Blade Show 2017 - Who Is Going?

schmittie said:
Since I have not been to Blade, I've got to ask for some explanation from prom52 prom52 and Kal-El Kal-El - what's up with the 2 am VIP line??
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Hey Schmittie,
Well, with the sheer number of attendees at Blade each year, it's becoming more and more difficult to score a knife/item from a specific maker or manufacturer you are interested in. With limited custom offerings or quantities, the demand greatly surpasses supply. So, acquiring a spot towards the front of the line increases the odds that you'll score something you're interested in.
Sounds crazy, but there were folks sitting ahead of us at the beginning of the line that were camping outside the entry doors since 11:00am the previous day :eek::eek:.
The unfortunate truth is that after extended travel, the cost of hotel, food, etc., and waiting in line for hours, you are still not guaranteed to score the item you are looking for. Even if you are the first person at a table or booth. Despite being the first public attendees onto the show floor, there are literally dozens upon dozens of other makers, press writers, dealers and employees walking the show making and staking deals.
It's an accepted practice, but disappointing to say the least. Especially if the item was being advertised as a Bladeshow offering.
Now, I do understand from a business perspective that if you have an early opportunity to sell an item, take the money. But, clearly most makers who know their product is in high demand won't have a problem offloading it to the general public.
In one instance this year I was interested in a particular knife advertised by the maker as a FCFS "Bladeshow" offering. I arrived to the table and to my surprise, the knife was sitting right there! I picked it up, looked at the maker and said "What is the price of this one?" He then pointed to a guy standing right next to him and said "It's already sold to this guy." That fella was actually there at Blade working with the maker behind the table. The deal was already done before the show even started o_O Whaaaat???? I thought to myself. One of the very next tables I visited was a maker who brought only 5 knives to the show. He was way in the back of the convention center and there were clearly no other attendees at the table yet. Wouldn't you know, the one blade that I was interested in was already marked sold. He explained that another exhibitor had seen the knife earlier that morning and a trade was made for it. Again, Whaaaat?????
Now even though I don't agree with some of these practices especially when attendees are traveling a ways to get there. In a lot of instances, by way of flight, I accept the process and just know that I will likely score something! And this year I did. Multiple times :rolleyes:
If I were an exhibitor, I would likely try to wheel and deal ahead of time too.

I figured I would extend this extra info just in case anyone else who was attending Bladeshow for the first time next year decided to forego any practical sense - as I have clearly done, and wait in line way before the show starts.

UNLESS, you have two really great guys whom I consider good friends to spend some quality time with catching up on all things pointy and sharp for hours before the madness begins. :D
 
Kal-El said:
The unfortunate truth is that after extended travel, the cost of hotel, food, etc., and waiting in line for hours, you are still not guaranteed to score the item you are looking for. Even if you are the first person at a table or booth. Despite being the first public attendees onto the show floor, there are literally dozens upon dozens of other makers, press writers, dealers and employees walking the show making and staking deals.
It's an accepted practice, but disappointing to say the least. Especially if the item was being advertised as a Bladeshow offering.
Now, I do understand from a business perspective that if you have an early opportunity to sell an item, take the money. But, clearly most makers who know their product is in high demand won't have a problem offloading it to the general public.
In one instance this year I was interested in a particular knife advertised by the maker as a FCFS "Bladeshow" offering. I arrived to the table and to my surprise, the knife was sitting right there! I picked it up, looked at the maker and said "What is the price of this one?" He then pointed to a guy standing right next to him and said "It's already sold to this guy." That fella was actually there at Blade working with the maker behind the table. The deal was already done before the show even started o_O Whaaaat???? I thought to myself. One of the very next tables I visited was a maker who brought only 5 knives to the show. He was way in the back of the convention center and there were clearly no other attendees at the table yet. Wouldn't you know, the one blade that I was interested in was already marked sold. He explained that another exhibitor had seen the knife earlier that morning and a trade was made for it. Again, Whaaaat?????
Now even though I don't agree with some of these practices especially when attendees are traveling a ways to get there. In a lot of instances, by way of flight, I accept the process and just know that I will likely score something! And this year I did. Multiple times :rolleyes:
If I were an exhibitor, I would likely try to wheel and deal ahead of time too.

I figured I would extend this extra info just in case anyone else who was attending Bladeshow for the first time next year decided to forego any practical sense - as I have clearly done, and wait in line way before the show starts.

UNLESS, you have two really great guys whom I consider good friends to spend some quality time with catching up on all things pointy and sharp for hours before the madness begins. :D
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This is pretty much a show killer for me.
 
schmittie said:
Since I have not been to Blade, I've got to ask for some explanation from prom52 prom52 and Kal-El Kal-El - what's up with the 2 am VIP line??
Click to expand...

