Canada customs is holding my salsa!

[vampyrewolf]

yep, the salsa I won over on knifeforums.com is being held as a centifugal opening knife.

Any tips for an appeal since this is my first? Or anyone in customs to contact?

[The Deacon]

That really sucks VW. Unfortunately, given what other Canadian forumites have experienced lately, it would appear that appealing it is pretty hopeless. The "obvious" long-term solution is to get the law clarified, but even that is a can of worms, and not just in Canada either. While to our eyes, these knives are not "gravity knives", there are those who would argue that the original intent of the law was to ban the sale of knives that could be opened easily with one hand. Assuming Canadian law on this subject, like most of that here in the States, dates back to the fifties, the only knives capable of doing that at the time were switchblades and gravity knives.

[CKE]

No you get hit too Patrick:(
I know of Southern Ontario being bad but out West too now. This is ridiculous...a Salsa to boot :mad: What can we do about this? I think if it were me I would phone my local MP and see what they said. Show them a swords.ca or knifezone.ca catalogue and show the customs officer that it is not a gravity knife. Keep me posted on what you do about this please so I know what to do if it happens to me.
I just got my Yojimbo but I ordered through S&R Knives in Toronto. I am for sure going to buy local from now on...it is just too risky not too. Take Care and sorry to hear. What kind of Salsa was it...not a Ti I hope.

[rycen]

That sucks!The slasa has one of the strongest dedent of any spyde I have had.

[JD Spydo]

I know I am down here in the U.S. but this is a problem that all of us need to address. I know that Canada has a different constitution and a completely different environment but this is totally ridiculous. We ( all of us citizens of the world) have GOD given rights. These are just basic human rights so we can all live in a civilized humane manner. If we let this kind of tyranny continue it will only get worse.
We need to stand up and say " ENOUGH IS ENOUGH". My prayers are with you VW and the best of luck getting your knife back. Please everyone join the AKTI :) :spyder: :)

[thom lambert]

Well, I am not sure that I would call it "tyranny", but it does suck. I have basically quit getting anything shipped here, except for the most innocuous FBs (A BM 210 and a Ronin just made it through OK, but I had the SPOT sent to a US address - brass knuckles you know).

I am afraid that it is a current-events kind of thing. There have been several high-profile stabbing deaths (I knew one of the kids) recently in Toronto (home of the national media).

A Salsa is very easy to flip - if you disengage the lock first, but it has to be on of the least threatening knives around.

Sorry for the loss,
Thom

[vampyrewolf]

craig: black alum plain edge

rycen: had 3 of em, all no problems getting up here. the *loosest* one still had to be kicked past the detent to flick open.

thom: you want innocent looking? they let my lil temp in no problem last week... same lock type, and I can flick it open with no effort. Salsa is sitting down there in missisauga...

[thom lambert]

Ah yes, the infamous Mississauga depot.

I swear the best thing we could do is demand to see pics of knives they have destroyed - in destroyed mode! At least then we would know they aren't decorating somebody's pocket.

Unbelievable that they would let a Ronin and a Little Temp (they must not read the write-ups on their intended uses) through, and stop a Salsa.

Again, sorry for the loss,
Thom

[mifflin]

Hey Man,

I just ordered an A.T.R.S.S. from a Canadian company... Le Baron. I agree, you should quickly grab some proof that similar knives are sold in Canada (I am in Ontario myself), and calmly and rationally try to persuade them to understand. If they don't seem to be absorbing what you are saying (because I am sure that they deal with many, many complaints every day), ask them what they require as proof. If they still don't comply, dummy the closest one on the head, take him hostage.....sorry; visualise that, but DON'T do it.
I agree, pop on over to your local member of Parliament, they love dealing with this kind of stuff. Slip him a $20......sorry, don't do that either. Your beef is rational. If you can present it that way, it may go your way. If the glove doesn't fit, you must aquit!

Good luck!

[spyderknut]

Johnny Cochranisms aside, RIDICULOUS. Fear the government that fears your Salsa. :D :D :D

[Mr Blonde]

My god, of all the knives they could possibly detain....a friggin Salsa!?!

I can see where a Civvie or Millie would offend some pencil pushing customs officer, but a Salsa tsjeez. Good luck VW!

Wouter

[Stevie Ray]

Let me get this straight. You guys can order the same knife (i.e. Salsa or whatever) locally at a higher price but the very same blade gets picked up by customs .... HUH ...? :eek: That really does smack of a system gone bad.

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha VW!

Man Pat...I don't get it. :mad: Like others have said, "A Salsa?!" :confused: I'll pray for you buddy, just don't go off w/ that ASP!!!

God bless ;)

[jimbo@stn24]

JD, oh yeah, we're different, we call it a "Charter", also known as enabling legislation to remove rights, limit freedoms, and "interpret" laws. Please excuse the political shot folks.

