Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
It's REALLY good to see so many writing up Blade Show reviews....when I started doing this back in 2003, there were some very good photo reviews(Murray, Roger and Peter, as well as Coop) but not too much wordsmithing, so that is refreshing.
This was my best Blade show ever, by far.
Met MorrowJ, jonnymac44, ScottRoush, Black Mamba and Dr. Grace Horne(who absolutely blew my doors off).
Saw and reconnected with too many friends to mention, really, maybe 150-200 people.
Hooked up first thing with my good friend Gus Kalanzis who so graciously carted my 28 lbs of USPS Priority knives to the show on Thursday, and got a chance to sit with him and knifemaker Don Cowles, who had some very creative pieces on hand. Also got a chance to harass Bladesmith Bob Kramer about the new Henckels line with brass furniture and 52100 blade....simply put, I prefer the Shun offerings vastly more.
Thursday night CKCA dinner(RIP Larry Bailey, you were TRULY missed, see you on the other side amigo) met some new people including Bob Fisk, Jerry Fisk's extremely cool wife, the pleasure was all mine. Food was great, service was great, as said elsewhere, how in the heck does Mike Talanian win 5 of 7 knives on a raffle? The CKCA stands for the utmost integrity....so there was no funny business on that end. Well done Kevin, and congratulations to the winners of Dr. Darom's books, and thanks to Dr. Darom and Tim Hancock for donating them.
I purchased three knives this trip, a damascus fighter by Jason Knight, based upon the Founder's Bowie in dyed maple, stainless furniture and awesomeness, a Rob Brown Big Bear type subhilt in nickel silver(hate that material) and rosewood, and a Bob Lum tanto.
I was GIVEN a collaboration piece in gratitude for some tattooing I did on Wade Coulter and Erik Fritz, a western gambler's fighter that Paul Long is sheathing right now, and truly touched my heart. As I was going to the airport, Dave Lisch gave me a "defective", lol, Rat's Ass knife that has no butthole....it was an unexpected and truly appreciated gift, and quite well executed.
Jason Knight is an amazing knifemaker. I have always enjoyed and valued his friendship....you wonder how someone so completely GOOFY can knock it out of the park like he does, but sometimes it is best to just let it all be and accept that the Lord works in mysterious ways, and Jason is proof of that.
I have a book in the works with THE BEST collaborator that MAY come to life....will inform when the time is right.
The only reason that I was even at Blade this year is because Matt Diskin asked me to work in his Volcan Knives booth with Joe Paranee....we kicked ass, and Matt is making some Lightning Strike carbon fiber and specialty laid up G10 that took the show by storm. We pretty much sold out by Sunday morning, and Joe's exceptional sales of the Volcan knife range was the cherry on top. We have a number of manufacturers interested in the material, so look for some interesting projects coming up.
Thursday night in the Sheraton Hotel room we stayed at, myself, Matt Diskin, Kirby Lambert, David Mirabile and Joe Paranee stayed up until about 2:30 am, BS'd,joked and laughed our asses off. By the end of the show, me, Matt and Kirby all had new unprintable and hilarious nicknames.....not really happy about mine, and not sure how Matt and Kirby feel about theirs, but if ANYONE but the above mentioned tries calling me that nickname.....it ain't gonna be pretty.
Friday morning came way too early, Joseph and I had arranged to have breakfast with Paul Long at 7:30 am or so.....we joined a table already in progress including Kevin Jones, Paul Kessler and Jim Treacy(who, as mentioned elsewhere, has lost significant weight, and looks FANTASTIC!)...The Waverly puts on a decent spread for a breakfast buffet, but it is north of $20.00, and that is just ridiculous. Got to see Paul's new Legends knife by Esposito/Hochstrat....truly remarkable, but I REALLY have a hard time processing a knife where the engraving is so fragile that it will rub off, and will probably never get that.
Because makers were so interested in Matt's materials, I got a chance to run into a few makers that I might not have otherwise seen, J.W. Smith walking around, and Doug Hartsook(along with his wife April). Got to say, I really enjoyed chatting with Doug. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all about 60% working Volcan Knives Booth, 30% doing book presentations, and 10% walking around.
Exotach was the gadget company that grabbed my attention this year with their nanoStriker and MATCHCAP products. Extremely vivid orange anodizing, and am using the Matchcap as a pill container. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that the inside of the MATCHCAP could stand to be more highly finished with more consistent anodizing, but for $25.00, I'm not going to complain too hard.
