I Could Sure Use Your Spyder-eyes...what did I buy?

[Hollyfeld]

First let me say hello to everyone. I've been reading the forums for a couple of months and am really impressed with this great community. I hope that my first post is an interesting one. I purchased this Gunting recently from a dealer in Australia for a VERY reasonable price--almost too good to be true, really. It looked real in the pics, but had some oddities compared to the Guntings I had seen (only in pics). I am hoping someone can help shed some light on this knife. The blade is very nice and the Bram Frank insignia and the Spyderco markings look genuine. The oddities are really with the handle. It has no dimple on the front; the clip is plain; the screws even seem to be located differently than the others I have seen. The knife is very well built: the lock is rock solid; the movement is smooth; the blade is very nice and very sharp. Wondering if I got a proto-type or if anyone has any thoughts. Thanks so much! Oh....and thanks for fueling my Spydie fever.

[uhiforgot]

Welcome, Hollyfield! Looks like you have quite a catch there except...

The clip and lock are two giveaways that what you have does not appear to be a genuine Spyderco. The clip and opposite scale should have indexing divots, and it should be a compression lock rather than a linerlock. However I see nothing that suggests the blade is not a Spyderco. Then again, the Gunting is not my area of expertise.

Interesting find, though...

-Jeff

[David Lowry]

To me it doesn't look real.

I thought the Gunting was a compression lock and not a liner lock. I also thought that it had a divot in the front side of the G10 handle.

The blade grind looks wrong too along with the height of the horn. It looks too short.

It looks like a knock off to me.

[uhiforgot]

I wonder, do you have a closeup picture of the lettering on the blade?

-Jeff

[SeanH]

Here is what I was able to find...
http://spyderco.com/news/pr.php?item=10

[edit]
found a large detail shot that was beautifully done by Simona
http://simona.phorum.cz/pics/gmo.jpg

Looks like yours isn't completely genuine. :(

[ront]

I am no expert on the Gunting at all. I will just add some pics of one that I used to have. I now wish that I would have kept it!

Ron
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/ront1/Spyderco/Gunting/DSCN5462_edited-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/ront1/Spyderco/Gunting/DSCN5463_edited-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/ront1/Spyderco/Gunting/DSCN5466_edited-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/ront1/Spyderco/Gunting/DSCN5467_edited-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/ront1/Spyderco/Gunting/DSCN5469_edited-1.jpg

[Hollyfeld]

Thanks for the input so far. Here are two closer shots of the blade. My hope that it was just an early offering with different handles is starting to fade. But, if it is a knock off, I must say whoever did it did a decent job:confused:. Odd to me that someone would take the time to do that. Guess there must be $ in it somewhere.

[Medic]

guys, what is the point of the pyramid on those knifes? is it to punch someone when it is closed? all joking aside, its the only thing i can think of :p

[ront]

The point can be used against pressure points. This knife is designed form the ground up as a self defense tool. It is capable, in the right hands, of inflicting much pain without ever opening the blade.

Ron

[John F Jensen]

I don't think it is an original Gunting.

The C68 had a 2 7/8" CPM 440V blade with a compression lock.
The lock release set on top of the G10 handle.

Unless you have a proto.
Spyderco should be able to tell you if they made a C68 Liner Lock proto

:)

[SeanH]

Thanks for the input so far. Here are two closer shots of the blade. My hope that it was just an early offering with different handles is starting to fade. But, if it is a knock off, I must say whoever did it did a decent job:confused:. Odd to me that someone would take the time to do that. Guess there must be $ in it somewhere.
The more I look at the examples on the web the more I think your's is a knock off. Here is an example from Ted's site that lists all :spyder: models.
http://www.ted.tweakdsl.nl/spyderco/spyderco.html (scroll down to the C68)
Notice that it is a production prototype but it still is different from yours.

