All About Pocket Knives

Howdy As per seeing these pictures, I bought this at a Gun Show a little more than a month ago, I (IMO) thought it's a pretty cool knife, This seemed to be of a real Mc Coy, nice stag and the knife is heavy, but there is no knife company stamped on it, do some knife makers do that? I'm pretty sure it's not lasered etching. I would love to hear some kickbacks from you. Thank You for any input on this. As per the replies below, I am NOT going to put this out to market, just cut my loses for an embarrassment and go on.

Sometimes it can be more difficult to tell from a picture, but I am leaning toward it being real Damascus. Most of the laser-etched blades have a more "regular" pattern. Yours has a couple of spots that I don't think would be etched on.
As far as not having a maker's mark:
Most custom knife makers will mark their work in some way, but some newer makers might not have a stamp.
Several imported knives are unmarked. The law requires that they be marked with a country of origin, but some only have a sticker or another easy-to-remove marking.

If the knife holds a razor's edge after some moderate use, it is more likely to be by a custom maker. If it dulls easily and appears to a very soft steel, then it is more likely to be an import.

I see those a lot in our area at gunshows and they also do not have any markings on them. They are all made in Pakistan.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:52 pm I see those a lot in our area at gunshows and they also do not have any markings on them. They are all made in Pakistan.

That's what I may be afraid of

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:52 pm I see those a lot in our area at gunshows and they also do not have any markings on them. They are all made in Pakistan.

Ding, Ding, Ding!!! ! I think you win the prize for the right answer🎖 I helped/worked for a guy selling at a table at a show... he had a big story "Hand-made-this" and "Hand-forged-that" and "My company", "I contract these out" etc...etc... and in the end it was all imported from Pakistan. he was selling a bill of fake goods more or less implying it was a USA product... I finally realized towards the end of the day...

GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 12:23 am

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:52 pm I see those a lot in our area at gunshows and they also do not have any markings on them. They are all made in Pakistan.

Ding, Ding, Ding!!! ! I think you win the prize for the right answer🎖 I helped/worked for a guy selling at a table at a show... he had a big story "Hand-made-this" and "Hand-forged-that" and "My company", "I contract these out" etc...etc... and in the end it was all imported from Pakistan. he was selling a bill of fake goods more or less implying it was a USA product... I finally realized towards the end of the day...

was that Titan International Knives or something?

LDF Knives wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 12:26 am

GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 12:23 am

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:52 pm I see those a lot in our area at gunshows and they also do not have any markings on them. They are all made in Pakistan.

was that Titan International Knives or something?

It was an independent guy, but he claimed he had a "company that had a factory in Pakistan" when he was pressed, but he mainly let one believe that the knives were made in the USA... unless you really started to question him. Then he had a story about how his "partner" was a Paki, and was overseas and ran the factory/forge... when in truth he just ordered stuff from some guy over there...

I know little about Damascus, LDF, but my experiences have been mostly unmarked work and imported from Pakistan.
I currently have a knife in the mail that the seller claimed was shipped from Canada, but the tracking starts in Pakistan so I have to assume he has his stock shipped to his home address in Canada and he then forwards the item to the customer from there. This is the 2nd time this has happened by 2 separate sellers.
I don't know for sure how this works, but it sure is useful for shipping automatic knives to Canada since it doesn't involve Customs, or at the very least "courier Customs" which is always much easier.
As I said, I know very little about Damascus, but I wonder if the fact some products are unmarked has to do with Damascus not accepting markings well?

I am no expert but here is what I would do. Use it for awhile and
if it retains a good edge then treasure it. If the edge dulls
very quickly then re-sharpen and just use it for rough jobs.

It looks in the pictures like a decent knife. I have used some
tools and equipment from Asia that is junk and some that is not
too bad. Enjoy the knife if it keeps a good edge.

Bob

Looks like real Damascus to me. I don't see it as a problem that it's made in Pakistan, after all, they were making knives long before whites came to the Americas.

Most of these Pakistan made "damascus" knives that are sold at the knife and gun shows are junk.

ken98k wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2023 2:57 pm Looks like real Damascus to me. I don't see it as a problem that it's made in Pakistan, after all, they were making knives long before whites came to the Americas.

But the rest of the world has passed them by since then with better steel and better heat treating.

Madmarco wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 6:46 pm I know little about Damascus...As I said, I know very little about Damascus, but I wonder if the fact some products are unmarked has to do with Damascus not accepting markings well?

Mark, the Damascus will take a maker's mark just as well as any other steel, I have a couple of Damascus customs from a maker out of Alabama with his mark on them. For the most part the examples I have found out of Pakistan are OK for the money. I own a few and they are OK. I have a buddy that collected High-Looney quality Damascus from US makers and you could really see the quality in those pieces. ... I reckon' it comes down to what you want to pay and what you want to use it for...

Thanks, Dog, I was curious about that.
I have a few Pakistani folders too, with one on the way actually, and I have no complaints with any of them.
The money and purpose certainly are deciding factors when buying Damascus., and I completely agree that quality Damascus is easily recognizable from low-end stuff.

Madmarco wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 10:09 pm I have a few Pakistani folders too, with one on the way actually,

M&M, don't forget to post that latest Damascus folder in the Comfort knives thread... if it ends up giving you some comfort of course...