiculously low price of $109!

I contacted the seller who says he is out of Israel, yet the product ships from China asking him the following:

"
Hi! A couple of questions:
1) It says you are located in Israel, yet the item ships from China. These are made in Taiwan. Where does the item come from - the factory in Taiwan or China or from Spyderco in Colorado USA?
2) The 'Spyderco' logo is missing from the knife. What happened to it?
3) The zig-zag pattern is missing from the lock bar! How does the knife open and lock closed without this cut out?
4) Do you have several of these and can you give me a wholesale price for them if you do?"

I wanted to see if he had more for sale.

I got the terse response , "It is a clone".

I followed this up with a second Inquiry, which I have not yet received any response from the seller.

"Is the steel 10V? Where is it manufactured? Is it the same factory as the original? Is it made to the same or similar tolerances as the original? Is the zig-zag pattern on the lockbar there or is it one piece like in the picture? Is the Spyderco logo on the blade?
[h=3]Can I buy several of these? If so what is your best price for quantity? How large of a quantity can you supply and what is your lead time?"[/h]
Again no response so far. Somehow I doubt I will get further response.

NOTE in the picture the Spyderco logo is missing, whereas Farid's logo is still present and the zig-zag pattern of the lockbar is airbrushed out OR is somehow absent in the 'clone'.

Does anyone have more information about this knife? If it is a clone or perhaps something stolen from the factory? There is also a Spyderco Box in the corner of one of the pictures.

Any help appreciated. I obviously don't have ANY desire to be getting or selling knockff products and think this is a pretty despicable thing to do to both Spyderco and Farid.

---
Ken

​
 
That's crappy. Didn't know this model was being copied now as well.

Can't wait for some to chime in here that because it's missing the logo and the lock bar is slightly different it's obviously not a knock-off/counterfeit/scummy move.

Right. :rolleyes:
 
Seems kinda dumb that they would choose to clone a Spyderco version, vs. a Farid K2.
Last I saw going price for a NIB Spyderco K2 was $149 USD (I am ok that I paid more thou, as I have greater history with mine :) and still was excellent value.
Who in their right mind would think about "saving" $40 on something like this ...
I would say those pic's are of a Spyderco K2, photo shopped to remove the lockbar cutout and the Spyder logo.
From everything I see, I would guess this is a money scam (money sent would be money wasted).
Link posted to Spyderco forum for their followup.
 
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It has got to be fake. Always be wary of oem stuff shipping from China. Kind of dumb of them to be counterfeiting a discontinued knife.
 
Maybe not photoshoped or a clone, maybe just an unfinished knife that someone pocketed from the factory? Lack of logo and lack of lock-bar machining - the latter indicates that the knife is unusable... who would make a clone and not finish it with SOME sort of lock-mechanism?
 
chiral.grolim said:
Maybe not photoshoped or a clone, maybe just an unfinished knife that someone pocketed from the factory? Lack of logo and lack of lock-bar machining - the latter indicates that the knife is unusable... who would make a clone and not finish it with SOME sort of lock-mechanism?
Click to expand...

Interesting consideration, assembled from incomplete components.

I was kinda guessing the Spyder logo is trademark (Spyderco) and I think the wavy lockbar cutout is also a trademark (Farid). The hole may also be Spyderco trademark, but assume many would overlook this. Advertising a clone with trademarks possibly has greater legal consequences ...? If it was actually a functioning clone, would have to be a liner-lock like some of the PM2 clones.

I hold with belief it's just a money scam for the truly culpable.
 
The blade looks stonewashed which a real K2 most certainly is not. It is quite common for the lock to be Photoshoped out of Pictures of counterfeits.

Still though, all that work into making a counterfeit of a discontinued knife. Doesn't make a ton of sense. Far too fishy.
 
It's a mix of a poorly done counterfeit (front facing picture with stonewashed blade and poor laser etching) and photoshopped pictures of a genuine one.

They photoshop-blurred over the lockbar cutout zigzagging on the locking side:

97bd56d7f70cc4a9bb74f0e3d6cc0bf6.jpg
 
Fake, no frame lock on pics because chinese sites don't allow to sell knives with locking mechanism, so they photoshop them. Pics are taken from some aliexpress or something like that.
 
Handle material carbon fiber titanium. So that's something that seems to have been overlooked. Too cheap, too many red flags. I would definitely pass.
 
Yeah, it's fake, they sell for $52.71 on the chinese site...

It's a genuine C186 Folding Knife Stone Wash D2 Blade TC4 Titanium Handle Outdoor Tool Tactical Camping Knives Survival pocket Knife EDC :rolleyes:
 
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chiral.grolim said:
Maybe not photoshoped or a clone, maybe just an unfinished knife that someone pocketed from the factory? Lack of logo and lack of lock-bar machining - the latter indicates that the knife is unusable... who would make a clone and not finish it with SOME sort of lock-mechanism?
Click to expand...

All the frame locks on Aliexpress are pictured with the lockbar absent. They aren't actually like that. I read they are required now, to not sell locking knives, so they do that to get around the new rule. Much like they don't show actual blade length due to laws limiting that.
 
What I see is the following.
Front side of the blade either bead blasted or air brushed to not show the logo, that is the reason the front side is a grey finish.
The reverse side of the blade still is the original satin finish to show my name and the name of my knife.
They have air brushed the entire lock bar which has my trademark wavy pattern design which I have used on all my knives and have done for ten years or more.
As they were air brushing the lock bar they forgot to air brush the final little curve which is where the lock relief is.
As the designer of the K2, to me it looks like the collaboration knife, but ‘Air brushed’ , but if you are going to air brush the knife why only air brush the Spyderco’s logo off ? Why not my logo as well ?
What are this persons motives behind this decision while openly calling it ‘a clone’ ?
The K2 design is my intellectual property rights.
Farid Mehr



 
ourgon said:
no frame lock on pics because chinese sites don't allow to sell knives with locking mechanism, so they photoshop them.
Click to expand...

I've heard this too. The fake you buy will still have the lock, they just photoshop it out for the pics.
 
farid. said:
What I see is the following.
Front side of the blade either bead blasted or air brushed to not show the logo, that is the reason the front side is a grey finish.
The reverse side of the blade still is the original satin finish to show my name and the name of my knife.
They have air brushed the entire lock bar which has my trademark wavy pattern design which I have used on all my knives and have done for ten years or more.
As they were air brushing the lock bar they forgot to air brush the final little curve which is where the lock relief is.
As the designer of the K2, to me it looks like the collaboration knife, but ‘Air brushed’ , but if you are going to air brush the knife why only air brush the Spyderco’s logo off ? Why not my logo as well ?
What are this persons motives behind this decision while openly calling it ‘a clone’ ?
The K2 design is my intellectual property rights.
Farid Mehr



Click to expand...

Awesome insight here.
 
Well, I certainly learned something from this. I was not aware that lockbars are commonly photo-edited out in such listings. Thank you to all those that contributed to the thread, especially Farid :thumbup:
 
Great seeing the actual maker post here on this mess!
👍🏽👍🏽 Farid!!
Joe
 
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