BAKCA was great!

[enkidu]

The BAKCA show was great. I got to meet a whole bunch of interesting makers and sellers. Everyone was extremely polite and took their time to answer my questions. As I had quite a bit more money than I expected due to an unexpected disbursement from a client who went bankrupt two years ago I knew if I saw something I really liked, I would be able to buy it.

Ron of R.W. Clark was extremely nice, showing me his knives and titanium accessories. I also got to see his new liner lock folder: timascus bolsters, carbon fiber handles, titanium locking liners and beautiful lines. The liners were thick and solid, and the lock opened with a solid thunk. 100% of the liner covered exactly 50% of the blade base. All of the titanium was nicely anodized and beautifully finished. The titanium and carbon fiber kept the weight very light. I had just handled a Scott Cook Lochsa and a large and small Sebenza and the fit and finish of Ron's work was at least as good if not better as the Lochsa and the Sebenzas. Due to the nice contouring, the handle was way more comfortable than the Sebenza and comparable to the Lochsa. As promised, Ron had a set of his titanium mini-prybars for sale and I got my pick of the litter.

I also got to fondle a couple of Lochsas which were also extremely nice. I was sorely tempted to buy one, but it was a little larger than I would be willing to carry around and after seeing Ron's folder, I wasn't sure which was to be "the one". The Owyhee hunters were well balanced and beautifully proportioned.

There was also a very nice guy (darn it, I didn't get a card), with some amazing miniture/micro-sized knives and replica swiss army knives. I think I saw a Spartan and a SwissChamp and another one, at most 1/2" long closed. The maker of the micro-sized SAK's had sadly passed away. He also showed me some cool miniature black powder pistols (1" long barrels, and maybe 3/32" caliber). He explained how with some special caps and some finely chopped flake black powder, they were actually test fired. Anybody have a name?

I also stopped by the TAD gear display and got to see pair of SureFire A2's and some Crawford folders. The Perfigo was HUGE (well, at least to my eyes) and extremely well built.

I also got to handle a bunch of William Henry knives. The carbon fiber series were crazy light and well built. The new button lock was very nice and ridiculously simple in design and execution.

I was hoping to decide on a knife to buy, both a nice fixed blade and a nice folder. After handling a bunch of different fixed bladed knives none of them really cried out to me. After discussing with R.W.Clark, we decided that a hybrid of Ron's model 1 and model 3 would be exactly what I was looking for.

For a folder, I was looking for a nice light gentleman's folder and after vacillating between a WH lancet, WH button lock and a few others, I decided that I might as well get one that I would be completely happy with. I also found that the I didn't really care for thumbstuds, which seemed like an awkward "hack" for opening knives which marred the elegant lines of a knife. After much internal conflict and debate (as witnessed by Joe Talmadge who recognized my shirt and was nice enough to say hi), I got a nice Chris Reeve African blackwood Mnandi. The blade is perfectly centered, the lockup is nice and tight and the opening is smooth.

I had a great time and I'd like to thank all of the nice people at the show who took the time to answer my questions and let me look at their very nice knives. I'd especially like to thank Ron and his wife of R.W. Clark knives and Scott Cook of Scott Cook knives for taking the time to talk to me and show me their nice knives.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Always a really nice show. I saw enkidu, Dave H, Dweikum, Patrick Ma, Scott Moore. Saw nifrand from across the floor but by the time I made it over to say hi he'd disappeared. I think I saw shmoopiebear too.

I had a good discussion with Scott Cook about the Lochsa. I'm going to do a quick review of it in the coming weeks (purchased one in July). It is an amazing piece, but until I talked to Scott I hadn't really appreciated the challenges of doing a fully integral framelock. All the things knifemakers do from the inside of the scales -- put in the ball detent, cut the lock leaf slot, bend the lock over -- all have to be done from the outside and present interesting technical challenges. Think for a minute about how Scott's lock will move with so much strength all the way to the far scale -- how could he possibly get so much spring tension when he can't bend it past the far scale??? I'm not going to spill the secrets, that's Scott's call, but just thinking about the challenges he faced is fascinating and gives you a new appreciation of an already fantastic knife. I'd previously thought of this knife as a super piece, but now considering the technical challenges, I consider it a tour-de-force.

Spent some time speaking with W.R. Clark (that's W.R., not R.W. -- didn't know R.W was there and for some reason missed his table, bummer for me) and the AutoTech guys. Autotech selling what feels like a well-done auto for $150, with hand-done versions by WR starting around $400. I told W.R. I'd bought a knife from him many years ago, he immediately asked how it was doing, and told me that for any of his knives, if they ever need a tune-up or fix, send it back right away for free fixin'. I like a guy who stands behind his knives.

Got to handle a few interesting knives at Triple Aught table. Emerson Kerambit was very interesting. I don't know how to use a kerambit, but it was fun just holding it.

Joe

 

[nozh2002]

Alen Elishewitz metal handle Emperor with E-Lock is just great! I hope he'll let me post photoes of it I made. E-Lock really catch my eyes - amaizing! I hope some knife company will start produsing knives with this lock.
I bought beautiful "Custom Folding Knives" by David Dareom book right from Bud Lang - only custom knives collection I can afford so far. This book has not just perfect picturies but also provides really interesting information about design and technics and about makers too. This book any knife entusiast must have!
Thanks, Vassili

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Originally posted by nozh2002
Alen Elishewitz metal handle Emperor with E-Lock is just great! I hope he'll let me post photoes of it I made. E-Lock really catch my eyes - amaizing!

Ya, I like the E-lock too. Interested in seeing how well it holds up. What I really love is Allen's stairstep thumbstud. Once I tried it, it was a like a major "aha!" moment -- I wondered why all those other knifemakers were doing thumb studs wrong all these years

Joe

 

[Steven Roos]

If you want more info and pictures of R.W. Clark's folder, look here.

Did they give out the awards today, or is that tomorrow?