Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
Someday, someone in the airline business will decide that a non-stop flight to Reno from San Diego makes good sense. Until that time, I will start my review of the 2007 American Bladesmith Society Reno Expo the same as the others, by complaining about the length of time that it takes to get to Reno. My compatriots from Seattle take 2 1/2 hours via NONSTOP flights. Between early arrival for security screening to touchdown in Reno, it took me 5 hours to get there. Subtracting early arrival, 3 1/2 hours.
Reno is COLD right now, 35 degrees F, vs San Diego, 50 degrees F. People were shivering on the VERY long cab line, about 15 minutes on Thursday night, the Transportation coordinator at the cab line said that it was an hour line during the day, as Safari Club International has their show at the same time, as well as the Firearm Engravers Guild of America.
Enough griping. Circus Circus main tower is a good location to stay, but Matt Diskin and David Mirabile got a mini suite in the Sky Tower for a good price. After checking in and getting settled, I called Kevin Jones, and we arranged to meet at the Silver Baron Bar and Lounge in the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino(where the Expo is located).
Hit the bar at 8:00 pm or so, and parked at a table with Ed Caffrey, Jon Christensen and Tom Ferry. We caught up a bit, and were soon joined by Kevin, Daniel O'Malley of BladeGallery, Bill Burke, and Dickie Robinson. Had a bunch of knives for show-and-tell, and passed them around. Once that was done, time for some serious drinking, double Makers Mark. The group evolved into a large circle, adding Hank Knickmeyer, Matt Diskin, David Mirabile, Don Fogg, Henry Torres, and a bunch of other people, the details are fuzzy. Do remember Tom Ferry saying that he had a can of pepper spray with my name on it.!
Randy Morgan was MIA, and missed greatly.
We(Kevin Jones, Matt Diskin, David Mirabile and myself) left the bar about 12:00 am to get some food at Sweetwater's coffee shop in the Silver Legacy, had a good steak and eggs, some spicy Bloody Mary's, waiter looked like a VERY tall albino, but it just could have been the bleached hair, sorta spooky. Thanks for the chow, and excellent conversation, Kevin!
Kevin decided it was bed time after chow, I did some quick blackjack(won $50.00), and we went up to Matt/David's room to look at what they brought. Matt had some nice small folders, and David had a really nice oosic handled clip-point hunter that he made with me in mind. Thing is, neither of them would tell me "how much?", even though they knew that was going to be the first question. They must teach that at the ABS clinics! Now it was 3:30 am, we were trying to find a clean white shirt for Matt to wear, and David had to hem his trousers. Wake up time was at 8:00 am, so I beat it, to get some sleep, walking back to the main tower/casino. There is really something spooky about casinos in the early morning. There are plenty of people still up, it is still pretty quiet, as compared to 8:00 pm, but all the lights are on, people are working, and the music is the same. Weird!
Friday morning wake up came way too quickly, I had to peel my eyelids apart. Since Buddy Thomason busted my chops about clothing choices last year, with a candid shot, I decided to wear a new suit, light grey shirt, and burgundy tie, with a Stetson fedora to top it off. It is hard to put on nice clothing when your hands are shaking from still being buzzed! Phillip Baldwin, of Shining Wave Metals and my business partner, P.A. came down from Seattle, calling at 8:45 am, and I arranged to meet them in the lobby, and we would all go to Matt and David's room.
Phil, P.A. and I decided to go to Sweetwater's for breakfast, I had my usual Belgian waffle and sausage patties, and, hair of the dog, a Guiness. It was 11:30 at this time, and Pete and Phil did not have "Honored Guest" badges, so they decided to check out some pawn shops, and I went into the showroom. Absent this year was Lora Sue Bethke(I think), Jerry Fisk, John Fitch, Mike McClure, and Joseph Szilaski(I think)
Bailey Bradshaw had about 10 of his folders on the table, mostly Sawby self-locks, used by permission, and the workmanship looked excellent. There was two pieces with a interframe, sculpted frame, one in pearl, and one in stag that were wonderful. I placed an order with Bailey for one of his new 3D machined titanium folders with ss blade, and moved on, knowing that I would be back multiple times during the day.
Ed Caffrey had about 6 knives on the table, two damascus hunters specifically stick out as being fine examples, nice craftsmanship.
