What do you mean "even if"? From my understanding, D2 use to be THE blade steel before M390. But yeah, it really is hard to beat. I've bought about 10 Microtech and two benchmade clones so far and they're all awesome. No, I haven't seen an authentic one up close in person to compare, but they're getting so good with clones that besides the blade steel, everything else seems identical. I saw a video of someone comparing a real microtech and a clone, and the only reason the clone failed because he hammered it into a piece of wood. Well... I'm not going to do that to any damn knife, so all he did in that video was convince a LOT of people that they're going to go with the clone, including me. Not a fan of stuff made in China, but this is one exception I will make since it's just a knife.

Most likely it's 8Cr13MoV but still a great deal. If it was D2 would make this an even better deal.

Pot metal! Unless you sent it out for testing you will never know, except it won't hold an edge worth crap! They won't even use 8Cr in them! 🤣

I had a real one trust me when I say you won

Start cutting anything with the clone and tell me you won.

This is an old comment.. I just wanted to add that this knock-off most likely came from a factory that was either making or asked to make the originals. This happens all the time with factories, there are no laws against this so in many cases, you hire a factory to make product X and then they do that, but also sell that same product as their own to another country and you're none the wiser in many cases.. nothing you can do.

You're not wrong. Anyone who would pass these off as the real thing is a liar and a thief, and deserves to get one stuck up his/her backside😝 But when you buy a "Benchmade knife" from AliExpress you know full well that it's not the real thing, and it's not going to be of similar quality. It doesn't really hurt the original makers, since the people they aim to sell to are hardly likely to be shopping for budget knives at AliExpress. That said, it was a Ganzo copy of the Byrd Meadowlark that convinced me to buy Spyderco knives. I'm now the proud owner of three Byrd knives, a Native 5LW and a Manix 2LW, and in time there will surely be more. It was an outright clone of the Mini Griptilian and one of the Bugout-clones shown by Paddy that convinced me to invest in a real Benchmade knife. And so today I got me a real Mini Freek, and I'm liking it so much that in time there will surely be more (real) Benchmade knives in my collection. I think for most people who knowingly buy a clone it'll work the same way (or am I the only sucker out here? 😖). I also think it doesn't really hurt the original maker since for the most part they're not exactly fishing in the same pool of knifebuyers. That said, when spending a substantial amount of money I want to be sure that I'm buying from a reputable reseller, and even when buying through Amazon you might need to assure yourself that what you're getting is the real thing. As with anything else, we need to be responsible buyers.

It's theft of IP. Guarantee these are coming from China.

I noticed the Chinese websites that sell these always advertise as clones or replicas. It's when someone buys a bunch of those and trys to pass them off as original somewhere else

personally i dont give a shit, a knifes a knife so long as it cuts

I dont see the problem. More like charging $150 for a 50g knife with a plastic handle and a thing blade is the problem.

How is it holding up?

@@mc1996 well I have had one for 9 months, used it alot, also quite hard, holds up fine..it is 440c though so yeah, you sharpen it more often

Why would they do that when they can make WAY more money selling counterfeits?? It’s a shitty way to look at it and an even shittier thing to do, but that’s Chinese business “ethics” for you.. Plain and simple.

Der Alte it’s fraudulent . End of discussion. Have some character ffs.

Hi Paddy. I have one of these clones. It cost me £17.70 I've got to say that I'm not disappointed in any way shape or form. I can not afford a real Benchmade 535. So, this little beauty in my eyes is wonderful. I don't know how much the real thing costs. However, I just know that I can't afford one. I'm not criticising what BM charge for the real thing. I just looked on the website where I found the clone, and thought, that's a nice looking knife, I'll buy one. What I did notice in the websites knife information, is that it describes the blade steel as D2. This was even though it says s30v on the blade itself. I do have to say that if I had the money, then I may well buy a real one. Even though I think the clones printing on the box and the knife in places, is better. Best regards Paddy.

