Counterfeit Knives Yes or No?
Kevin Felts 01.08.18
There is an individual on YouTube by the name of Skallagrim who makes videos about swords, axes, and knives with a focus on European history. From time to time he receives a knife to do a review on. Many YouTube channels operate this way, including my own YouTube channel. We get a product, do a review, then we keep the product.
Most of the time it is a win-win situation. YouTubers get free products and the company saves a lot of money on advertising. However, there comes a point, such as the dilemma Skallagrim is faced with, where he can no longer (in good conscience) do reviews on “counterfeit” knives.
What is a counterfeit knife? It is when someone copies the design of a popular knife. Usually this means copying a Sypderco, Benchmade, Cold Steel, etc design. Let’s say a brand-name knife may sell for $100, the counterfeit knife may sell for $20. With the trade-off in price also comes a trade-off in quality.
Skallagrim talks about his dilemma in this video.
While I agree with Skallagrim, I also have to agree with one of the comments:
Well, I’m all for original design and against counterfeints. But these days many western companies moved their manufacturing to China or other Asian countries because it’s cheaper there. But did they lower their prices accordingly? No, prices are higher than ever.
One thing that drives the counterfeit market may be the high cost of brand name knives. Someone raising a family, buying a home, paying on a car note, electric bill, and insurance probably does not have a lot of extra money to drop on a knife. In the end, that $20 knockoff knife looks more attractive than the $100 brand name.
However, let’s take Case knives for example. They are made in the USA, have a lifetime warranty, and are reasonably priced. Are their counterfeit Case knives? Sure there are, but the counterfeits cost almost as much as a real Case. It’s not like a Case Stockman sells for $100, and the counterfeit sells for $20.
If Case can offer a quality made-in-the-U.S.A knife with a lifetime warranty at a reasonable price, why can’t other knife companies do the same thing?
