Which knife factory tour in Portland

I

ilmonster

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Dec 7, 2013
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Well, my better half and myself are going to Portland in a week for a little vacation time. What I was wondering is which of the knife makers out there might be worth going to - Gerber, Benchmade, KAI, etc.? Thoughts?
 
Leatherman has regular tours, not sure about Gerber or Benchmade.

Kai does not have public tours, but you might call them and let them know you are coming, you might get lucky and have someone walk you through, but I am not sure on that.

It's a beautiful area. I have not been downtown, but I want to get back there and try the El Gaucho restaurant - if you like high end places you might seek it out.

best

mqqn
 
Benchmade doesn't have tours but they do have a new space above the factory that you can go and see. Basically a room that allows you to see into the production area with a lot of information on how they started and what not.

Kershaw/Kai has a showroom but the only time I have ever gone into the factory was during the warehouse sale. Even then they have tarps up so you can't really see anything.

As Mqqn stated above I believe Leatherman does do tours.

I have never been to Gerber so not sure on that one.
 
I have read some nice things about the Leatherman shop, that would be my choice. But you can't go to Portland without hitting the Voodoo Donut shop, it's a moral imperative.
 
BitingSarcasm said:
I have read some nice things about the Leatherman shop, that would be my choice. But you can't go to Portland without hitting the Voodoo Donut shop, it's a moral imperative.
Click to expand...

Oh dear god no. Voodoo donuts are just overly sweet boxed cake mix topped with any random crap they found marked down at Walmart. Absolutely not worth the time it takes to eat them even if they're given away for free.

But back on topic, yeah, only Leatherman does regular tours. Benchmade in Oregon City's worth visiting, too.
 
Thanks for all the responses! My wife has an itch for Voodoo donuts. We may have to stop there to knock it off the list. I'm agnostic about donuts.

Now back to sharp thingy's, sounds like Leatherman is worth a stop (completely forgot about them in my original post). Sounds like Benchmade is also worth stopping by. In the past, I've only been to Spyderco in Golden CO, and they don't give tours, but they do have a nice showroom with every knife they make. Cheers!
 
Al Mar, Coast Knives, and Barteaux and Sons Machetes are all in the Portland metro area, too, though I don't know if any of them offer tours. Portland really is America's version of Sheffield, Seki, Thiers, Toledo, etc.

Enjoy your trip!

-Steve
 
benchmade is southeast of downtown a bit but a great place to visit and expanding their viewing area right now too. a bigger selection of everything they sell than most retailers and a nice display of used knives from seals and vets from war time. skip voo doo it is mostly press. average donut. the big ticket now is " Blue Star Donuts" 12th and Washington streets plus two other smaller locations. this is a trust me experience: special flour, imported flavoring, booze just a culinary experience. check any rating of Portland foodies. me, I will kill for Mexican chocolate with chili spice Probably a line to get in though. a place called Cacao just around corner for the chocolate freek. drinking chocolate enough back to knives Enjoy the city just be careful of the damn meters parking is a bitch.
 
Well depending on what day you land in Portland, I'm performing at Dantes on Sunday. :D Also there's a really good knife shop in the Hawthorne district, plus a bunch of us bladeforums members in the area too!
 
Well, got to Benchmade today. Nice showroom with every Benchmade and HK in stock. Got my mini Griptilian tuned up while I waited through their Lifesharp program. Great service. While I was waiting I looked at some of their auto's including the HK's, and got a crush on the CLA auto. Long story short, one is coming home with me!

While I was there, a local sheriff came in and needed a knife tuned up. Well, he pulls out one, two...three different knives from his kit (duty belt, flack jacket, and pocket). Just kept coming out - fun to watch. And as we were there over the lunch hour, there had to be another half dozen folks walk in and need knives tuned up. Busy place. A good experience. Great customer service.
 
Damn, I have lived around Portland most my life, I will definitely have to check it out there! Sounds like a cool place to check out, and at the very least, get a knife tune up.
 
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