How to Spot Fake Benchmade Knives | An In-Depth Look at Determining a Benchmade Knife's Authenticity

Welcome everyone if you're new here and welcome back if you're coming back here. This will be a short video on how to

spot

a

fake

Benchmade

knife

. I'm going to walk you through the process that I go through every time I buy a bench maid, uh, just to make sure that it's authentic and the steps that I take to avoid getting scammed, so I hope this is helpful for people who like that. They may not know much about bench making or just buying

knives

in general. and I hope it helps protect you from being scammed. The first thing I'm going to talk about is that you know where and how to go through the entire process of purchasing a

knife

or bench. done online or in store without getting scammed and just going over that and then we'll talk about Box um and then we'll finish up with some things to

look

for in the knife so again I hope this is helpful for those. of you who are

look

ing for this, I hope it's a point of reference, if there's something I miss at any point in the video, please leave a comment and I'll be happy to update the video or, you know, just add it in the description just to help to people who don't really know what they're looking for, help them get familiar with everything and know what they should be looking for, so what I will say, a lot of people online bash. eBay and Bash a lot of these online stores or buy Bench Maids from us, uh, but I think Bench Ma's prices are so ridiculous that it makes shopping on eBay or buying secondhand really tempting.

I'm not going to deny that it's not. I never buy any of my made benches at full price. I'll just wait for them to go on sale or look for a used one that I can hold and can tell if it's

fake

or not, um, but The best way to avoid being scammed, obviously, is to buy from an authorized dealer; However, even when you buy from an authorized dealer, you have to be careful because a lot of times, uh, I wouldn't say much. Many times, but there are many stories online or you can talk to people.

I have spoken to several people that this has happened to them or who work in these stores and we will see what happens. People will come in. They will buy a made bench, take it out of the box, throw a fake in the box and just return it, get their money back, so this is something they have to be careful of, especially as the big box retailers that sell banks. made like Cabella's Bass Pro Shop um I think like Academy or some of the other places they don't really know what they're looking for you know they're just employees there it's not like they're the ones that are actively I'm trying to partner with Bench and become a distributor and sell them, they may not really know anything about them, which is fine, but a lot of times some of the smaller ones are more like the smaller local distributor that I go to.

I know you look for counterfeits, you know what's up and you know what to look for, so that's something to be careful with, even if you're buying from an authorized dealer you should still check it out. This is exactly what I went through. This is what I look for when I'm buying, but again on eBay a lot of times people will just post a photo of the knife they are selling and you can easily tell it's fake if they post it with a box. The box often indicates a lot that it is fake, but sometimes on eBay they just post photos from the bench made websites, like you know, photos of the knife, so even on eBay you have to be very careful because they may not always get What's in the picture, um, and eBay has good buyer protection and you'll be able to know how to get your money back and, um, tell the seller, but you still don't want to take the risk of buying a fake if you can point it out. beforehand, so the first thing I do, um, let's say I want to buy a, we'll just say, an adamus.

I was recently looking for an adamus, um, I'll go online, so I usually go to eBay or other websites where you can buy used and start looking at the listings and check them off, but what I'm looking for first is to make sure that posts a photo with the box, so this is not Adamus's box, but this is the box for the ransom. First of all, I'm going to make sure it's the right box so you know that Adamus is like your tactical line, it's part of it. of the black class, so I know it should come in a black box.

The bank has three classes: the black class, the blue class and the Gold class of

knives

, so there are these boxes. I don't have a gold class, but this is what blue does. The box should look like this this is what the Black Box should look like and there it will say black class right here similarly on the blue class it will say blue class uh when it comes to the knife hunting version so the labels have something like other different types of knives that come in the hunting box. I was really worried when I first bought this.

I bought it on Black Friday on sale for 30% off somewhere and received it in the mail. It was from a. from an authorized dealer and it said blue class here and I started freaking out. I went online and read a lot. um, a lot of people thought you knew, okay, that's false, but it turns out this is the hunting series, not a hunting class. so it should still say blue class so your hunting box should say blue class U, but know that if you're supposed to get a hunting box with your knife, sometimes you know just make sure you know what you are. looking for um so I'm tagged again.

