The first knife show in Toronto in ten years was a huge success with over 600 people through the door! To put things in perspective, the one day Toronto Knife Show 2025 drew as much traffic as the past shows got over the whole weekend! And people weren’t just visiting, they were buying knives. In fact, by 2pm we emptied out the bank machine in the hotel lobby!!!

While there wasn’t a formal Friends of the Guild pre-show this year, as is customary, many knifemakers met in the hotel lobby Friday night.

It didn’t take long for the show and tell to start. I really liked Paul Savage’s folder with armadillo scales!

Hmmm 2015 at the last show vs. 2025, can you tell the difference?

Russ liked Paul’s Damascus bowie

Thanks to fellow collector Danny Tadxx for bringing your awesome Fellhoelter pens

And Rod Olson knives

Steve Vanderkolff’s daughter (so sorry, I didn’t catch your name) liked it as well. She isn’t planning to get into knifemaking yet but maybe we can convince her!

This one has a floating backspacer

Danny got to meet Rod Olson for the first time, who was nice enough to autograph his knife cases! That’s the beauty of knife shows.

We also got a preview of Rod’s latest creations.

Ok on to the show! In early morning for the setup

As I mentioned, huge crowds during the day! This was in the first hour or so and I think there were already 250 people by noon.

Prizes for the hourly giveaways. There was also a buyer’s draw (you get one ticket for every knife you buy).

This gentleman won a beautiful chef’s knife by Divide Knives

On to the knives! My first stops were to check in with the show organizers Murray St-Amour and Mike Mossington. In addition to his usual  assortment of outdoor knives…

Murray surprised us by bringing back his awesome camp knife! I don’t remember seeing one of these before although I understand they were hugely popular back in the day. I can see why!

Love the sealskin tie Murray!

Not only is Mike Mossington an accomplished knifemaker

he is also an authorized dealer for knife supplies, such as Admiral Steel

Who generously donated steel to all knifemaker vendors at the show

Mike also represents Klingspor grinder belts

John Wilson was born in Ontario but trained directly under Bob Loveless while living in California. John continues with Bob’s designs adding a modern twist of unique handle scales. These are true works of art!

I met the Grimsmo brothers just as they were starting to get into knifemaking. It is amazing how far they have come! Indeed, I was lucky to be part of a small group to do a shop tour in 2023. We were given a detailed breakdown of each step in how a Grimsmo knife is made. All I can say is that the sophistication of the machinery and technical know-how to make knives with such tight tolerances is astonishing!

Grimsmo’s are in very high demand and usually sell out instantly so it was pretty amazing to see so many at the same time.

The one that put them on the map, the Norseman

Rask

Their latest, the Fjell integral folder

and Saga pen with its unique mechanism

Compared to my Fellhoelter Mud Flap Girl with Dunce Cap

Another high end folder machinist I was looking forward to seeing, SAK Modder. He doesn’t just simply replace the scales on SAKs, he actually reworks them, adding custom tools and his famous “drawer” for holding things like the tweezers and tootpicks you normally see in the handle scales.

This upscale one in TiMascus, the only one with a magnifier, sold immediately

I preferred the one with poutine insert and titanium fork!

Closeup of the drawer I mentioned

Rod Olson is most well known for his button lock folders and their legendary smoothness.

The Mega Burst with Fat Carbon inlays and Zirc Bolster was my favourite

Keeping with high end folders, here is another look at Journeyman Smith Paul Savage’s beautiful folder with armadillo scales

This one with pearl inlays was a beauty too

Though ultimately this fixed blade was my favourite knife on Paul’s table, and actually one of my favourites of the show!

Fellow Journeyman Smith James Emmons also had a table full of beautiful forged knives

Originally from France and now in Quebec, Cyril Doche applies his background in cabinetmaking, artistic woodturning, and gunsmithing to knifemaking. The tolerances on his folders are so tight that the line between the blade and lockback is almost invisible. You could swear the knife was a fixed blade looking at the spine.

This one was my favourite. I love the simple black scales mixed with Damascus blade. Also, this one didn’t have any liners making it even thinner and lighter.

Also hailing from Quebec, Amélien Lorquin Couteaux with a fine selection of kitchen and outdoor knives. Thanks for the “business card!”

Steve Vanderkolff

His latest design (sold immediately)

Butterflies seemed to be a theme

This half-stop slipjoint with Kevlar scales was my favourite

And now for some unique knives! Ward Wright is a former world champion knife thrower and he does indeed make throwers although more recently he has been focusing on more primitive designs using a lot of bone and natural materials and forged salvage steel from 100 year old horse drawn farm equipment & machinery.

I liked the neck knives

the Mountain Man with its unique sheath

For some reason I kept coming back to this one (actually visited the table a few times to look at it)

Although ultimately I went with a deer foot dagger!!!

Thanks Ward, I love it and will definitely be getting a thrower from you.

More unique knives from Steve Stuart

I especially liked his Gentlemen’s Folder with leather “handle”. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Speaking of unique knives and handles, as I have written in past reviews, I really like Farmboy Customs use of unconventional scales and kydex patterns, often as tributes to movies or video games.

Case in point, Sugar Bombs from Fallout

And The Joker

Nice acid etch

The Joker’s sheath was made by none other than Buffalo Bones! Indeed, several knifemakers at the show had sheaths made by Seamus.

The machete with his skull sheath was one of my show favourites.

The custom leather wrapped mace was also pretty awesome

I picked up a sharkskin dogtag with custom printed dogtag to match. Thanks Seamus!

Another great provider to knifemakers, Muskoka Turner! They provide blocks for handle scales using natural materials and resins. I especially like the ones with captured objects like the wasp nest that I got at GLCKS or the pea that I had custom ordered (pics in past reviews).

