Para 3 Defect?

[Floridian]

Hello everyone. I just bought a Para 3 with black DLC coating on Amazon. Before I purchased the knife I spent a couple days researching counterfeit Spydercos and it got me rather paranoid. So as soon as I got my knife, I carefully inspected it. There was some blue-green verdigris on the lock ramp, corresponding exactly to the area of the "safety step" in OP's picture. But it is not a safety step, it was only verdigris, which I scraped off with a toothpick (I forgot to take a picture first). It appears as if underneath the area where the verdigris was, the DLC coating is almost nonexistent. There still remains a visible blue-green line 1/4 of the way up the ramp where the DLC coating becomes thicker, again corresponding exactly to the line of the safety step pictured above, but as far as my failing eyes can see, there is no metal cut-away, only a gradually inclining ramp.

Two questions:

1.) If the knife does not have the safety step on the lock ramp, and it's been almost two years since Spyderco started implementing the design, should I assume that something is not right with the knife, perhaps a fake? (I was thinking that maybe it was a safety step cut-out that wasn't correctly executed and only the line was cut into it very shallowly)

and

2.) Why would there be verdigris on S30V steel? I was wondering if it was some kind of residue or compound used in the manufacturing process.

I hope it's not a counterfeit, because I've already decided that this is the coolest folding knife I've ever owned, it fits my hand perfectly, and the camo G-10 is awesome. I'd say it's the knife I've always wanted. Thanks for your feedback.

(Forgive me if I'm necro posting.)

[TazKristi]

Hi, Floridian:
Welcome to our forum. I've split your topic off into its own thread rather than bring up a 2-year-old thread. For reference, the CQI mentioned above and the thread I'm referencing can be found here, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=73272.

It's hard for us to authenticate something without seeing it. Sometimes we can tell by looking at images but more often than not, we need to see the knife in person. Our Warranty & Repair department would be your best point of contact. You can find more information about counterfeits here, https://www.spyderco.com/counterfeit-statement/ and our Warranty & Repair info here, https://www.spyderco.com/service-suppor ... ty-repair/.

An overwhelming majority of the time, knives purchased through Amazon are authentic. However, we cannot guarantee that due to Amazon's practice of co-mingling inventory with third-party sellers. Co-mingling means when inventory is pulled for an Amazon order the inventory could be from us or it could be from an unknown source. Fortunately, Amazon does have excellent customer service and a helpful return policy should there be an issue.

We hope you enjoy your time with us and I hope this information was helpful.

Kristi

[JonLeBlanc]

Could it possibly have been some blue (but dis colored) loctite?