Jon Christenson had about 4-6 knives on the table, mostly mosaic damascus. There was a particularly nice damascus dagger with blackwood handles that was quite memorable. Not to mention that Jon is about one of the nicest people that I have EVER met.
Joe Cordova had a nice selection of knives, and delivered me a forged 5 1/2" 5160 hand satin finished chute knife, hidden tang, with stainless guard, and black canvas micarta, ordered about 14 months ago.
Harvey Dean was sold out when I got to the show.
Matt Diskin had two small folders, one of which I purchased, a large folder with damascus and carbon fiber, and an AMAZING bowie, with an all silver/nickel mokume gane sheath, and some of the nicest fossil ivory that I have ever seen.
Dan Farr had three or four hunting knives, and a larger camp-style, all gone by the time that I got there, so that means they lasted the usual 10-15 minutes after they let in the "Honored Guests". This year, Dan included a custom-made plastic box with LARGE lettering that you could see from about 10 feet away indicating the maker's name. Nice touch Dan, good seeing you again!
Steve Dunn had 4 damascus hunters on the table, three in fine amber stag, and one in fossil ivory. The fossil ivory hunter had a TIGHT feather pattern damascus, and one of the others had Texas Wind damascus. The only reason that I can figure that Steve was not sold out by the end of the show Friday is because this is a bowie/fighter show, not a using knife show. Screaming good deals, but I (1) was out of money, (2) don't collect drop-point hunters. If they were clip point, would have figured out a way to buy.
Rick Eaton had two folders on the table, one a particularly memorable folding dagger with blued damascus bolster. They were conspicuously missing his famed engraving.
Tom Ferry had two wonderful bowies featuring his now famous mosaic damascus, and a Japanese styled folder, like a folding kwaiken, all damascus, with very competent engraving.
Burt Foster had the previously shown knives, and my Camp set. This is a matched set of ladder pattern damascus, recurved clip-point camp/hunting knives. They are framed in tapered, mirror polished stainless steel with stainless bolsters. The handles are stabilized black walnut, pinned, and have ss lined thong holes. The Camp is 14 7/8" OAL, blade is 10 3/16", the hunter 8 1/16" OAL, the blade is 3 7/8". Sheath is one of Burt's usual bits of perfection, a piggyback affair, with brown cowhide base, and tooled black accents. At least one person tried to buy the set before I got there.
Don Heathcoat had a large selection of knives, and I stopped to admire them for a bit. Fit and finish was right up there with the best of them, I just found them to be a tad small.
Ron Newton was sold out, as far as I can tell.
Rik Palm sold the Cactus Whacker without the laminated blade before I got to the show. The "Singer" knife had a nice little stand crafted for it, and was a lovely little knife. You guys have seen what else Rik had in the other post. He flabbergasted me by presenting a birthday card, containing his "Mousie" knife. When I got home from the trip, my wife wanted to see what I got, and claimed the knife as her "gift" from my trip. Thanks for the heartfelt birthday wishes, Rik!
Cliff Parker had two bigger folding knives this year, very slim and pointy. The rate he is moving forward as a maker is quite stunning, and may be on the "must purchase" list before too long.
James Rodebaugh had about 4-6 knives on the table, and some excellent looking damascus blades on them. We chatted for a short bit, and firmed up the details on a knife that I ordered a few years ago.
Nick Wheeler had 6 knives on the table, a Marble's Woodcraft style, that was bigger than the original, that was sold, a large random pattern damascus fighter that I bought, two hunters, and 2 large bowies that were in varied states of completion. The fighter is still with Nick, while he builds a sheath for it, which, judging by his past example, will take about 3 months to complete. He also brought his lovely girlfriend Kelsey, so things were going fine for Mr. Wheeler!
I wish that I could remember more, but this year was not a good one for memory. The bars have $1.00 margaritas on Friday, and I had a few in the afternoon. This was a mistake! By 5:30 pm, my acid reflux had kicked in so badly that I could barely stand. I made two brief appearances to the banquet, but other than that, I was out of commission for the rest of the night. I stayed with Matt and David, as my flight on Saturday was leaving at 7:45 am. I got to the airport at 6:00 am, arrived in San Diego at 11:45, and my wife took me to where the pool tournament was being held. I won the first game that I played which moved my team into the next bracket, but we ultimately lost.