You can see an example of what I am talking about in action with this bread knife from K.C. Forge. Muskoka Turner provided the resin full of coffee beans for its scales!

The full lineup of forged knives from K.C. Forge

Including this beautiful cleaver

I really liked the scales on this one. I believe they were camel bone

Cool forged flowers!

Sharing a table with K.C. Forge, his protégé Fire Drawn Forge. In addition to forging knives, he also does “pyrography” wood burning artwork

As you may know from my past reviews, I really like Todd Bolce’s work and have a couple of his knives.

My favourites at this show were this one in all black

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, bright green Cerakote

Cam Lymburner is best known for making big blades with a very light feel. His knives really remind me of the legendary Jerry Hossom.

This Kukri was so light and fast

As was this fighter. If I was looking for a martial arts blade, I would say this one was the best at the show.

You cant have a proper knife show without handmade knives from the legendary art knife maker Wolfgang Loerchner!

Chris Hammelin trained under Wolfe and has resurrected his Bayfield, now Great Lakes Custom Knife Show.

I liked the concept of this knife where the buyer chooses the inlay material

Jacco Van de Bruinhorst (JVB) couldn’t be at the show but he did have some knives on display

Some great forged kitchen knives from Steve at Bad Llama forge

Huge selection of stock removal knives from Wynn Stitt

Speaking of huge…

The green stag handle was my favourite. Looked great and felt equally great in the hand

Shah Bladeworks

I liked this one with glow in the dark scales

But the most interesting knife on his table was the kitchen knife with “S” shaped grind. Nice of him to bring a cutting board and some carrots so you could try it out.

Cole Thompson

The take down “mini katana” was my favourite. You don’t need any tools to take it down in a few seconds.

I have been into Khukuris lately and liked his interpretation too

Dressed up outdoor/hunting knives from Justin Dale Matethi Knives

At just 16 years of age, this is already Malcom Stewart’s second knife show! Many of us were impressed by his work at GLCKS 2024 and felt he was matching the work of more established makers. I was looking forward to seeing what he brought this time.  

Nice selection of daggers

I really liked the Almarada daggers! The frog on the side acts as a guard and keeps the boot knife in place.

More fine work from Malcolm

I didn’t get to chat with Matt Bedlington this time so just a quick pic of his table

Aaron Byard

These were my favourites

It was tough to get a full pic of Adam Smith’s table as it was always busy when I passed by

Bancroft Cutlery

Very interesting scales on this one

I am not too familiar with Bluefish Knife & Tool but I can see he makes some fine outdoor knives. I liked the nesting knife/fork as well

Crane Cutlery with some nice Damascus pieces

The slipoint folder with brass scales was my favourite

Adam Gilbey was inspired by Forged in Fire to teach himself how to make knives back in 2017 and formed Divide Knives.

Craig Henshaw draws on both Japanese and Western Bladesmithing styles with san mai blades made by wrapping Damascus around a core of high carbon steel. He currently has an ABS Apprentice rating.

I liked the one with the Hudson’s Bay handle

In all the way from Nova Scotia, Jeff Maluske Mad Trapper making custom crafted knives for woods, water and kitchen. Jeff, a former competitive shooter, makes both hand forged and  stock removal.

Bunny Blades by Peter Tal who transitioned from chef to a knife maker

And now for the big finish

What a fantastic show! Hard to pick an absolute favourite as I saw at least 30 knives I would buy lol. It was great to see many makers I have known over the years as well as discover new ones like Ward Wright. Similarly, it was great to reconnect with collectors I have known over the years as well as meet new ones. Thank you for your generosity to those who said hi, shared their collections, and even gave me some swag!

As I mentioned in my opening, turnout was fantastic, even better than I expected! This is great for our community and ensures we will have more shows in the future, possibly even going back to 2 day shows! Either way, I will be there!

RL

The 2025 Toronto Sportsmen’s Show seemed bigger than ever! There were many first-time exhibitors who you might normally expect at a more tactical show like TACCOM but with that show cancelled for this year, it is not surprising that they opted to be at TSS.

The crowd seemed bigger as well! The show was packed on Friday and I heard there were even more people on Thursday! I can only imagine the Saturday crowd. You wont really see these crowds in my review, as my regular followers know, I get in before the show opens to take a lot of my pics and I tend to crop people out as I don’t like having them in my pics lol. In any case, take my word for it, the show was PACKED!

As an example of what I mentioned in my intro, I discovered Armorum at TACCOM and it was great to see them at TSS for the first time, especially since they now carry even more brands.

Notch hats with built in slots for your eyepro and Axil earpro

Kore Essentials ratchet belts. My favourite is the Executive Protection inner/outer belt system now available as a “hybrid” where the front portion of the outer belt is in leather while the rear portion is in nylon. Pretty neat!

Oooooo night vision camo, my favourite pattern

NUTSOF helmet and bag scrims in their Northerner maple leaf camo

Maxtacs a top-tier outdoor and tactical apparel & equipment for military, outdoor, & law enforcement.

During my show prep, I watched a lot of videos about their Combat Pants and all of its great features like the 16 pockets, knee pads with adjustable inserts, and of course their famous zippered vents, etc. I ended up getting a pair so watch for a more detailed review in the future!

It was great to get an in-person walk-through by their rep as this gives you a sense of the people behind the brand. I would much rather support a brand backed by great people and Maxtacs fits that description!

Yannick from Armorum with Cynthia and Andrew from Maxtacs. Thanks again!

Funny my Maxtacs pants came in a SHOT Show 2024 edition bag that matched Tom’s British Army Issue camo jacket lol

Great to see my good friend Simon from “The Redacted Group” of companies, which includes S&J Hardware (shotgun/firearm mods), Aratech Research (body armor), and Rugged Textiles. So happy to hear you have expanded with manufacturing in Texas!

