With clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right, I’m stuck in the middle of knockoff central. Knockoffs have been around for decades, longer than I’ve been alive, longer than, well a long time. As long as there have been items that are in high demand and command a high price, someone somewhere will create one that looks almost, (if not EXACTLY), the same and charge you less for it. Food items, (canned goods, laundry detergent, chips, and more), and pharmaceutical drugs are called “generics” and are often created on the same manufacturing line that creates the original but the “generics” don’t have the brand name and often have one or two slight differences that “don’t affect the usability of the product”. The only difference between the two is, that one is a tad more legal and is much more accepted than the other.
Since the dawn of the Internet Knockoffs and generics have only become more available and in some cases a much more prolific business. The days of walking down the pier in Naples Italy and joking about holding out for that very special Michal Jackson Thriller jacket in “100% pure imitation vinyl” (none of that fake imitation vinyl stuff for drunken Sailors) so we could buy it for about $30, if we were lucky are long gone.
The SO – SO
Lately, I’ve been cleaning out the drawers here and doing some video reviews for our YouTube channel, (https://www.youtube.com/@loadoutroomofficial/videos), about some knockoff and generic knives I have in my collection. One thing I’ve noticed, just because it has a brand name and is listed on its website doesn’t mean it isn’t a knockoff! That would be the first knife I reviewed, The Folding Morphing Knockoff, if you look around hard enough, I think you can find this particular model on at least 3 possibly 4 websites all under different names of course, and for sale on Amazon.
The Worst of The Bunch
Sometimes your knockoff/generic knife can’t take a beating and some can, while others can take the heat and still be semi-functional. By mistake, I sent one into the burn pile and it pretty much survived, although it needed a good cleaning and sharpening to make it useable again. The blade still doesn’t lock well and moves too much for my taste, the flashlight melted and the handle is very slippery now both with bare hands and with gloves since there’s no coating on it. The funny thing I noticed, the part that survived the best was the lettering on the blade, not that I remember the name of the company but whatever they used to coat the letters on the blade survived the best. Go figure
This One’s OK
The knockoffs were 0 and 2 at that point but I still had more to review and surprisingly the spring-assisted knife I bought at a raffle turned out to be a pretty good buy.
It has stayed sharp during use, survived being knocked around in my truck, and fits well in my hand. There’s a coating on it that isn’t tacky but does provide a good grip with bare hands and especially with gloves. The blade is a dagger style with both edges sharpened and both edges having serrations so this isn’t something you carry everywhere. I’ve used it to cut raw and cooked meat as well as cardboard boxes, plastic, and Styrofoam. No problem with any of them at any time. The blade is easy to sharpen but I do recommend being careful when sharpening any knife with dual edges, if you don’t pay attention, you can cut yourself and this knife will bite you if you don’t respect it. I mention in the video this knife has been knocked around a lot in my truck and it has, but the spring function still works flawlessly. Usually, that’s the first problem with these types of knives they will stop opening or closing if they take too much punishment.
Garfield Likes This Sexy Cutter
The last knife wasn’t mine but I’m not giving it back! The infamous (??) $40 Karambit that was given to me to look at and review is now mine. I like it, it’s in my possession and so it stays in my possession. In the words of Stan Lee, ‘nuff said!
It may be a knockoff, it may be a generic, I’m not sure what to call it except, it works and can be useful in the right situation. A Karambit isn’t a knife made for everyday use, everyday carry maybe, but not use. They are made for one thing, cutting soft tissue, and are employed as an extension of your fist with the ring on your Index finger. This knife does that and does it very well as far as my testing can determine. I used it on raw and cooked meat, cardboard, and some Styrofoam, yes, I keep it simple and consistent! The only “weakness” would be that the tip is very elongated and thin, good for slicing and causing puncture wounds but easy to break if you hit something harder than soft tissue. Still, I like it and it stays with me but I’ve no idea where it came from on the Internet.
In Conclusion, Do We Buy or Do We Go?
So, with the addition of the Karambit to my collection, I’m lucky that 50% of my knockoffs/generics are useable, that’s a good percentage but it was almost only 33%. The Internet is a literal bonanza of used car lots and shady deals all just waiting to take your money and only sometimes give you something worthwhile in return. So lucky me that my record sits at 50% but I understand it is luck. Like the song line from the movie Used Cars says, buyer beware!
Glad I didn’t pay a lot for any of these knockoffs and for the two that I’m going to keep, I’m glad I held out for the 100% PURE IMITATION, and none of those fake ones.
Garfield out.
