Manhattan Knife Shops?

Joined
Jan 14, 2004
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A friend of mine is staying in NYC for one week.

So I thought it would be a good way to profit on the low dollar rates and
let him take some knives back over the pond.

I'm looking for knife dealers located in Manhattan with a good selection on
production knives (Spyderco, Camillus, Microtech, Al Mar) and reasonable prices.

Internet Links would be great too.

Thanks
 
Paragon, 871 Broadway (Broadway and 18th). I keep seeing their ads in Blade. I was in Manhattan just last week. We stayed at the Sheraton Towers between Times Sq and Ctrl Park. I'm not all that familiar with NYC and started walking around looking for Paragon. I finally figured out it's quite a hike from Times Sq., just a 2 min cab ride, but I had our 7 month old baby, so I couldn't just jump in cab.

I hear they have a large selection of high end production knives in addition to handmade/customs. I'm kicking myself now for not heading down there, but oh well. There's always next time.
 
They do have a selection of high end customs and the best selection of production knives in Manhattan... However, that isn't saying much. They've got about a dozen each of the more common brand knives... Cold Steel, Spyderco, CRKT, Benchmades, Ontario...

And, the sales guys... know nothing about knives. So, if you're nearby, go ahead and drop in but you would be sorely disappointed if you expend lots of time and effort to get there.
 
Paragons is a 10 minute subway ride away from the Sheraton towers. It's a 1/2 hour taxi ride thanks to traffic (ok, I'm exaggerating)
 
Just expect to pay full retail at Paragon on production knives and a premium on custom knives. Funny thing is that I bought my very first Sebenza from them back in December of 1993 when they had one for only $25 above the regular price.
 
Manhattan's not the greatest place for this sort of thing, unfortunately. Paragon is the best, albeit the most expensive, too. I'd also try Iceberg Army/Navy on Broadway, not too far from Paragon. They had a good selection of various things, although didn't we read that Iceberg got busted recently?

As an aside, though, walking down Broadway from Paragon to say Chinatown. is a pretty good way to spend a day--lots of stores, people to see, a real slice of the city.

There's a few other Army/Navy type places that might be ok--the best being Kaufmann's, on west 42nd street right across from the Port Authority Bus terminal. Not a ton of blades but a lot of fun stuff. M*A*S*H on 8th in the 50s is ok for a quick stop, too. Maybe ten minutes walking from Kaufmann's, and only two or three blocks from the Sheraton Towers.

A step further out, in Flushing, there's another a/n on Northern Boulevard that used to have a decent selection, not a lot of name brands though.

Ramsey Outdoor in Ramsey NJ and Ray's in North Plainfield NJ have good selections of Benchmades and Spydies, as well as some other more custom-y type things. But they're a day trip from Manhattan and require a car to reach them.

Internet links: locally, Skylands is great, and in NJ; Holsterdepot.com in NJ carries Reeve, Al Mar, Benchmade, Mission, you name it though you have to ask Roz for specific items; 1sks.com, 2thehilt.com, Osogrande.com are all great, and that's just ones I've dealt with recently :)
 
Paragon has the hand's-down best selection of custom/handmade knives in the City--but beware of the prices, as was stated above. A while back, a Sebenza ($345), was $400 there. If money's not an object--go for it. Otherwise--go internet. ;)
 
Frankly, NYC isn't the best place to shop for knives. I suspect most of the exchange rate advantage would be lost on the markup. Paragon is fun if you want to oogle, but as has been mentioned, 'aint much for expert salesmen. Hmm, head upstate a bit though, and it might get good. Internet is where you're best prices are, anywhere.

Lots of other fun stuff to do here though.
 
Once in the city, if your friend has a car, drive out to Seaford on Long Island. You will find there two stores - the Bladesman and TNT Gunnery. Both have a lot of production knives to look at. TNT Gunnery in particular has a lot of hard to find knives. They have stuff to see that blows away any store in NYC. Paragon is not a paragon of knives - Just something to get a knife fix at and then walk away wanting.
 
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