AK-47 | Black Laminate (Field-Tested)

The AK-47 | Black Laminate in Field-Tested (FT) is a Mil-Spec rifle with dark laminated wood and factory metal. This wear has a float band of 0.15 to 0.38, while the finish as a whole runs from 0.06 to 0.80. There is no regular case: the skin belongs to The Vertigo Collection and appears in a tournament souvenir package.

What the AK-47 | Black Laminate looks like in Field-Tested

The wood on this rifle is dark, almost black, with cream-beige growth rings running through it. They lie as ovals on the handguard, the top cover over the gas tube, the grip and the stock, like rings on a cut log. The metal stays factory: the receiver, dust cover, barrel and magazine are dark gray, with no paint. The whole finish rests on the contrast between the light rings and the dark ground.

Field-Tested is the middle of the wear scale, and it typically shows noticeable scratches and paint scuffs. The degree of wear is recorded in the float and fixed when the item drops, so a copy does not change with time.

Where the AK-47 | Black Laminate came from

The finish belongs to The Vertigo Collection, named after the map. It has no case: in Valve's data it is listed in the Berlin 2019 Vertigo Souvenir Package. Its Valve catalog number is 172.

Valve's description comes down to a single feature of the rifle: it has a laminate stock.

What to check before buying

Before taking an AK-47 | Black Laminate, look at these points:

• float: the closer it is to 0.15, the fewer signs of wear, and at 0.38 there are more;


• whether the copy is a souvenir one, which carries gold tournament stickers and a player autograph;


• the name tag and stickers this AK-47 | Black Laminate already carries.

Every copy carries the same pattern, so float is the only thing to choose by.

What the AK-47 | Black Laminate costs in Field-Tested

Against this wear, the others stand as follows:

• Factory New is priced at about six times this wear;


• Minimal Wear costs almost a fifth more;


• Well-Worn is level;


• Battle-Scarred is almost level.

Below FT the price barely drops: Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred cost the same as FT, so worse wear saves nothing.

Among Mil-Spec AK-47s, the AK-47 | Black Laminate in this wear costs more than all six of the others. Closest to it is the AK-47 | Green Laminate, but that one is more than twice as cheap. Crossfade, Elite Build, Steel Delta, Uncharted and Wintergreen are cheaper by almost twenty times, and some by more.

Getting the AK-47 | Black Laminate

The finish has no case. Souvenir copies come out of the Berlin 2019 Vertigo Souvenir Package, and regular copies come from a contract. A contract for the AK-47 | Black Laminate takes ten skins one rank down. In a ten from the Vertigo Collection, the only finish at that rank is PP-Bizon | Carbon Fiber. The result is shared by two Mil-Spec skins, the rifle and Dual Berettas | Demolition, so the odds are one in two.

StatTrak and Souvenir

There is no StatTrak version of the AK-47 | Black Laminate, but a souvenir release exists: the finish is part of the Berlin 2019 Vertigo tournament package.

Stickers and craft on the AK-47 | Black Laminate

On dark wood and gray metal, light stickers read better: white, gold and silver show at once, while black and dark blue ones merge with the background. The cream growth rings echo warm light stickers, which makes them a handy base for a CS2 craft. It is best to leave the wood uncovered, since the light rings are the main detail of the finish.

Who this wear suits

Buy the AK-47 | Black Laminate in Field-Tested if at least one of these applies:

• you want a CS2 rifle with dark laminate rather than bright graphics;


• paying about six times more for Factory New does not appeal;


• not overpaying for wear matters: Well-Worn costs the same as FT, and a listing with a float near 0.15 costs no more.

If you want untouched paint, Factory New remains, but the price difference there is sixfold.