Are Blade and Knives Illustrated all that’s left?

Although I don’t usually buy the magazine I always purchase Knife Illustrated’s annual Buyers Guide edition. I really enjoy it and save them.

It comes out each January.
 
I used to love the 22 rimfire annuals that were done mostly in the 80's. Yeah, I still have them too. I did other annuals too, but my interest faded away as for the most part I wasn't really very interested in most of the product that was assembled for the magazine. But I did buy Gun Digests..... I have pretty much every year between 1950 and 1995 of those on the shelf. That is a lot of shelf space.
 
I've been servicing magazines at a few big retail stores the past 7 years or so. Even when i started i could see it was a failing industry.
Every week enough 'new' magazines come in to replace 50% of what the stores have on display and the titles have display dates for 1-3 months.
Titles sent <=4 copies go straight into garbage, along with 50% of the total inventory regardless of dates. Some of these magazines have crazy prices of 10-20$.
Home depot finally stopped magazine service a couple years ago and the closest knife mags ive seen were 'outdoors man' type.
 
Larrin, This is somewhat interesting. I see the site you posted, but when I pulled out a current copy of BLADE and found the little Business Reply Mail, post card for getting a subscription, it has "YES, send me a full year (13 issues) of Blade for just $25.98", and nothing about digital? Could it be the folks at Blade do not know what the Left and right hand are doing? John
 
I'm of the Old School and prefer print media in all its forms--books, newspapers, magazines. There's just something special about having an item in your hands that you can keep and refer back to. There's a permanence to it, too, that digital media lacks. I know they claim that the Internet is forever, but I've seen far too much electronic content altered and/or removed over the years to believe that.

With regard to getting knife updates/information from Blade Forums and other online formats, I find them hit and miss. Sure, they're timelier. But that only counts for so much. KnifeNews is pretty good, but it lacks depth and often is poorly written. I think Blade Forums can be informative, but the prevalence of illiterates, contrarians, and blowhards makes it difficult (and time-consuming) to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Among the three knife magazines left, I like Knives Illustrated the best because it includes the broadest categories of knives, particularly tactical knives. I also enjoy KI because it covers knife combatives in the form of Michael Janich's "Personal Defense" column. Neither of the others EVER addresses that topic. KI recently switched from glossy paper to a cheaper grade, however, which I find off-putting.

Knife Magazine is much nicer since it switched from Knife World newsprint to magazine format. My only complaint is the larger size, which makes it a pain to store. Mark Zalesky has been in the industry for a lot of years and it shows in the depth of the magazine's articles, particularly the historical pieces, at which it excels.

Blade is Blade. It used to be a lot better, less focused on art knives and only the makers/manufacturers who also advertise. But it consistently is well edited, and, despite being monthly and having been in production for decades, routinely continues to supply articles about the industry that I find interesting and informative. Just don't look to Blade for content about knives as weapons. The folks there find that notion revolting!

I know I'm biased, but I truly miss Fighting Knives and Tactical Knives. Those magazines were right up my alley. I even miss the old National Knife Magazine, which always covered a variety of knife types and used to give Blade some much-needed competition. Ah, the good ol' days....

-Steve
 
Most of the knife news I get is here on this forum. But I miss all the old magazines and print not only the knife mags but guns, outdoor, fishing, hunting and many others. The writers were very knowledgeable in their field and the information was accurate and stats included. Even the advertisements were helpful and not just a gimmick and very artistic.
Come to think of it a lot of magazines I read were in the real barbershops that were man caves with all kinds of sporting goods and memorabilia on the walls including knives, swords, guns , fishing rods and gear with the tv on the sports channel. The conversation was masculine and no one was offended. Yep, I miss the magazines and the times.
 
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