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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is $300 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Any good knife stores in Toronto? I am thinking of checking them out........
- Thread starter Frankk
- Start date
First, avoid House of Knives; their prices are typically 50% higher than anywhere else. (However, they appear to be dumping Cold Steel, at 'sale' prices comparable to everyone else's retail.) In downtown TO, Europe Bound and the nearby Marathon (these are on King St. *West*) are worth checking out, although neither is a 'knife' store, per se. S&R Knives in the Woodbine shopping mall is the only 'true' knife store around (that I know of, anyway) and will have the best representation of various brands. Le Baron, in your neck of the woods, also has quite a large, if somewhat eclectic, selection. Note that even Wal Mart and Canadian Tire can have some decent models, but are worthless for browsing.
Tom Lagan, distributor for Fallkniven, haunts BF and should know all the retail outlets
[And since I mention it, a Fallkniven would be an excellent piece with which to start a collection.]
Tom Lagan, distributor for Fallkniven, haunts BF and should know all the retail outlets
[And since I mention it, a Fallkniven would be an excellent piece with which to start a collection.]
You have a few choices.
If you are looking for a store you might try S&R Knives in the Woodbine mall, across from the race track. A wide variety and they know thier knives.
If you are interested in mail order or can travel down to Niagra falls try ProEdge. Murray Haday is a fellow forumite and a pleasure to deal with. http://www.cgocable.net/~proedge
If you are interested in a custom knive check George Tichbourne who is also in Mississauga. http://www.tichbourneknives.com/
Finally thier is always house of knives. Limited selection, some good but lots of POS, staff don't tend to be particularlly knowledgable but there are exceptions, prices tend to be very high but they are in most of the big malls so there is probably one close by.
Congrats and let us know what you end up with.
If you are looking for a store you might try S&R Knives in the Woodbine mall, across from the race track. A wide variety and they know thier knives.
If you are interested in mail order or can travel down to Niagra falls try ProEdge. Murray Haday is a fellow forumite and a pleasure to deal with. http://www.cgocable.net/~proedge
If you are interested in a custom knive check George Tichbourne who is also in Mississauga. http://www.tichbourneknives.com/
Finally thier is always house of knives. Limited selection, some good but lots of POS, staff don't tend to be particularlly knowledgable but there are exceptions, prices tend to be very high but they are in most of the big malls so there is probably one close by.
Congrats and let us know what you end up with.
Hi Misko,
For Mississauga you should have a LeBaron's out there. I don't have an address but look under the Yellow Pages or Blue Pages. The one in Markham has Cold Steel's, Spyderco's, a few Benchmade's, Gerber, Buck's. Prices are very good. Also check out S&R Knives in Etobicoke in the Woodbine Shopping Mall. It's around Rexdale Blvd and Hwy 27. I've actually never been there, but I've heard they have good selection. I think their website is www.srknives.com if you wanna take a peek. Sports Authority has very good prices as well but selection is limited to Swiss Army stuff, Gerber's and Buck's. User-type stuff, y'know. Those are about the only places that I know that have good prices. There are more downtown around Wellesley and Yonge but are they ever EXPENSIVE!!! Better to uptown (westtown in your case
) than downtown.
I was also wondering if anyone else could add to this list. I've also been looking for more places that have good prices and have yet to turn up anything more than the 3 above.
As well, are the prices over Internet retailers (after taxes, shipping, and whatever other crazy tariffs) worth looking into or not? I was looking at the Knifecenter but after adding all the monetary conversions and shipping, I was pretty shocked. Are there any Canadian Internet retailers that also have good prices after all the "extras" are taken into account?
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ET
For Mississauga you should have a LeBaron's out there. I don't have an address but look under the Yellow Pages or Blue Pages. The one in Markham has Cold Steel's, Spyderco's, a few Benchmade's, Gerber, Buck's. Prices are very good. Also check out S&R Knives in Etobicoke in the Woodbine Shopping Mall. It's around Rexdale Blvd and Hwy 27. I've actually never been there, but I've heard they have good selection. I think their website is www.srknives.com if you wanna take a peek. Sports Authority has very good prices as well but selection is limited to Swiss Army stuff, Gerber's and Buck's. User-type stuff, y'know. Those are about the only places that I know that have good prices. There are more downtown around Wellesley and Yonge but are they ever EXPENSIVE!!! Better to uptown (westtown in your case
I was also wondering if anyone else could add to this list. I've also been looking for more places that have good prices and have yet to turn up anything more than the 3 above.
