Do You Have a Good Knife Store in Town?

PocketEdge

PocketEdge

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When I lived in Tampa Fl, some 15 years ago, there was a really good knife store in the mall of all places. They carried lots of kitchen knives of course but they also had a wonderful large selection of traditional, tactical, hunting and even some customs. It was really great to walk in there on a Saturday and handle all the knives.

Today, you can get anything on line but getting to know what you want can be a little tricky sometimes. Unless someone introduces you to a particular knife or you manage to get to a knife show, or you have a good knife store nearby, it's hard to tell what you are missing.

I know I like to handle the knife before I buy. I like to inspect the fit and finish. I have made retailers go through five boxes of the same knife so I got the one with the best matching scales, fit and finish. You can't do that online.

Who here has a great knife dedicated retailer near them and what do you like about them?
 
We have a local Davi's here In NC that carries a collection of knives. But my favorite place Is Bonds In Las Vegas Nevada, tiny little shop PACKED with every brand you can Imagine.
 
Nothing at all around here. There was a sporting good store with a small selection and very high prices, but they went out of business.
 
Nothing much around here.
There are some military dump stores, but they usually only have a couple of Pakistan made junk knives.
There's an outdoor store with a couple of knives, scandi customs and a few machetes though. Nice to be able to handle it. That's where I bought a few Opinels, but most of the other stuff is grossly overpriced.
 
I have a knife store within driving distance from my home but I wouldn't say it is close.

I live 85 miles from Grand Prairie Knives and I usually make the trip there 3 or 4 times a year. What I like about it is that they are freindly folks and don't mind letting me check out all the knives I want, even if I only buy one. That and I feel like a little kid in a candy store when I go there.

Also, when I find a knife there that I want to buy, they don't mind letting me look at all of them they have in stock so I can hand pick the best one. Well, at least if they do mind, they don't let it show.

There are a couple of retail stores here in town that sell knives, among other things, but their prices are pretty high. I have purchased from both of them before but not very often.
 
turk.919 said:
We have a local Davi's here In NC that carries a collection of knives. But my favorite place Is Bonds In Las Vegas Nevada, tiny little shop PACKED with every brand you can Imagine.
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2nd that one, Davi's has the best selection I have seen in a long time.
 
I live across the Tampa bay on the west side of Pinellas county, ive looked online for others but still only know of 2 stores, An Army Navy Surplus store that consist mostly of Buck CRKT, a very slim selection of Spydercos, and Fury knives. The other one is a Sword Dojo that carries a lot of CAS Hanwei stuff and other higher end swords, as well as restorations
 
I drive 70 miles each way to get out to Pasadena and Advanced Cutlery, Vince is the man over there and I am always treated right. In addition he sharpens and reprofiles my knives for me, great guy, great shop. Actually will be going there later for a repro on a B11 and a sharpen on a Screaming Eagle.
 
Warriors and Wonders in Vancouver and Target Knives in Calgary. Great stores and great people to deal with.
 
Mattohn said:
I live across the Tampa bay on the west side of Pinellas county, ive looked online for others but still only know of 2 stores, An Army Navy Surplus store that consist mostly of Buck CRKT, a very slim selection of Spydercos, and Fury knives. The other one is a Sword Dojo that carries a lot of CAS Hanwei stuff and other higher end swords, as well as restorations
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There isn't much here in the Tampa area in my experience. Bark River listed "Deer Hunting & Guns" as a retailer but they have nothing but very aged bucks.

Dick's sporting goods usually have a few Buck models, and that's about it for knives.
 
"The Knife Gallery" in the Orange Mall. They have a Pretty decent selection and they can get anything you want that they don't have.

It would be better if the owner didn't let his wife take most of the Wall shelves for Figurine crap.
 
My "local" shop is Knives Plus in Amarillo, Texas. It's 174 miles from my front door to theirs. I get there maybe once a year, and almost never get out for free.
 
There are only two places in Nueces and Jim Wells County that have name brand knives, The Sharp Shooter - full damn retail, and Modern Pawn - also full damn retail. Both shops are in Corpus Christi. If I want to physically handle other knives I either wait for the Saxot Gun Show or make the once or twice a year trip to Bass Pro Shop up in San Antonio.

Online buying and trading works for me :thumbup:
 
Nothing close to home, but I have

Gander Mountain in York, PA, although their selection has really gone downhill

numerous Dicks Sporting Goods from the York, PA corridor down to the Baltimore, MD corridor, their selection is not that great

Bass Pro Shops in Hanover, MD and in Harrisburg, PA, both about an hour either way from home, the one in Hanover MD is close to work, both carry different product, but the selection isn't bad

Edge Works in Frederick, MD. He's got great selection in some regards, good prices for a brick and mortar, but needs to get more slipjoints, he's working on getting more customs. I try to get out there a lot.

Cabelas in Hamburg, PA, selection isn't bad, prices could be better but it is retail. Some of their prices are better than other brick and mortar.

Willey Knives, great little knife shop in DE, small shop, they have a really good cross section available of the knife market. Lots of Buck and Case, but a good Spyderco/Benchmade/CRK showing. Prices aren't bad on some, could come down on others.

Country Knives, in Intercourse, PA, near Lancaster. Most prices are at or above MSRP, but they have a very courteous, knowledgeable and helpful staff. They also have some discontinued stuff. Only downside to this place are the prices. Unfortunately, that is the reason I didn't buy anything last time I was in.

Last, there are tons of flea markets and pawn shops out there, I have picked up some used one hand openers and slippies at several, for good prices over the past few years.
 
Nothing good here in Denver. I asked my local Chris Reeve dealer if he had a Sebenza 21 in stock and he said "what's that?"
 
Kuso said:
Nothing good here in Denver. I asked my local Chris Reeve dealer if he had a Sebenza 21 in stock and he said "what's that?"
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You win for having the worst dealer. I'd rather not have a dealer than to have an "authorized dealer" without product. It's like putting up a free bacon sign and there's no bacon :eek:
 
batosai117 said:
You win for having the worst dealer. I'd rather not have a dealer than to have an "authorized dealer" without product. It's like putting up a free bacon sign and there's no bacon :eek:
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My local Sebenza dealer took a long time before he got CRK product in. Stuff with CRK was on backorder. Now, he definitely knew his product, which seems to be a big difference between him and kuso's dealer.
 
I've got nothing but a gandermountain... all they have are bottom of the line bucks and gerbers... nothing good at all :(
 
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