It's Official; Canada Customs Deemed my Salt Prohibited

[warthor]

Ive bought lots of knives thatve had to go through the Canadian Customs and ive been fortunate enough to not have any deemed prohibited. Sometimes the customs can get on my nerves.

[flipe8]

These things are going to happen when you have a leftist government in office, as canada does. (leftist froim my point of view anyway)

Work to change the laws by changing the politions, or their opinions, or don't try to avoid the extra costs canadian dealers have to pay and buy the knife from canadian dealers. It would seem as if you'd want to support the canadian business that do import the knives you want.

I find it strange that someone gets bent out of shape when they know they are taking a chance, they know what their customs are like, yet they do it anyway to avoid paying higher costs due to taxes and import and shipping fees that canadian dealers have to recoup.

I see it as I see someone who drives over the speed limit yet complains when he gets caught. It's no different when an american gets his shipment of cheap medicine from canada confiscated by our customs. Take a chance, and you might get caught. Joe

Sorry to say it, but you're mistaken here.
First take a look at what I said gave me the biggest gripe. I said how the laws were viewed by the individual officers. Inconsistent. I could live with laws that are straight forward. Never here me complain about buying an automatic becuase I KNOW where the laws stands on them and am OK with that, However, when I can buy something, at a much higher price in Canada, but risk it being confiscated for buying the exact same thing across the border, sometihng stinks.. Plain and simple.

You mentioned "hey, it's not the fault of the Canadian dealer who's just passing along the extra associated fees that the gov't dings him with..."
Wrong. I, and a couple of friends looked into becoming dealers for Spyderco(ask Taz, she'll confirm) and did the research behind it. Any costs associated were minimal, at best. Our reasons for not going through had to do with our end, not these big costs you suggest.
Further to that, I know a dealer who sells products(not the particular one I was looking for in this case) at the exact same cost as his American counterparts. Seems like he's happy getting a fair price and not gouging his customers. Add some extra duty if you choose to the equation. Fine. But 3x the price for some products?! Gimme a break! I bought a seakayak made in Britain from an American dealer, imported it myself, paid import fees, extra duty and taxes and still only paid a few % more for the process. That was a $2000 boat, not a $50 knife.

And perhaps you could keep your opinions about my country, imperfect as it is, to yourself and I'll do the same with regards to yours, as they don't offer much other than jabs for no real reason. Thanks.

Pete

[A.P.F.]

I would give Jay at Warriors & Wonders a call. He has competitive prices and moves a lot of Spyderco product. (To me at least.)

[Darkfin]

A bit off topic, and from 1998, but an interesting Bernard Levine article on the subject of Knife laws.

BL Article Here

[slacker]

[quote="Percival"]I would give Jay at Warriors & Wonders a call. He has competitive prices and moves a lot of Spyderco product. (To me at least.) ]

I'll second Warriors and Wonders. Jay is a great guy to deal with and has a pretty good selection of Spydercos with competitive pricing. I've bought quite a few from him over the last year. Percival, are you a member of BladesCanada? Are you located in Vancouver? Did you go to the meet/dinner last month? I was sick as a dog and missed out.

I feel the pain of all other Canucks trying to get knives at decent prices. It seems customs is all over the map, some stuff gets through and other stuff gets confiscated. Customs is a pain to deal with! Most recently, I've had a knife kit from KnifeKits.com seized by customs for some reason. The knife was in pieces, so I'm not sure what the deal was there. :confused:

That having been said, I've only ordered knives with adjustable pivots from the US and had the dealer tighten the pivots prior to shipping. No issues there yet. NGK in particular does a great job for us Canadians. :spyder:

[A.P.F.]

Percival, are you a member of BladesCanada? Are you located in Vancouver? Did you go to the meet/dinner last month?

I am not a member of Blades Canada, slacker, but I just Googled it and I see the W&W connection. Alas, I live in Mission and don't get into Vancouver proper, very often.

@ Darkfin - Thanks for the article, an informative read. I have always been an admirer of Thomas Jefferson.

[The Mastiff]

Sorry to say it, but you're mistaken here.
First take a look at what I said gave me the biggest gripe. I said how the laws were viewed by the individual officers. Inconsistent. I could live with laws that are straight forward. Never here me complain about buying an automatic becuase I KNOW where the laws stands on them and am OK with that, However, when I can buy something, at a much higher price in Canada, but risk it being confiscated for buying the exact same thing across the border, sometihng stinks.. Plain and simple.

It's your government. Do something about it. The political process is open to you. If you're not involved in it, you should be.

You mentioned "hey, it's not the fault of the Canadian dealer who's just passing along the extra associated fees that the gov't dings him with..."
Wrong. I, and a couple of friends looked into becoming dealers for Spyderco(ask Taz, she'll confirm) and did the research behind it. Any costs associated were minimal, at best. Our reasons for not going through had to do with our end, not these big costs you suggest.
Further to that, I know a dealer who sells products(not the particular one I was looking for in this case) at the exact same cost as his American counterparts. Seems like he's happy getting a fair price and not gouging his customers. Add some extra duty if you choose to the equation. Fine. But 3x the price for some products?! Gimme a break! I bought a seakayak made in Britain from an American dealer, imported it myself, paid import fees, extra duty and taxes and still only paid a few % more for the process. That was a $2000 boat, not a $50 knife.

So you did find a dealer that will sell without a large markup ( which you haven't given an example of BTW. You mention 3X, but in your last post you stated the millie was 189.00 canadian. After changing to american dollars, that's less than MSRP. Not 3X the cost.) Why aren't you dealing with that dealer?