Reno is a great show for anyone who loves knives, and those who love the forged blade specifically. Anyone who has not attended will be pleasantly surprised by the excellent show that the ABS puts on, and will have an opportunity to purchase some knives that would not otherwise be possible.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
Reno is COLD right now, 35 degrees F, vs San Diego, 50 degrees F. People were shivering on the VERY long cab line, about 15 minutes on Thursday night, the Transportation coordinator at the cab line said that it was an hour line during the day, as Safari Club International has their show at the same time, as well as the Firearm Engravers Guild of America.
Enough griping. Circus Circus main tower is a good location to stay, but Matt Diskin and David Mirabile got a mini suite in the Sky Tower for a good price. After checking in and getting settled, I called Kevin Jones, and we arranged to meet at the Silver Baron Bar and Lounge in the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino(where the Expo is located).
Hit the bar at 8:00 pm or so, and parked at a table with Ed Caffrey, Jon Christensen and Tom Ferry. We caught up a bit, and were soon joined by Kevin, Daniel O'Malley of BladeGallery, Bill Burke, and Dickie Robinson. Had a bunch of knives for show-and-tell, and passed them around. Once that was done, time for some serious drinking, double Makers Mark. The group evolved into a large circle, adding Hank Knickmeyer, Matt Diskin, David Mirabile, Don Fogg, Henry Torres, and a bunch of other people, the details are fuzzy. Do remember Tom Ferry saying that he had a can of pepper spray with my name on it.!
Randy Morgan was MIA, and missed greatly.
We(Kevin Jones, Matt Diskin, David Mirabile and myself) left the bar about 12:00 am to get some food at Sweetwater's coffee shop in the Silver Legacy, had a good steak and eggs, some spicy Bloody Mary's, waiter looked like a VERY tall albino, but it just could have been the bleached hair, sorta spooky. Thanks for the chow, and excellent conversation, Kevin!
Kevin decided it was bed time after chow, I did some quick blackjack(won $50.00), and we went up to Matt/David's room to look at what they brought. Matt had some nice small folders, and David had a really nice oosic handled clip-point hunter that he made with me in mind. Thing is, neither of them would tell me "how much?", even though they knew that was going to be the first question. They must teach that at the ABS clinics!
Now it was 3:30 am, we were trying to find a clean white shirt for Matt to wear, and David had to hem his trousers. Wake up time was at 8:00 am, so I beat it, to get some sleep, walking back to the main tower/casino. There is really something spooky about casinos in the early morning. There are plenty of people still up, it is still pretty quiet, as compared to 8:00 pm, but all the lights are on, people are working, and the music is the same. Weird!Friday morning wake up came way too quickly, I had to peel my eyelids apart. Since Buddy Thomason busted my chops about clothing choices last year, with a candid shot, I decided to wear a new suit, light grey shirt, and burgundy tie, with a Stetson fedora to top it off. It is hard to put on nice clothing when your hands are shaking from still being buzzed! Phillip Baldwin, of Shining Wave Metals and my business partner, P.A. came down from Seattle, calling at 8:45 am, and I arranged to meet them in the lobby, and we would all go to Matt and David's room.
Phil, P.A. and I decided to go to Sweetwater's for breakfast, I had my usual Belgian waffle and sausage patties, and, hair of the dog, a Guiness. It was 11:30 at this time, and Pete and Phil did not have "Honored Guest" badges, so they decided to check out some pawn shops, and I went into the showroom. Absent this year was Lora Sue Bethke(I think), Jerry Fisk, John Fitch, Mike McClure, and Joseph Szilaski(I think)
Bailey Bradshaw had about 10 of his folders on the table, mostly Sawby self-locks, used by permission, and the workmanship looked excellent. There was two pieces with a interframe, sculpted frame, one in pearl, and one in stag that were wonderful. I placed an order with Bailey for one of his new 3D machined titanium folders with ss blade, and moved on, knowing that I would be back multiple times during the day.
Ed Caffrey had about 6 knives on the table, two damascus hunters specifically stick out as being fine examples, nice craftsmanship.
Jon Christenson had about 4-6 knives on the table, mostly mosaic damascus. There was a particularly nice damascus dagger with blackwood handles that was quite memorable. Not to mention that Jon is about one of the nicest people that I have EVER met.
