CKG 2011 Show review 170+ pics

[RL]

Fantastic show! Not quite as many tables as past Spring shows but the selection was stellar nonetheless. In addition to my great scores, there were soooo many more that I wanted to buy! There were prototypes, new releases, and some vintage classics, along with Canadian made knives that just keep getting better and better.

Pre-show

I arrived quite early at the hotel and had time for a quick lunch with Brian Tighe, Ron Post and their spouses prior to Kirby and Greg’s arrival.

Once Lightfoot arrived, we wasted no time getting down to knives.

Lightning strike seemed to be the theme. Both Greg and Kirby brought several pieces in this cool material of carbon fiber with copper wire. I have to admit, it looks GREAT, as you can see in these two pieces by Kirby!!! Sadly the top one was already sold.

More knives by Kirby, again, many featuring lightning strike scales or bolsters.

Cool grind on this one, his new model, the Orion multi-grind.

Kirby and me

As I mentioned, Greg is also using this great material, here it is on a Full Contact Rematch and Bullwhips

 

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Some of my favourites from Greg and Kirby.

As much as I love the lightning strike material, the Tashi designed Species really caught my eye, or should I say my hand as it has incredible ergonomics. Add to that the fact that this one was a prototype (I have other Lightfoot prototypes as well) and the only one made in green G10 (the run of 10 were all carbon fiber), it was a no brainer for my first purchase of the show!

Greg holding my knife and me holding the Full Contact Rematch in lightning strike.

The Groundfighter is another Tashi design, albeit smaller than the Species. Note the unique thumb ramp

Greg is also using Ikoma Korth Bearing System (IKBS) bearing pivots with and without flippers. Here are all the knives he brought to the show.

 

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Friends of the Guild Pre-show

With my first purchase in hand, I was ready to head down to the official Friends of the Guild pre-show to catch up with the other makers. As I have reported in the past, Friends are given the opportunity to purchase knives before they become available to show attendees. Each maker is invited to show only a few knives.

The “Collaboration” knife (or in this case, sword) is also unveiled at the Friends pre-show. William Nease made the blade and Eric Elso wrapped the handle for this year’s blade.

Neil Ostroff doing his Uma Thurman impression

Speaking of William and swords, it did not take long for a crowd to form around William’s demo of his scabbard retention mechanism.

And to check out his heavy duty axes

Continuing around the room…CKG President, Eric Elson

Paul Savage

Brian Tighe

Steve Linklater

 

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Mike Mossington

Nolan Knowles, has been making knives for 10 years but literally joined the CKG a day before the show.

Craig Wheatley, in all the way from Northern Ontario

Neil Ostroff of True North Knives showed some fantastic Strider customs

Greg showed these three..

As well as his super cool “bullet rings” featuring spent casings with bullet markings! Being a shooter who is planning on buying a 1911 this year, I could not resist the .45 cal ring. Uh oh, second purchase for me already….

Kirby’s two knives

 

[RL]

Never know what you can find at the knife show..custom stingray shoes

And some cool watches

The Friends pre-show is all about thanking Friends for their support, sometimes even with an honourary membership.

Or with a Memorial plaque to past Friends

Good crowd at the pre-show..a sign of things to come.

After the Friends pre-show, Greg and I headed out to Zorro’s

Some serious roast beef

 

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The 2011 Canadian Knifemaker Guild Show

While I am mostly into tacticals, I will save those for last as they will make up the bulk of my review. So first up, hunting / utility knives.

One of the first names of Canadian knifemakers who would come to my mind for this type of knife would be Murray St. Amour.

Some of you may recall Rick Todd’s highly functional get-a-grip knives from my last review

Gun show regular Joe Arnold

Jim Downie, who had some great little miniatures on his table

 

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For those willing to give newer makers a try, Paul Bold

And Craig Wheatley (CKE), a fellow forumite who drove a LONG way to show his great little utility knives.

My favourite was the work in progress survival knife.

Moving on to art / dressed-up knives, Wolfgang “Wolfe” Loerchner

Elizabeth Loerchner

Murray White at Elizabeth’s table with that “new knife” smile…great score Murray!

Murray’s new Elizabeth Loerchner folder next to my Lightfoot Species prototype for size comparison.

 

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So glad that Gaetan Beauchamp made the trip up from Quebec. His scrimshaw work is incredible! I especially liked the fillet knife with the fly fishing lure in the handle!