And perhaps you could keep your opinions about my country, imperfect as it is, to yourself and I'll do the same with regards to yours, as they don't offer much other than jabs for no real reason. Thanks.

What opinions? Your country has become pretty leftist. That's not an opinion.There are of course conservative areas like the ones in the midwest of your country, but overall it's left of center. That's not an insult to me. These are however the kinds of things that happen with leftist governments wether in Canada, parts of europe, or certain states here in the US that are very restrictive. If you take that as a jab against your country,that's certainly your problem.

You might want to develop a relationship with a stocking knife dealer in your country. There are ones here I have relationships with that give me discounts over advertised prices as I'm a frequent buyer and a nice guy :rolleyes: . You can save yourself some trouble and not have to pay *cough*"3X"the cost, or $20 more than at New Graham. Joe

[kbuzbee]

I know this is a bit off topic but does Canada care about fixed blades? Or just flick open folders?? Wouldn't want to loose my Temperance going up there someday.

Thanks,

Ken

[merciful]

Not one bit. Awful lot of angry hunters and trappers if they start messing with fixed blades.

I know this is a bit off topic but does Canada care about fixed blades? Or just flick open folders?? Wouldn't want to loose my Temperance going up there someday.

Thanks,

Ken

[kbuzbee]

Thanks Merciful. Good to know.

I had the weirdest experience crossing the border into Canada last fall....

IO = Immigration Officer

Something to the effect of....
===================
IO - Do you have any weapons with you?

me - No sir.

IO - Do you own any firearms?

me - Yes - I do.

IO - And where are they??

me - At home.

IO - What models of firearms do you own??

me - 'run the list.....'

IO - Okay, enjoy your stay

===================

Huh?? Why would he care?? Whatever I suppose.

Ken

[merciful]

That is plenty odd. Maybe he just likes firearms? I wish I could have a selection handguns to match up with the Spydies.

[kbuzbee]

I thought of that but that wasn't how the question came across..... I wasn't sure whether to even answer it (correctly) but did and, AFAIK, nothing bad happened. I really wanted to ask "why" but, when faced with that sort of thing.... when they say move along - you do :D Next time I go they'll probably disassemble my car or something..... Oh well, it'll probably just have a couple bottles of 40 Creek in it (south bound). Tasty stuff, that.

Ken

[A.P.F.]

That is plenty odd. Maybe he just likes firearms? I wish I could have a selection handguns to match up with the Spydies.

Me too! They would all be Colt and S&W. :)

[flipe8]

Mastiff,
It wasn't me who gave the example of the Military's price. I did give a price on a SS Delica@ $150-155cdn vs. NGK's price of $48us and that was at the closest store to me locally. Admittedly, I haven't been there in the last 6 or so months, so prices might have changed.
Thanks for the advice about approaching a dealer and working out some sort of agreement. Might work.
Still don't quite see where I was "bent that I got caught" because I posted my experience. I said when the knife was originally confiscated some time ago, I'd give the results of the appeal. I'd love to buy from Canadian dealers that are fair in their pricing. Paying a bit more wouldn't bother me, either. But not that much more. But for what it's worth, it's not in the job discription of Canada Customs to dictate or decide where I buy products so long as I pay the proper duties and taxes(as far as I know, anyways).
At this point, I still am considering my options as to what to do next.
My apologies if I misread the context of your original post, as it appeared to be more of a jab than an observation with regards to our political environment.

[Darkfin]

S&W and Colt make (license) Knives, I wish Spyderco would make guns! Or at least flashlights. OOps...did I type that out loud?

[goke]

I'll second Warriors and Wonders. Jay is a great guy to deal with and has a pretty good selection of Spydercos with competitive pricing. I've bought quite a few from him over the last year. Percival, are you a member of BladesCanada? Are you located in Vancouver? Did you go to the meet/dinner last month? I was sick as a dog and missed out.

*snip*
:

What's Blades Canada and what are these meetings about?
I'm in Victoria but get over to the Lower Mainland often.
I'll have to check out Warriors retail shop, prices look good for Canada.

[The Mastiff]

My apologies if I misread the context of your original post, as it appeared to be more of a jab than an observation with regards to our political environment.

I try not to make fun of countries because mine isn't perfect either. I happen to like canada and used to go their often when I lived in Michigan. Sometimes just for dinner and fuel.

As far as the term "liberal", To me it's not an insult. I'd hate to see it become one.

I tend to keep myself involved in politics at the local level, and sometimes volunteer for a national campaign if I like the canidate. I think everybody should take some kind of an interest, and not for cynical reasons. They're too many in it for what they can get out of it.

Canada is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, IMO, and the people are mostly very nice. Hopefully the next few generations will keep on taking an interest in it and how it's run.

Regards, Joe.

[flipe8]

Thanks for the link, Percival. They do have very competitive prices.

[slacker]

What's Blades Canada and what are these meetings about?
I'm in Victoria but get over to the Lower Mainland often.
I'll have to check out Warriors retail shop, prices look good for Canada.

Bladescanada is a group started by Jay, the owner of Warriors and Wonders. Basically its just a chance for knife AFIs to get a chance to meet up with other fellow knife nuts in the area. Every now and then they get together for drinks or dinner and just talk about their passion for all things sharp.

As a member you're also privy to some special deals and a heads up on upcoming sales. You should defintely check the store out whenever you find yourself in town. Jay's a great guy to talk to.

[twca]

Don't we have technically have a "conservative" government here now? :confused:

Can't they put an end to this insanity? :mad: