"Victorinox" lighter

[Grant Lamontagne]

A few weeks ago Ashley sent me a link to a lighter on eBay asking if it was an actual Victorinox lighter.  After looking at it on my phone I wasn't sure, but then a closer look at the photos on my PC showed that it wasn't.  Still, I figured I wanted to see what it was like so I bought it.  It arrived in quite nice packaging.







They really went the distance to try and convince people that it is an official Victorinox product by labeling everything.  I have to say, the box, the bag, the imprint, everything is quite nice actually.  However, if you think this might actually be real, keep reading.







The lighter itself is actually quite nice as well- everything fits together nicely and the scales are a nice rich green.  About the only thing that feels cheap on it is the cheesy key ring on the bottom.



It's a dual jet flame lighter, and when you pull down the thumb button it opens the cover and ignited the jets simultaneously.  The button and cover don't feel cheap either.  I'm surprised at it being such a nice piece- the price was quite low and I would have thought that the packaging was worth so much that the lighter would be utter crap!



The front side of the lighter contains the multi function part, and this is (other than the shield and poor grammar on the documentation) one of the dead giveaways that this is not a Victorinox product. 



Wrong scissors, wrong nail file, wrong blade.



It seems wrong to have gone to so much effort to do everything else "right" then leave a detail like that incorrect, so it's likely that these lighters were an existing product before they were stamped "Victorinox" and packaged so nicely.



I decided to fill it up with butane and see how well it worked, and quite honestly it lit up nicely too.  I could very easily see this igniting a good stogie at some point in the near future.



If there was any doubt that this is a fake, I have one more piece of evidence- Ashley sent a link to Victorinox USA as well and shortly afterwards this seller disappeared.  We all know how seriously Victorinox takes this stuff, so I think there's your answer!

Last but not least, sorry if this has been a bit less cohesive than usual- I am kind of whacky after spending the night dealing with a leaky chimney.  Again.

Def

[Whoey]

quite a few red flags on that one... but I'm sure you knew that going in to it.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Absolutely.  I knew it was a fake when I bought it, but I was curious. 

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[lowtech]

I guess the fact that the lighter works should be proof enough...
Joking aside - I would have feel tempted to try one of those if it had not been marketed under a wrong flag.

[enki_ck]

I guess the fact that the lighter works should be proof enough...
...

My first thought too.

[Chako]

I have a different one, same box and instructions however. Mine is a little double canister job with no fold out tools. Fake as all can be.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I had the same thought.   When I first lit it only one jet lit.  I figured that still made it better than a Victorinox lighter!

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[microbe]

I hate fakers

[Ashley]

I thought it looked odd and I don't like fakes so to victorinox I went.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mr. Whippy]

I guess the fact that the lighter works should be proof enough...
Joking aside - I would have feel tempted to try one of those if it had not been marketed under a wrong flag.

 

[Huntsman]

Hey Grant - Well done - Thanks for buying and reviewing this - At least it looks like it could be a decent lighter.

When this item was first mentioned on the forum I checked it out too and of course - You could see its not a Vic
I also noticed the beautiful packaging - I was in China recently and saw several examples of how the Chinese love their packaging!!

This is an interesting one - Usually fakers copy the product and take the name/brand
Here they are just taking the name and at least they created their own product.
Anyone who knows anything about Vic (which maybe is only us lot  *) knows they don't make anything like this

Any views folks on which is worse?

• Copying a product and brand?
• Or just stealing a name?

* Or are they both equally reprehensible - As why would a regular Jo Blogs off the street/on the not know Vic did not make anything like this??

[Whoey]

usually they do a variation of the brand name vs outright fake branded like this...

[Corwyn]

Any views folks on which is worse?

• Copying a product and brand?
• Or just stealing a name?

Copying a product and brand is worse to me. One thing is to want so very much that red little knife and realise that you bought a bad quality copy and another is to to say: "what a quirky thing from this famous brand, I might shell a few moneys and see if it's good, real or not...".
You feel less duped and there is less chance this would sour you on the traditional original products...

[Gareth]

I guess the fact that the lighter works should be proof enough...
Joking aside - I would have feel tempted to try one of those if it had not been marketed under a wrong flag.

[pfrsantos]

(...)

Last but not least, sorry if this has been a bit less cohesive than usual- I am kind of whacky after spending the night dealing with a leaky chimney.  Again.

Def

Does that mean it keeps droping down presents?... Do you think you might have a Santa stuck in there?...

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

He certainly has a bladder control issue of that's the case.

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[ryan1835]

the box gave it away for me, "function lighter" just doesnt sound very victorinox does it?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Absolutely not a Victorinox type phrase.  There were a lot of red flags on this one, but I have to say again, it actually doesn't seem like too bad a lighter.

Def