Great armour from Aratech

Love this doormat lol

Simon with S&J’s MCS

Closeup of the folding grip on the forened

Simon demonstrating the holster

Compared to the original MCS holster from Bladetech.

More great modified shotguns by S&J

Staffer and CCFR Gunnie Girl Amanda

With her personal shotgun

Simon with scubagreg

And now for one of my favourite regulars at TSS, Puma knives! They had their biggest selection yet of knives and gear with brands such as Puma, Svörd, Otter, Mercator, Uberleben, Joker and much more

First some booth pics

And now for some closeups. The General sold before I arrived so I couldn’t do a full comparison but here is the stag-handled Prince vs. the green handled Master.

I wanted to say that rebranding the General to El General would have made it perfect for Tony Montana lol I guess El Master will do lol.

If the Master is not green enough for you, how about the Puma IP Geartester with glow in the dark scales!

I wanted to have another look at my favourite Puma knife, the Automesser

The Nimrod was originally produced from 1981 to 1989. This re-release is limited to 255 pieces.

The new Puma Para skeleton neck knife designed by Tony Lennartz

Shown with my Strider DB for comparison.

Joker knives from Spain, the Chamois and Bowie

My favourite from Otter was this limited edition box set including their Anchor knife with bone scales, leather sheath, Belgian whetstone, and a small flask of Ballistol oil.

I recently discovered German-made Bison axes at the Outdoor Adventure Show and it was great to see them again at TSS. A fellow forumite asked about their pickaroon/hookraroon so I wanted to get a pic. The full size one sold by the time I arrived but I did manage to snag a pic of the mini.

Continuing with some OAS alumni, Axcadmy was one of my favourite booths of that show. They allow budding Blacksmiths to take courses for railroad spike knives, hatchets, and two-hander axes among others, examples of which are shown here.

I also covered Mastiff Gears booth in detail at OAS, particularly the WJQ-308 Chinese Military Shovel they had on display.

While I didn’t end up buying that shovel, I stopped off at S&R Knives, which is sadly closing down after 30 years in business, and picked up a Cold Steel Spetsnaz Shovel.

And now for one of my favourite parts of TSS, fur! Great to see Fur the North back at TSS

I especially liked their sealskin mitts, a perfect match to my sealskin boots! Sealskin is my favourite fur as it is warm, water/snowproof and everything just shakes off of it. I have worn my boots in the biggest snowstorms.

I also really liked the beaver handwarmers

Some of you may remember the Mountain Man hat and skunk mitts I tried on at Silver Cedar Studio’s booth last year…glad to see those again along with many other colourful pieces!

love the racoon hat

beautiful red fox

my favourite hat of the day…very Jamiroquai or Dagestani UFC Fighter lol

Morgy liked the pink one

The Ontario Fur Managers Federation is all about educating the public about fur.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing traps and how they are used in humane ways

I even got to try one!

Demo of a snare

Taxidermy is usually one of the most popular parts of my TSS reviews. I didn’t take a lot of pics this time though, just some of the ones you don’t see often.

We saw what red fox looks like as a hat, here it is in a more natural form lol

Don’t think I have ever seen a taxidermy swan

O’Dell Engineering offers a ton of options for hunting and sport shooting through their Canuck line of shotguns and Bergara bolt-action rifles.

Their Wrangler lever-action is my favourite.

My pic does not do justice to the beautiful colour of the wood furniture.

Great to see Sterling Arms International at the show even though they have been hit hard by all the OICs. The R9 MK1 9mm PCC they had at TACCOM was a pre-production model, this one is closer to the finished product.

Antler Firearms are entirely made in Quebec from design to manufacturing. They focus on being lightweight and very precise while being highly configurable with multiple options of stock type and colour, barrel (carbon fiber or steel), and action.

The base and recoil lug are integrated into the Action to help increase precision of the mechanism by reducing vibration. They are available in titanium (foreground) or stainless steel.

Williams Arms, well reputed firearms retailer expanding their fishing offerings

There were lots of options for bowhunters too. Excalibur

I love the look and feel of the MAG AIR, the lightest in class recurve crossbow that still packs a punch at 305 FPS.

Nice Badlands camo on the RevX

Bowtech

I was hoping to see the 25th Anniversary Honor. A portion of the proceeds from this bow get donated to Folds of Honor. As expected, it is long sold out but Bowtech did have the Virtue upon which it is based.

While Excalibur makes exclusively recurve crossbows, Tenpoint is renown for its reverse-draw compound design that results in the fastest crossbow on the market.

The TRX 515 Aero with, as the name suggests, an astonishing 515 FPS

Hoyt RX-9 with a cam system that allows 1/4″ draw length adjustments and “in-line system” for mounting accessories

I was hoping to see a crossbow with Garmin XERO rangefinding scope mounted. No such luck but Bear Elite Outfitters had one with a Burris Oracle.

Perhaps they used it to take down this bear.

There are actually a lot of outfitters at TSS and I usually don’t cover them but this time I ran into an exceptional one! In all the way from South Africa, Koranna Mountain Safaris specializes in plains game hunting safaris and has packages for lions, zebra, giraffe, and many types of horned game.

The pictures shown here feature mostly Canadian hunters

Morgy was helping out at NeXgen Young Anglers, another notable outfitter. NeXgen is a fishing derby that encourage kids 4-14, to get outdoors and enjoy a fun day of fishing with the members of Bass masters in the community. The program caters to less fortunate kids from registered organizations.

Great to see Tracey Wilson, scubagreg and team CCFR, fighting for our firearms rights.

