All About Pocket Knives

I have a stiletto I picked up recently for like next to nothing it’s nice but it really doesn’t seem like it’s great quality I was just wondering if anyone knows just by looking at it if it’s Chinese Korean Japanese or something

It is a nice knife the Damascus is real but I can’t tell if it’s quality and that and the circle leaf spring are what’s leading me to believe it’s Chinese

The brass bolsters are real brass or seem to be real brass from what I can tell

I can’t really tell the handle material it’s some sort of wood

I never normally see Damascus stilettos unless there on some Frank B’s (I think is where I saw a few)

I hope someone could help me out here.

Either Chinese or Taiwanese. China is definitely a safe bet.

Killgar wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2026 12:40 am Either Chinese or Taiwanese. China is definitely a safe bet.

Thank you for the reply that was my guess and especially because it wasn’t stamped on the blade anywhere

China seen these like a year ago on Wish.com ( No s...,doing research looking at Counterfeit s not to get bit.)Is it actual Damascus or laser etch

CountryBoy77 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2026 4:15 am China seen these like a year ago on Wish.com ( No s...,doing research looking at Counterfeit s not to get bit.)Is it actual Damascus or laser etch

As far as I know it’s real and not laser etched I have a real stag antler china made with the same style blade too

I’m not sure if this was heat treated properly or at all but the blade is bent too but not like a forceful bend like it was just not treated properly I could be wrong don’t take my word on that

Chinese knife.
The damascus is "real," but what is it made of? How is it heat treated? My bet is that the damascus is for looks and otherwise it's junk. You don't put good steel in a cheap knife.

Bill DeShivs wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2026 10:48 pm Chinese knife.
The damascus is "real," but what is it made of? How is it heat treated? My bet is that the damascus is for looks and otherwise it's junk. You don't put good steel in a cheap knife.

You are 100% right about that I just picked this up for like $10 off a buddy who bought it among lot items this can go into the Chinese pile of stuff I have

The blade on this is super garbage I have another knife just like it but bigger that someone redid the scales on to be stag real nice stag but complete garbage blade

Yea all the new AKC Damascus swingers and such been out the last 6 months or so are all Chinese. Abalone models,stag the Itallians are comissioning knives made by chinese.If you want a True Italian switchblade you need to go Vintage or the handmade Artesean route. Cheap Damascus is everywhere now days,but like Bill said "what steel" and it's whatever they can cut up from ship automobile, bicycles,anything.

Another tell on the Asian clones is the square hole on the backspring. They make a round peg fit into it. Figures.

mikeynj wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2026 10:45 am Another tell on the Asian clones is the square hole on the backspring. They make a round peg fit into it. Figures.

That is interesting.

Here's a tell tale sign- just look at the knife.
It doesn't look like an Italian stiletto.

Bill DeShivs wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2026 8:49 pm Here's a tall tale sign- just look at the knife.
It doesn't look like an Italian stiletto.

I wouldn’t really say that if I’m being honest with you he just shared something interesting about another way to tell the difference.

And in all honesty I’ve ran into a vast majority of complete and utter garbage from Italy and some decent stuff from china.

Now the vast majority of quality does not come out of china I will say but no offence to you it sounded very ignorant to just say look at the knife as to anyone else they might not be able to tell

I wasn’t able to tell as I’ve never seen a Chinese knife like that one before I typically see all the same old AKC clones and the odd cheap ones from Japan.

Sorry if it offends you. There are thousands of pictures of Italian stilettos on the Internet. Look at them. Learn from them.
There are a lot here: https://www.talkblade.info/

Bill DeShivs wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2026 6:29 am Sorry if it offends you. There are thousands of pictures of Italian stilettos on the Internet. Look at them. Learn from them.
There are a lot here: https://www.talkblade.info/

It’s not that it offends me it’s just I’d also consider the fact you will run into people who don’t know that and can’t just look at it and say it’s not Italian.

I knew this knife was not of any Italian decent i was just curious to know with this knife specifically if it was from another country that makes those cheap knives.

Now you will know how to tell the difference.