The doors for VIP access open at 12 noon the first day of the show on Friday, however, people start claiming their position in line much earlier. Sergio, Phil & I took our positions in line in the wee hours on Friday morning. From what we heard, the earliest folks took their position in line around 11:00 am on Thursday. Fortunately most of the knife addicts in front of us were interested in custom folders which can be rare & expensive snags so we were in a pretty good starting position. I wish I would have taken a few pictures of the faces of the women (wives & girlfriends) that were waiting in the front of the line. You could just read the look of "wtf am I doing here....I should be curled up in my bed".
 
Panthera tigris said:
Pretty sweet. Who did the regrind?
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My guess is that Andy did the regrind on a standard production Kephart blade blank, which as you know has a tumbled finish. There have only been a couple of these made to the best of my knowledge. This is an assumption on my part so hopefully Andy or Phillip can verify things once they read these comments.
 
oh I see what you mean. I was thinking razor edge or ban tang. I think if the knife-maker does it its just a grind :)

For lack of better terminology lets call it twice-ground.

Doublefiddleground
 
prom52 said:
My guess is that Andy did the regrind on a standard production Kephart blade blank, which as you know has a tumbled finish. There have only been a couple of these made to the best of my knowledge. This is an assumption on my part so hopefully Andy or Phillip can verify things once they read these comments.
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the production knives come ground to us. Andy sets the edge on them. On yours Peter, Andy re-ground the preset grind, so it's a "factory re-grind"
 
Panthera tigris said:
oh I see what you mean. I was thinking razor edge or ban tang. I think if the knife-maker does it its just a grind :)

For lack of better terminology lets call it twice-ground.

Doublefiddleground
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That's a better way to put it Jarret, I'm assuming that the standard CPM S35vn production blade is taken back to the grinder by the maker for a more refined blade profile with discernible grind lines and a higher secondary bevel. I need to get back home to check specs with my digital calipers & compare it to a standard production blade to better understand the differences. Right now I can tell that it's a wicked slicer.
 
One of the highlights of my wife's attendance at Blade Show. All she kept saying was how handsome & rugged Jason Knight looked. I guess I better get working on growing a beard & getting fitted for a kilt :eek::

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My wife was on a mission to get photo ops with as many of the Forged In Fire winners she could track down. Her first encounter was with Liam Hoffman. I don't think I'll ever forget the answer Liam gave to our question.....So what got you interested in making knives at the ripe old age of 13 ? He looked us right in the eye and answered "I was bored". When you see his work up close it's incredible to comprehend that he is self taught & only 20 yrs young. Sergio was very fortunate to snag one of his integral forged kitchen knives:

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Her next encounter was with Marenko Maumasi:

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We were very fortunate last year to snag a collaboration knife that Marenko did together with Jeremy Spake. Marenko forged the damascus steel & Jeremy crafted the knife:

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Here is a shot of Jeremy together with my wife:

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Last year Susan took Andy over to Jeremy's table & made the introductions. No doubt Andy looked over Jeremy's handles & screened them according to the poop test criteria. She was pleased to hear that Jeremy was able to drop by the Fiddelback Shop for a quick visit while he was in town for this year's show.
 
^Those are some great shots Peter. Susan did really well searching out many of the big name stars of the knife making world.

The only shot I can add to that esteemed group is this one.

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Even though Phillip may not have won a Forged in Fire episode yet, he is a multiple time winner of the prestigious Fiddleback Forge “Employee of the Month” award for exemplary service as determined by the vast group of “judges” on this forum. Thanks Phillip!! :thumbsup:

Phil
 
Yea, Jeremy Spake is quite an amazing maker. We had a fun visit.
 
Man, all these pictures have me missing Bladeshow already.

Peter,
I ran into Jason Knight as well. Really cool dude and very down to earth. Nice guy! So now we will all be expecting to see your new image next year. You may want to start on that beard now.
I was bummed that Mareko didn't bring any blades to sell for the show this year, but it is always a pleasure speaking with him too.
And, I'm still in awe of that Spake collaboration knife and very glad that you were able to acquire it. I know we both stopped by his table multiple times last year gazing at it ;).

Phil,
Nice shot of you and the employee of the month! At this pace we're going to have to suggest a pay increase. Which, isn't a bad idea. He does seem to frequently acquire some pretty awesome blades himself. i.e. that Swenson!

Thanks for the pics guys.
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words.

lol Phil. Im pretty sure you, Peter & your sweeties are the only ones that could point me out in a line-up:D



i like the way you think Sergio. I need some more funds to get a Spake & Hoffman kitchen knife:thumbsup:
 
My sweetie says that would be easy. You'd be the one with the soft ear lobes :D

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