Some days you can't win.

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MikeH

Joined
Oct 18, 2001
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So I swing by Wal-Mart this morning and pick up a couple of boxes of WW White Box .45 ACP JHP. At the sporting goods counter a woman and a teenage boy, 14 years old or so, are examining a Buck 110. The woman sees me looking at the knife and asks me if I could offer any input.
Turns out that the boy is looking for a knife for his dad for Christmas and she wants my advice. Now I have never owned a 110, but when I ask what the knife will be used for, she says deer hunting, and I reply that Buck 110's are real classics, have probably field-dressed more deer than all the others combined and it would be a fine choice. Then the boy picks up a Buck with a fixed blade of about 6 inches and she asks if I like that one. I reply honestly that it would serve ok for deer, but that I personally like a somewhat shorter blade for deer and would still choose the 110. Turns out that the kid really wanted to buy the fixed blade, so I start back-tracking, saying that it would serve for deer and would be a good all-around camping/outdoor knife. However the damage was done and she was holding out for the 110 while the kid was clearly unhappy about that. I am engaging in damage control, saying that the boy should get for his dad what he is happy with, and his dad could always exchange it if he wanted the 110. But she would not back off and they were at an impasse when I excused myself.

I wish I had just said "that's a nice knife" and let it go at that.
 
MikeH said:
So I swing by Wal-Mart this morning and pick up a couple of boxes of WW White Box .45 ACP JHP. At the sporting goods counter a woman and a teenage boy, 14 years old or so, are examining a Buck 110. The woman sees me looking at the knife and asks me if I could offer any input.
Turns out that the boy is looking for a knife for his dad for Christmas and she wants my advice. Now I have never owned a 110, but when I ask what the knife will be used for, she says deer hunting, and I reply that Buck 110's are real classics, have probably field-dressed more deer than all the others combined and it would be a fine choice. Then the boy picks up a Buck with a fixed blade of about 6 inches and she asks if I like that one. I reply honestly that it would serve ok for deer, but that I personally like a somewhat shorter blade for deer and would still choose the 110. Turns out that the kid really wanted to buy the fixed blade, so I start back-tracking, saying that it would serve for deer and would be a good all-around camping/outdoor knife. However the damage was done and she was holding out for the 110 while the kid was clearly unhappy about that. I am engaging in damage control, saying that the boy should get for his dad what he is happy with, and his dad could always exchange it if he wanted the 110. But she would not back off and they were at an impasse when I excused myself.

I wish I had just said "that's a nice knife" and let it go at that.
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MikeH, I have learned something from my brother who is in law enforcement . . . always answer a question with a question . . . :)
Main thing is you were courteous enough to offer an opinion, & who knows if the sales clerk had any general knowledge & might have steered them in the wrong direction.
Be safe.
 
I honestly believe the kid was more interested in what "he" liked instead of what his father would have liked...Kudo's to you Mike for offering an honest opinion.
 
Good on you for trying to help:thumbup:

I don't know how many times I've been at a knife counter and wanted to offer advice. The few times I have , I regretted it. I now keep my mouth shut and opinions to myself. You were asked though , and responded well , Imo. With myself I'm usually not supplying advice , but rather critisizm regarding quality and/or price. Some folks were really appreciative that I saved them some money or steered them clear of a lemon. Those people would of chose a knife if I was there or not. I won't offer advice unless specifically asked for it.
 
anything USA made would be a great gift,,, my dad gave me a 10" blade custom bowie from a guy named Perry Wingo, out of Gulfport, MS for Christmas when i was 10...the only knife i have never used...
 
ono724 said:
I honestly believe the kid was more interested in what "he" liked instead of what his father would have liked...Kudo's to you Mike for offering an honest opinion.
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I can definitely relate to that. When I was a kid, if my mother had actually taken me to buy a knife for Dad (wouldn't have happened, but I wish), the Buck fixed blade would've been hypnotic to me. The 110's a great knife, but the big fixed blade has that WOW!! COOOOL!! factor to a young, impressionable mind.

I suspect, practical for Dad's needs or not, either one would've made him smile. That's a mission accomplished, right there. :)
 
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