I know that if I'm looking for a label, I know I want to make sure it's the right box, so it should be a search box, but going back to the Adamus, I know it's black. box um, I know you know, okay, the box should have this white sticker here, the sticker should go up and over the top, it will always go on the front of the box, your box will always look like this, it will have the model number on it. the same one above will have the model name so it will say Adamus like this says rescue so this is for the rescue um it will have the uses for it it will have the steel and it will have if it is manual. assisted or automatic on the other side of the label it will have as I just showed black class blue class Gold class and it will have the date that your knife was manufactured and we will reiterate with the bench made logo the model number and the model name, for which should always look like this, a lot of fakes will go like the bank made this, this bank made logo on the front of the sticker at the top, that's usually a bad sign if it's a different source than this, it's usually a bad firm um sometimes the steel will be wrong on the box sometimes the model number the exact model number will be wrong um but that's what should cover it for the box the label should always appear, the bench made Knife Company will be in the middle it varies so I think they come out like the water line, the boxes may be different so I'm not sure yet but then on the inside of the box which is what we'll hopefully see in the pictures online. on some models there will be the Benchmade pouch, there will be paperwork that needs to fold exactly like this, it needs to look exactly like this and there will be like this little shaft paperwork that, if it's a new knife, will come hidden in there. but that should be there if it's an axis, some bank, ma, the older ones aren't or like the shooting isn't an axis, luck, um, but in general, no, no, what should be in your packaging , so for Adamus, I know it's supposed to be there. come with this little bag and this little clip of malice here along with other documents instead of a bag so all this should come in the box now if you are buying used again from someone you can't see the box maybe this.

It won't come with it but it's fine in the box it should come with this and in the Adamus box I don't think there is foam so getting the bench foam made is another big task but if you're looking. for a model that doesn't come with the foam, that's going to be a problem, but with the rescue, for example, the maid foam will always look exactly like this, exactly like this, this is a huge tail, almost all fake ones can't do it well. It's very hard to recreate foam I guess or whatever, I don't really know, but the fakes never have foam that looks like this.

Some knives again don't have foam so it's harder to tell and some people may be selling fakes on legitimate ones. boxes it is not a guarantee that your knife is real if it has this foam but it means the box is real so pause, look at your box, make sure you know what the foam looks like and if it doesn't look like that, that It means you have a fake box, it doesn't guarantee that you have a fake knife, but it's not a good sign, so if I see that I'm on eBay, I'm looking and I see a box and I see you know, inside the box there's barely any. this cut and it doesn't have this foam.

I'll move on because I know it's fake. I'll flag it so I can come back later and report it and move on or whatever, I'll message the guy and tell him it's fake, but keep an eye out for that, it's a very, very common sign that you bought a benchmate fake, it's the phone in the box, so That's it in terms of the Box, um, those are the big ones, it tells you again that it doesn't guarantee that your knife is fake or legit if your box is fake or legit, but This is how you know if the box is real. so now we're going to move on to holding the knife and being able to say okay this is fake so what I do before I buy a maid is I go to my mom's website like I mentioned I think. before she knows it, okay, this is what's supposed to come in the box, the bag, the malis scope with the Adamus or whatever you're buying, it should come with that.

I think the Infidel comes with a little bag or something. Some of them come with different things, so I'll know what I'm going to buy. I'm going to know. Well, these are the models I'm looking at, so this is the Woodland Green rescue. It is aluminum. It is made of M4 steel. I know it comes in M4 steel. I know it has a little deep pocket clip. I know it has a glass breaker on the end. I know how many screws it has. I'll sit there and compare. the image, well I don't do that anymore, but when I first looked at it, I would just sit there with the image on one side of the bank made website and the list on the other side and just compare and make sure that they all match up um so I know what I'm looking to buy I know what steals I know what models um that's just something that's good practice to start with before you make a big purchase and spend a lot of money on a knife like this , so when I do that I see that okay, I'm on the list.

I'm going to zoom in on the bank made logo and this is not a good example because it's a little faded, we'll use the lady because it's a better example. I'm going to zoom in and see, okay, there's the logo made at the bank and it says the model number that I'm looking for, so I know this is the Adamus 275 because I'm on the website made by the bank. I see that the logo of copyright is right there, the r in copyright. I can't really zoom in on it, but it's very small on a lot of fakes, the r will zoom in and be very, very big because that's what this is.