Beautiful game calls from Recall Designs

Gotta admit that Decoy Daddy is a great name

Nature Tracks Scented Shoe Covers are designed for effective scent control. They are made from silicone rubber in a patent pending process. They are waterproof and are available in three options: Vanilla and Anise to attract big game such as bear, moose, and deer, or Unscented for a neutral approach. They are engineered to mask human odors and keep you dry in any terrain.

Always great to see Army Issue Surplus! I haven’t been to their store in a while so I think it is time for another visit!

Ok now this is more my speed! Omek International with an awesome display of body armour.

I especially liked the car door display, one of my favourites of the show. Wish I took more pictures of it.

Fundy Tactical for your 5.11 needs.

Patch Panel, your best source for patches (yes, I got one)

Nice to see Dirty Leather again. As I mentioned in my OAS review, they are strong supporters of the CCFR so we should show them some support too!

The Bear Essentials Outdoors Company with their famous hand-made line saws.

Canada Fire Blanket, a rapid deployment fire extinguishing blanket

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Quick Wick, claimed to be the world’s best firestarter

Fenix lights

Afraid Knot the only Canadian manufacturer specializing in vehicle recovery gear

Speaking of vehicles, they had one in every size at the show

Must say I did quite well at the show

In addition to all the booths that I covered in photos, there were many others that I enjoyed like Radioworld, Knotty Beaver Calls, MAB Impex, Blades4You, Wrought Iron Art Unlimited, Safe and Sound Hearing, Vortex, and many others I am forgetting.

Thank you again to TSS for the Media Pass and early access, it really helps with the review.

RL

My journey to a Kailash mini-khukuri began with this vid from Rocky Handsome appearing on my YouTube feed.

I have always wanted a khukuri but never got around to getting one and that video reignited the fire so to speak. After doing extensive research, getting some recommendations, and experiencing Kailash’s legendary customer service first hand (as you will see below), I placed my order for a mini.

It still boggles my mind how Kailash can provide such service with work in progress pics and provide such a great product at their prices!

I have asked Kailash for permission to share their emails and they have graciously granted it so here we go with my journey…

I love the way they signed it “from the top of the world”

Based on this, I went with the performance grind. Here are the full specs.

Here we go with the first in progress update!

Rotated for a better perspective

Second update

A lot closer to completion by the third update

Cropped the pic a bit

I also took the liberty of mocking up how it might look next to my full size Himalayan Import WWII…we will see how close I was in my estimate

Final update on the sheath making process

And it arrived today! Just 2-3 days to get to Canada from India! Great packaging as well! Even that is professional and artistic

Package within a package!

Still some layers to go

And here it is!

Feels great in the hand. I am glad I got the largest handle option

Beautiful horn

Ok let’s see how the size really compares to the WWII

And compared to my Cold Steel Trainer

A recap of the journey

So far I love it!

Thank you Kailash! I plan to get a Salyani next.

RL

I haven’t been to S&R Knives since before COVID so it was definitely about time for another visit! Sure, I made some online orders in the meantime but there is nothing like visiting the store in person and seeing their incredible selection as well as my good friends Sean and Rodney of course!

Ok I will start with some general store pics and then move to closeups by brand.

Karambits are among my favourite types of knives (if not, THE favourite) and I absolutely LOVE the design of this Schrade Shasta Mcnasty (great name too lol)

The ring was a bit big and the handle a bit short for my hand but it was super tempting…

I also love balisongs and trainers so here is another of my top picks, the Boker Plus Papillon (unfortunately my closeup of the knife came out blurry)

Next Cold Steel, which had most of my favourites of the day

Including my absolute favourite, the Gurkha Kukri Plus CPM-3V Steel.

 It is quite light for a Kukri and feels fantastic in the hand.

More fire from Cold Steel, the Espada XL Lynn Thompson Collection. I already have the full micarta version but I need this one too!

Perhaps you can see the grind better in this pic

More from Cold Steel, their lineup of impact tools

Once again, I found another favourite of the day, the Cable Whip Cane.

Next up, Spyderco

They had all sizes of the Yojimbo so I could do a side-by-side comparison

Microjimbo

Yojimbo 2 Black

Yojumbo, definitely the best for my hand

I am not quite as familiar with Reate so I wanted to check them out

Especially the wild Exo-K Karambit (did I mention that I love karambits? Lol). I knew there was a trainer available for this knife but what I didn’t know is that it actually comes as a set with the knife!  That’s right, the price listed INCLUDES the trainer!

Speaking of karambit trainers, these are made by a local knifemaker

I didn’t get a closeup but here is another karambit on my “list”, the DART, designed by Doug Marcaida

Some fine blades from Bastinelli

And Extrema Ratio

Including the new aptly named Fat Boy. This thing is heavy! It actually feels much heavier than the Cold Steel Kukri

Classic Buck knives

Civivi

Ka-Bar

CRKT

Some fantasy/movie knives

Tactical pens, including the Boker Tactical Fountain Pen that I picked up recently

Such a great store! To recap my favourites of the day:

1. Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri Plus CPM-3v Steel
2. Cold Steel Espada XL Lynn Thompson Collection
3. Cold Steel Cable Whip Cane
4. Boker Plus Papillon

Thank you to Rodney’s son (didn’t catch his name) for his time and helping out with the pics.

I definitely wont wait several years till my next visit!!

RL

S&R Knives is pretty much the go-to place for knives in Toronto. Owned by Sean and Rodney for over 25 years, the store moved to a new location just three minutes away from its old home at the Woodbine Mall. The visit below was during their soft opening. I will be back soon to update with their latest stock.  

