Brick & Mortar Cutlery - Marietta, Ga.

[Halfneck]

So this year at BLADE I met a gentleman named David Hale that was dealing in old slipjoints while helping a friend trade his old Case Canoe. Turned out he ran a knife store near my friend's house and where I use to live. We got to talking about pocketknives, drifted to old landmarks of the area, then back to pocketknives. So yesterday I was invited over to a friend's house for Dinner who lives in Marietta also. I decided to head down early so I could visit the store and see what there was to see. The store turned out to be in the same strip mall near a comic book store I use to visit when I first moved to the area. Simple one room store with cases along the walls, and a square display counter in the center. There was maybe one section of modern pocketknives, with everything else being old & new slipjoints & fixed blades. Saw a couple displays of beautiful collectible knives that sadly were not for sale. Notably to me was the old 80s Ka-bar Camp knife and a Schrade prototype marked Medium Jack (bad picture of those sorry). He also had a very nice collection of old pearl handled knives of various manufacture. I was hoping to find one of the new Case Sowbellys in Bone Stag, but he hadn't gotten them in yet. While he had 3, I was not fond of the scale choices. Saw a couple nice Case Teardrop Jacks, but the pull on them is softer than I like. There were also 3 nice Queen Moose patterns, with one being a special run for the Chattahoochee collector club. I was tempted, but the pull on all 3 was beyond nailbreaker, a full 10 out of 10. Then I came across a 1989 Bicentennial marked Case Half-Congress - I'm a sucker for this pattern. Color was a bit more red than I like, but the jigging was nice and the pull, fit & finish were good. Hoping it's still there when I get the funds. Other than that we sat there talking about knives for quite some time. He mentioned he'll be heading up for some get together at Queen Cutlery in the coming days. At one point we were talking about the popularity of the caplifters on some of the GEC models and he mentioned that Case is coming out with a Mini-Trapper with a caplifter in place of the secondary spey blade - even showed me the dealer catalog. My visit ended up lasting a bit longer than planned and I ended up running about 30 minutes late to my friend's for dinner. Luckily my friends an I all run on our own timeclocks and we plan arrival times to account for that.

Well enough rambling, onto the pics. If you happen to be in the area I highly recommend you visit. They are open Wed-Sat from 10-5.

 

[Halfneck]

5 more.

 

[Halfneck]

Last ones.

 

[Wurrwulf]

Some real gems in there, Halfneck. I stop at every privately owned hardware store I come across in hopes of finding a store like that. We have a couple knife-first stores down here, but they mostly cater to modern folders and Buck 110s.

I will be all over that Case Mini Trapper Cap Lifter!

 

[SadSappySucker]

That is great news! I work in the Marietta area once in a while. I will have to stop by the next chance I get.
I'm not going to lie. That chattahoochee collectors club case is sounding quite tempting. I have been fishing the river at least once a week all summer, and I have also admired the half congress pattern.

 

[Driften]

That is a cool store! Thanks for sharing...

 

[supratentorial]

You don't see many brick and mortar knife stores these days! Thanks for sharing the photos and info about the upcoming caplifter from Case. :thumbup:

 

[MattWRog]

What a fun place to have around. Truly a rarity nowadays. Thanks for the photos.

 

[Jody744]

I get to stop by and take my "lunch break" once every 2 weeks when I deliver in the area!

 

[ericnpeterson]

Wow! Great post! I'm gonna check this store out for sure.
Hard to find places like this.. thanks.

 

[mike Berkovitch]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting read and photos.

Mike

 

[GaiusJulius]

I'm in the Atlanta area every so often. Now I know where I'll be going next time my wife wants to go see her friends

 

[22-rimfire]

Looks like a great place to browse and do some visiting. I'll have to look up the address unless someone wants to post it.

Stopped at a small outdoors store in Townsend TN a couple weeks ago. It is definitely a mom & pop with quite a wide selection of knives for such a small store. Kind of fun, but there really didn't have many "good knives". Most of the stuff was Chinese but they had a pretty good selection. Prices were a tad on the high side. Asked if he was going to stay open during the winter months and he said probably not, but would see how it goes since there aren't many tourists between the time the leaves change and probably May 1st.

 

[traumkommode]

I've bought a case knife there... buddy of mine owns a tattoo ship next door. Cool guys in there, lots of knowledge.

 

[navin74]

Thank you for the pics. That is my local knife store and the owners are great guys for sure. There is a wide selection of new knives but David is passionate about older traditionals and customs. Very friendly place.
Nathan

 

[Jeff_R]

Thanks for posting the picture and story of your local knife shop. Good ones like yours are a rare treasure!
-Jeff

 

[Ratbert]

Very cool. I will definitely have to check this place out!

 

[SadSappySucker]

I made it to that store today only to be greeted with a sign saying "we will be closed 8/10-14 for a knife show".
I was bummed, but it is cool that they are active in knife shows. I peaked through the window, and was pretty impressed with what I saw. Hopefully I'll find an excuse to make it that way again soon.

 

[22-rimfire]

What knife show? Maybe I'll go?

 

[SadSappySucker]

The sign didn't specify.