Month: April 2006

  • Knives for Sale

    Buck Prince.  I got this one a few years ago to pimp up my stock– a smaller version of the classic Buck 110, it is one of the most beautiful  knives I have ever seen.  Many admired it, no one bought it, though.  It is one of a kind–the handle scales are natural–they call it purple sunset stone–what it is, is an uncommon  variety of microcrystalline quartz known as amethystine jasper, and the photo does not do it justice.  Bolsters are nickel silver, blade is Buck’s best steel.  It originally came in a wooden gift box for $89.95.  I am selling this one–never used, but you can see it has been handled a few times–in the cardboard box I got it in–for $49.95, and shipping it priority mail, INSURED–for no extra cost.



     The Gerber Amulett Classic.  I love this little guy.  It is comfy in the hand, looks kinda Euro-cool (I think the blade is German steel–it says “ROSTFREI” on it.)  Aluminum body with rubber grips, big lanyard hole to make it easy to  put on your key chain.  The blade is 1.5 inches,  but doesn’t lock–so use something else for your knife fighting, okay?  Gerber made it to sell for around $20.  My price–which includes Priority Mail shipping anywhere in the U.S.–is $14.95.  If you want two, I’ll send you two for $24.95–real close to half price.




    Schrade Avatar.  I think this is the coollest knife Schrade ever made–and it is a REAL Schrade, not one of the new, made-in-China ersatz Schrades.  The wavy things on the handle are textured Kraton (I think), raised, and make for a sure grip.  The  half-serrated blade is Schrade’s trademark steel, Schrade+. Not evident from the photo is the fact that it is a back-lock–according to some knife gurus, much stronger and safer than the newer liner-lock  Most of the ones I have are blue and silver, and come in a plain white box.  I have a few that are black and sorta champagne (like the one pictured), and one that is all-black.  Let me know your preference and if you have a second choice that would be acceptable. Suggested price–$59.95.  My price, $39.95 shipped priority mail–add $5 if you want it sent insured.



    Buck Aproach (sic) 751.  This was designed for climbers and backpackers–large lanyard hole is designed to fit a full-sized carabiner.  It was designed in collaboration with renowned mountaineer Peter Whittaker for top performance, and has the sharpest edge Buck has ever put on a production knife–they call it the Edge 2x blade.  Plus, it is a sweet and sexy knife.  Hard to get, I only have two in stock–one gold, one purple.  I don’t know it I can get any more at this price, so if you want it, go for it.  Suggested price $59.95–my price is $39.95–which includes INSURED priority mail shipping anywhere in the U.S. of A.



    Beretta Model 92 Tanto.  You see more and more knives with gun names–like the Mossberg (which is made in China by Meyerco) and the Smith and Wesson SWAT knives (made in China by Taylor Cutlery).  This one–so far as I know — is REALLY made by Beretta USA, and it is a dandy. (But it IS imported.)  Tanto blades aren’t as popular as they were ten years ago, but they are still just as good.  The blade is premium steel–AUS-8a–and has the same markings as the Beretta model 92 handgun.  It even feels a bit like a gun, but don’t worry–this guy will not jam or run out of ammo.  MSR is $98.50–my price–again, shipped INSURED priority for no extra cost–is $59.95.




    The TigerSharps.  You may have never heard of this one.  But in an age when the word “unique” is thrown about so much it has come to mean more like “mildly interesting” this is the real deal.  Unique, that is.  When it came out, Blade magazine gave the replaceable blade design a “most innovative design” award.  The knife comes with two blades–a plain blade installed, and an extra, serrated blade, that can be installed in a minute or two by anyone who is not a total klutz–which, frankly, sorta leaves me out.  The blade itself is cryogenically-tempered  GIN-5 steel–think 440 on steroids.


    The frame on model 500 is SOLID TITANIUM, largely handmade.  The color isn’t paint, but powdered titanium, fused on in such a way that no two of the knives are identical.  And, it is a framelock.  At 3 1/4 inches overall closed, it is a smallish knife, however–so if you want some big honker to impress your buddies down at the pool hall, forget this one.  Avalable in blue (TS500B)  or gold (TS500G)–list price is $129.99–my price, $79.99–no extra charge for insured  priority mail shipping anywhere in the US. (Sorry, TS-505 is not available.)




    The other models I have–200 and 300 series– run in two different sizes–3 1/4 and 3 3/4 inches–but are all priced the same, and they have aluminum frames and liner locks.  They all have the same replaceable blades, however.  Pictured is the TS315, with the G-10 handle.  It looks just like the TS215 (only this is silver), the TS215B (metallic blue), and the TS215R (metallic red).  The TS205R is the same size and red, only the handle has no holes in it.


    Here are the smaller models (3 1/4″ over-all).  The 200R is red, solid handle; the 200B is (surprise!) blue, solid handle.  The 210 is silver, holey handle.

    To ensure a solid grip the “Krypton” series comes with an incredibly strong G10 handle.    With TigerSharp’s Replacement Edge System this knife will take a beating and keep on cutting.  The list price on all of these TigerSharps (except the top of the line in titanium) is $64.99–my price (which includes insured priority mail shipping) is $49.99.