Blades of all shapes and sizes from spears to neck knives (this is one side of the store..i missed getting a full pic of the other side…oops)

Ok let’s start with Tops knives

And my favourite knife of the day, the Tac Ops karambit…this thing is SICK!

I would be hesitant to spin it but here it is in retracted and extended grips

Next, the Kuma Tac-Ri, designed by a martial artist, holding it makes you just want to destroy things and the only thing that diminished its impressiveness was that I just finished handling the Tac Ops Karambit lol

Smaller Tops fixed blades on display, including the mini Tracker.

I have a Beck Tracker on order and I am a big fan of the design…wow they are not kidding about this being a mini version!

Next Fox knives out of Italy

Including this SUPER RARE kempo Banty, designed by Borut Kincl, Official trainer of Slovenija Army

The knife has a lot of great features like a handle shaped for use as an impact tool (very similar to the Spyderco Yojimbo), integral glass breaker, secondary lock, divots for grip transitions etc.

Next Spyderco..

i was most anxious to see the Introvert, again designed by a martial artist as a sort of folding version of Fred Perrin’s famous LaGriffe. It is the first flipper lockback and I really like the deployment. I was glad it was sitting next to a P’Kal for size comparison as I have one of those so it was a good reference.

Tons of folders from Cold Steel

As well as impact tools. The British Police Truncheon is a lot heavier than you would think

My favourites were the boomerang

And Steven Seagal walking stick

More knives from…Spartan Blades

Esse

Fallkniven

My first time handling a Medford…well deserving of its beefy reputation although the Micro Praetorian was a bit small for my hand

Zero Tolerance

Ka-Bar

Including my favourite, the TDI

CRKT

Including a Kasper Fighting Folder, one of my favourite knives of all time (I have two Crawford customs)

Kitchen knives and other accessories

So that should give you sense of why S&R is reputed to be one of, if not the top knife store in Canada. As I mentioned, I will be back very soon and will be sure to post a review of my visit.

RL

DAY 2

Epic, if there is one word I could use to describe Day 2 of TACCOM, it would be Epic!

I will start with my main personal highlight but really there were several. It turns out that my idea to focus on booths instead of covering the seminars was a good one. Indeed, many of the coolest things I saw were from re-visiting booths that I had already been to.

As you all may know, I am a big John Wick fan so it should come as no surprise that my favourite part of today is JW related, specifically meeting The Tracker from JW4!

I only found out he was coming about an hour or two beforehand and thank you to the team at Gagnon Sports for making it happen!

It was great to chat about the Wick universe in general and his custom build in particular. In an extreme coincidence, I had already started ordering the parts to match his movie gun a couple of weeks ago!!

With Justin from Gagnon Sports

After a few quick words on stage, he met with fans for some pictures, including Fred, organizer of TACCOM

Steve from Crusader Arms

Show attendees

I wanted to do a Tracker themed pic with his signature lever action and dog. As luck would have it, Ian from O’Dell Engineering was walking by and graciously accepted my request to borrow a Wrangler Blackout. BTW, the gun is definitely Tracker approved as he liked it a lot! Baden K-9 was equally generous with the German Sheppard Twins. Thankfully Tracker did not issue a “nuts” command!

Thanks again to Ian

And to Baden K-9. This pic is especially fitting considering my Magnum P.I. shirt as it reminded me of his canine co-stars Zeus and Apollo.

So glad Baden K-9 came back this year. Their dog-bite demo was definitely a highlight last year (even though I ended up “reconsidering” my participation lol).

My first stop of the day was actually another visit to the Chiappa booth to handle the Tmodel, the Terminator lever action gun shown here with my Terminator glasses and Arnie watch.

Yes, I held it one handed, no, I did not do the Terminator flip lol

Next a visit to Tactical Imports to have a look at the Extrema Ratio Glauca G1, the GSG9 version of that folder. But first, the guns.

Several variants of the Type 81

Axor Arms TR-410 non-restricted compact revolver shotgun and Serengeti S Tactical

The Auslof that I covered in detail last year

HK G36, used by the GSG9 (hmmm I am sensing a theme)

Big selection of Extrema Ratio knives

As I mentioned, I was most interested in the Glauca G1. This variation of the Glauca has features specifically for the GSG9 counter terrorism unit of the Bundespolizei, such as a rear glass breaker in tungsten carbide and a stainless steel spike for untying knots as well as a rescue tool for making quick emergency cuts to free the potentially injured or to use as a belt cutter.

With the spike deployed

In forward grip

In reverse grip

Shown with my Sinn UX EZM2B GSG9 Edition

GSG9 starter kit, complete with their official knife, watch, gun, and authentic made in Germany Addidas GSG9 boots!

Canadian Tier 1 Operators might prefer something in the Mike from Canmore camo offered by Rugged Textile from “The Redacted Group” of companies, which also includes S&J Hardware (shotgun/firearm mods), and Aratech Research (body armor).

Especially when paired with a matching holster from Gray Fox Strategic and Pit Vipers

Complete with essential Canadian gear

Rugged Textiles can make any pattern

They also make duty belts

Such as the new Balteus Max Tactical Belt System, that will be sold exclusively at Urban Tactical. Designed with input from Law Enforcement and Military professionals, it is made of Berry compliant Brookwood Squadron* and Milliken Tegris® and offers exceptional abrasion resistance and durability.

Some examples of its well thought out features include: An end opening for padding insertion to reduce bulk and pressure points on wearer’s back and hips, the use of 3D spacer mesh that is FR treated for breathability and antimicrobial protection made of Squadron, a stiffener panel made with 12 layer Tegris® to allow the belt to self-support for wearer comfort. You can read more on Urban Tactical’s website.