[uhiforgot]

Hmmm, differences I see in Ront's vs. blade-in-question:

-Spanish notch on blade-in-question
-Swedge vs. no-swedge
-Indexing divots (scale and clip)
-Jimping pattern and flushness on thumbramps
-Spine screw placement
-a few other things

Surprising similarities:
-Blade edge curvature looks to be the same
-Lettering on blade looks to be the same

This is a strange one...

-Jeff

[clovisc]

prototype?

very interesting fake?

send it to me, and i will dispose of it properly... :D

[Hannibal Lecter]

My Dear Friend,

I suggest posting about it on www.cssdsc.com. That is Bram's site, and they should be able to tell you definitively.

I initially thought it might be an Rekat Escalator, the forerunner of the Gunting, but upon further study it might well be a Spyderco prototype.

The horn is used to strike pressure points, as well as to kinetically open the blade on your opponent's body.

--------
Hannibal

[Firefighter880]

Just trying to keep this thread alive and in the "view" of others until some answers are posted, because I would like to know as well. Maybe Taz or Terry or Sal or someone else that may be able to know/find out for a fact will stumble onto this....

I would say, although it's not the compression lock, it looks very similar and very well built. If it's a fake, it looks like it sure had a lot of time put into it.

:spyder:

[dedguy]

Another option is that perhaps someone got a hold of a Gunting blade blank and ground it themselves and created their own handle... now why would anyone do that? I do not know.

[swede]

I would not give up hope. I think Jon might be right... prototype. If so, you have something of true historic and $ value.
Dave

[Hollyfeld]

Thanks to everyone for all of the input so far. The thing that is truly compelling about the knife is what Firefighter said--someone made a really nice knife, fake or not. The fact that the blade shape (not including the grind) and the Bram Frank and Spyderco imprints look very authentic, along with the overall solid construction, has me hoping it is a prototype of some sort.
I did check out Bram Frank's web-site as recommended by Hannibal (may post some pics there), did some reading about the Gunting and am finding it to be a fascinating knife. Don't think I'd like to be on the receiving end of someone using this thing on any of my pressure points :eek: .

[Echo63]

i cant see your pics at the moment but im wondering which australian knife dealer you bought it off ?

[Zac]

That is way way wayyyy too good to be a knockoff, although as said it does not match the Spyderco design. Either Bram or Sal will be the one to say what this is...I will be watching!:o

[zenheretic]

I saw a lot of Gunting parts sold out of Europe last year...maybe someone was able to buy a original blade and made the rest themselves...could happen.

[spyderking]

I was able to get this Gunting Custom Rescue.. which obviously wasn't produced in mass quantities. It's (the knife in question) either a very close knock-off.. or pre-production Gunting.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/deadboy519/gunting003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/deadboy519/gunting001.jpg

Hard to say.. I'd lean more towards pre-production.. just because I think if they were trying to fool someone they would have (I'm sure they could have located handles somewhere).. then again, it could be just something they wanted to put together and sell. It could be so many things.. maybe Sal would know. My head hurts!! :confused:

[spyderking]

I would not give up hope. I think Jon might be right... prototype. If so, you have something of true historic and $ value.
Dave
Actually.. I saw a FULLY SERRATED Gunting on a website.. the guy wanted $1000 for it. I wish I could have bought it.. obviously not at that price, but I believe it was signed by Bram Frank and it had "prototype" on the blade. Black handles, just like the guntings now. Thing is.. if the handles are available.. and blank blades are available, couldn't they be ground into PE, PS, SE.. etc?? Maybe even that so-called prototype I saw was nothing at all. Afterall.. my Gunting Custom Rescue blade had to come from somewhere, as did the orange handles, obviously. Huh.. I'm not sure what to think about anything, ever. :confused: My head still hurts.. Good night everyone

[lerman]

looks vary much like a prototype to me.

[224477]

To me it looks like a good fake, maybe with original blade only ???

The clip isnt a Gunting one and I havent seen any Spyderco Gunting with a liner lock, all had compression locks...

Is this from a real shop or from ebay?

