Does anyone have an opinion about Canal Street knives???

[Sonny]

I'm completely new to this. I've bought a few cheap knives mainly to see what kind of frames I like best.
Now I'm getting ready to buy a quality knife.
After looking around online I'm feeling drawn towards Shatt & Morgan (file & wire series. Gunstock & english jack knife models) & Canal Street Cutlery (trapper & 2 blade hunter). Also Weidmanshiell knives look interesting to me.
Can anyone offer an opinion here? I'd appreciate it.
Thanks.
Sonny.

[Mossdancer]

Hey Sonny;
There are quite a few varied opinions. Suggest you go to pg3 mar 9 and pg2 apr 8 of this forum. I for one have a positive attitude about canal products.
W.B.

EDIT: Just noticed where your from. Born and raised in Tulare myself.
Been gone for near 50 years now.

[Sonny]

Hi W.B. & thanks for your response.
I will check out those pages.
I'm about an hour west of Bakersfield. It's a nice peaceful area which I find preferable to So Cal suburbia where I was before.
Best wishes.
Sonny.

[longbeachbum]

Schatt & Morgan's and Canal Street are both very nice, but in my opinion cater more to the collector than the user. The majority of offerings from both have 420HC steel blades, which isn't bad, but not what you should expect in a $100+ knife in my opinion.

You are right to be looking at the F+W models from Schatt and Morgan, with ATS-34 blades. If you decide on Canal St., some of their offerings come with D2. In both cases you are paying even more, but at least you're getting first rate blade steel.

I have several Weidmannsheil knives, and have never been dissappointed. Fit and finish tends to be excellent. Blades are carbon steel, generally. Very nice Teutonic styling. I think you'd be very satisfied, and they are probably a better value than SM and CS since they don't have the same brand appeal. They're made in the Olbertz factory in Solingen, same as Fightn Rooster, Bulldog, and Eye Brand, and Indian Head.

Moore Maker is another great brand if you've not looked at those. Not cheap, but made with the user in mind, much more than the collector. All f their knives are made with 1095 carbon steel blades. They are made on contract by Camillus and Queen, just so you know. Quality control is excellent though.

Happy Hunting!

Edited: I should have mentioned that I have four Schatt and Morgan knives (one Mtn Man and three Railsplitter stockmans) but no Canal Street. My opinion on Canal Street is based solely on what I've read.

[Sonny]

Thanks for that excellent info LBB.
Your help is much appreciated.
Sonny.

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

I own a Canal Congress, and have handled most of their other models, and so far have been VERY impressed with their quality.

[Gr8Scout]

Hi all. I'm not really imparital here, as I am a strong supporter of US made knives of quality and Canal Street in particular. I have a couple of them, my favorite being a swing guard with stag handle.

Weidmenshiel knives aren't bad, but for future collectibility, I'd go for the CS.

Just my opinion.

Phil

[cutacroshorty]

I've got a Canal St. Stag Trapper, #212304. I was disappointed that the blades are only polished on one side.

I'm not familar with the Canal Street practice of only polishing one side. My comment was not intended to slam the Canal Street brand.

[Gr8Scout]

edited because I over reacted.

[cutacroshorty]

In that case, that mean that the Case Trapper I have that's not polished on either side of the blade is twice the knife as the Canal Street.

A tradition of polishing a blade only on one side doesn't particularly indicate quality.

[Gr8Scout]

I'll discuss knives with anyone, but I won't argue them.

Due to your ignorance, you wasted what.. $90..? on a knife you don't appreciate. Your one criticism about said knife concerned one of the many things that were purposely done in the construction of the knife to make it special. If you had written to Canal Street asking about the assumed 'defect', they would have promptly, and more politely than I, explained it to you. Instead, you choose to display your lack of knowledge and slam the company on a public forum.

Obviously, given my personal policy of not arguing knives, my contributions to this thread are over. Enjoy your knife collecting however you most like.

[cutacroshorty]

Thanks for your input.

[jabberwocky]

Gr8Scout, cutacroshorty merely expressed disappointment based
upon an unfamiliarity with a practice of Canal Street Knives. He
made, in my opinion, a fair enough comment.
Your discourtesy, however, was unspeakably ugly.

