Esplendeedo dissection

[Phinz]

After a month in the freezer and a couple of days to warm up, I figured it was time to see just how nasty the guts of this ugly fake were (it was a thoughtful gift from mom, so what better time than Mother's Day weekend?):

TLDR: if you know you have a fake, don't smoke the damn thing, they're nasty!

As received:

Band removed, note the shiny superglue like glue:

Wrapper removed- wrapper was so thin and crumbly that I had to slice it and work it off, no real scent at this point:

Binder removed- now the scent of dusty moldy pipe tobacco kicks in:

Ugh- filler is all tobacco (sorry, no string or hair), but it's the nastiest moldy crud:

Zoom in and enhance the nastiness:

Zoom again:

Again:

[leftimatic]

After a month in the freezer and a couple of days to warm up, I figured it was time to see just how nasty the guts of this ugly fake were (it was a thoughtful gift from mom, so what better time than Mother's Day weekend?):

TLDR: if you know you have a fake, don't smoke the damn thing, they're nasty!

As received:

image.jpeg

Band removed, note the shiny superglue like glue:

image.jpeg

Wrapper removed- wrapper was so thin and crumbly that I had to slice it and work it off, no real scent at this point:

image.jpeg

Binder removed- now the scent of dusty moldy pipe tobacco kicks in:

image.jpeg

Ugh- filler is all tobacco (sorry, no string or hair), but it's the nastiest moldy crud:

image.jpeg

Zoom in and enhance the nastiness:

image.jpeg

Zoom again:

image.jpeg

Again:

image.jpeg

Oh my that's rough. I can't even imagine how that thing would of tasted. I do like the knife though. I have had an Opinel #8 in my pocket never fail for a good 15yrs. It is now my only cigar cutter. Slit the cap, flick it off and go!

[Akela3rd]

Yeah, I was going to comment on the knife too. I've had a No.7 with me forever, takes a stone like no other blade. My teenage son has a fantastic Opinel chef's knife (No.118) given to him by my brother.

[skalls]

One of so many reasons to just toss the fakes and never try them

[Phinz]

Yeah, I was going to comment on the knife too. I've had a No.7 with me forever, takes a stone like no other blade. My teenage son has a fantastic Opinel chef's knife (No.118) given to him by my brother.

Mine's the No. 6 in carbon steel. I've never had a pocket knife that takes a better edge! It might not keep the edge for as long as a super high-tech stainless alloy, but it only takes a few strokes on the stone to put it back to scary sharp. I tried a lot of knives for daily pocket use before I arrived at Opinel.... Wish I could do it over again and just get Opinel to begin with, would have saved a lot of $ (@$11, My Opinel is cheaper than a utility knife)