Friday was a long day(9:00 am-7:00 pm, we had to set up in the morning), I finished up with an hour shift in the CKCA booth and had a wonderful conversation with 2Knife, Paul Long, Chuck Gollnick, Jim Treacy and Michael Helberg. Not to say that we solved all the world's problems, but may have a clearer idea of David's(2knife's) exclusionary interest in Ed Fowler knives. Then it was time to go. My best friend from high school joined up with us, and we went o Flip Burger in Buckhead. Beautiful 15 minute drive, great food, absolutely stunning hostesses and servers. Richard Blais is one smart Top Chef dude.
Then we went to The Pit. I have to point out Dr. Grace Horne's website-http://www.gracehorne.co.uk/ Grace is lovely, has extensive knowledge of slipjoints and the Sheffield cutlery industry and had chrome toenail polish. That's right, it wasn't metallic silver, it looked like her toenails were actually mirror polished metal. I'm a foot guy, that hits the right buttons. J.D. Smith was going around with his collaborator showing an amazing damascus dagger with beautiful silver work and gemstone setting. We hit a mini-mart for snacks and went up to the room where more hilarity ensued.
Saturday......daylight came too early, yet again. I had meetings scheduled, and picked up the Lum tanto from Tommy Clark@ Blue Ridge Cutlery for a reasonable price. Have said it many times before, and will say it again, it is VERY much worth making Mr. Clark's acquaintance. Spent a good portion of the day showing the Lightning Strike to manufacturers, and Saturday was pretty much when we sold out. Did get a chance to stop by Thad Buchanan's table and meet his son Zac. Young, polite guy making knives in the Loveless style with exceptional competency thoroughly befitting his teacher. It was my opinion that had Zac entered the "right" knife into Best New Maker competition, he might have very well won it. The show itself was a blur on Saturday, time sort of stopped and started with no rhythm. Matt and I had lunch at a weird Mongolian grill/noodle house hybrid at the Galleria called Big Chow Grill. I liked mine, Matt didn't like his, and Joe thought the leftovers were inedible.....three sets of tastebuds, three opinions, just like a knife show.
Got some quality face time with fellow Forumite Ricky/Stabber. Big, solid guy, shaking hands with him is like gripping steel cable. Ricky and I have intense differences of opinion in the past, and it came to a head this year with a conflict over dear fellow Forumite Lorien. Ricky and I were able to discuss, and see each other's points, and I have to give him major props for that....he could have torn my arms out of their sockets if he wanted to, and there wouldn't have been jack that I could have done to stop it. After chatting with Ricky, got to talk with Tom Mayo and Brian Wagner of Okuden Leather. Nice guy, very committed to martial arts training. Will be looking at him for sheathing needs in the future.
I missed my turn in the CKCA booth due to last minute sales at the Volcan booth, and when the show ended at 6:00 pm on Saturday, got my table of 8 for Canoe Restaurant in Vinings, about 5 minute drive from the Waverly. I was joined by Kevin Jones, Coop and his lovely wife Susan, Buddy Thomason, Paul Long and Joe Paranee who really didn't want to be there, but decided to grace us all with his presence anyway. What a prince! I myself had the house-cured smoked salmon on a potato cake, Marinated Golden and Red Beet Salad with Whipped Vermont Goat’s Cheese, Candied Walnuts and Basil Oil and Slow Roasted Carolina Rabbit with Swiss Chard – Bacon Ravioli, Sweet Potato Hash and Candied Garlic Sauce, Canoe is a great, hidden-treasure of a restaurant....if you don't know to look for it, you will drive right past it.
After we got back to the Waverly with a superb ride provide by the always on-top Pappy Long, we made our way to the actual Pit(sunken bar area), where I split my time between the Loyal Knights of Microtech and entertaining the Emerson family and entourage. Was a spectacular night in court, that Saturday, you all should know.
Sunday, crammed last minute meetings, the Loveless Tour and breaking down the Volcan booth into 6 hours. The Loveless tour had about 10 total this year, and it was a success by my metric in putting those with an interest in Loveless knives into handling many, many of them. Hopefully we can change some of the misconceptions of Loveless knives, one collector/maker at a time....if I don't have the chance to conduct it next year, I hope that someone else will step up. After we broke down, went to dinner with Matt Diskin, David Mirabile, Christoph Derringer and Dave Lisch. Matt drove me to the airport, and David Mirabile came along for the ride. On the way out of the parking lot, Dave Lisch handed me the no-butthole Rat knife....it's really wonderful, but I have to get Dave to mark it with some form of logo, so credit can be given where it is due. It is truly appreciated, and will hold a special place in my using knife collection.
Last thing, finally got to have that cocktail with Phil Gibbs at the "D" Gate for Delta, scotch and soda for me, Canadian Whiskey and ginger for him. Lousy booze has never tasted so good, thanks again Phil, for your knowledge, your support, and your unwavering friendship. This 2011 Blade Show was really about friendship....about new friends, about old friends, about the resiliency and longevity of friendship, and everything that means. I hope that you all had as good of a show as I did.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
This was my best Blade show ever, by far.
