When I saw this Chinese-made clone of the custom Sigil knife, I just had to check it out. At less than 1/10th of the cost the original Sigil I previously reviewed....I honestly didn't expect much. I like surprises!
I ended up buying a pretty good clone of this model as well. I think it costs about 110 bucks. The build quality is definitely amazing and it has decent fit and finish. I never bought a clone before but I love the fact that the clone has better build quality than a Marfione knife (I'm not his biggest fan).
I have a Rad Knife field cleaver clone from Samier, and a Borka stitch too. and I have to say, they are amazing. Hard to imagine a better value for the buck.
Great looking knife, I have one on order and am waiting for it to take the slow boat from China. And commenting on the color you have there, I say leave the green, but perhaps if possible, try antiquing it with a quick purple wash. wiped down to have a green color witsh the nooks and crannies left with purple 'shadows.
did you get the blade steel tested to see if it is really M390? If it is really M390 then I would consider it but Chinese cloners are notorious for stamping on steel names on rubbish steel.
one way would be to do a cut test on sisal rope and compare it to a know M390 blade, surely if you are knife collector you would have another M390 (from a reputable manufacturer) folder to compare it to? From the tests I have seen M390 should do around 334 cuts before losing enough keenness to not successfully cut paper ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CxlkSRc3YRA.html M390 with CPM-20CV are my favorite folding knife steels, and I like the design (other than the pocket clip which I loathe) and if it is M390 than it is a great deal. I honestly believe the real knife is ridiculously over priced.
just ordered the carbon fiber sigil from cloneknives4 on DHgate . TOTAL LOCKBAR FAILURE . I sent them a message for a return showing them pictures of the problem and they are basically blaming me telling me its my fault. Beware of the seller cloneknives4 . image.dhgate.com/other_2032355355_00.gif
good job on the green, its such a bitch. My sigil clone is on the way. On sale for $120. Samier has been having a few sales lately . S35vn version is around $112
I don't think so... Chaves is an amazing maker. You'll know if youve ever gotten something made by him. Samier- ill give them this, they make great knives to use with good designs. But they are by no means anywhere close to the quality of any maker of his standard... I had a samier made cf sigil clone, and that one honestly sucked. lock slipped with a little pressure, and the handles had play if you pushed them side to side.
Symplesy I have the Samier sigil clone and it's almost as good as most customs that I've owned. The lock up is bank vault and the flipping action is super smooth with a perfect detent. I'm not just saying this. I almost wish it wasn't true , but I'm holding it in my hand and I am stunned! I've owned customs from very popular makers and they're ok but no better than a Reate in most cases. There's custom Maker's with stellar reputations who still refuse to put in a lock bar over travel or a steel insert. What about makers who sell $1000 knives with D2 steel? Any come to mind? Or they screw right into the titanium on one side of the handle scales and they're are selling knives for $2000! Or popular Maker's who consistently have bad business policies but they kiss the popular reviews assess and shit all over other customers. So don't give me custom Maker's, please!
I disagree. My 2 sigils clones that I have had, don't know about microtech production/custom, were ok to good in quality, but really not there at all. It wasn't like my RJ martin midtech, not like my hinderer or crk, not even like my custom knife factory. There are some nice clones out there sure, but they are not carrying the same quality as customs. Things I spotted on my sigil clones were; some stray marks, on screws, some not so nice rubbing marks inside the handle, if you line the 2 scales together you can see the holes were not drilled straight, the choil wasn't done very well ( although this is very common) among some other things. Of course I'm not saying all makers are free from issues, even some really freaking crazy makers that sell their knives with crazy prices have issues, i'm sure. All I'm saying is that clones and chinese knives in general are not some crazy mythical value beast that somehow is supposed to give you a 700+ dollar knife in under 300.
Symplesy I've only bought one clone in my life. I have not seen any others, other than reviews. I personally don't like people copying peoples designs. I did it more out of curiosity. I think that it sucks for the custom makers. I was looking at a custom makers knife on Instagram last night and it was a beautiful knife until he turned it over and the scale screws were screwed into the titanium. I like most people said it looked great but I didn't have the heart to express my dislike of this issue. It's frustrating to me but, some things are better left unsaid.
Personally, I like clones. I don't really care if they clone the logo, won't convince me to buy or pass on it either way, I just like them because they give me a chance to use the designs otherwise too expensive for me to beat on. Some good fun to regrind them too. I understnad what you mean by sometimes makers are abit in over their head about criticism, and how the comments on posts are always positive so they get used to that.
And which anodyzing solution have you used? Some acid or what? And which etching one? I really like the color and want to do this to my knife. But I'm thinking about submerging it with 106V, then sanding the edges and submerging it again with about 70V for the edges turn purple.
Very interesting! I just looked on DHGate but couldn’t find one with the hidden pocket clip. I have a Shiro F3 clone in Titanium that other than the D2 steel in the blade (actually D2 - no BS) it is as good as the original. So I was interested in finding other clones done as well or better than the original. Thanks for sharing!
One dead give away on these is the upper notches on the showside. The original they are all even across the handle all the same size. On the clone they have the first two small notches and then longer ones identical to the lockside. I kind prefer the look of the clone because showside lockside the pattern is identical more consistent.
I don't get the guys that claim clones to be better than the customs- something like that just doesn't flow with me. I don't care if clones are high quality, but dude. The guys making bank from making those customs are well known for a reason. I just don't even see how they actually believe that their 70 dollar clone with like 20 mins handwork on them could be better than something made with over 20hours of handwork by a skilled maker. I enjoy my clones too, but please stay realistic.
In general, clones are nowhere as good as a custom knife. This case was an exception. If you polish a turd for 20 hours....it's still just a shiny turd. I backed my claims with facts which can be seen in my video where I proved on camera that the $1,900 custom Sigil I used to own was nothing more than a beautiful paper-weight. I welcome your feedback and appreciate you watching, but would love it if you have something other than speculation. You should check out my other Microtech/Munroe Sigil video....the lock didn't even work. I have a bunch of $20 knives that have perfect locking mechanisms and were mass-produced. It is what it is and I'm just speaking the truth from my own experiences.
It is not speculation. Yes, I've watched your video on the custom sigil. I agree on you assessment this time, but I think thats more of the exception rather than the rule. Microtechs dont really have the best reputations, but I'm sure that was not the normal case. Never really hear complains like lock failure or play much about those guys that often; well pretty much never at all. My comment wasn't directed at you praising this knife; it was a more general thing on people over praising clones just because they enjoy them a bit too much to see what they really are; just another production knife thats a little cheaper than those you get from mainstream companies.
I agree and have seen many clones that are just plain sad. Often times a clone knife is built with more focus on replicating a design that proper execution, finish and fitment. Samier Knife clones are some of the best I've seen, and I like that if a knife is simply too expensive for someone, they can still get something close to their dream knife.