Modified shotguns from S&J Hardware including their latest MCS build

The MCS in pistol grip configuration

In this configuration, it is intended to be carried on the weak side for quick transition/deployment when you need to do some breaching or your main firearm goes down, as demonstrated by Simon

Being a “modular combat shotgun” you can easily add different stocks

I also really liked S&J’s new folding Serbu style forend grip, shown here by Simon

Body armor from the Aratech Research side of the business group

So I did go back to Perroz Designs and I was right, it was a groin plate!

Glad I went back too as this time they had the guns out (my previous visit was before show opening so the guns were locked away)

Can’t go wrong with an MP7!

I also learned that Perroz was acquired by Movie Armament Group! Initially a one-man shop, Perroz found it challenging to meet the huge demand for his great designs but with MAG’s acquisition they were able to ramp up production. MAG also brought some movie guns to display such as these from The Boys series that I binge watched recently lol.

From Arnie’s Fubar series

including his Pink Lady

Hmmm gold guns seem to be a theme at this TACCOM lol

Ok on to Hera Industries to see the new H6!

The innovative H6 rifle features a side feeding AR-15 magwell to allow you to shoot and reload easily in prone or any other shooting position. At under 6 lbs. it is incredibly light, as is the trigger action (made by RECKNAGEL) at only 2.2 lbs. It will fire with the stock folded but still meets the minimum 26” length requirement.

You may have seen these two gents in Youtube videos

Two new product introductions from Sterling this year, including the R18 MK3 and the R9, a new PCC, which accepts proprietary MP5 style mags. These mags are more of a straight design compared to the angled Glock style mags.

There have been quite a lot of modifications to the internals moving from the R18 M2 to the MK3. The bottom line is that it is now much lighter and should be reduced in cost.

As one of the main distributors in Canada, North Sylva covers a wide array of brands including CZ, IWI, FN, Kriss, Remington, Black Creek Labs, Chiappa, Aimpoint, Sordin, etc. etc. etc.

I have always loved the FN PS90

Another one of my favourites, the Skorpion

I liked the Canadian flag finish on this BCL

More Canadian flags

Gravel, another top distributor, also had a booth with a small sampling of the vast number of brands they carry (God I hope they bring Noveske back if the Conservatives overturn this OIC nonsense).

I liked the tricked out Remington shotgun with Cadex and Magpul parts

They are also a distributor for Boker knives

I tried the Mantis training system at a previous TACCOM and it was one of my favourite booths of that show. I was hoping to see their new system mounted to a Steiner laser but it is not available in Canada yet.

They did bring their new AK-47 system though, and this one was autographed by famous Youtuber and founder of The AK Guy Inc, Brandon Herrera (reminding me of Chris Costa autographing my Raven Concealment holster at a previous TACCOM)

The whole kit

Cromag makes loading your mags a breeze

I really liked the look and feel of 416 Tactical’s booth with the Ghillie suit and camo netting, not to mention the great gear. A store visit is definitely in order.

Spyderco, Cold Steel, and SOG knives

Hmmm weapon light cleaner…I should get some of that.

Armorum also had a great selection of tactical gear.

I liked the knife sheaths from Gray Fox strategic.

And the shirts in multi-camo black

Veteran owned and operated, Mad Hatter Industries

I knew we would find a hat to match the Mike from Canmore plate carrier

Speaking of clothing, I ran into someone with a similar shirt (mine is Retro Rifle, I believe his is Savage Tacticians)

And another wearing Retro Rifle, the Rule #1 from Fight Club also from their Pop Culture series like my Perched from Magnum P.I.

Knives etc. from The Pocket Blade

Last but certainly not least, Vortex!

Including the Impact 4000 Ballistic Rail-Mounted Laser Rangefinder that I covered in a lot of detail in my Toronto Sportsmen’s Show 2024 review.

And that concludes my coverage for this year. While this is a lot fewer pics than I normally post for TACCOM, don’t interpret that as this being a smaller show. I didn’t cover every booth but more significantly, I didn’t cover ANY of the presentations/seminars. As I mentioned, I opted to re-visit several booths multiple times. As a show-goer this was a better experience for me as I got to see things that I missed the first time. I also didn’t go back for Day 3. I know that I would have spent a lot more time (and money lol) at 416 Tactical and Armorum if I did lol.

My overall thought is that TACCOM continues to feel like its major American counterpart gun shows with elements like new product introductions, having brands and industry reps in from all around the world, celebrity appearances, BCL’s display of guns mounted to an offroad vehicle, items autographed by industry celebs, on the spot collaborations like getting a tricked out lever action and service dogs together for a cool pic etc. These are the types of things that happen at major shows like SHOT. Hopefully next year will bring in a political climate a lot friendlier to gun owners and that will only help make TACCOM bigger and bigger.

RL

Links to Parts 1 and 2

TACCOM 2024 – Part 1

TACCOM 2024 – Part 2

SET-UP DAY

TACCOM has moved to Hall 5 of the International Centre and the layout is more “grid-like” to ease movement down the aisles. Another big change is that multiple vendors will be selling guns and ammo. Guns will be “cash and carry” meaning you can pay and carry the gun out of the show. In order to keep the ammo separate from firearms, the ammo is kept in trucks out back as in past shows but now there is a “drive through” option so you can drive your car up and load out.

Upon entering the Hall, I was greeted by this armored vehicle, which I had seen recently at Aquino Tank Day. There will be a machine gun mounted to the turret tomorrow for photo ops.

While not quite as armored, Black Creek Labs showed us how to arrive at a gunshow in style.

Guns were arriving by the palette! Foc alone brought 4 skids (with huge discounts)

Quite the mix of guns too, how about this “dictator chic” gold gun at the FOC booth?

What’s better than one dictator gun? Why two of them, of course! These are actually for sale and there are two more with white furniture to be raffled off.