Clones are theft of intellectual property. Benchmade paid for the design and engineering, and someone in China stole it, called it their own, and making a copy. You wouldn't say the same if you were buying something really expensive, like a refrigerator or a car.

Theft of design, i agree. Engineering, not much. If they have cloned the "mechanical" aspects and quality of the whole thing it wouldn't be a cheap version, but a full copy with different trademark - which makes no sense. To copy blade and handle shape is something quite ordinary to do; many great marks do it. The problem is trying to sell a copy of a original as a different piece, or pass it as original - both things are ridiculous.

@@stephencarter6289 is it the exact same? If so, where did you get it?

Your welcome mate,and very happy to have you onboard.dont be a stranger. Atb paddy 👍☘️

The correct word is counterfeit.

I was sent a counterfeit Benchmade knife from eBay seller, he got reported and banned. Blade quality is atrocious. S30V steel has vanadium molybdenum and holds an edge near forever, the Chinese counterfeit is useless. But it will cut cheese. The people in these threads thinking they're buying the same thing for cheaper are delusional.

they copied the butterfly logo on the fake one. Call it what you want to, it’s trying to pass itself off as the real deal. If you buy this for 20 bucks, it’s a decent deal, if you buy it for what an actual bug out goes for, That’s taking advantage of someone

Or I'd rather have the fake.. vs overpriced

Same. For $20 USD my "fake" bugout is a great knife.

Where did u buy and I guess it was no issue getting across the border?

The real ones all have a foam pocket that surround the blade/paper

I love how 2 out of 3 differences are on the box for a $100 price difference 😂

the pivot screw and the bar code

Everyone going want kno where to purchase the clone… 😂 looks so close…I personally don’t own any clones.. I hope lol, but I think it’s good to have options, a value one and you kno a high end one. Some ppl can’t afford $200 for a knife.

Those are minimal differences. The main one that I see is the difference in color from the thumb flip tabs. One is a brighter blue and the other is much more dull.

Yeah I couldn't find it either. Good $20 knife to knock around

Try Wish. They have this exact clone. 1 month wait, though. Was $20.

only "looks"

If you're lucky the blade steel will be 8Cr13MoV or D2, both of which are good and inexpensive in China.

It's easy to sharpen a knife with cheap steel. There have been many professionals who have tested these Chinese counterfeits and they do not work as intended in the field. So as a display piece or to play with they may be fine. Nobody should be delusional and think that a five dollar Chinese blade is going to work as intended. It will not.

Jeff Ferrari Blade HQ will not ever sell you a fake. They get their knives directly from Benchmade.

Aliexpress and DHGate both have a Bugout clone with aluminum scales. Great knife, no cheap plastic Benchmade crap. 99% of the value for 10% of the ridiculous Benchmade price.

Slick Slicers if you find where you can buy one for $20 I want one too I don’t make enough money to be able to buy anything benchmade makes besides there blue lube 🤣😭

I bet it could until they sharpened it and realized how easily it sharpened

@@mountaindont34ify the pocket clip and pivot screws are a dead giveaway. The original clip hides the screw above it. The clone doesn't. Also the etching is different on the butterfly

@@mountaindont34ify its tool sharpened they'd have no clue.. s30v isn't that hard to sharpen

They will probably think: hey this benchmade is centered how the hell did that happen.

@@polarweis Whahahaha Cool answer

You are 100% correct. This channel and this person saying buying a fake knife is perfectly fine doesn't understand. In a specific example of a fake knife, the purpose of a high dollar knife is to cut, and counterfeit blades fail at that task. I was sold a Benchmade fake on eBay for nearly full price. I contacted Benchmade and eBay, did not return the knife because it was counterfeit. Thankfully, other people had said the same thing around the same time about the seller. So I had a free clone but it cost me a lot of time. It did not perform like a Benchmade knife. Fact, the only thing it was useful for was spreading butter. So in reality, a super steel with a proper heat treatment that will last a generation or two verses a piece of crap that will cut cheese. I wish people would not manufacture in China until this all changes.

