[Te Hopo]

Survival Helper mentioned he was looking into Mercator folding knives, but was afraid of getting a knock off.
I have found that their are quite a few differences between the genuine knife and the knock offs, at least here in NZ.

heres a vid on how they are still made by Solingen:

First up is that most knock offs have a stainless steel blade instead of carbon steel.
Next up is that most knock offs have stainless rivets instead of the carbon steel rivets.
The handle is marked along the spine by the lockback with "MERCATOR-GERMANY" but I couldn't get a clear pic of it.

The blade is marked on one side with
Solingen
Germany

The other side has
MERCATOR

The end cap will be red, all the knock offs I have seen have a black cap:

So I hope this helps for any of you guys who might want one of these great knives. :thumb:

 

[Jiesen]

dangit can't wait to get home to watch this video.

 

[Survival Helper]

Thank You Te, this saved me from being TAKEN!! Now I am yet again on the hunt for a real one....Unless anyone has a clue where to get one? Hint hint

 

[Te Hopo]

Unless anyone has a clue where to get one? Hint hint

http://premiumknives.com/ShopSite/Mercator_K55K_Solingen_Germany.html

 

[SP3EDY]

As far as i can tell my knife is real lol, but Do you have any idea how to tell how old one of these mercator knives are?

 

[hugginsj]

How do you tell how old a Mercator is?

 

[mattowen]

I have a Mercator K55 given to me by a rep from William Kenyon. They are the same ones from the youtube video above. Mine has a black endcap.

 

[Oh Shoot]

Have a K55 I bought from OakCutlery on eBay, has black endcap. I really don't believe that outfit is selling any knockoffs.

- OS