As well, are the prices over Internet retailers (after taxes, shipping, and whatever other crazy tariffs) worth looking into or not? I was looking at the Knifecenter but after adding all the monetary conversions and shipping, I was pretty shocked. Are there any Canadian Internet retailers that also have good prices after all the "extras" are taken into account?
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ET
About Marathon on King St. W. They've mainly got Spyderco's now. But if you happen to be a UofT student at the St. George campus and you were around during the first week of classes, www.varsitypromotions.com was giving out these student coupon books and inside there was a 20% coupon off ANYTHING at Marathon. I dunno how you can get one of those coupon books. The Varsity Promotions website seems to be under construction but maybe the SAC office at UT would have more left over.
Also, House of Knives: RIPOFF! Totally agree with you guys. This was a while ago but I could have sworn that I saw a 3" Cold Steel Voyager for $100 at Fairview Mall in North York. Hopefully their "sale" has reduced the price of these. But I wouldn't waste my time with HOK.
And I forgot about Europe Bound (thanks Frankk). Small selection. Mainly Swiss Army stuff, some Spyderco's, few Gerber's, Buck's and Leatherman's. Prices are average but keep in mind that they by no means concentrate on knife sales. They're also on King Street West right across from Mountain Equipment. OH YEAH, Mountain Equipment! Forgot about them too. They've actually only got multi-tools now. Leatherman's, Swiss Army, thought I saw a CRKT KISS in there not too long ago. But no knife, knives at all. I'll see if I can think of some more places later.
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ET
Also, House of Knives: RIPOFF! Totally agree with you guys. This was a while ago but I could have sworn that I saw a 3" Cold Steel Voyager for $100 at Fairview Mall in North York. Hopefully their "sale" has reduced the price of these. But I wouldn't waste my time with HOK.
And I forgot about Europe Bound (thanks Frankk). Small selection. Mainly Swiss Army stuff, some Spyderco's, few Gerber's, Buck's and Leatherman's. Prices are average but keep in mind that they by no means concentrate on knife sales. They're also on King Street West right across from Mountain Equipment. OH YEAH, Mountain Equipment! Forgot about them too. They've actually only got multi-tools now. Leatherman's, Swiss Army, thought I saw a CRKT KISS in there not too long ago. But no knife, knives at all. I'll see if I can think of some more places later.
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ET
Thanx everyone.
I went to www.srknives.com S&R knives website and I really liked what I saw. Since I am new to knives, I have no clue what knives are good or bad, I don't know any brand names or anything like that, so I am starting from scratch. I want to start collecting knives, and that's about all I am interested in, I am against hunting, but I really like knives, just for the sake of collection.
By the way, when I go to a knife store, what do I say?!?! I mean since I don't know much about knives, I don't want to sound like a total idiot. How did everybody else start?!??
peace
I went to www.srknives.com S&R knives website and I really liked what I saw. Since I am new to knives, I have no clue what knives are good or bad, I don't know any brand names or anything like that, so I am starting from scratch. I want to start collecting knives, and that's about all I am interested in, I am against hunting, but I really like knives, just for the sake of collection.
By the way, when I go to a knife store, what do I say?!?! I mean since I don't know much about knives, I don't want to sound like a total idiot. How did everybody else start?!??
peace
I had this URL saved from awhile ago:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002546.html
It mentions a few places not already on the list. BTW, I'll vouch for LeBaron - I've purchased 5 or 6 knives there, and the prices are generally not bad..but the salespeople don't know a thing.
**BTW, STAY AWAY FROM HOK - I was there last Tuesday, and they wanted $250CAN for the new Pardue Axis 720!
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Shawn
"Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless."
[This message has been edited by swball (edited 31 October 1999).]
[This message has been edited by swball (edited 31 October 1999).]
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002546.html
It mentions a few places not already on the list. BTW, I'll vouch for LeBaron - I've purchased 5 or 6 knives there, and the prices are generally not bad..but the salespeople don't know a thing.
**BTW, STAY AWAY FROM HOK - I was there last Tuesday, and they wanted $250CAN for the new Pardue Axis 720!
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Shawn
"Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless."
[This message has been edited by swball (edited 31 October 1999).]
[This message has been edited by swball (edited 31 October 1999).]
