Unmarked Millie.

[bearfacedkiller]

I will never understand why someone would come here asking advice and then more or less disagree or disregard it. You even got Sal to chime in and that is probably the best person to ask and believe me the Deacon knows his stuff. I would listen to them if I was you.

If you just want to validate your opinion or your purchase than sure, it's legit. You actually got the very first Military ever made. Does that help? :) Sorry for being so blunt. I tend to do that sometimes.

[David from NC]

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.

Same here.

My all time favorite was on some totally unmarked AR mags (read: JUNK). A friend who was a long time FFL holder (but not one with any AR knowledge at the time) had bought some for personal use. I seen them and immediately cautioned him to only use GI spec or MagPul and he said he bought those from another dealer at a gunshow and that they were "CIA contract overruns".

:eek:

I felt so sorry for him I changed the subject. I can't believe some of the stories, and then that people buy the story and the product.

[hudsonhawk]

Color me confused. OP your seller claims:

1. He purchased the knife personally from Spyderco.

2. The knife was made only for SF, thus sterile.

Those two claims seem to counter each other.

[fellyjr]

If it was mine i would send it to Sal and let him check it out. My 2 cents.

[Not real smart]

Thanks everybody for your opinions. Very helpful.

[El Gato]

My old friend Bernard Levine has often repeated some good advice. "Buy the knife, not the story."
Not to suggest any false claims on anyone's part, but it's still good advice IMHO.

Dave

[sabb8pro2]

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

I have to say (preaching to the choir but still) that Sal is the man. I am continually impressed by both him and Spyderco. Where else would a company founder offer to research an item to verify its origins, no less only with pictures to save a 2nd hand customer the cost of shipping. I just felt compelled to point out how incredible I think that level of involvement is.

[ChrisinHove]

Intriguing! There's some photo posts on the interweb showing early 440V Millies with the same large gimping. The PE has no blade stamp or Spyder logo but engraving on the blade itself.

http://forum.guns.ru/forummessage/138/1232685.html

Myths and stories can gain a life of their own. For years our family all believed, or at least passed on the story that my great uncle was killed by "the only female German sniper on the western front". How would they know? Only in the past few years did we get access to the WW1 regimental diaries for the day he died .... "1 Officer 2 Other Ranks killed by shellfire".

[jalcon]

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

I have to say (preaching to the choir but still) that Sal is the man. I am continually impressed by both him and Spyderco. Where else would a company founder offer to research an item to verify its origins, no less only with pictures to save a 2nd hand customer the cost of shipping. I just felt compelled to point out how incredible I think that level of involvement is.

+100 to that.

[Philo Beddoe]

If it was mine i would send it to Sal and let him check it out. My 2 cents.

That's the best way to resolve this but remember hes in Australia and a trip from Australia to CO and back to Australia could get pricey.
Also the Millie is a good sized knife so he could be taking a chance of it getting stopped or confiscated by Australian customs.

[sal]

Hi Smart,

We believe, as Deacon suggested) that it was a knife that was "cobbled" together from pieces stolen from the factory.

sal

[can't freehand]

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]

Its a fake, the blade jimping is a dead giveaway. Lack of markings only makes it more obvious.

contact the seller, request a refund AND file a complaint with the service through which you purchased it.

In the future, see where the seller is shipping from. Don't buy anything shipped from Vietnam, China or any other east-Asian countries.

[SpeedHoles]

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]

Its a fake, the blade jimping is a dead giveaway. Lack of markings only makes it more obvious.

contact the seller, request a refund AND file a complaint with the service through which you purchased it.

In the future, see where the seller is shipping from. Don't buy anything shipped from Vietnam, China or any other east-Asian countries.

Re-read the thread. :)

[Evil D]

Its a fake, the blade jimping is a dead giveaway.

Not so much.

There have been at least 3 distinct versions of thumb ramp jimping on the Military.

[LC Kid]

Hi Folks!


In my book that is a huge Fake.

In so many levels... :rolleyes:

[mattman]

Hi Folks!


In my book that is a huge Fake.

In so many levels... :rolleyes:

Actually, sal has stated in this very thread that he believes it's a backdoor escapee from the factory...

[demoncase]

I will never understand why someone would come here asking advice and then more or less disagree or disregard it.

Welcome to the internet! :D

[Peter1960]

Funny thread ... much to much "experts" here :rolleyes:

My advice: one should first listen, learn and study and only after this is done, use the keybord.
The point not to have knowledge about constant quality improvement Spyderco does in details on their knives, does not mean a knive is a fake.

I do also think this knife is built together from legit Spyderco parts, but on the same time I have my doubts if it leaves the factory the official way out. Sorry Sal, stolen from the own workers you pay for their work is a mess. About a year ago I got a Military with the old two-screw clip gifted as curiosity in my collection, it has an unmarked blade in comboedge ... I don't know the detailed way the knife made over the years, but you see stolen knives from the factory have inglorious tradion and spreads stolen knives whole over the world.

[Not real smart]

Hi Smart,

We believe, as Deacon suggested) that it was a knife that was "cobbled" together from pieces stolen from the factory.

sal

Thank you very much Sal and Deacon for getting involved, very interesting . I will inform the seller .

[ThomasAasen]

Hi.
I also had an unmarked Military that came in the White paper cover with the picture of the knifes frontpart and blue printing.
I was sure I had got a fake one since it was my first, and in a way, then, it felt so cheap with the Black G10. But I wrote to Spyderco, took a lot of pictures, everywhere, in any position, and was told this was the real deal. It might had been a prototype, and I also heard stories that some Militaries was stolen before marking them with those first Spydero cases. I'm not sure about the last one though. Sadly I gave it away, when drunk, to someone who had asked for it almost everyday to buy it. And belive me I regret. Not be because it may be valuable or a collectors piece(is it though?), but because it was the smoothest Military I ever had owned. No bladeplay, up & down, side to side. In where thinkable way to open it, as you all know, it just opened fast and smoothly, ****. And now, after owning lots of Militaries, all types of the Titanium, many different G10's, I'm now sitting left with a Camo coloured G10 Military and my first PM2, the Copper REX45, that I love, since I'm a succer for Cu,lol. So, if anyone have over these years got more info about the no-marked and branded Spyderco Military from the first area, with the white case, please let me in for more info. I might have written here to, but I really don't remember. I also don't remember if the cutouts on top of the blade was wide and thick or fine, thin and close as the new ones. But I belive the finger coil didn't have cutouts. And I have a feeling the thumb coil was the wider and thicker version, but not even 50% sure, sorry. And all pictures are long gone. Got deleted after buying new mobile. I wish I had cared more about pictures that time, especially when it comes to matters that can mean something. But I have faith in you guys and girls, that you might find out something. Would be fun to know what steel was used.
Wish you all a great New Year, and that things go your way.
All the best, from Norway
Thomas