Ceriksson has spent the last year in Toronto as part of his duties in the Navy. Over that time, we have had the opportunity to attend many tradeshows, where he has done an amazing job as my co-photographer. We have also done a lot of shopping at gun/knife stores and shared quite a few meals.
As such, I thought his last weekend in Toronto deserves a worthy farewell extravaganza! This review covers our Saturday agenda.
The day started with incredible laminated dough pistachio crème filled croissants from Le Beau, the best croissants I have ever had!
I think ceriksson agrees!
Then we headed out to Select Shooting Supplies
Where we were greeted by this giant gun! My pictures don’t do justice to its size lol
It was great to see all the treasures from the Canadian Historical Arms Museum’s rotating display at the store
Model of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment at the Battle of the Somme
Alright, moving on to contemporary firearms available for purchase. As I reported from the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show, Magnus and Sons, a new Canadian distributor is bringing in the fantastic TacSol lineup of precision .22s.
I wanted to check out the Henry Homesteader in its stock form. There are an incredible number of accessories for tricking these out as you can see with the one on display at the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show (I would love to do a build like that!)
BTW, if you like my shirt in Dessert Warrior, look what I found!
We also liked the Southern Cross Small Arms Taipan X pump action rifle. It is similar to a TROY Par with the added feature of a straight-pull charging handle that gives you another option to cycle the action when it may not be convenient to use the pump fore-end, for example when shooting prone or against a barrier.
A Canadian legal-for-sale handgun
On to the knife selection!
I was most interested in the SOG Trident AT in uniform blue.
This is the largest model from SOG’s assisted opening line with a 3.75″ cryogenically heat-treated D2 steel blade. It has SOG’s AT-XR Lock with spine-mounted safety
Glass breaker
Cord or Cobra-Cuff cutter
Feels great in forward and reverse grip
In its early days, Select was really focused on competitive shooting however more recently their client base has shifted to law enforcement and “tactical” (which is ok by me) as you can see with the selection of cuffs
And the body armour on display
Safety eyewear from Carhartt
And Edge (I picked up a pair of OSSA)
Vortex optics are pretty tough
Retro Rifle! I love this brand! I have a few from their pop culture line
Such as the Scarface on display
Thanks Select/Range 519
Ok on to our next destination, Shooter’s Choice!
My very first firearm was a Fabarm Pro Forces spring-assisted pump-action shotgun so I was happy to see the latest variant. I would definitely put a red-dot on it if I bought one.
Upstairs in the bow room, we both liked the Excalibur Twin-Strike “double barrel” crossbow!
Saw this cool knife on the way out
By this point we picked up an appetite so we headed for Lancaster Smokehouse. I will post the pics from “The Lanc” (as locals call it) after the coverage of next stop, S&R Knives!
Once again ceriksson wasted no time, purchasing the very first knife he looked at, the Microtech Socom Ram Lok in Frag gray!
The green one was pretty cool too!
I was looking for karambits and started with some Bastinellis, including the PIKA PICOEUR, PICOEUR, and DIAGNOSTIC
I LOVED the PIKA! Seriously, I liked it way more than I expected as I was afraid it might be too small for my hand but it actually felt great! Unfortunately, it was not in my budget otherwise I would have bought it for sure.
I had seen ceriksson’s TOPS Quickie but didn’t know much about it at the time. I have since done a lot of research (watched many vids) and am quite impressed by the intended use.
It is meant for offhand carry and can be held alongside a firearm (I will have an example of this later in the review)
Yep, I got one!
Another Karambit I wanted to check out, the Spartan Ronin Shoto
Solid retracted and extended grip
It was cool but not exactly what I was looking for today.
I was also hoping to check out the Flytanium Zenith 2.0 balisong trainer but the last one sold yesterday. They did have some other trainers
The Spyderco Yojimbo has always been “special” to me. As you may have seen in my past reviews, in the first pic (at NYCKS2002) Michael Janich had the proto in his pocket, in the second (SHOT 2018) I am holding the new trainer and in the third Michael is (SHOT 2020…where they introduced the black blade).
I have one of the originals in blue
So I was pretty happy to see the new gen in blue as well
I thought about the pink one when I first saw it online but after seeing them both in person, I would definitely go with the blue
WOW, I don’t recall seeing Spydercos with wood scales before! These Chaparral look (and feel) great!
Speaking of cool scales, Spartan Harsey AZTEC
These North Mountain Blade BBNM, a production framelock of a Duane Dwyer design, also had interesting handles.
All done shopping, time for a pocket dump!
I really liked ceriksson’s Winkler TAD edition axe
And his awesome new Pickle Kutterz folder!
The obligatory pic with our scores
Back to Lancaster Smokehouse! As I have said many times, the best BBQ I have ever had!
Craft beer from a local brewery
Both of us had the 2 meat, 2 side combo with ribs, brisket, and tater tots except I chose fried brussels instead of coleslaw as my second side
Incredible as always!
Now a few shots of my scores
This should give you an idea of how it works with a firearm
The Dessert Warrior sprinkleflage collection is growing
The Edge OSSA are meant to be worn over glasses and offer MIL-SPEC protection!
That covers day 1! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s activities including a visit to the Yorkville Exotic Car Show, watch shopping, and of course a post event meal!
RL
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