It is difficult for them to do this. Laser precision or whatever is there. I know the bench made is level. I know it's in the right place on the sheet because I'm comparing it side by side to the image. actually it should be um and I know it's supposed to be a white butterfly, so on another model, this is the shooting, it's like blackish, maybe I don't like the gray butterfly, but the colors match. I know it's the right color. I know this. There's not supposed to be a white butterfly here. If it's a white butterfly, that means it's fake.

I know that's how it's supposed to look. I know it's supposed to be raised at the top of the sheet. I see the model number. I see the copyright, okay butterfly, check that the butterfly is good, that's a very obvious indication of a fake, it's the butterfly and you'll get better at

spot

ting them as you do this more often, um, but that's just A very simple way to do it, it is the first thing I look at and it is the first thing many people look at. The second. Let's turn the knife. Hopefully they will have another image on the website and if they don't, just ask them to provide another image.

Let's look at the steel, so I know that Adamus, the modern and updated Adamus two years ago, comes in Weare Steel equipment, from what it says CPM Crew Weare. It's in this correct Benchmade font in italics that matches the website, um, all this type. of matchet so everyone has the same source for the steel so we know that's how it's supposed to look on Checkers. I know it's designed by Shane Seert. You don't have to know who it's designed by, but you should. that there is a logo or there is supposed to be a logo on the sheet so from looking at the website I know there is supposed to be this seert design logo at the bottom of the sheet here so it says seabert design the Griptilian has like the parue design right there, you can see it there, um however, some of them will have

benchmade

.com SL Pat, you can see that there if the camera will focus on

benchmade

.com Pat and follow like a tag.

I know that has that too. bench made.com Pat, so I know it's supposed to be on the sheet or not, so I know on the Adamus it's not supposed to be. there, so if you say that, I know this is false, um, and this is again the update, I think two or three years ago, Adamus, so this is like the modern one, I'm notsure exactly of the previous one. um, but that's something I look for so again the font, if there's supposed to be a logo on the other side of the sheet, I know Infidel has a very large logo, you have to know what it looks like, know if the font and that that's right, I don't like the size, but that's the second thing I'll look for, the third thing I'll look for, if we want to really get into the details, here on the website you can see which side the pivot screw is on.

It's supposed to be on so the pivot screw is shown on the logo side here of the rescue, however on Adamus it's not so I didn't know I had to look for it at first. I went to the website and saw well the pivot screw is not shown on the logo side, it's on the other side so it's made correctly, that's how it's supposed to be, it just varies from knife to knife, you just need to know which one is supposed to be yours, but again, that's something to look at. For the minor details, go deep, make sure you are doing your research properly and knowing what to look for.

Another thing that many fakes will have problems with is the color of the handles or blade. so I don't have my 940 Osborne right now, it's under warranty, but the 940 is very commonly counterfeited, as is the rescue, the bug, the newer ones that are popular have been around for a while, the color of this one. It's like it's officially Woodland Green. I think that's the title, but on a lot of fakes it's going to look more like this kind of muted olive green on the rescue, so if it looks a little strange, it doesn't actually look exactly like it. the picture is generally a good sign, when looking at the pictures on the bench made website it should be getting easier to compare the colors and coloring of the knife, another thing I saw at an exhibition this past.

I saw some fake 940's being sold over the weekend that had a blade like this so that's just another thing, I know if that model has ever existed and as far as I know I don't think it's ever been like a The legit bench model made is like a 940 with an FD blade, so I mean, I know it was fake. I know one was fake because it was just fake, but um, if you're looking for a darker one. model, make sure it was really produced at one time by a bench and is not just something that is completely made, so we check the handle, we check the color of the blade, even if it is supposed to be coated, so the shooting is assume it's a CO blade, make sure the color is correct too, this is like the FD blade again, but make sure it's not a lighter yellowish brown and make sure it matches the picture, so it's just other It is good to look for another detail in some.