The steel is very very likely to be a Chinese version of the Japanese made AUS-8. The most common variant being 8Cr13MoV, which itself is only slightly worse than AUS-8 (not quite as hard, corrodes a bit more) however the 9Cr variant is almost exactly the same or even better than AUS-8, although you wont find it commonly. I always knew that a knife with a thin blade and plastic handle wasn't worth $150, and ever since I discovered clones I knew I wasn't wrong.

The tumb flip out on the real one is diffrent so id say yes he would.

Right.

How is it holding up so far?

Hello. I agree with all you say exept 1 point. I dont think this is taking any business away from Benchemade. I could never afford the real thing but this would give me the opportunité to see what a bugout feels like. And for other people, trying this clone and liking it might make them want the real thing. I am against the ethics of counterfeits. It is wrong. But unless it is being sold at the same price as the original no one is fooled. All the best.

Blade steel makes a huge difference in cost to manufacture and just cost of it to start with

@@Spacecadet3890 difference is $5 vs $10 steel. it is a lot? yes, its like 500% times more. benchmade probably only use 5% of the price on material. dont over think it. glasses, matress, furnitunes, basically anything thats doesnt make a sale very often, the price to cost ratio is very low. the most of cost goes to labor and marketing.

Seriously, why don’t they just design their own shit??? They have channels like Ali and wish to market from.

agree with everything except the stealing business part. people who buy these knives 9/10 cant afford the real thing and this is a absolutely perfect option for those people.

@Steve Paige thank you for correcting me it means so much . Thanks for taking the time Mr.. Spellcheck..lol

@Steve Paige ha... actually when I was mentioning the clone purchase vs. the authentic version in my use of the word there I was referring to the place it was made not by who..hehe...there being the USA not China..

@@knaftasticedc956 🤔 So are you saying that you'd send your money to a country where the majority of people are working hard to get ahead in spite of suffering under dicatorship rather than spend it with a country where the majority of people elected a dictator into presidency hoping that it will get them ahead?

@@esoteric5277 I'm sending my money to whom I get the most for my money.

@Steve Paige Not Obama I was referring to. But where is he now?

Hit the nail on the head!

i would like to see some also, this was not it. would like clones of good quality with links of where to buy.

Andrew Winchel $ don’t make anyone posh. It’s big names like Lawrence, Richard and Andrew causing the posh.

You’re right many people can’t or don’t want to spend $100+ on a knife. That’s totally understandable. There’s plenty of original designs from mainstream makers like Kershaw, Boker and CRKT that are nice knives that sell for about the same or less than these “clones”. Buy them and don’t support theft of US intellectual property.

@@williamh9100 I do buy CRKT, it is also a local company, so even better, but that said. The whole intellectual property argument doesn't work on me so much, I've had original ideas that I've tried to patent, which would have cost thousands just in patent searches and legal fees. I've also tried to approach large companies to see if they would be interested. They didn't want to even see my ideas, because my idea "may" have been something they were workimg on, and caused conflict, suposedly??? Fuck the rich, most laws are created to protect them and keep the rest od us down. Look how the pharmaceuticals go in the US versus overseas. Plus, the meds are made in China, mostly. With COVID-19, we may all be fucked because We allow and support corperate greed. Hope your loved ones dont suffer due to this...

@@andrewwinchel4659 "I've had original ideas that I've tried to patent, which would have cost thousands just in patent searches and legal fees." Your statement only strengthens my argument. These companies that they are stealing from already spent that money for patents and legal fees. If you were that company owner you'd be pissed. Furthermore, they then have to spend more money to fight these thieves and in the end the consumer has to pick up that tab. So it hurts all of us. It's not just about a knife, this stuff is running rampant. It's even worse when someone buys a product and thinks it's legit and it's really a fake. Even more so if it's something that could get you hurt while using it if it's not up to a certain standard and thieves don't care about safety standards. And you're right about meds being made in China. Who the hell ever thought that was a good idea? Nonetheless we've let it happen.

Probably the latter