Would you buy a knife at a gun show?

A number of years ago my wife and I went to a gun show in Iowa. I departed with no gun or knife, BUT she found and bought some interesting jewelry - something wrong with that!
 
I noticed that Benchmade knives were almost flying out of the doors. People really go gaga over them at gun shows. There appears to be much " brand loyalty " towards them in general, so I imagine that they are oft- counterfeited especially at their price point. I do own one, a mini Griptilian.
 
Sure. If the price is right.

At gun shows around here I usually run into 3 types of deals on knives.

1. Trash. Junk knives 2 for $20, and they're not even worth that.

2. Good knives for waaaaaaay overinflated prices. I might handle a few, but never buy there. Ever.

3. Good knives sold by guys who will deal with you. Sometimes they have discontinued stuff on a great sale. I buy from these guys.
 
HorseloverFat said:
I noticed that Benchmade knives were almost flying out of the doors. People really go gaga over them at gun shows. There appears to be much " brand loyalty " towards them in general, so I imagine that they are oft- counterfeited especially at their price point. I do own one, a mini Griptilian.
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I think it was the opposite when I went this past weekend. The 3 for $20 tactic chinese knifes were selling like crazy. I will advise though, dont listen to the " this knife costs this much but you can have it for 1/3 price. I sorta fell for that on a knife I knew nothing about really, but it was only $35, not biggie.
 
How does a newbie learn quality...put down the computer and handle real knives :)
 
There's actually a lot of people selling knives at our shows, and you can get some quality stuff at a great price if you wander around. There's one outfit with a huge set of tables, and they are overpriced on some stuff, good on most, and have screaming deals on a good amount of knives. I make sure I save them for last, it gets tempting. ;)
 
AntDog said:
Sure. If the price is right.

At gun shows around here I usually run into 3 types of deals on knives.

1. Trash. Junk knives 2 for $20, and they're not even worth that.

2. Good knives for waaaaaaay overinflated prices. I might handle a few, but never buy there. Ever.

3. Good knives sold by guys who will deal with you. Sometimes they have discontinued stuff on a great sale. I buy from these guys.
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Sadly #3 is a pretty rare creature...the crowd at gun shows is mostly tire kickers usually, except in the last 18 months where it seems every wacko had come out of the woodwork (or is it bunker?). At the shows in Dallas you always have a certain portion of the crowd who would get a "Do Not Proceed" on a 4473 check, which is why they are there.
 
You do know that it is a crime to attempt to purchase a gun if you are unworthy. Only a fool would try to buy a firearm at a show from a dealer or at a regular gun shop FFL dealer.

I have not been hitting the shows much for a couple years. But I found that if you know your knives, you can get some good pricing. The key is knowlng what a reasonable price is and recognizing it. As said above, if you don't know the knife, then know the dealer or don't worry about it and buy anyway. I've turned down the purchase on some really low priced knives simply because I ultimately decided I didn't want to spend the money that day. I'm usually looking for firearms and firearm stuff at gun shows.
 
I've given up on finding anything at gun shows. before 2008 you could find all kinds of deals, but now knife prices are inflated, and bricks of .22 are going for $30 or more when they were $15 not too long ago. I'm about to just call it quits on the gun shows, as these people keep buying the marked up items, so the dealers have no reason to drop the prices.
 
I dont know enough about knives to be able to pick up anything besides a major brand name, that I like the design of, but I did get a ZT 0566 for about $120 when they were going for about 140 on amazon and +160 at local gun shops. This was at the last gun show I went to, specifically looking for knives
 
I have picked up many knives at gun shows over the years. Seems to me that most guys are there for guns, ammo, and accessories and spend very little time looking at knives. I do see many dealers selling cheap knives and a few guys with over-priced Randalls. Usually there are deals if you're willing to look. Randall made knives are normally 50% or more higher at the shows than most online vendors. I offended a guy last year when I told him I had just bought a model 14 for $300 less than his "best price"
 
I've had mixed experiences at gun shows. I bought my first CRK at a gun show about 5 years ago. Being able to handle an expensive knife was enough to make me open my wallet.

A few moths ago, I was at a gun show browsing tables of overpriced knives , I found a small dealer selling vintage knives. I picked up a beautiful mint Queen swing guard for a very fair price.
But at a show last year ago , I found a dealer selling a NIB Sebenza at list price. I told him I'd take it, but he tried to charge me a fee for using a CC, so I walked away. It was fate because I found a similar knife here for sale and i wound up saving $50.
 
Sure I would, if it was a knife from a good company(Spyderco, Kershaw/ZT, Cold Steel, etc) and if it was a good deal. I mean, I wouldn't buy some Chinese no-name knife with mystery steel or anything like that, and I wouldn't pay $90 for an Endura that I could get on Amazon for $60, but if I found say, a Sage 2 for $75 or a ZT 0300 for $110 yeah I'd go for it.
 
I have noticed that gun shows are a good source for new knives but not so much for high quality used knives. It appears the used ones were probably in a flea market yesterday.
 
AntDog said:
Sure. If the price is right.

At gun shows around here I usually run into 3 types of deals on knives.

1. Trash. Junk knives 2 for $20, and they're not even worth that.

2. Good knives for waaaaaaay overinflated prices. I might handle a few, but never buy there. Ever.

3. Good knives sold by guys who will deal with you. Sometimes they have discontinued stuff on a great sale. I buy from these guys.
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You Forgot:

4) Chinese clone/knockoff knives sold as the real deal and at real deal prices, by guys who usually know just what they have and are playing customers for suckers.
I wouldn't take the chance at a gun show unless I knew exactly what I was looking at.
 
There's a smaller, single table guy at many of our local shows that's been bringing faux Sebbies, Striders, and Spyders. Lucky for me, I CAN tell.
 
Bought my first Busse knife at a gun show, from Jerry himself! I eventually sold it for a whole lot more than I paid! Wish I had it back, though. You never know what you will find at a gun show!
 
Bought my first real knife, a Spydrco Endura, at a gun show. Great knife, was a more than fair price and would do it again if I found one that caught my eye at a fair price.
 
I've bought several knives at gun shows. The Alabama Gun Collectors Association Gun & Knife shows are the best around here, usually quite a few knive dealers. A lot of crap knives, but plenty of good ones too.
 
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