So we're on vacation...in our usual cabin up above Gatlinburg...and here for two very much needed weeks in the Holy Land. Nice to see the area recovering from the COVID lockdowns. It was a ghost town last year when we were here.
Today we made the jaunt over to Sevierville and Smoky Mountain Knife Works. I remember when SMKW was a small shop on the strip in Gatlinburg. This was my first visit to their new digs. So it's big...lots of stuff there...nice to see a Boker counter...what's the deal with the swords and armor stuff?...Antiques section was neat...but all in all it struck me more like a flea market for blade lovers than it did a place to get a good deal on a knife. I have a Benchmade auto-opener, and I stopped by their counter to see about a new one. The price their rep gave me was nowhere near what I can get it for through their LE rep, so no thanks. One thing: if you walk in there looking for a knife, you'd better have a good idea exactly what you're looking for, because the sheer volume alone, much less the number of brands, can overwhelm you.
And right across the street...Bud's Gun Shop. So we ambled over there, and that was a much more interesting experience. Upper Management has now decided she wants to swap her .38 Crimson Trace Bodyguard for a compact 9mm, so that's on the honey-do list when we get home. I picked up a pair of Pierce mag bottoms for my Glock 30S. Like how they give the pinky a solid place to hang out. Looked at guns, guns, and more guns. Got to hold a brand new Springfield M1 (almost didn't let go of it). Looked at more guns. Three bins full of Magpul Gen 3 30-rd AR mags for a decent price. Some, but not a lot of ammo. Nice crowd for a Monday, and quite a number of them were lined up for NICS checks, so the market remains robust, to the untrained eye.
Is it just me, or is the IMI Desert Eagle .50 a Man Gun?
So...SMKW? Maybe if I was a knife fighter. Bud's? Fun Palace. Oh, they had suppressors as well. Maybe next time.
Next update will be on candle shops in the Gatlinburg area. Hey, gotta keep Momma happy.