Misko:
Don't worry about sounding like an idiot. If you don't know say so and you'll be amaazed t the help you will get. If you pretent to know more than you do you'll be left ignorant. Be honest, I've yet to have anyone laugh at me for my lack of knowledge (at least not to my face).
.
Take a trip to S & R Sean and Rodney are realy nice guys and they have a large selection.
The north end store Frankk was referring to is probably Ontario Sporting Supply on Hwy 7. west of Hwy 400, They carry Busse and others.
Good luck.
Tom
Don't worry about sounding like an idiot. If you don't know say so and you'll be amaazed t the help you will get. If you pretent to know more than you do you'll be left ignorant. Be honest, I've yet to have anyone laugh at me for my lack of knowledge (at least not to my face).
Take a trip to S & R Sean and Rodney are realy nice guys and they have a large selection.
The north end store Frankk was referring to is probably Ontario Sporting Supply on Hwy 7. west of Hwy 400, They carry Busse and others.
Good luck.
Tom
I think the selection available in Toronto is abysmal. There are a few custom makers in the greater Toronto area - George Tichbourne is absolutely first rate for using knives, as an example - but purveyors or retailers of custom knives? Forget it. You're pretty much limited to the phone, the net, or waiting for the twice yearly Guild shows[you just missed the October show, the next one is in April] or driving out to Wolfgang's show in the summer. Some good makers do attend the Outdoor Show and the Sportsman's Show. As far as production knives are concerned, there is an organisation that puts on a show for that, but those shows have been a little lackluster. Retail? S & R Knives at the Woodbine Mall, or whatever it's called, has quite a good selection of production knives, but everything is too expensive. Offensively marked up. However, they're not bad folks and they will deal if you are reasonable. "Warriors" on Yonge street used to have a small but good selection of fighters and even a few customs. I bought a Carbon V Trailmaster there several years ago. I don't know what they carry now. LeBaron in Mississauga has probably the best selection of production working and hunting knives and probably also the best prices around. They have a discount card you can buy, which improves the bargain. A much smaller collection but very good prices is available from MEC which is now on King Street.
The store in the north end some members were talking about is Ontario Sporting Supples who sell mostly guns, ammo, shooting/hunting supplies and some knives. They're on Steeles or Hwy 7 near the 400. The owner really does know his knives,although I don't agree with his opinion about Elishewitz, but the store carries only production knives. they also have a 10% discount card for many items. There also was a good selection of production knives at a sporting goods store on the south side of Bloor street just east of bathurst. "King Sol", I think. The good stuff was at the back. I haven't been there in years.
There is a fellow in London, he's on the net under "Spire", who carries Mad Dog. I haven't bought from him yet, but he seems to be a good man.
That's all I can think of in the Toronto area, ]except Spire which is London]. I wish we had a better [or any] selection of customs to look at and lust after. I don't think we do.
The store in the north end some members were talking about is Ontario Sporting Supples who sell mostly guns, ammo, shooting/hunting supplies and some knives. They're on Steeles or Hwy 7 near the 400. The owner really does know his knives,although I don't agree with his opinion about Elishewitz, but the store carries only production knives. they also have a 10% discount card for many items. There also was a good selection of production knives at a sporting goods store on the south side of Bloor street just east of bathurst. "King Sol", I think. The good stuff was at the back. I haven't been there in years.
There is a fellow in London, he's on the net under "Spire", who carries Mad Dog. I haven't bought from him yet, but he seems to be a good man.
That's all I can think of in the Toronto area, ]except Spire which is London]. I wish we had a better [or any] selection of customs to look at and lust after. I don't think we do.
HJK,
Are you telling me that S&R is expensive? I haven't actually been there but the prices on their website seem ok. (Not the best but average) I would actually rank Warriors way behind S&R in terms of price only. I remember when I was first getting into knives and got ripped off by a Cold Steel 4" Tanto Voyager that I bought for $100. S&R has it for $74. Are those other places you mentioned better or comparable to LeBaron's in terms of price?
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ET
Are you telling me that S&R is expensive? I haven't actually been there but the prices on their website seem ok. (Not the best but average) I would actually rank Warriors way behind S&R in terms of price only. I remember when I was first getting into knives and got ripped off by a Cold Steel 4" Tanto Voyager that I bought for $100. S&R has it for $74. Are those other places you mentioned better or comparable to LeBaron's in terms of price?
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ET
LagaNet,
Wanted to ask if your location on Ellesmere was open to the public. I'm guessing it's around Markham and Ellesmere and I happen to pass by there regularly. I don't know if there is a Fallkniven in the future for me but wouldn't mind seeing what you have and possible prices.