Joe Cordova had a nice selection of knives, and delivered me a forged 5 1/2" 5160 hand satin finished chute knife, hidden tang, with stainless guard, and black canvas micarta, ordered about 14 months ago.
Harvey Dean was sold out when I got to the show.
Matt Diskin had two small folders, one of which I purchased, a large folder with damascus and carbon fiber, and an AMAZING bowie, with an all silver/nickel mokume gane sheath, and some of the nicest fossil ivory that I have ever seen.
Dan Farr had three or four hunting knives, and a larger camp-style, all gone by the time that I got there, so that means they lasted the usual 10-15 minutes after they let in the "Honored Guests". This year, Dan included a custom-made plastic box with LARGE lettering that you could see from about 10 feet away indicating the maker's name. Nice touch Dan, good seeing you again!
Steve Dunn had 4 damascus hunters on the table, three in fine amber stag, and one in fossil ivory. The fossil ivory hunter had a TIGHT feather pattern damascus, and one of the others had Texas Wind damascus. The only reason that I can figure that Steve was not sold out by the end of the show Friday is because this is a bowie/fighter show, not a using knife show. Screaming good deals, but I (1) was out of money, (2) don't collect drop-point hunters. If they were clip point, would have figured out a way to buy.
Rick Eaton had two folders on the table, one a particularly memorable folding dagger with blued damascus bolster. They were conspicuously missing his famed engraving.
Tom Ferry had two wonderful bowies featuring his now famous mosaic damascus, and a Japanese styled folder, like a folding kwaiken, all damascus, with very competent engraving.
Burt Foster had the previously shown knives, and my Camp set. This is a matched set of ladder pattern damascus, recurved clip-point camp/hunting knives. They are framed in tapered, mirror polished stainless steel with stainless bolsters. The handles are stabilized black walnut, pinned, and have ss lined thong holes. The Camp is 14 7/8" OAL, blade is 10 3/16", the hunter 8 1/16" OAL, the blade is 3 7/8". Sheath is one of Burt's usual bits of perfection, a piggyback affair, with brown cowhide base, and tooled black accents. At least one person tried to buy the set before I got there.
Don Heathcoat had a large selection of knives, and I stopped to admire them for a bit. Fit and finish was right up there with the best of them, I just found them to be a tad small.
Ron Newton was sold out, as far as I can tell.
Rik Palm sold the Cactus Whacker without the laminated blade before I got to the show. The "Singer" knife had a nice little stand crafted for it, and was a lovely little knife. You guys have seen what else Rik had in the other post. He flabbergasted me by presenting a birthday card, containing his "Mousie" knife. When I got home from the trip, my wife wanted to see what I got, and claimed the knife as her "gift" from my trip. Thanks for the heartfelt birthday wishes, Rik!
Cliff Parker had two bigger folding knives this year, very slim and pointy. The rate he is moving forward as a maker is quite stunning, and may be on the "must purchase" list before too long.
James Rodebaugh had about 4-6 knives on the table, and some excellent looking damascus blades on them. We chatted for a short bit, and firmed up the details on a knife that I ordered a few years ago.
Nick Wheeler had 6 knives on the table, a Marble's Woodcraft style, that was bigger than the original, that was sold, a large random pattern damascus fighter that I bought, two hunters, and 2 large bowies that were in varied states of completion. The fighter is still with Nick, while he builds a sheath for it, which, judging by his past example, will take about 3 months to complete. He also brought his lovely girlfriend Kelsey, so things were going fine for Mr. Wheeler!
I wish that I could remember more, but this year was not a good one for memory. The bars have $1.00 margaritas on Friday, and I had a few in the afternoon. This was a mistake! By 5:30 pm, my acid reflux had kicked in so badly that I could barely stand. I made two brief appearances to the banquet, but other than that, I was out of commission for the rest of the night. I stayed with Matt and David, as my flight on Saturday was leaving at 7:45 am. I got to the airport at 6:00 am, arrived in San Diego at 11:45, and my wife took me to where the pool tournament was being held. I won the first game that I played which moved my team into the next bracket, but we ultimately lost.
Reno is a great show for anyone who loves knives, and those who love the forged blade specifically. Anyone who has not attended will be pleasantly surprised by the excellent show that the ABS puts on, and will have an opportunity to purchase some knives that would not otherwise be possible.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
