Canadians, please read!

[Woz]

Chances are good I will visit the great white north for two weeks this September. Montreal will be the starting point and then I (we, me and my brother) will see if we make it a stay there or visit other places too. So here´s my questions:

What is knife-laws in Montreal like? Can I carry a knife, if so, what kind of knife? Locking, non-locking, OHO, blade lengh?

What places would you suggest to visit? Is there anything really cool I may not find in tourist guides?

What is typically Canadian a visitor should try? Like Wiener Schnitzel (food) here in Austria or Swiss Army knives for a souvenir from Switzerland (no, I will not buy a moose  )?

Come on guys, tell me. Thanks in advance!

Woz

[Charger]

Well I am not in montreal, and quebec sometimes has wacky laws, but Canada lets you carry anything as long as its not concealed carry.  That said, butterfly knives, switchblades and the like are not allowed, but you're good with a knife clippped to your pocket or something.

Try poutine, maple syrup, and I will think of some more things later.  Still at work



By the way moose sausage is amazing!

[jzmtl]

As far as folding knives are concerned, you can carry almost anything you want. The federal law in Canada only bans certain type of knives such as auto, gravity, balison, and push dagger. There's an bylaw in Montreal that prohibit people from carry anything other than a SAK without good reason, which most Montrealer doesn't know about! From what a cop said it's really designed to tack on charges to gang bangers, and not used on ordinary people.

Food you should try here (not that I think they are that good, but a lot of people would tell you to try) are Poutine and Orange julip. Almost every fast food restaurant offer poutine, but I like the ones from La belle Province.

As for things you should pick up here, take a look at Grohmann knives. Their design is interesting and quality is good, although the stainless steel used is pretty soft (1.4116 from what I gather, but carbon steel used is nice). The factory is out east where Grant is, but a store in Montreal sell a few stainless models.

If you want see beautiful nature, east coast (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) is where you should be, Quebec is pretty boring with endless flat farmland.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Just remember that Canada is a much larger place than you are used to.  Here you can get on a highway and drive for a couple of hundred kilometers and not see anything else.  In fact, it's so big, that when you are in Montreal you will be almost as far from where I live as you currently are in Austria!  And, Montreal is only about 1/3 of the way across the country- you would have to head east another 1,000 kms or so just to get to the halfway point in Manitoba!

It's a country of extremes- we have actual bona fide deserts (Bald Hills of Manitoba), mountains (several ranges), ice and snow, boiling hot temperatures, and prairies so flat that people joke about how you can watch the dog run away for days!

Food is pretty varied- you can get beaver tails (which aren't actually tails from beavers, but deep fried pancake type things with maple syrup or other flavor added), poutine, which is french fries, gravy and cheese curds, or pretty well anything made from moose meat, which is actually not that easy to find.  Despite all the references to moose here, you have to look in specialty shops or restaurants to get it, or hunt it yourself!  Considering they get up to about 1600 pounds, you may want to avoid hunting one, as there may be a lot of leftovers!

Montreal is one of the oldest cities in Canada, and is home to the Montreal Canadiens hockey franchise.  I think seeing a game should be a mandatory part of any visit to Montreal, as they have more Stanley Cup wins than any other team in the entire league, and there's a whole culture built around them, which is interesting whether you like hockey or not.

It's been a while since I was in Montreal, but it's a beautiful old city, and you could easily spend a couple of weeks there and not see everything!

Def

[Woz]

Thank you mates. I can´t wait to visit Canada!

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't know what the store in Montreal is like, but you can visit Mountain Equipment Co-Op when you are there.  They usually carry some Gerber knives, Victorinox, Wenger, some Leatherman stuff and even some Opinels.

www.MEC.ca

I think there's a Bass Pro coming to Montreal (or nearby) but I don't know if it will be open by then.

Def

[jzmtl]

If you need store info lemme know, I can show you where to get what (I'm right outside Montreal), thou price isn't as good as u.s.