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ET
Wanted to ask if your location on Ellesmere was open to the public. I'm guessing it's around Markham and Ellesmere and I happen to pass by there regularly. I don't know if there is a Fallkniven in the future for me but wouldn't mind seeing what you have and possible prices.
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ET
In response, I can't tell you how Warrior's prices are now, but they were higher than average at least up to last year.
Re S & R's prices, maybe the knives you are interested in that are listed on the web site are competetive. If so, that's great. That hasn't been my experiemce with them in the past. At the store certainly, the Benchmades, the Cold Steels and the Bokers, which were what I was looking for, were all significantly more expensive than the prices available elsewhere, even thru the USA from the Knifecentre. Even with a special "deal",I got stung on a BM Pardue, and if I had believed what I was being told about the fair prices of a few other knives I would have been stung alot worse. I bought them elsewhere and I know I paid rather less than S & R wanted, so I'm not imagining it. If it's different now, great. I don't wish them ill and if they have the right knife at the right price, I would buy from them again. But you'd better shop around first.
Re S & R's prices, maybe the knives you are interested in that are listed on the web site are competetive. If so, that's great. That hasn't been my experiemce with them in the past. At the store certainly, the Benchmades, the Cold Steels and the Bokers, which were what I was looking for, were all significantly more expensive than the prices available elsewhere, even thru the USA from the Knifecentre. Even with a special "deal",I got stung on a BM Pardue, and if I had believed what I was being told about the fair prices of a few other knives I would have been stung alot worse. I bought them elsewhere and I know I paid rather less than S & R wanted, so I'm not imagining it. If it's different now, great. I don't wish them ill and if they have the right knife at the right price, I would buy from them again. But you'd better shop around first.
ET,
For Canadian Internet try
ProEdge (Murray Haday, forumite) http://www.cgocable.net/~proedge
Adam Sharps http://nt.net/~admclean/Index.htm
and you know about S&R Knives. IMHO S&R's prices are average to a little high but you also get the convenience of a store with a wide variety of knives in stock. You can go in chat with the knowledgable staff, fondle various knives and leave with the one that you want. They are also excellent about special ordering anything you want. I end up buying alot from them.
LeBarone does mail order and has good prices but an extremely limited stock, no special orders, and they won't let you handle the knives in the store.
For Canadian Internet try
ProEdge (Murray Haday, forumite) http://www.cgocable.net/~proedge
Adam Sharps http://nt.net/~admclean/Index.htm
and you know about S&R Knives. IMHO S&R's prices are average to a little high but you also get the convenience of a store with a wide variety of knives in stock. You can go in chat with the knowledgable staff, fondle various knives and leave with the one that you want. They are also excellent about special ordering anything you want. I end up buying alot from them.
LeBarone does mail order and has good prices but an extremely limited stock, no special orders, and they won't let you handle the knives in the store.
HJK,
It might be situational with S&R. Like I said, I've never even been there. (In fact anything west of Yonge is sort of a mystery to me but that's another story
) But that's some good advice about shopping around first before actually laying down the bucks.
allanm,
I took a look at those 2 Internet retailers. Good to see there are at least some Canadian Internet retailers. ProEdge seems to have some more upscale pieces that I probably won't get just yet but someday. And Adam Sharps looks alright with more stuff that I'd personally get. You have any experience dealing with them?
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ET
It might be situational with S&R. Like I said, I've never even been there. (In fact anything west of Yonge is sort of a mystery to me but that's another story
allanm,
I took a look at those 2 Internet retailers. Good to see there are at least some Canadian Internet retailers. ProEdge seems to have some more upscale pieces that I probably won't get just yet but someday. And Adam Sharps looks alright with more stuff that I'd personally get. You have any experience dealing with them?
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ET
ET
FWIW I have done business with ProEdge once before and just placed another order with him yesterday. I have also only heard good things about him on the The Good Bad and Ugly forum (in knife exchange). You may want to do a search.
I haven't bought anything from Adam yet but I have also heard good review of him on the forum. Again you might want to do a search.
FWIW I have done business with ProEdge once before and just placed another order with him yesterday. I have also only heard good things about him on the The Good Bad and Ugly forum (in knife exchange). You may want to do a search.
I haven't bought anything from Adam yet but I have also heard good review of him on the forum. Again you might want to do a search.