    Spice up your knife collection with a little color. The “Neon” series of TigerSharp knives has the same fine quality construction as our rugged “Helium” series, with a splash of color so you can always see them.  Available in two style handles, with holes and without holes.
    $64.99 list–MY price, $49.99, no extra charge for insured priority mail shipping.






    The Incredible Pen-knife.  It looks like a nice ball-point pen–the body is silver, gold, or black.  very clsssy.  Rotate the barrel, the point comes out–it writes black fine-point.  Pull off the cap, however, and you have a very sharp, half-serrated blade.  The whole works looks like an ordinary pen under an X-ray machine.  Ideal for hijacking planes, terrorizing post offices, getting kicked out of school–seriously, it is legal under all state and federal laws I know of.  Just DO NOT take one into an airport–the security goons will be ruthless if they manage to catch you.  Note:  You cannot get refills for this puppy–use up the ink, and you have a knife that looks like a pen but doesn’t write any more.   I’ll mail you one in a fat #10 envelope for $10, ship three via priority mail for $23.  Please specify first and second choice of color–I have lots in stock in black, and gold, not so many in silver..





    Why buy from me?


    1.  You are supporting a small family business–it’s just me and my wife–she does the web-stuff, I do everything else– working a table at gun shows, buying, shipping, keeping the books, whatever.  If you have any sort of problem you will be dealing with the guy who owns the business, not some lackey in Smellbadda, India.


    2.  My prices are reasonable, and the Suggested Retail Prices I cite are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.  (Some discounters lie about  MSRs to make their own prices look better.)


    3.  All prices include shipping, but there may be an added cost for insured shipping, if you are paranoid.,  In all my years of business, I have NEVER had an item lost in the mail.  There are no hidden charges.  Some knife web sites have low prices, but gouge you on shipping, which is how they make their money.


    4.  I try to have knives you won’t find other places. My selection isn’t big, but in time, I hope to have most varieties of  folding knives available.  We are just getting started now, and new items will be added  as often as possible.


    5.  I love knives, and I only sell knives that excite me.  I hope to cater to people who share my passion and who appreciate fine and/or unusual cutlery.


     The fine print:


    My no-hassle return policy:  returns are a hassle, so I don’t do them.  Ahem.  Seriously, most knives I sell are covered by a manufacturers warranty.  Others, such as collectables, must be sold as is.  All others, I test myself individually before I ship them.  You will not get stuck with a defective knife from me.  If merchandise is damaged in shipment, report it to your Post Office.


    Legality:  Everything I sell is legal in Alaska.  It is your responsibility to know your local laws and abide by them.


    Schrades:  The real Schrade knife company, based in New York state, went out of business  in August 2004.  They had a big auction in October.  One of my wholesalers bought their backstock, so the Schrades I sell are the real, made in the US of A, deal.  Please note that their factory warranty is void, as their factory is defunct. Now read this carefully–Taylor Cutlery bought their NAME.  Only their name–that is, the LEGAL right to make copies of original Schrade knives in China and sell them as Schrades.  I will have nothing to do with this.  Taylor generally  makes good knives, but this action, I feel, is unconscionable).


    Payment.  If you have a PayPal account, fine–so do I.  That might be easiest for you.  Just log onto PayPal, choose the “email funds” option, enter the amount and details of your purchase, and my email:  greyfox@auway.org. 


    Or you can just provide your VISA or MasterCard number and expiration date (debit cards are fine too) in an email to me (greyfox@auway.org), and I can charge your order to your account.  I will keep your account information private. 


    Or you can mail a money order or check, but I will wait until the check clears before I ship–sorry, but I just have been burned once too often.  You can mail your order to:


    Greyfox’s Last Stand
    7362 W. Parks Hwy. #404
    Wasilla, Alaska (AK) 99654-9132

     For information or customer service, email me at
    greyfox@auway.org



  • To Koshari, the new kitten – a poem


     


    Uncertain legs, you walk the world.


    Eyes wide with awe, you see.


    My special drawer, you stole a sock,


    And stole my heart from me.


     


    Author’s note.  Nice thing about poetry, you can mangle the hell out of syntax and stuff and sort of get away with it.  In this one, I sought to capture some of the essence of kittenicity and the love they inspire in us humans in as few words as possible.

  • A Flash of Empathy?


    As I have mentioned before, I have NPD–Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  It has many  symptoms, all unpleasant–we crave attention, tend to lie and manipulate a lot to get it, have a sense of entitlement, and ZERO empathy.  One writer has as much as said we are not human.  I mildly disagree.  Anyway, after three years of interesting therapy, I have transcended the worst of it, the stuff that made me an absolute bastard to live with–mainly the sense of entitlement, the feeling that “I am the Great I Am, and all must bow before me.”  Now I know that  the stuff that happens to me is not interesting merely because it happened to me.   I don’t expect special privileges simply because I was fortunate enough to be born me. But I still pretty much draw a blank on empathy.  One therapist early on said that I would never have empathy, and that I didn’t need it.  Another therapist, when I asked what that was, said “Empathy is when you feel another’s pain.”  I was puzzled–”I feel enough of my own–why on earth would I even want to feel someone else’s?”