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

"A tradition of polishing a blade only on one side doesn't particularly indicate quality."...........cutacroshorty

After having the well established practise of "mark side only" polishing explained to him, the above comment was anything but fair, to Gr8Scout or Canal Street Cutlery, especially when it was made from lack of knowledge.

Gr8Scout was not the ugly one here.

[Mossdancer]

Hey Everyone;
IMO this is a discussion forum. Again Bryan has been smarter than we are by at least a factor of two.(Private Messages)

I think name calling disagreements should be taken to PM, then we dont find it necessary to take sides.

[jabberwocky]

Bear Claw, I must respectfully disagree with you. Phrases such
as "Due to your ignorance..." ; "A knife you don't appreciate..." ;
and "You chose to display your lack of knowledge..." are not only
argumentative, but discourteous. If someone has the answer to a
question based upon their superior knowledge, they don't need to
descend into sarcasm and derision. Gr8Scout may not be an ugly
individual, but his display of discourtesy was. And whatever is the
source of so much of this "over-defensiveness" of knifemakers that
I'm seeing so much of on this forum lately? Someone expresses a
simple disappointment with a knife's particular feature, and he's
labeled "ignorant" and "unappreciative". We don't make ourselves
any taller by chopping off other people's heads.

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

Bear Claw, I must respectfully disagree with you. Phrases such
as "Due to your ignorance..." ; "A knife you don't appreciate..." ;
and "You chose to display your lack of knowledge..." are not only
argumentative, but discourteous. If someone has the answer to a
question based upon their superior knowledge, they don't need to
descend into sarcasm and derision. Gr8Scout may not be an ugly
individual, but his display of discourtesy was. And whatever is the
source of so much of this "over-defensiveness" of knifemakers that
I'm seeing so much of on this forum lately? Someone expresses a
simple disappointment with a knife's particular feature, and he's
labeled "ignorant" and "unappreciative". We don't make ourselves
any taller by chopping off other people's heads.

I understand, but look at the order the comments were made in, they were in response to cutacroshorty's rather childish remarks.

[jabberwocky]

Bear Claw, you should have been a litigator...
(I know, I am...domestic relations).
Ok...You've upgraded "ignorant" to "childish".
I'll upgrade "unspeakably ugly" to "condescending".
Let's talk knives...agreed?

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

Let's talk knives...agreed?

Sustained!

ps..my degree is in Administration of Justice.

[jabberwocky]

Bear Claw...

Good form, my friend!
I repeat, you have a future in litigation!
I look forward to referring my many questions
about knives, etc., to you.
I look forward to your answers!

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

Bear Claw...

Good form, my friend!
I repeat, you have a future in litigation!

HAHA..all joking aside, you have no idea how many times I have been told "you should have been a lawyer"!

[cutacroshorty]

A few are a little quick with the comments. First of all I will apologize for your interpretation of my comment(s).

I have been collecting for several years but know very little about knives in general.

I have about 50 Case Trappers but only one that has both sides of the blade un-polished. My statement was based on pure ignorance on my part and was not meant to be childish or sarcastic.

I still stand by my orginal statement that I was disappointed that the blades on my Canal Street Trapper is polished on one side only. It just looks odd to me.

Lets start over please.

[jabberwocky]

cutacroshorty, I , too stand by my original statement,
i.e., that you're entitled to your opinion of a particular
knife, without being labeled "ignorant". I probably know
less about the knives I own than a lot of the people on
this forum, (at last count, I had 14 Case Trappers, among
Schrades, Kabars, Kershaws, Camillus and Bokers in my
small collection), but when I ask a question, I'm not looking
to be told I'm "ignorant" or "unappreciative". I sought out
and stay with this forum because 99.9% of the time, I get
an informative, educated answer to my questions. I didn't
think knife collecting was an elitist hobby, and I despise
elitist attitudes towards honest, fair questions.

[Bear Claw Chris Lappe]

I despise elitist attitudes towards honest, fair questions.

Neither do I, but at what point was a "fair question" asked here?

Statements were made implying poor quality on the part of Canal Street Cutlery, without knowledge of the subject.

Basic research before purchase would have prevented much of his confusion.

[jabberwocky]

I think we've all reached some common ground here.
I firmly believe that the truly intelligent person fields
any comment or question without being condescending.
Bear Claw has made some excellent observations. And
cutacroshorty sounds sincere enough in his apology. I
think our work here is done.