- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
Many firsts for me today. Last week I had a conference in Milwaukee, WI. Actually a really great city that far exceeded my expectations. On the way back I hit a bunch of larger outdoor chains including Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shops and Cabellas.
All had similar knives, although I give Gander and Bass Pro the heads up for variety of makers. They included several Bucks, benchmade, CRKT, a few Ontario & Kabars, Case, spyderco, Kershaw and other brands which I don't look at closely like Gerber/Winchester/Knives of Alaska ect. I handled several knives and the shop keepers in the sections were quite willing to help out, albeit often not very knowledgable aboout the different products. The buck vanguard in woodgrain finnish felt about the best for my hands. I was really impressed with the feel of the Benchmade Gamer, but didn't care for the pronounced swedge at the tip. I was hoping to find a Buck Mayo Kaala, but none of the shops had one on hand. The CRKT dogfish looked cute, but the going retail prices was $30 U.S. and it didn't seem worth the cost, I would have bought it if it was $20.
I knew I was attending a knife show this weekend so I held off purchasing from the big box stores. However, being able to handle several production knives 1 day before the knife show was very helpful. The Canadian Knife Show, in Windsor today was quite great. The knife makers were really personable and willing to talk about their products and the ups and downs of their buisness. It is a shame that many of them don't keep updated websites as they had some really great products out there. After handling many of the custom knives I began to appreciate the differences that the personal attention to detail can make in a custom knife. I also met RL there who was busy as a beaver taking picks of the show (over 100 pics) and indicated that he would be post them up later. He was kind enough to let me look at a couple of his knives, a strider neck knife and a folder (sorry I forget the model) that was built like a tank. They were great knives and clearly a big step up from the other production models I handled earlier!
There were many knives well outside my meagre price range, but a few that were quite reasonable. I settled on a knife from Jeff Diotte, a drop point in 440C, 4" blade and 3/16" thick at the spine, bocott scales. This knife just felt absolutely right in my hand, with the balance slightly tip forward. It came with one of Normark's sheaths. It turns out that Jeff lives only a couple km from me and he offered free sharpening services at any time. Normark was there as well and it was a pleasure to meet and talk with him. His sheath locks the knife in place as secure as can be. A great job!
My only regret is limiting myself to one purchase today. Oh, the price on this knife was outrageously low
All had similar knives, although I give Gander and Bass Pro the heads up for variety of makers. They included several Bucks, benchmade, CRKT, a few Ontario & Kabars, Case, spyderco, Kershaw and other brands which I don't look at closely like Gerber/Winchester/Knives of Alaska ect. I handled several knives and the shop keepers in the sections were quite willing to help out, albeit often not very knowledgable aboout the different products. The buck vanguard in woodgrain finnish felt about the best for my hands. I was really impressed with the feel of the Benchmade Gamer, but didn't care for the pronounced swedge at the tip. I was hoping to find a Buck Mayo Kaala, but none of the shops had one on hand. The CRKT dogfish looked cute, but the going retail prices was $30 U.S. and it didn't seem worth the cost, I would have bought it if it was $20.
I knew I was attending a knife show this weekend so I held off purchasing from the big box stores. However, being able to handle several production knives 1 day before the knife show was very helpful. The Canadian Knife Show, in Windsor today was quite great. The knife makers were really personable and willing to talk about their products and the ups and downs of their buisness. It is a shame that many of them don't keep updated websites as they had some really great products out there. After handling many of the custom knives I began to appreciate the differences that the personal attention to detail can make in a custom knife. I also met RL there who was busy as a beaver taking picks of the show (over 100 pics) and indicated that he would be post them up later. He was kind enough to let me look at a couple of his knives, a strider neck knife and a folder (sorry I forget the model) that was built like a tank. They were great knives and clearly a big step up from the other production models I handled earlier!
There were many knives well outside my meagre price range, but a few that were quite reasonable. I settled on a knife from Jeff Diotte, a drop point in 440C, 4" blade and 3/16" thick at the spine, bocott scales. This knife just felt absolutely right in my hand, with the balance slightly tip forward. It came with one of Normark's sheaths. It turns out that Jeff lives only a couple km from me and he offered free sharpening services at any time. Normark was there as well and it was a pleasure to meet and talk with him. His sheath locks the knife in place as secure as can be. A great job!
My only regret is limiting myself to one purchase today. Oh, the price on this knife was outrageously low