More great guns at FOC, Troy PAR and SPR

You know I love trainers

Our host Fred looks on

SFRC was one of the first booths to set up and I heard they were bringing surplus armor so that was my next stop.

They weren’t kidding about the surplus armor! This is just a part of it…Revision/Galvion helmets in all sizes including XL! Coincidentally I bought a Revision visor in anticipation of finding one of these helmets one day hmmmm

Or if you prefer new over surplus, my favourite brand of armor

Less than lethal option, the Byrna TCR Pro

Airsoft SIGs

One of the many contests at the show

Next stop, Amchar for another look at the SUB2000 Gen 3 that I just shot at O’Dell Day

KSGs in all sizes

and TROY PAR and SPR

Love the camo

So excited for Glock to be back and YES, they will be showing handguns!

Also great to see SIG back at TACCOM. They will have some new variations of the Cross

And for the first time at TACCOM and all the way from Germany, Hera arms! So looking forward to checking out the H6.

Another one high on my list, Opfor. Can’t wait to try that quad night vision

Ha caught the Tactical Imports booth being built last year too

That sampling should give you an idea of the show. Of course, there are lots more booths that are still being set up as I type this and I look forward to seeing them all tomorrow.

DAY 1

I have seen panoramic night vision on display but never got to try one so I was super excited to confirm that Opfor Night Solutions had a demo unit at the show. Needless to say, they were my first stop of the day. Turns out that was a good choice as I dare say they were my favourite booth of the show.

Static unit in black

The demo was FDE…I am ok either way!

I have to say they were even cooler than I expected! I tried to capture the experience (though wished TACCOM could turn out the lights for me)

Flipping them up changes the weight dynamic. I can see why people mount counterweights to the back of their helmet

The helmet is made by Opfor’s sister company, EON and features a custom 4D Tactical memory foam pad set

While I have seen night vision before, Opfor takes it the next step with their super cool mission recording devices. This one fits right over the tube to see things exactly from the operator’s perspective.

OMG I NEED one of these for my camera!!!

More cool gear from Opfor

Coincidentally, the theme of night vision came up at the next booth that I visited, my friends at The Patch Panel.

Great selection as usual

Love the display (I have two Avon masks as well, love them)

Next I went to visit Remington in the hopes of seeing a less-than-lethal orange variant of the 870…. we are in luck!

I would want a rear ghost-ring sight though

More fine shotguns from Remington

Ok I know everyone is excited that Glock is back at TACCOM and hopefully we can buy handguns again soon, so I headed there next to find a G34, G17, G19X, and the G45 in the exact setup being used by Ontario ETF.

Guess which one was my favuorite?

All the display guns had GoSafe lockable mags that require a key to be released and to unlock the trigger.

By now Chiappa had finished setting up so I headed there next, again with a very specific gun in mind, the Terminator lever action!

In luck again! I will have to come back tomorrow to handle it.

In the meantime, I got a pic with my Gargoyles 1984 Terminator glasses and Seiko Arnie watch

I was hoping the see the new Big Badger, essentially centre-fire versions of the Little  Badger but no luck (I heard they were at the show so maybe I just missed them)

More Chiappas

Speaking of movie attire, I visited Clarington Airsoft’s shooting range in the hope of finding a revolver to recreate the “everyone be cool, this is a robbery scene” from Pulp Fiction. Yup!

Great selection of airsoft

There was a long lineup so I didn’t end up shooting this time but I tried it at last year’s TACCOM and it was a lot of fun.

At the opposite end of the spectrum to airsoft, some SERIOUS  ammo from Fort Scott Munitions.

Their TUI is designed in such a way that it passes through solid material but tumbles when it encounters liquids or fluids. The results are pretty devastating as shown by this ballistic gel.

It is available in both rifle

And handgun calibers

Specs on their 9mm as an example

I was happy to see SIG back at TACCOM though their last visit turned out to be quite expensive for me as I ended up buying a Commemorative Edition M17. This time they were showing new variations of their popular Cross platform. The Magnum takes the Cross into larger calibers like .300 Win Magnum, 300 PRC, and 7 PRC and is available with carbon fiber and stainless steel barrels.  

Next you have the standard (that camo is being discontinued) and TRAX with its lighter/simpler chassis.

SIG was also showcasing their expansive line of optics

My favourite of which were the stabilized binos

Next, a huge variety of precision rifles from Cadex, including full builds

As well as chassis

No .50BMG this year, the biggest gun they brought was .375Cheytac

Very cool though I would probably get a Kraken

There has been quite a lot of buzz about Crusader’s new Crypto semi—auto and its proprietary 5 round mag so that was my next stop.

And here it is!

Along with the actual gun used in their now famous 1000 round torture test video

It handles really well! Much lighter than their early designs.

A few variants

Including a prototype carbine length

Some of their previous designs

A solid match for FOC’s gold guns lol

Speaking of which, here are FOC’s raffle guns

vs. the sale versions I showed yesterday

This Derya wasn’t very subtle either

More of FOC’s selection

Incredible prices on Steiner binoculars

Sordin earpro

I was at O’Dell Range Day a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed shooting the new Wrangler lever action. They have been officially launched now and I wanted to see the final variations that went to market.

I think these are my favourite products ever from O’Dell

Two of the most popular guns at O’Dell Range day, the wood furniture Operator this year and the FD12 a couple of years ago.

Large variety from O’Dell with Canuck, Bergara, and Derya

Big Tony with Gilles from Mossberg

Phil O’dell with Fred from FOC and TACCOM organizer

Fred and I

With Ian photo-bombing

Not to worry Ian, you will get your usual comparison pic!