Misko, ET,
I checked out the S & R website and my opinion of them has deteriorated markedly as a result.
I see why Misko commented that the prices seem reasonable. Use the Cold Steel page as an example. The $US prices listed for the Carbon V Trailmaster and the San Mai trailmaster are good. Real good. Even better than Skylands cutlery, and that is good. But take a look at the price in Canadian dollars.
The Carbon V Trailmaster is listed at $165 US but $298 Canadian. That's an exchange rate of $1.81 or a 55cent canadian dollar. The San Mai knife is $240 US but $432 Canadian. Again, that's an exchange rate of $1.80 or a .56 cent canadian dollar. For the San Mai knife, using a more realistic conversion rate of a .67 cent dollar and working backwards from the actual price in Canadian dollars, the real $US price is $290 US, $50 more than claimed. The "$US" price is understated by 21%!
Let me put it to you this way. If you actually pay the quoted Canadian price, you'd better not rely on the price quoted in american dollars, because that's not even close to what you're paying. Don't use those american prices for comparison purposes unless you are actually buying in US dollars at the quoted US price. In fact, it would pay you to do just that, go to a currency trader or bank, buy us funds and buy from S & R in $US at the quoted US price. If they refuse to sell to you at the american price, they have a real problem.
There is no excuse for the S & R conversion nonsense. In fact, it's rather more egregious than simple nonsense.
I checked out the S & R website and my opinion of them has deteriorated markedly as a result.
I see why Misko commented that the prices seem reasonable. Use the Cold Steel page as an example. The $US prices listed for the Carbon V Trailmaster and the San Mai trailmaster are good. Real good. Even better than Skylands cutlery, and that is good. But take a look at the price in Canadian dollars.
The Carbon V Trailmaster is listed at $165 US but $298 Canadian. That's an exchange rate of $1.81 or a 55cent canadian dollar. The San Mai knife is $240 US but $432 Canadian. Again, that's an exchange rate of $1.80 or a .56 cent canadian dollar. For the San Mai knife, using a more realistic conversion rate of a .67 cent dollar and working backwards from the actual price in Canadian dollars, the real $US price is $290 US, $50 more than claimed. The "$US" price is understated by 21%!
Let me put it to you this way. If you actually pay the quoted Canadian price, you'd better not rely on the price quoted in american dollars, because that's not even close to what you're paying. Don't use those american prices for comparison purposes unless you are actually buying in US dollars at the quoted US price. In fact, it would pay you to do just that, go to a currency trader or bank, buy us funds and buy from S & R in $US at the quoted US price. If they refuse to sell to you at the american price, they have a real problem.
There is no excuse for the S & R conversion nonsense. In fact, it's rather more egregious than simple nonsense.
ET,
I've had the pleasure of dealing with ADaM Sharps a number of times, and I highly recommend him. Good stock, and he'll special order a lot of stuff for you.
LagaNet,
PLEASE say you're open to the public! I live 2 minutes away from you!
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Shawn
"Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless."
I've had the pleasure of dealing with ADaM Sharps a number of times, and I highly recommend him. Good stock, and he'll special order a lot of stuff for you.
LagaNet,
PLEASE say you're open to the public! I live 2 minutes away from you!
------------------
Shawn
"Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless."
Hey swball, we're fellow Scarberians eh?
HJK, You're totally right. I had done a calcuation before and just assumed it was a service charge for the bank to convert the currency but I didn't bother doing a basket of items like you did. There is definitely something not right about it. I think I didn't really catch it because whatever knife I was calculating came to only 2 dollars over the 1.5 conversion. I'd like to see someone try to purchase in US dollars and see what happens.
It seriously looks like LeBaron's, being the only non-Internet retailer and with their limited stock, is the only place to buy low priced production knives. How sad is that? But some of you guys mentioned Ontario Sporting Supplies. How are the prices there?
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ET
HJK, You're totally right. I had done a calcuation before and just assumed it was a service charge for the bank to convert the currency but I didn't bother doing a basket of items like you did. There is definitely something not right about it. I think I didn't really catch it because whatever knife I was calculating came to only 2 dollars over the 1.5 conversion. I'd like to see someone try to purchase in US dollars and see what happens.
It seriously looks like LeBaron's, being the only non-Internet retailer and with their limited stock, is the only place to buy low priced production knives. How sad is that? But some of you guys mentioned Ontario Sporting Supplies. How are the prices there?
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ET