Blade Show West Comparison

A Blade Show West update...

While this was a small show, all makers still had knives on their table except for the good Mr. Mayo; purveyors were well represented there, and most had numerous quality knives for sale.

I attempted to discuss your concerns with some of the those purveyors, both your comments and those of Les as I interpreted them here; and was met with either blank stares, unacknowledging grins, a dismissive 'wave of the hand', and/or a "Whatever" type comment...

In the future, and heeding the advice of Mr. Robertson here, I'll either be contacting the maker outright in advance of a/the show, or contacting Les. (If you've followed any of my past sparring with Les, you'll understand that is a 180' change of heart on my part).

More on this later...

Mel
 
I thought the show was pretty lame..only went Friday and was able to see it all in under 2 hours including some time to yak at a few friends. Not worth the drive from Vegas though.


However hanging out with a whole bunch of friends over the remaining days was a blast.

C'Mon Vegas Classic !!:D
 
45guy,
Just do not understand the term "lame" when it comes to refering knife shows.There were a bunch of great makers and a bunch of great knives.
Of course I do not collect tactical folders so maybe it was "lame" because the room was not full of tactical makers.
Found the show to be a very pleasent surprise.Spent a bundle.
Also "Porters Steak House" at the Doubleday has some of the best steak I have ever had. A bit pricey but,well worth the trip.I think Mayo agrees.
Just my .02
Randy
 
well in lame I meant that there were not as many makers as I would liked to have seen there. Would have been nice to have seen the room be fuller and have more ...more is always better right ??

There was some high quality stuff there indeed , in my opinion I just felt it was not up to what I thought it would be .

Although I did enjoy a long conversation with Rob Criswell !
 
...Walked into the show with a buddy that we'd initially planned on driving up with, met him at the door as we entered...

An hour later, he was stepping out as we were stepping back in, him complaining that the show 'sucked', and stating that he was pressing on...

We were talking with nifrand at the time, and were all a bit perplexed by this comment, as so stated...the show was just fine, and IMNSHO, it is/was what you made of it, period.

Criswell had some nice wares, the customs were well represented, the makers were dealing, and we had a blast!

The Busse crew got to see me hack a finger with the MOAB, Maj. Louis Chow gave us some display table space, Derek w/Emerson grinned when he saw me and asked if I was 'behaving myself', the BAKCA boys were gratious as always, Paul Basch helped us identify some 'mystery RMK's', the Karambit guys taught me a few new moves, T. Mayo had a few good stories to tell over lunch, R.W. Clark had Edna's new custom LM model #10 at the ready, the USN members we met with were in good form, etc...

Money exchanged hands, knives were purchased, knives were ordered, it was a knife show...and a good one at that.

Mel

p.s. The only real complaint I have is with Krause Publications, and their lack of advertising...this show is almost an underground event to many!
 
Sorry I missed you, Shel. I was there Friday from about 2:30 on, with my wife (her first show!) She liked all the "pretty" knives...fine with me.

I thought the show was less crowded this year than last, but it could be because I was there Saturday last year and Friday this year...or because the room might be bigger and have more space to move around in. I talked to a moderate number of makers and some were selling like gangbusters and some were not selling anything, for what that's worth.

I stopped by Pat Crawford's table first off and chatted a while (and picked up a couple of knives), and when I went back a couple of hours later there were some noticeable empty spaces on the table, so that's a good sign. There was a lot of concern or at the least curiosity on the part of the makers I talked to about the change in venue. I guess we will see. One rumor I heard was that if Ontario did not work out the Blade folks might move it to Vegas; that idea was met with derision by one of the most successful guys in the business.

I got to meet Tom Mayo this time (I couldn't even find him last year!) and even play with a couple of TNT's--he was sold out (of course) but he had a couple that I think were for customers to pick up later in the show. Met a couple of other neat people, including Matt Cucchiara from Fresno (Damn him, now I gotta add him to the list of acquisition targets!).

You know, if you are in SoCal, there are only a few shows to choose from each year, so I will probably continue going as long as it is still within a 90-minute drive or so.

I look forward to seeing everyone at Knife Expo in February, and for all the SoCal locals, I will put in another shameless plug for SoCal Blades (the club that puts on Knife Expo) and our mini-show October 7th, which takes the place of our regular club meeting on that night.

I think knife shows are kinda like sex, some are better than others, but none of them are bad!
 
Sorry I missed you too bud, see ya at the mini-show on the 7th though eh?

Couldn't get near Pat's table, but from a distance it was looking pretty good!

Meant to look up Matt C. too, but we were 'on a mission', and after 7 hours there Saturday, leaving, we still hadn't 'seen the show'...

Alas, there's always Friday, next year... ;)

Mel
 
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