Also in from Quebec, Christoph Derringer

Newly elected CKG Vice President, Steve Vanderkolpf…

I love the Damascus pattern on this one

Steve Linklater

 

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Paul Savage

The balance on this bushcraft knife was incredible!

Something for everyone, fantasy blades from Tom Hart

Nolan

 

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Finally on to tacticals…

Being a fan of axes and swords in general and of William Nease’s work in particular, his table was my first stop. Needless to say, I was NOT disappointed! This was William’s best work yet.

That’s not an axe, THAT’S an axe!

Kevlar handle with a 14” axe-head that can be reversed or re-attached without the spacer.

More unique axes and swords on William’s table.

A quick check-in with my friends Kirby Lambert

And Greg Lightfoot..I wanted to get table shots early as these guys usually sell out fast.

Another closeup of that gorgeous Full Contact Rematch in lightning strike

 

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While at Greg’s table, a collector showed up with an 18 year old Predator. This is what knife shows are all about! A rare treat to see an old school Lightfoot such as this!

Here’s Greg with the knife that made a long trip home to visit its maker.

Speaking of old school, you never know what you can find at a knife show! An Al Mar Warrior, one of my favourite knives of all time on Steve Stuart’s table.

Brian Tighe

CKG President Eric Elson

I really liked the feel of these cord-wraps (especially the bottom one)

 

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After doing my rounds, I finally got to the True North Knives table where I ended up spending most of the day behind the table. As usual, Neil brought a staggering array of knives, including…

Strider customs

Customs from JW Smith, Mike Obenauf, Todd Begg, Les Voorhies, Tom Mayo and others.

The big Begg folder I am holding in this pic sold very quickly

Strider folders

Including their latest pieces such as SMFs in SV110 (a TNK exclusive in this steel) and one in the new distressed finish

That sold quickly to a happy forumite

The newest SnG FNH

The Strider raffle knife for Sunday’s draw

 

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Chris Reeve knives, including lots of tanto bladed Sebenzas and Umnuumzans

A Sebenza with native art

As well as the Nyala

And this specially marked variant that was raffled off

To the lucky winner

Galyean Pros and Warren Thomas Emerson regrinds..my jaw dropped when Neil gave one to me as a gift..thanks my friend!

I was also very happy to see some Toxic by Blair as I am a big fan but had never seen them in person. They are just as cool in the steel as they are in pics!

 

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Neil also had tactical lights from Fenix, Jetbeam, and Lenslight

I cracked again and bought a Lenslight Mini

Last but not least, some Starlingear!

While working at Neil’s table, Tig stopped by and gave us a quick demo of karambits

First a video of flow drills

http://www.fototime.com/120362F9CD5E500/orig.avi

Next a video with me acting as a wing chun dummy (no t-shirts were harmed in the filming of this video)…keep in mind that Tig is doing this in slow motion for the camera (and we did not have training blades handy).

http://www.fototime.com/2E1D0DADE66E662/orig.avi

Also in terms of dealers, Mike Mossington had a huge selection of knife suppliers, including pouches for my new knives..thanks Mike!

Nice to see a Jeff Diotte Pirahna, especially a cord-wrapped one on Mike’s tables as well.

 

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Steady crowds throughout the day

A final shot of the collaboration sword

After the show and board meeting, Kirby, Greg and I headed to Duff’s Famous Wings (the originators of Buffalo wings) for some of their Armageddon 850,000 Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) sauce.

No problem for me, I eat it all the time.

Kirby about to give it a try

 

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And so does Lightfoot!

Nothing that some milk can’t fix…

Eureka, we all survived!

Time to go home and count my scores! I am soooo happy with all of them! I will post more comments about the Lightfoot Species and ring in other threads.

Thanks so much to the CKG!

RL

 

[hoyer]

Thank you so much taking time to do this wonderful review! What a treat!
Did Wolgang Loerchner made that stag handled bowie?

 

[JTC]

WOW! That was a great show and you really made me feel like I got to be a part of it even though I'm a long ways away. Thanks for taking the time to share. Looks like a really great time. Thanks again.

 

[RL]

thanks guys.

you know, i am not 100% sure about that bowie. it is certainly not typical of Wolfe and in retrospect i should have stopped to get more info. Hopefully he sees this thread.

RL

 

[Paul Savage]

Great review as always RL. Thanks for your work in promoting our guild shows and showcasing some of the great talent in the room.