Met MorrowJ, jonnymac44, ScottRoush, Black Mamba and Dr. Grace Horne(who absolutely blew my doors off).
Saw and reconnected with too many friends to mention, really, maybe 150-200 people.
Hooked up first thing with my good friend Gus Kalanzis who so graciously carted my 28 lbs of USPS Priority knives to the show on Thursday, and got a chance to sit with him and knifemaker Don Cowles, who had some very creative pieces on hand. Also got a chance to harass Bladesmith Bob Kramer about the new Henckels line with brass furniture and 52100 blade....simply put, I prefer the Shun offerings vastly more.
Thursday night CKCA dinner(RIP Larry Bailey, you were TRULY missed, see you on the other side amigo) met some new people including Bob Fisk, Jerry Fisk's extremely cool wife, the pleasure was all mine. Food was great, service was great, as said elsewhere, how in the heck does Mike Talanian win 5 of 7 knives on a raffle? The CKCA stands for the utmost integrity....so there was no funny business on that end. Well done Kevin, and congratulations to the winners of Dr. Darom's books, and thanks to Dr. Darom and Tim Hancock for donating them.
I purchased three knives this trip, a damascus fighter by Jason Knight, based upon the Founder's Bowie in dyed maple, stainless furniture and awesomeness, a Rob Brown Big Bear type subhilt in nickel silver(hate that material) and rosewood, and a Bob Lum tanto.
I was GIVEN a collaboration piece in gratitude for some tattooing I did on Wade Coulter and Erik Fritz, a western gambler's fighter that Paul Long is sheathing right now, and truly touched my heart. As I was going to the airport, Dave Lisch gave me a "defective", lol, Rat's Ass knife that has no butthole....it was an unexpected and truly appreciated gift, and quite well executed.
Jason Knight is an amazing knifemaker. I have always enjoyed and valued his friendship....you wonder how someone so completely GOOFY can knock it out of the park like he does, but sometimes it is best to just let it all be and accept that the Lord works in mysterious ways, and Jason is proof of that.
I have a book in the works with THE BEST collaborator that MAY come to life....will inform when the time is right.
The only reason that I was even at Blade this year is because Matt Diskin asked me to work in his Volcan Knives booth with Joe Paranee....we kicked ass, and Matt is making some Lightning Strike carbon fiber and specialty laid up G10 that took the show by storm. We pretty much sold out by Sunday morning, and Joe's exceptional sales of the Volcan knife range was the cherry on top. We have a number of manufacturers interested in the material, so look for some interesting projects coming up.
Thursday night in the Sheraton Hotel room we stayed at, myself, Matt Diskin, Kirby Lambert, David Mirabile and Joe Paranee stayed up until about 2:30 am, BS'd,joked and laughed our asses off. By the end of the show, me, Matt and Kirby all had new unprintable and hilarious nicknames.....not really happy about mine, and not sure how Matt and Kirby feel about theirs, but if ANYONE but the above mentioned tries calling me that nickname.....it ain't gonna be pretty.
Friday morning came way too early, Joseph and I had arranged to have breakfast with Paul Long at 7:30 am or so.....we joined a table already in progress including Kevin Jones, Paul Kessler and Jim Treacy(who, as mentioned elsewhere, has lost significant weight, and looks FANTASTIC!)...The Waverly puts on a decent spread for a breakfast buffet, but it is north of $20.00, and that is just ridiculous. Got to see Paul's new Legends knife by Esposito/Hochstrat....truly remarkable, but I REALLY have a hard time processing a knife where the engraving is so fragile that it will rub off, and will probably never get that.
Because makers were so interested in Matt's materials, I got a chance to run into a few makers that I might not have otherwise seen, J.W. Smith walking around, and Doug Hartsook(along with his wife April). Got to say, I really enjoyed chatting with Doug. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all about 60% working Volcan Knives Booth, 30% doing book presentations, and 10% walking around.
Exotach was the gadget company that grabbed my attention this year with their nanoStriker and MATCHCAP products. Extremely vivid orange anodizing, and am using the Matchcap as a pill container. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that the inside of the MATCHCAP could stand to be more highly finished with more consistent anodizing, but for $25.00, I'm not going to complain too hard.
Friday was a long day(9:00 am-7:00 pm, we had to set up in the morning), I finished up with an hour shift in the CKCA booth and had a wonderful conversation with 2Knife, Paul Long, Chuck Gollnick, Jim Treacy and Michael Helberg. Not to say that we solved all the world's problems, but may have a clearer idea of David's(2knife's) exclusionary interest in Ed Fowler knives. Then it was time to go. My best friend from high school joined up with us, and we went o Flip Burger in Buckhead. Beautiful 15 minute drive, great food, absolutely stunning hostesses and servers. Richard Blais is one smart Top Chef dude.
Then we went to The Pit. I have to point out Dr. Grace Horne's website-http://www.gracehorne.co.uk/ Grace is lovely, has extensive knowledge of slipjoints and the Sheffield cutlery industry and had chrome toenail polish. That's right, it wasn't metallic silver, it looked like her toenails were actually mirror polished metal. I'm a foot guy, that hits the right buttons. J.D. Smith was going around with his collaborator showing an amazing damascus dagger with beautiful silver work and gemstone setting. We hit a mini-mart for snacks and went up to the room where more hilarity ensued.
Saturday......daylight came too early, yet again. I had meetings scheduled, and picked up the Lum tanto from Tommy Clark@ Blue Ridge Cutlery for a reasonable price. Have said it many times before, and will say it again, it is VERY much worth making Mr. Clark's acquaintance. Spent a good portion of the day showing the Lightning Strike to manufacturers, and Saturday was pretty much when we sold out. Did get a chance to stop by Thad Buchanan's table and meet his son Zac. Young, polite guy making knives in the Loveless style with exceptional competency thoroughly befitting his teacher. It was my opinion that had Zac entered the "right" knife into Best New Maker competition, he might have very well won it. The show itself was a blur on Saturday, time sort of stopped and started with no rhythm. Matt and I had lunch at a weird Mongolian grill/noodle house hybrid at the Galleria called Big Chow Grill. I liked mine, Matt didn't like his, and Joe thought the leftovers were inedible.....three sets of tastebuds, three opinions, just like a knife show.
Got some quality face time with fellow Forumite Ricky/Stabber. Big, solid guy, shaking hands with him is like gripping steel cable. Ricky and I have intense differences of opinion in the past, and it came to a head this year with a conflict over dear fellow Forumite Lorien. Ricky and I were able to discuss, and see each other's points, and I have to give him major props for that....he could have torn my arms out of their sockets if he wanted to, and there wouldn't have been jack that I could have done to stop it. After chatting with Ricky, got to talk with Tom Mayo and Brian Wagner of Okuden Leather. Nice guy, very committed to martial arts training. Will be looking at him for sheathing needs in the future.
I missed my turn in the CKCA booth due to last minute sales at the Volcan booth, and when the show ended at 6:00 pm on Saturday, got my table of 8 for Canoe Restaurant in Vinings, about 5 minute drive from the Waverly. I was joined by Kevin Jones, Coop and his lovely wife Susan, Buddy Thomason, Paul Long and Joe Paranee who really didn't want to be there, but decided to grace us all with his presence anyway. What a prince! I myself had the house-cured smoked salmon on a potato cake, Marinated Golden and Red Beet Salad with Whipped Vermont Goat’s Cheese, Candied Walnuts and Basil Oil and Slow Roasted Carolina Rabbit with Swiss Chard – Bacon Ravioli, Sweet Potato Hash and Candied Garlic Sauce, Canoe is a great, hidden-treasure of a restaurant....if you don't know to look for it, you will drive right past it.
After we got back to the Waverly with a superb ride provide by the always on-top Pappy Long, we made our way to the actual Pit(sunken bar area), where I split my time between the Loyal Knights of Microtech and entertaining the Emerson family and entourage. Was a spectacular night in court, that Saturday, you all should know.
Sunday, crammed last minute meetings, the Loveless Tour and breaking down the Volcan booth into 6 hours. The Loveless tour had about 10 total this year, and it was a success by my metric in putting those with an interest in Loveless knives into handling many, many of them. Hopefully we can change some of the misconceptions of Loveless knives, one collector/maker at a time....if I don't have the chance to conduct it next year, I hope that someone else will step up. After we broke down, went to dinner with Matt Diskin, David Mirabile, Christoph Derringer and Dave Lisch. Matt drove me to the airport, and David Mirabile came along for the ride. On the way out of the parking lot, Dave Lisch handed me the no-butthole Rat knife....it's really wonderful, but I have to get Dave to mark it with some form of logo, so credit can be given where it is due. It is truly appreciated, and will hold a special place in my using knife collection.
Last thing, finally got to have that cocktail with Phil Gibbs at the "D" Gate for Delta, scotch and soda for me, Canadian Whiskey and ginger for him. Lousy booze has never tasted so good, thanks again Phil, for your knowledge, your support, and your unwavering friendship. This 2011 Blade Show was really about friendship....about new friends, about old friends, about the resiliency and longevity of friendship, and everything that means. I hope that you all had as good of a show as I did.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
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Actually its probably better off cause this time I wouldn't have the extra layers to protect me!