First timers at TACCOM, Tandemkross with an incredible line of upgrades for Ruger 10/22s and PCC

A few examples of their builds

This one, featuring their Manticore X Lower was my favourite. I urge you to check out their website for full details on the Manticore X as they are too extensive to list here. Basically it is a a pre-assembled housing ready to accept AR style accessories and includes upgrades to the trigger, safety, bolt keeper, etc etc.

PCC with a flared magwell and very extended mag release

I didn’t get to chat with the Perroz Designs crew but their gear looks very interesting

Chest rigs

Helmet mounting options

Gear carriers

Am I seeing this right? Is that a groin protection plate carrier with testicular tourniquet mount? Maybe I should talk too them tomorrow lol

MAB Impex is becoming a real staple at gunshows in Ontario, not just TACCOM. I was into knives long before guns. I am sure you can find something you like at their table.

Although I covered Amchar yesterday, I wanted to go back to get more pics of their guns from the side angle

Liam from Amchar and Ian from O’Dell

Kodiak Defence

Tamgha

I will close Day 1 with the best display method for guns I have seen at a Canadian show (reminds me of something you would see at SHOT Show), BCL

Originally I was planning to cover seminars tomorrow but I want to spend more time at the booths so we will see how it goes. In any case, expect another 200 pics lol.

RL

Links to Parts 1 and 2

TACCOM 2024 – Part 1

TACCOM 2024 – Part 2

By now you should be familiar with O’Dell Engineering’s Annual Range Day as this is my third time covering the event. Still, some things are worth repeating.

First of all, it is super impressive that O’Dell has been running this annual event for 10 years, especially given our political climate. Not only that, they are continually bringing new products to our market and each event features several introductions.

Just to recap, the industry event allows retailers to test the latest offerings and provide/receive direct feedback. The intention is to increase retailers’ first-hand familiarity with the products so they can better answer questions and better match firearms with the customer’s shooting needs.

Opening words from our host, Phil O’Dell and briefings from Ian about some new products we will see on the line

Mike from the CSSA has been at all 10 O’Dell Days

The full CSSA crew with Mike, Jordan, and Tony Bernardo

Reps from Amchar, the event co-sponsor and Fred from FOC/TACCOM

It is great to see politicians at such events. Doug Treleaven, Conservative candidate for the Kitchener Conestoga riding with Ryan from SFRC

This year’s event shirt features the new Wrangler, which I will get to shoot shortly

Time for the traditional pic with Phil and Ian

I also wanted to use this opportunity to try the new custom hearing protection I got from Safe and Sound. The left ear was rock solid and gave good protection but for some reason the right ear was moving a bit so I ended up switching to my Peltors later in the day. Not sure why as this didn’t happen when I tried them at home.

I took the VIP limo to the rifle range lol

First up, Canuck shotguns

The Enforcer

and the folding version

However the Operator with wood furniture was the most popular gun of the day

EVERYONE was shooting it lol…I guess there is something to “retro”

Vs. the FD12, the most popular gun in 2021

On to Bergara, another product line distributed by O’Dell. They had several on the line from .22 all the way up to 6.5

I love the finish on the Bergaras, both in terms of look and feel

Shooting the Bergaras

Doug shooting the Bergara. He clearly has experience with firearms and was shooting like a pro in no time!

Canuck pro-staffer and competitive shooter Dave Tree brought his personal gun for comparison against a stock Bergara

Nifty Arca rail on Dave’s competition gun

Bipod’s are also a convenient place to hang your shooting bag for PRS competition lol

Influencers like Chris Costa and Jade Struck have helped to cause a big resurgence in lever-action rifles. I can see why as the new Wranglers, available in .357 and .410 were my favourite guns of the day! So fun to shoot.

I prefer the one with the full rail and beautiful green stock

Though this one had a beautiful wood stock and bluing

This one was chambered in .410

Or if you prefer rimfire….

The crew from FOC giving the lever actions a whirl

And now my turn! We were shooting .38 but of course you can also load these with .357

No recoil but it throws the casing high! I think that one hit the ceiling lol

I was amazed by the low recoil, even on the .410

My co-photographer, Tom liked the Wrangler as well

Rep from Al Simmons in Hamilton with the .22

There are now 3 versions of the Derya TM-22 including the new Standard, which will retail for $299

Closer look at the Standard

Shooting the Standard

Amchar, co-sponsor of the event, brought 7 Kel-tecs (and one GSG) for us to try, including their shotguns with dual mag tubes

SU22

And the Sub2000, including the new Gen3 version with iron sights that stay in place when you fold the gun

Learn more about Kel-Tec here

Fred shooting the SU22

I would definitely put a red-dot on it as it was a bit challenging for me to find the Ghost ring. Other than that, really fun to shoot

Next the Sub2000 Gen3

And the KSG Compact

Doug was impressed

The GSG-16

Ok on to the skeet range!

 I like the Hunter pump in Bottomlands and the Over-under in Realtree Max5 camo

Rep from Al Simmons shooting the over-under

the Trap version

the auto-ejector throwing the empty shell over his shoulder

I wanted to get pics of the over-under in Max5 and Tom was happy to oblige

More skeet shooting

On to 5-stand

Some of the guns on the line

Clays come in high and low

We close the day with a prize draw for the attendees

Scott from Bullseye North wins the Kel-Tec

Rep from Al Simmons taking home a very small box with a folding Canuck shotgun!

Another Canuck shotgun prize

And a Bergara for Gary at Select Shooting Supplies, accepted by Dean on his behalf

As usual, the event was catered by the legendary Lancaster Smokehouse (I was just there after another event a week or two ago!)

Thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, the Sportsmens Club Galt, and of course the O’Dell team for putting on such a great event.

RL