New Tenacious a FAKE?!

[Colt44]

Hey y’all. New member here. Hope I’m not breaking protocol by asking a question here. Please let me know if I am.

I just received a “NIB” Tenacious I purchased online. Several things. The action is horrible. Very stiff. Does not deploy or close smoothly at all like my current EDC Tenacious. Also, the blade markings (type of steel, country of origin) are in different locations and way smaller than my older one. Had to use a magnifying glass to be sure it said China. There is also a symbol resembling an “E” on on side of the blade that is not on my older one. Have not purchased a SPYDERCO in years so maybe everything is legit. Just wanted some expert opinions. Thanks!

[The Deacon]

Can't say for sure if it's real, but the "E" is probably Eric Glesser's "makers mark" and tang marking change over time, sometimes they wear out, sometimes a maker switches from stamping to laser engraving.

[Colt44]

Thanks a lot Paul! The tang markings and the maker’s mark actually look just like the photo you posted so I guess I’m ok. Still puzzled by the stiffness. Guess like everything else they don’t make ‘em like they used to. Have a good one!

Bill

[metaphoricalsimile]

This looks legit. My experience with Spyderco knives from every factory is that some of them need a touch of pivot adjustment out of the box. I echo The Deacon in that factories change blade markings over time. I don't see any reason to doubt this one. It's a handsome knife.

[Accutron]

Your pics are too small to authenticate anything, but the markings you describe match the new marking pattern they started using recently.

[SSD_777]

What online dealer did you buy from?
The laser etching doesn't look as black as it should, but maybe it's the pics.

[RevMike]

I'm having a hard time telling from the pictures but from what I can see I'm leaning toward real. There recently were the changes in blade markings that you noted.

[The Deacon]

Thanks a lot Paul! The tang markings and the maker’s mark actually look just like the photo you posted so I guess I’m ok. Still puzzled by the stiffness. Guess like everything else they don’t make ‘em like they used to. Have a good one!

Bill

Or, it could just be that you got one that's a bit stiffer than most. QC, no matter how good, is never 100%. FWIW, when I first started collecting Spyderco knives about 20 year ago, a guy who was a big knife collector told me his method was to "buy 3, keep the best one, sell the other 2". Kicker was, he wasn't collecting Spydercos, or any other "mass produced" knives, he was collecting Randalls.

[Accutron]

The difference between a stiff action and a smooth drop-shut action is usually about 1/10th of a turn on the pivot screw and a drop of oil.

[sal]

Hi Colt44,

Welcome to our forum.

The copies are getting good so sometimes it's hard to tell from pictures. Did the knife come to you with the clip tip down as shown, or did you move it?

sal

[steeljustice]

I would return it quickly if you can.