Unmarked Millie.

[Not real smart]

Hi Spyderholics ,
Asking for help with a recent purchase it is a Spyderco military and it has NO markings at all on the blade .
On the clip it states
US patent 4347665
Foreign Pats Pending
Other Pat Plnd.

Asking if anyone knows year of M/F ,type of Blade Steel and if its rare or not.

[url=http://imgur.com/gopCanU][img]http ... .jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://imgur.com/vYvPgoL][img]http ... .jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://imgur.com/LoFH8eR][img]http ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[Stuart Ackerman]

A pic would help...
I owned one of 10 sterile Militarys, and sadly sold when I needed money quick...
The steel marking was 440V

[Not real smart]

Photos added .No markings at all.

[mattman]

I'm not necessarily a "Millie" expert, but that jimping, and the Philips screwed in the clip make me think it's a fake...

I know the Millie has had most, if not all, styles of Spyderco jimping, but that doesn't look familiar...

More knowledgeable folks will be along soon.

Edit: it's late, I know better than this... :-/
(Still don't recognize that jimping pattern, though)

[Stuart Ackerman]

My guess is that it is fake, sorry...

[Not real smart]

My guess is that it is fake, sorry...

Thanks for that but while I am not a Spyderco expert all the fakes I've ever seen have markings the logo and stamps on the blade.
They try to make them look like the real deal.

The seller told me it was a early 1990ties model I thought it might be a little earlier than that .

Hopefully someone else will chime in .

[The Deacon]

Military was not introduced until 1996, so "early 90's" dating is not possible. Early ones do have that style of jimping but, to the best of my knowledge, none with completely "sterile" blades exist. Closest to that are the type Stuart described. Might be a legit knife that someone removed the markings, or one that left the factory in someone's lunchbox with a partially finished blade, but I doubt Spyderco ever shipped one looking like that.

[Not real smart]

I've been in contact with the seller he said he bought in the 90ties direct from Spyderco as you see it he never removed any markings.
Here is some photos of the clip lock and back

[url=http://imgur.com/KLDaaM0][img]http ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://imgur.com/jIRMuA9][img]http ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://imgur.com/GnxYS5f][img]http ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[Not real smart]

The seller tells me it is one of the first military knives ever made .
I would love to be able to confirm this some how .

[David from NC]

I would love to be able to confirm this some how .

Clearly.

So far how however the consensus leans toward "fake". Don't let the desire NOT to have been swindled affect your judgement.

[Evil D]

The seller tells me it is one of the first military knives ever made .
I would love to be able to confirm this some how .

My question would be, how exactly does he know that?

[The Deacon]

The seller tells me it is one of the first military knives ever made .
I would love to be able to confirm this some how .

You're free to believe whatever you want to believe, but if it was one of the first Military models made it would have a 2 screw clip. IMHO, your knife either slipped out the back door of the shop, was cobbled together from salvaged parts, or has some other questionable origin. However, I'll admit that I could be wrong, as some very odd things have gone out Spyderco's front door over the years. Truth is, only Sal or someone from Spyderco could say with absolute certainty if it was sold that way.

[Not real smart]

Seller has told me it was one of a batch of knives release with no makings to US special forces during the Iraq campaign .

[sal]

Hi Smart,

We would have to see it here to know for sure. As Deacon mentioned, it might be something that slipped out the back door? but it's hard to tell without having it in my hands.

sal

[Not real smart]

Hi Smart,

We would have to see it here to know for sure. As Deacon mentioned, it might be something that slipped out the back door? but it's hard to tell without having it in my hands.

sal

Thanks for your reply Sal . Will have to think about sending it over. It could do with a spa treatment.
I trust the seller he is a 30years+ vet of the Australian army and an ex police officer and tells a very interesting history of the knife.

[Doc Dan]

When even the owner of the company does not recognize the knife, that is a problem. I would be suspicious of the knife. Your friend may have gotten it unaware. Some of the fakes are very, very good. I would send it in with the story you were told and see if Spyderco will validate it or show it to be a fake.

[sal]

I recognize the knife, but it's not likely that QC would pass a knife that was unmarked. We did have a problem with internal in the late 90's and it took a while to get rid of the culprits.

I think it would be difficult (read; expensive) for the sender to ship it from Australia, so I will try to do some studying on older pieces.

sal

[ejames13]

You could always just use it and see how the blade steel performs. If it loses its edge rapidly, that's probably a good indication it's fake.

[Evil D]

Hi Smart,

We would have to see it here to know for sure. As Deacon mentioned, it might be something that slipped out the back door? but it's hard to tell without having it in my hands.

sal

Thanks for your reply Sal . Will have to think about sending it over. It could do with a spa treatment.
I trust the seller he is a 30years+ vet of the Australian army and an ex police officer and tells a very interesting history of the knife.

Nothing wrong with you trusting the guy, but that doesn't mean his sources can be trusted.

[The Deacon]

You could always just use it and see how the blade steel performs. If it loses its edge rapidly, that's probably a good indication it's fake.

I think there's less chance of it being an out-and-out fake than of it being a real Spyderco put together from parts that "grew legs". To me, that's the most reasonable way to account for a knife with a completely unmarked blade, but a clip that contains "traceable" data (company logo and patent info).

Desert Storm was years before the Military was introduced, and the Iraq war wasn't until 6-7 years after its introduction. Call me a suspicious old SOB, but most of the "back stories" I've heard from sellers have turn out to be either heavily embellished or completely fabricated and this one is just not passing my smell test.