I don't remember if I mentioned this before in the rescue or not. We have this glass breaker. Some of the fakes will have the glass breaker on the top. flipped just make sure you know that for example with the shootout there is a small hole for the lanyard here and some of the shootouts previously had glass breakers. I know this particular color never had a glass breaker and I know it isn't. It's supposed to come with one so if this came with a glass breaker I would know it was fake, those are just a few more minor details that don't really come on all the knives you can and can look for now when you have them. the knife, so let's say you receive it and they send it to you.

Another thing I will check when I receive it is the pivot screw. the pivot screw. I think all the benches are made with a pivot, so they're obviously not like the ones on the front and stuff, but I think everyone that has a pivot uses a T10 Torx pivot screw so you can take your T10 bit and put it there to see if it is in fact T10. Many fakes use T8, so T10 doesn't fit, that's another one. The biggest thing about the fake industry, you know, is if a T10 fits in there, it's not guaranteed, uh, it doesn't necessarily mean you're not real just because it's a T10, but adding all of this together should help? you feel a little better about making sure your knife is authentic, another thing to look for, let me show you.

I guess the grip tip is good for showing it on the sharpening lines of the blade, as you can see. like there's that laser, you can see the grind lines right there, which is usually a good indication of whether it's authentic or not, this bench made steel, they look very, very, very similar, it's hard to show on camera, but they have a very faint appearance. Um, yeah, you can't even see it on camera, but they're very faint. If you look at it very closely, hold it very close to your face, you can see the milling and laser that is used in production. from the actual sheet, so that's another thing to keep in mind.

I have heard that on some fakes, you can also see some very small details on the website and compare the AIS lock on some fakes. if it deviates slightly it will look a little different than you know how it's supposed to look, maybe the actual axis, like the crossbar, will be completed when it's not supposed to be completed for us to see. like on the label, we have that right there, but on Adamus there's like a deeper hole, um, that's just the minor details like that that you have to pay attention to, um, if it's a really good fake, that happens, um , so. just something else to keep in mind and I think I'm trying to think about what else those are the main things that I look for again just that attention to detail like you know the rescue is supposed to have a black thumb stud.

Know the label that is supposed to have an orange thumb stud. I know you know Theus doesn't have thumb studs that are like other bench maids. They have these thumb studs that look like cones. Just familiarize yourself with what you are trying to buy. and if you're trying to buy one on ebay or whatever ask what the model number is and see if you can look up pictures of it, if it's an older model make sure you can look up pictures and make sure it really is an production at some point and you won't get ripped off for something that was never actually produced, like the Griptilian, there are a lot of these made in all sorts of different colors and materials and steels, so it's a little harder to tell if that's the case.

It was actually a U model, but there are a lot of listings on eBay of random colors and blades that are all together and it seems like people are buying them and I don't know. yes they are aware of the fact that they are buying a fake bank, but it's just something to make sure you look at it and keep it in mind, so that you don't get scammed and it's you. you're spending your hard-earned money correctly and how you think you're spending it, so I think it's really important for you to know to do your research again if you're spending Benchmade money on a knife, hopefully get a discount, but there are still knives very high end expensive ones, make sure you put effort and time into it and not just know to throw money at something when it could be fake, just be aware of the risks you're taking and, um, make sure you buy something that you're okay with buying , whether it's fake or real, uh, but that should do it, you know, what I go through when I'm. buy a Benchmade knife um, I didn't mean for this to be a 20 minute long video, but I hope this is helpful.

I hope you found it useful. If there is anything I missed, please comment below or send it to me. a message and I will definitely include it in the description or even redo the video and include it if I think it's really important, but I think that covers a lot of the important points that are in fake bank employees and it's just you know, have Take into account all the different things that these fakes can do and what the companies that produce them can do to make it look like a bank, but again, just to reiterate the Box, make sure you know. the boxes you're looking for the foam is the majority of the box, the butterfly logo is always very easy to distinguish and the steel, if the steel is just wrong or was never produced, that's always something to look for, but again , please leave it.

I know if I'm missing something and I hope this helps someone. I hope this is a point of reference for you. If you're shopping for a bench mate, you can go back and look at this again and make sure you're checking everything off. things off the list and yeah, thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of the day and good luck with that purchase at the bank.