    Fast forward to this morning,.  I’m driving into town, and I see this hitchhiker going the other way, who had just gotten a ride.  I suddenly felt that “woo hoo” feeling  that you get hitching, when you finally get a ride. I have done a fair amount of hitching in my time, and know what it is like, the highs and the  lows.   I  also felt mildly annoyed that the good Samaritan had stopped so far ahead up the highway, making the hitcher run several hundred yards.  As a rule, I am totally indifferent to how others feel or what happens to them–including members of my own family.  But here I am, evidently sharing feelings with a total stranger.  What’s that all about?


    This is what a lot of my therapy is about, though–turning the third eye inward, wondering if what you feel is “normal”, or if it’s  psychopathological symptomology.  It does get tiresome sometimes, but at least it keeps one awake, in the Gurdjieffian sense.


    There was nothing special-looking about the guy.  Some big rangy bearded dude, jeans and hoody and work boots–could have been anyone.  For all I know, he’s a meth monster, some low-life scum who beats his wife and fucks his dog and cheats at solitaire.  All I know is, he is a fellow human being who reached out to depend on the kindness of a stranger, and got it.  And I felt good for them both.


    If that is what it means to be human, I guess I can live with it.

  • It must be Spring:

    The NIMBYs are out!

    Lately, I sleep like a baby–that is, I wake up crying every hour or
    two and usually wet myself.  Seriously, I do sleep fitfully, and
    often, my cats wake me up and I can’t get back to sleep.  This
    morning, I managed to sleep in, until this persistent banging on my
    door got me up.  It was Ernie, the grizzled old biker-looking guy
    who works as a handyman here at the flats.  He had a bright yellow
    trash sack for me to fill up, and informed me sourly that some one had
    complained about the mess on my porch.

    “Gotta look good for the tourists,” he snarled.

    Our strip of cabins is right alongside one of the busiest highways
    in the state, and the tour busses will be running soon.  God
    forbid that they should see Alaska as it really is!

    BTW–in case you don’t know–NIMBY means “Not In My Back Yard,” and
    is used to refer with contempt to those who want their little space to
    look pristine, regardless of whose rights they trample.  NIMBYs
    are the ones who rise up in arms when, say, someone wants to put a
    women’s shelter or residential treatment center in the vicinity. 
    They are motivated by fear and selfishness, and I have nothing but a
    fierce desire to put a few well-placed bullets in them.

     Ironically, they did me a favor.  (This happens all the time,
    since one of the underlying principles of the Universe is
    EWOP–Everything’s Working Out Perfectly.)  The mess HAD been
    getting out of hand, and it only took a couple of hours to get a bunch
    of trash bagged up and hauled out to the dumpster.  Some other
    stuff, I took out back and stuck under the cabin–out of sight, out of
    mind.    I found a bunch of books I had forgotten about,
    decided to schlep them out to the library–I had planned not to come
    today, but open up my stand early instead.

    Now I get to blog, and check my email, and check some stuff on some other sites that I had wanted to.

    Maybe I won’t kill any NIMBYs today after all–heck, it is too nice a day to be sitting in a jail cell, anyway.

  • Would you buy a knife from this man?

     

    As promised, the above is me in full Scream regalia.  The shot is
    posed–I was closed when Kathy got there–it is often so windy at the
    stand it takes both hands to hold the sign–the knife (which is for
    sale, BTW–$20, such a deal), was sort of an afterthought.

     

    My apologies for the screwed-up paragraphing–I have NO idea why this is happening, just as I had NO IDEA last week,
    why the damn picture vanished when I tried to fix the indenting. 
    I HATE computers–and the bastards know it, and screw with me every
    chance they get.  Sigh.

     

    Anyway, the car behind me is my beloved Michael Ahura-Mazda, and the
    cabin behind IT is mine–the dog sled on top belongs to my landlord, a
    former Iditarod musher.  (Doffs hat reverently.)  The cat is
    Peachy.

  • I’ll do ANYTHING to make a sale


    This afternoon, I intend to open up my flea market stand.


    To drum up business, I plan to don a full Scream costume–long black hooded robe and full-face Scream mask–and walk around holding up a big sign that says “KNIVES.”  Okay, I have no shame.


    Results–and maybe a picture–to come later.

  • Will I never learn? Probably not. . . .sigh


     


    Okay, last blog I mentioned how I  was inspired to repair an axe stand that I had put together half-assed in the first place.  What an Idiot I was, to fall for the old “delusions of competence” trick.  I took the thing apart, couldn’t get the screws back in properly, and when I was done, it was straighter, but the damn back tipped more and was farther out of plumb than it had been. 


    In other words, I spent a lot of time and effort to make the damn thing worse.  I finally said to hell with it, jammed some cardboard shims in it and slathered the hell out of it with Elmer’s Glue, which made it look a LOT worse than it did before I started screwing with it.  But at least it doesn’t wobble any more.


     


    Ya know what?  I should stick to easy stuff like running a business, or performing miracles with my shamanic work–and leave the hard stuff–like getting two fucking pieces of wood to stick together properly–to the trained professionals.