I have seen Emerson which were almost like real ones and had Emerson logos, text, just the screws were others as on real EKIs. Maybe this is a simillar case.

Sal or Taz should be able to tell you if this is a genuine Spyderco product or not.

And IMO, if this would be a prototype only - the price would be FAR from reasonable, prototypes are sold for several hundreds till thousands of USD.

[Hollyfeld]

Is this from a real shop or from ebay?

I got it on ebay from guy who was selling a few knives, but I don't think he is a dealer. He said he doesn't see a lot of Sypdies down under and is not very familiar with them. He did not know that it was a Gunting and had it listed simply as SPYDERCO KNIFE in the ebay listing.



And IMO, if this would be a prototype only - the price would be FAR from reasonable, prototypes are sold for several hundreds till thousands of USD.
I agree that if he knew it was a prototype that he would have charged big bucks, or that somebody would have been willing to pay much more than I did. But, I used Buy It Now just minutes after it was listed. So I'm still holding out hope that it is a genuine Spydie of some sort:)

[Harry White]

this is indeed a mystery! please keep us posted if/when you get some more info.

"Gunting" mystery continues to haunt Spydieville -- details at 11:00!

[Gerard Breuker]

this is fun.
My guess would be (pre)prototype before the decision was made to change the lock. If it was made from left over parts I would assume the blade would show the cut out for the compression lock and would be ground different.
As I am usually wrong it is probably the masterpiece of a Chinese faker who really wanted to fake a Spyderco that would bring no substantial profit.

[Firefighter880]

TazKristi? Sal? Any word on this knife?

:confused:

:spyder:

[rcbalt2]

My votes for prototype but it usually says prototype on the blade.

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: I suspect ninja shenanigans. Damn ninjas.:mad: :spyder:

[rcbalt2]

:spyder: I suspect ninja shenanigans. Damn ninjas.:mad: :spyder:

I'm a fan of ninjas so I blame the pirates.

[TazKristi]

I'll show this to Sal as soon as I can and I'll let you know what he says. Be patient though, we're in the middle of SHOT Show, so it might take a bit. Hang in there, I'll get you definitive word. :)

Kristi

[Hollyfeld]

Thanks so much, Kristi. If it is too difficult to tell from just pictures, I'd be glad to pack it up and ship it to you for a closer look.:) Hope the show is going well.

[TazKristi]

Hollyfeld,
Based on the images you provided, you may have a prototype. The Gunting went through several changes and there were many prototypes made, including one with a compression lock that was on the bottom. It's a little tough to tell, but the blade markings appear to be geniune. The handle would be what we would question.

I hope this helps some.

Kristi

PS - The show went extremely well. We were very busy, so now we're all pretty tired. We'll be a happy, but sleepy crew when we head home tomorrow! Here's to hoping for an on-time, smooth flight and decent weather when we get home! :)

[Jordan]

No matter what, that's a good find... from the general consensus it is either a customized model with an after market handle or a prototype. Either way, it's unique.

[Harry White]

that's quite a score you found! i agree -- regardless of the final "official" word -- its is still a rare piece of spyderco history.

[Hollyfeld]

Kristi,
Glad the show went well. Thank you for looking into the Gunting for me. With your mention of the numerous prototypes and some with a compression lock on the bottom, I am in hopes that it is indeed a prototype. Is there any way to find out for sure? Or to find out anything further about the knife?

You mentioned that the handle is what you would question, so I took a few more pics that I hope will help shed some light on this. Again, thanks for your help and I appreciate any further insight you might have.

Here are two shots of the top of the knife:

[Hollyfeld]

Here are two more of the bottom of the knife with the lock engaged:

[Hollyfeld]

And the last two of the handles themselves:

[dialex]

I don't know what to say except welcome aboard and enjoy your new knife. I see you already visited CSSDSC.com so chances are you'll go for the real thing sooner or later. ;)
Too bad they don't make the Spyderco Gunting anymore, now there is the LLC instead :(