Pat, very sad to hear of your loss. With news of the Customs seizing almost every knife shipment, you guys have me spooked with my plans to buy the WTC knife in a few months. Perhaps a road trip is the way to go :) . The most ridiculous part is if you don't mind paying 2 times more to purchase in Canada, the same knife is freely available.

[CKE]

Sorry gotta say it :eek:
I have yet to pay twice the price for a knife here in Canada. I just bought/got a Yojimbo from S&R Knives in Toronto. I paid $200 Cdn with priority shipping. If you look at MSRP the knife is $179.95 US which equals $218.92 Cdn....Hardly double.
Yes if you go to dealers, say NGK it is $99.96 US which is $121.61 Cdn. Roughly $80 Cdn difference(from what I paid) plus whatever NGK charges for shipping. It really isn't double, plus you are supporting a Canadian business. Does NGK have a showroom or is it just like a lot of these net based businesses...as in no overhead, showroom, rent, etc. I buy local because when I am in TO I have the option of visiting said store and getting to handle the merchandise. The net may be cheaper but you lose something in the translation. Sure if you go downtown TO and check out a shop they may even be 3 times the price but shop smart. There are a few very good Canadian shops that have good prices. Sorry for the rant and it DOES suck that customs is so greedy lately :mad:

[Jimmy_Dean]

There's something interesting going on here...
a few days ago I received a PM from VW asking me if I had any idea what he should do. Some of you will remember I worked for customs as a student not so long ago. I really didn't have anything to do with the knives being seized(cause if I had, we would all have our beloved knives to enjoy!). I don't have any particular advice or person to refer to for this situation.

Now, on january 10th, JSmith mailed me three spydercos I bought from him: Native, customized delica and police tie clip. Three knives I really wanted, plus some "free holes"! Hardly gets better than this. Guess what, they are not here yet. It usually takes exactly 1 week to get to my doorstep and still nothing. Alright, I wasn't supporting a canadian business but I was supporting a Spyder friend and it's as, if not more important.

I'm starting to have a bad feeling. It's still a little early to panic but the tracking number doesn't even suggest it's in Canada yet. Hope it makes it alright because some of these I concider ireplacable. So if I get a letter saying they have been seized, you can be sure as hell they are going to hear from me!

I'll find out exactly what's cooking behind that and see what we can do. My bet is it's one of those over-zealous old a-hole that have been working there for ever that just wants him power trip. There's probably not more than one or two guys doing that because VW and my self (and probably others) have had many other knives shipped here without a hitch.

I'll see what I can find out and I'll get back to you guys

-Dean

[CKE]

I have yet to hear of personal shipments being seized...as in person to person only from knife companies.
Patrick>where was the Salsa coming from? A KF member or did a business donate the Salsa and ship it.
Still, try calling your local MP.

[Jimmy_Dean]

There's always a first, brother! I'm usually good at these things :)
I have never heard of personnal shipping either but we'll see.

[spyderknut]

Does NGK have a showroom or is it just like a lot of these net based businesses...as in no overhead, showroom, rent, etc.

There was a thread on bf recently about NGK with pics and everything. There is a showroom to end all knife showrooms and a diner too so you can sit :cool: , eat :D and Gawk :eek: Looks awesome. I'll have to take the fam on a roadtrip -- just need to find an excuse that'll work on the wife.

Point taken about supporting local business though. At least you are buying American :spyder: ;)

[The Deacon]

Does NGK have a showroom or is it just like a lot of these net based businesses...as in no overhead, showroom, rent, etc. I buy local because when I am in TO I have the option of visiting said store and getting to handle the merchandise.Buying local is always an excellent idea, when possible. As far as NGK goes thought, the internet knife business is just a recent expansion of the knife case in the "gift shop" section of a 70 year old, family owned, brick and mortar pharmacy. Their pricing reflects the greater level of comptetion on this side of the border. I'm torn between wishing I lived close enough to them to visit in person, and knowing how badly my waistline would suffer from easy access to a good country breakfast. :D

On a more serious note, is there any chance the folks working in customs are up for an evaluation, raise, contract, etc. of some kind? Or is the entire agency's funding up for review? Just thinking that, like traffic tickets for cops, the easist way for customs officers to show "higher ups" that they're doing their job, and for "higher ups" to show whoever funds them, is with seizures.

Also wondering if other brands are getting seized with equal frequency or if the hole shows up well on x-rays and it, plus :spyder:s reputation for easy opening, make them particularly choice targets.

[Nicky]

Good luck my friend! Costums are really stuburn...

My best advise for now is to buy knife with liner lock/Compression Lock and with "Big blade" that are easier to flip directly in Canada.

