Getting back to the question that prompted the last few messages, I asked about ordering from the shop for a reason. Contrary to what some say here, ordering from a dealer isn't always the ideal situation. In the past, I have encountered "push-back" (not refusal) to order Triathletes from a dealer because he stated that he preferred to keep those slots open for the catalog (read: more expensive) knives.

1. The dealer is not a member of this forum, as far as I know.
2. The request made some sense as, at the time, I could get the knife just about as fast from ordering from the shop as I could from him.

I hesitate to share the above as I don't want it to appear that I am bashing a dealer. I'm not. I was just curious as to whether that situation still existed since I am considering purchasing a Tri.