Since 2017-10-04, Fällkniven uses HiddenTag® hologram labels to enable our customers to ensure that they have purchased a genuine Fällkniven product. The label is placed on the outside of all our knife boxes. (Not on sharpeners and other accessories)
Each HiddenTag® hologram label acts as a digital code that can be scanned using a smart device, for example a smartphone with the HiddenTag® app. The label contains a variety of unique hidden information that ensures the knife’s authenticity and is extremely difficult to copy.
Then maybe you are holding the smart device either too close or too far from the label. Try to bring your smart device closer or farther away from the label for better results.
If you scan a HiddenTag label and it tells you that there is a suspicion that the product is a counterfeit, please contact Fällkniven AB for further instructions.
How can you tell the difference between an original Fällkniven knife and a chinese copy? Below you will find a series of pictures that explains the differences between an original and a copy. These are all the original Fällkniven models that unfortunately are out on the market as counterfeits: F1, A1, WM1, TK1, TK3, V1.
For an untrained eye at a non-experienced customer, it is pretty difficult to understand if you are buying an original or a Chinese made counterfeit. Since the counterfeit knives are sold in boxes which are almost exact copies of the real ones, it’s almost impossible for a customer to tell the difference between a counterfeit and a genuine product.
Since the Summer of 2013 and up to October 2017, some of our boxes had a holographic label put on the front of the box, a grey label which look alike our logo but with a in holographic background text that says “Original”. This label is NOT available on Chinese counterfeit boxes. The boxes that have the older holographic label are: F1z, F1L, F1zLeft, F1z3G, F1L3G, F1z3GLeft, A1z, A1zLeft, WM1z, WM1L, WM1z3G och WM1L3G.
Please note! These holographic labels have now been replaced with the HiddenTag labels that are mentioned at the top of this page. See the difference below.
Many of our paper boxes have a light brown interior according to the list below, while the counterfeit boxes are white on the inside.
Boxes with light brown interior: F1, F1x, F1xb, S1, S1x, S1xb, A1, A1x, A1xb, F2, F3, F4, KK, SK1, SK2, TF1, TF2, TH1, TH2, TK2, TK6, R2, WM1
The rest of our product boxes have a white interior.
All our boxes are today labeled with an EAN label, according to EAN specifications. Either printed directly on the box or a label. This applies to products purchased from us, or our distributors and agents. EAN labels must be applied to retail products in such a way that the bar-code symbol can be read by a scanner.
The counterfeit knives are usually sold at a fraction of the original retail price. An exceptionally low price is definitely a warning sign and a good first indicator of a counterfeit product. What might make it more complicated is if the price level is at the same level as the original or very close to that, then it’s very easy to get deceived. We have had several cases through the years were customers paid close to retail price for a counterfeit F1 when the real value is around USD 12.00.
All counterfeit knives are flat ground and the edge is a traditional secondary, so called factory edge. The original knives all have a convex grind but this is a technical term which the average buyer might not know about. See the picture above which will easily inform about the difference between a flat grind and a convex grind.
Most of our knives are made of laminate steel, which means that the knife blade has three layers of steel stacked together with the purpose of creating a stronger blade but at the same time keeping the separate properties of the different steels. With our type of lamination, the joint between the steels (the lamination line) is visible to the naked eye, so it’s fairly easy to see that it’s laminated. Some illegal Chinese knife manufacturers – but not everyone – have tried to imitate that by etching such a line along the edge and that might be difficult for the inexperienced to understand.
The only Fallkniven knives that are not laminated are the ones with the Elmax and CPM20CV steel.
We have controlled the steel in two F1 and one A1 knife made in China, this test is made by a large Swedish, by SWEDAC accredited test laboratory, the LKAB/MetLab. The conclusion from this examination is that the Chinese copies are made in a poor or fairly poor stainless steel and far away from the original models with regards to toughness and edge retention.
Be careful if you plan to buy from the used/second-hand market, it’s always more safe to buy from well known sources like hunting stores and well established internet dealers. If you’re unsure or suspect a counterfeit product, please contact us and we can help you determine if the item is a genuine Fallkniven product.
A police action with participation of a detective working on behalf of Fallkniven took place on October 21st 2020 in the south of Poland. The action was aimed at one of the military stores in the city that was selling counterfeit Fallkniven knives. During the police search, counterfeit knives were secured. It is currently being determined how many counterfeit knives may have been sold earlier. The shop owner is risking severe financial penalties and even imprisonment; it all depends on his cooperation with the police. Selling counterfeit products in most countries of the world is a crime. It is also cheating unaware customers.
The selling of counterfeit products is a global problem that causes huge financial losses for companies around the world every year. Both in sales and in the expensive processes of working against these counterfeit producers. Before making a purchase, do your research and think one extra time. Especially if the price appears to be too good to be true.
Long story short, don’t gamble with counterfeit knives!