[jimbo@stn24]

Hello CKE,
Regarding pricing and store availability, the closest store to me that actually handles a good selection of :spyder: is 5+ hours, therefore all my purchases are phone or internet and delivered with the mail. As for pricing, $180 US vs. $100 US, is close enough to double for me. I can cite numerous examples of prices that ARE double. From what I understand, NGK is an old time brick and mortar store that you can visit with great service as well. Wish I good shop locally, but right now it doesn't happen.

Sorry, had to write it ;) .

[ricknhman43]

Try carrying a fixed blade instead. A nice sized blade is all you need. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Beat them at their own game. Write the custom office where the knife was stolen from you and advise them where they can stick the knife. They are no better than swine anyway. People like that need to have their karma leveled anyway.

[vampyrewolf]

I usually carry a 3-4" fixed, need to get a new sheath(or have this one tightened) for my 5".... but a skinning knife doesn't go with a suit or even with dress clothes

[ricknhman43]

I bought a Tinus Beukes Gentlemans Side Knife from AG Russell Knives. Check it out on the web site. They have them. It is rather small sized and can be carried inside a suit pocket. It is really nice. It has giraffe bone handle and Austrian Bohler 690 steel. It comes with a beautiful ostrich sheath. All for $230. Very compact and just the thing for a gentalman to carry. What a knife! It is hand made in South Africa.

[vampyrewolf]

I'd rather go custom and support a fellow canadian if I'm dumping 200 on a knife...

LHK skean dhu(one off, custom to spec), ran me 280cad

Tichbourne h5 ran me 160, h7 ran me 135

Leavitt drop point skinners, cocobolo(left) & bucote(right) traded for a CF dragonfly when he was still making.

next one may be a tichbourne h4 wood century, see if I can get some toy money put away.

[CKE]

Patrick, you'll love the Wood Century. It was my first Tichbourne:)

[CKE]

jimbo...I am in Thunder Bay. Many hours from any good knife shops.
I guess pricing aside it is just getting too risky to buy over the net and HOPE customs will not take that which I work hard to get. It is more expensive from most places...I don't know maybe I just get a good deal when I go to buy a knife. Just lucky I guess:)

With a lot of internet places they can offer such cheap prices because they have none of the overhead I mentioned. That is something to consider when buying from actual stores was all I was refering to. Take Care!!!!

Patrick any news????

[vampyrewolf]

I've got a copy of Vadim's letter(goes by vess on the forums), and about a dozen links to read.

Temped to send it back and have the guy resend it from his home addy. This is my first toy coming from a store down south, so I dunno how he mailed & labeled it. Think if it comes from a person it might go through.

another month of reading before I decide.

[J Smith]

Jimmy_Dean
Very sorry to hear they have not made it yet.
With golbal priority they should be been there in about 5 days.I hope they did not get taken by customs.If they do have them I can't think of any one that would concider any of those to be a gravity knife except maybe the Native.
Hope they show up soon.

[thom lambert]

...the last two trades that I received (Ronin, and a BM 210) both were opened and inspected by customs. I have done at least a dozen trades before this that were not opened. The other drag is that these are the first two trades that I have had to pay customs charges on as well. Something is going on.

Thom

[Jimmy_Dean]

Don't worry JSmith. It's part of the game here. They are probably going to show up soon or at least some explanation fo what happened. As I said: I take the responsability.
What sux is that I really really wanted those knives. I think I'll just give them a call and ask what's going on.
I'll let you know
thanks bro!
-Dean

[J Smith]

Be sure to try both of the numbers I sent you with US and Canada tracking.
Last package I sent they were useing the custums tag # as the tracking #.

[vampyrewolf]

well, my endura came today... so it's definately the salsa being held.

this one was labeled as a leatherman and gift, 100usd. not opened at customs, but I still got nailed on taxes.

something is going on at customs.

[talonturbo]

They have my Dodo as well. Just got officially declined on my first appeal, a CQC-7. They didn't even read my appeal. They quoted numerous previous cases (one big copy and paste thing), followed by the words on the last page "it is for this reason that your appeal has been dismissed". Does anyone know the detatils regarding sending items back to sender? I think that there's a fee to become able to export, maybe we could all return to sender through one shared export application? I dunno. Any good advice, as always, is appreciated.

[Jimmy_Dean]

Hey Talonturbo!
Again?!?
Man they are really after you, aren't they?
I find it ironic I should be one of the victims here. Don't worry, we'll find something. Ok maybe they flipped the Native open or something but I still want my Spyder holes!!
I'm working on it guys.

-Dean

[J Smith]

I can atleast get you some more holes in the mail soon.

[Jimmy_Dean]

Thanks for the offer,man
don't worry too much about that for now
I figure it they were stopped somewhere for some reason, I'd get a letter of explanation. For now, they are just hanging out somewhere until I am told otherwise

I still find it strange...but anyway. I'll post here when I decide what to do.
thanks bro!
-Dean