Just an FYI, in case someone's going knife shopping in Ontario.....

I went to my local Sail outdoor store today to pick up a couple of things and to have a look at the new Mora LMF knife. I thought it would make a great prize for the Winter Mock Bug-out Contest. I was disappointed that they don't sell Moras but even more disappointed by the guy at the knife counter. He told me "Nope, we don't sell them but they're owned by Fiskers so pretty much the same thing as any Fiskers or Gerber knife." HUH? Mora is the same as Gerber. Riiiiiiiight!

This is the second time in two months that I've received bad information from one of their staff. (The last time was when a guy sold me the wrong fuel canister for my stove.) I will be sending a letter to the company to share my experiences with them, but given how intensely we feel about Gerbers around here, (We either love em or hate em, it seems) I thought I'd share for the giggle and the reminder to take advice given with a grain of salt, especially from retailers.

And the flip side is consumers who don't listen, cuz they know it all.

Phonecon early Sunday morning, in HD (I worked hardware there for a hot minute) --

Him - "The nail gun I bought yesterday doesn't work. I loaded it with the correct nails according to the instructions and it won't fire"
(After getting the info on what nail gun it was) --

Me "Ok sir, what type of compressor do you have it hooked up too?"

pause, pause, pause - crickets

"Compressor??? I need a compressor???"

"Yes sir, that's a pneumatic nail gun, says so on the box. It needs an air compressor to work. If you need one, we have several on sale. Failing that, we have several nail guns that work off of gas cartridges. Either way, we can square you away."

"Ok, thanks" click

What I didn't tell him to do was blow really really hard on the air fitting and pull the trigger and see if that would work. Wanted to though.

On the other hand, when I lived in Tucson, a local climbing store was started by a kid still in high school, initially as a way to buy his own gear at wholesale. The enterprise was a huge success, because the proprietor was a skilled and knowledgeable climber. He and all his sales staff knew their field, and the gear they were selling, extremely well.

For a quick test in the typical retail establishment, I try and determine if the sales people know some of the material in their sales brochures. Lots of places flunk.

Have seen both sides of this issue. Have dealt with sales help that didn't know diddly and customers that knew it all. I also worked at a hardware store for years, gained a real education in the how and why of the way things work. But some people shouldn't be allowed out in public without a chaperone. Don't know why this story comes to mind when I read the encounter JBMat had. But a regular comes in and is looking for fiberglass resin or epoxy to repair some wood rot in his airboat propeller. I reply that we don't stock anything like that because it's not a good idea to repair wood rot in a propeller because if the prop breaks it's not going to be a good day for anyone involved. He tells me that it's an old airboat and not worth spending the money on a new propeller and there must be somthing that will work. I reply again with it's not a good idea and we don't stock anything that will work for that. He gives me a strange look and leaves.

A month or so later he is back in the store picking up something else and he tells me that he should have listened to me. Of course I ask what happened. He tells me that he went over to the auto parts store down the street and picks up some fiberglass and resin and fills the rotten areas in his prop with resin and then puts a layer of glass fabric over the patch. Said that it looked real nice. Waited a few days to make sure that it had cured well, made sure that the trailer was chained down, (also stated that he had made that mistake once and nearly driven the boat and trailer into his wifes car by hitting the gas when the rig wasn't chained to a tree), climbs on board, and starts it up. Said every thing was fine, he bumps the gas a couple of times and it is still good. Feeling brave now he stomps down on the gas pedal, then there is a really loud bang followed by a lot of vibration and more ongoing racket. Said that in the time from the bang to switching it off the propeller had broken, dented the boat, mangled the cage, and broken the engine mounts. He wasn't a happy camper, don't know what happened to the boat because I never brought up the subject with him again.

Fortunately nothing was hurt except his pride and the boat.

Back in 1999 I was car shopping with my wife. Saw a Trans Am that looked so cool. I asked the salesguy aprox how much does that sort of car weigh. He told me 5000 pounds! uhhh ok?!

There is a saying about guns that if you want to get really bad information about guns or gun law ask someone that works at a gun store or a cop.

I've done my time in the retail trenches so, believe me, I'm not slagging anyone. Other than these two incidents, I've been quite impressed with the staff at this store. I'm more concerned that the store has misinformed/uneducated people selling potentially dangerous goods to people who may know no better and really need that expertise.

BTW - I was copied today on the President of Sail Canada, forwarding my email with a request for follow-up.

I just shot milk out my nose, JBMat! LOL!!

LOL!!!