I been selling knives 20yrs.........

THE PUNISHER said:
this is good,did they sell alot of gerber knives there............
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I'm not saying what they were, but we have all seen them. Black blades, assisted opening, bumpy handles, tacti"cool" blade shapes. Some were good folders, I assume, but just the look of case in general screamed, "BUY ME, I'M TACTICAL".

Don't get me wrong, most of the stuff in that store is real gear, good stuff, with big price tags too. It just that "air" of High Speed/Low Drag, that makes me think, High drag/Low Speed.

I like simple things, that don't cost much. This was not the place for my dollars. Did have a good lineup of belts though, but I buy mine direct from Wilderness.

Moose
 
My experiences with "Gun Stores" mirrors much of what has been said already. Went to check out a gun store I have driven past and never stopped by. Stopped by one day and saw little more then cheapo S&W folders in a tiny case. Also, you can add one more store that hasn't heard of ESEE to the list.
 
before i started researching before i purchased, i bought into the bullshit way to many times. i'd get a line of crap like "this knife will open, lock into place, make you fly, cut things, and you can close it with one hand". i've fallen for that one a few times.
 
DH1 said:
How could he not know Ontario Knives?
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+1, WTF? :rolleyes:

on another note, one of my favorite LGS now has 2 Randalls in the case. next to the suppressors, some of which are cheaper than the Randalls.
 
I walked the floor of Wanemacher gunshow in Tulsa, OK. I found one dealer that sold esee. He had 6 blades at most. I bought a junglas. That is suppose to be the worlds largest gunshow with dealers/collectors from many states and countries. I think most of them are still hiding in caves....hell I'm from hillbillyville Arkansas and I know RAT/ESEE...
 
theres a place similar to that i know in houston. they only seems to carry combo edge spyderco's and combo edge benchmades, and they honestly don't have a bad selection, except everything has a damn combo edge!!!
the people there seem nice enough, and one or two seem, dare i say it, knowledgeable about knives. and i even noticed that they've recently got some beckers in.
 
We have a shop in my area that are supposed to be the knife experts, when i asked if they ever get any Busse or Esee knives i was politely told they only carry Quality cuttlery no foriegn knives.
 
That sure sounds like Granite Falls to me. :D

I think it's the Meth that does it.
 
I was walking around the mall the other day (not really by choice) and there was an excellent looking knife kiosk that looked like it would be more fun to stare at than the ceiling. So I walked over, and browsed, and the selection sounds about what moose found at his store. A lot of tiger striped half serrated "taticool" knives. The guy managing the kiosk spotted me, walked over and noticed the izzy on my belt and the benchmade clipped to my pocket. I got a "dude those look sweet, who makes those?" and after about thirty minutes of talking I realized that I was getting nowhere. I suggested he buy an izula and learn a thing or two.

~Robert
 
I've wanted to recommend ESSEs to people around here before, but I don't think it would be a good seller for them. People tend to want to buy the cheapest knives they can get and treat them as if they were disposable rather than invest in a good tool and care for it.
 
L.J.Tibbs said:
theres a place similar to that i know in houston. they only seems to carry combo edge spyderco's and combo edge benchmades, and they honestly don't have a bad selection, except everything has a damn combo edge!!!
the people there seem nice enough, and one or two seem, dare i say it, knowledgeable about knives. and i even noticed that they've recently got some beckers in.
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You are lucky, my local store only has tanto combo edges.
 
I have the same store's around my area too.

It's an army-navy store, and they sell alot of benchmade combo edges and the like. (along with crappy switchblades) They do sell some kershaw's and some Zt stuff too.

I've tried to look at the knives before but the employees are so misinformed about their own product that I don't feel like correcting them THAT much. (it makes me feel pompous)

Nobody likes to be treated dumbass, but by the way these guys act, you'd think they made the knives themselves.
 
I can understand that some stores don't want to carry "expensive" knives due to the low turnover rate, but to be honest ESEE and Becker knives aren't really that expensive. That would have to be half of the appeal. The other half is they are damn fine tools.

I'll have to see if I can educate the local camping store here (Australia has only a few knife only stores and they are craptastic)
 
The store in Bar Harbor I used to work at had a nice selection, but my manager would pick all sorts of wonky stuff if I didn't tell him what to get. We even had William Henry's by the time I left (after me bugging him to start carrying them for two straight years) and guess what--they sold great. The big problem was that my manager, if left to his own devices, would start forgetting all of the facts he had learned from me over the years and start confusing things, or start filling the place with flea market-grade garbage just because he wanted to increase the profit margin. And everything was at or above MSRP. I left there this year after 5 years of service because I just couldn't take the guy anymore (he was a double-standard lazybones, among other things, but what manager isn't?) and I think if I pop in in another few years the place will be much like the one you were describing. :p
 
Why not post the name of the tactiqueer shop up and lets make fun of them?
 
moosez45 said:
I was killing time today while out in the field at work, and I was close to a local gunstore/taktikool outfitter. So we stopped in, my pardner was lookin' for a new belt, etc, so as we are surfing the sea of tactical gear, I spots me some knife counter action. Stroll over and start looking, all I see are a couple of fixed blades, and a boatload of tac folders, black assisted opening, bumpy jobs. We all know the knives, no since in listing them here.

So, as my pard is payin' the man, I ask the guy behind the counter, "You guys ever thought about stocking or becoming a local dealer for ESEE knives?"

"Who?"

"ESEE, used to be R.A.T. Cutlery, just split from Ontario a short time back."

"Buddy, I been selling knives for 20yrs, and I never heard of any of them names you just said. Must not be real famous or real good, one usually leads to the other."

As he was telling me about all his years of experience selling knives for 20yrs, he was showing his buddy behind the counter how, his new tac folder has assisted opening and could be got out and used like this <stabs air> or like this <slices in a reverse grip> or like this, you get the point. I kinda stared for a minute, with several thoughts and comments running through my head. I stopped, turned and took a slow look around the store. I decided to keep my mouth shut, let my buddy pay, and leave.

After 20yrs of selling knives, you would think there would be more than just 2 different brands in the counter, wouldn't you?

They tend to hold themselves to a higher level of tactical awareness in that store, as I frequent it about twice a year, it seems like they get cooler, and we just get dumber.

Just a little story and rant. Thought ya'll might want to hear.

Moose
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This Guy has been sellign knives 20 years by showing un educated customers how you can cut someone 3 different ways with "this knife" ( F***ing idiot).

I visit many "tacticool" stores and just laugh at the special forces wanna be's behind the counter...they know less about the gear around them than the average duck hunter, save for a few guys that were ex military or LEO's.those guys know thier sh*t and are usually pleasant to talk to!

I love tactical store idiots. Always good for a laugh.
 
Terrorbl said:
LOL, I'm in Florida, gonna start telling these people how GREAT it is in Tennessee to speed up the process!

T
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Just so you know when you see me in Florida; I was born in Miami Dade, than moved to NY when I was about 8. So when you see me in Florida, I am actually returning home....:p
 
The "knife guy" at every flea market I've been to is always good for a chuckle. I always wondered how much they net over a weekend selling tin swords and crappy knives.
 
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