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Hello All,
Welcome to part one of my little Canadian Knifemaker Guild Show review! Wow, what an incredible show and what an incredible experience! I emphasize the word experience because this time around, I decided to cut loose and embrace the entire show experience. I attended the informal pre-show, dined out with some knifemakers, spent the entire day browsing (from opening bell to lights out), and walked out with a new knife! Part one covers the pre-show, parts two and three cover Saturday and Sunday.
Before starting the review, I must thank Murray White for making the experience so much more enjoyable. It was great to have Murrays sound advice and photographic skills on hand (the good pics below are Murrays, the bad ones are mine).
It was also great to meet up with other BF Toronto members most of us did NOT walk out empty-handed (more on this later).
Day One
For those of you who have never attended an informal pre-show I recommend that you do so the first chance that you get it is an incredible experience! Basically, you hang-out with knifemakers in the hotel lobby the evening prior to the show of course, they bring along some knives for all to peruse. For example,
Heres a pic of Matt Stocker with an incredibly balanced Kirby Lambert tanto
Here Matt shows me a folder while Jim Downie and Rick Frigault talk knives (note all the beer on the table).
Here Thomas Haslinger, Jason Kilcup, and Ed Storch talk knives
And Peter Wile checks out a folder while Paul Johnston looks on.
In terms of entertainment, Halifax native knifemaker Al Massey was kind enough to bring along a fiddle to entertain us clearly Al is a man of many talents (Im just not sure fiddling is one of them ha ha, just kidding Al!)
Of course, the most entertaining part of my evening was my receipt of the custom knife I ordered from Greg Lightfoot at the last show. The knife simply blew me away and far exceeded my expectations (which were high to begin with) Im even more convinced that any list of top tactical knifemakers should have Greg Lightfoot at the top. Heres a pic of Greg presenting the knife to me..
The knife is an M1 Stellite with Damasteel bolsters, carbon fiber scales, anodized titanium backspacers, titanium liners and clip, and 24K gold-plated screws (an extra touch that Greg was thoughtful enough to include thanks Greg!). My impression of the knife is that it is built like a tank small but ULTRA solid (think pitbull) as Matt Stocker says, it exudes attitude. Heres a pic
With knife in hand, I was ready to eat a big steak (umm, no, I did not use my Lightfoot!) so Murray, Kirby Lambert, Peter Wile, Don Bell, and I headed out to The Outback here we are at the resto
So that about covers day one of the CKG show heres a teaser as to what awaits us in day two!
Murray and I took close to (if not more than) 100 pics...we are busy sifting/uploading the best ones and we hope to have the next two parts up by tomorrow night.
Regards,
RL
Welcome to part one of my little Canadian Knifemaker Guild Show review! Wow, what an incredible show and what an incredible experience! I emphasize the word experience because this time around, I decided to cut loose and embrace the entire show experience. I attended the informal pre-show, dined out with some knifemakers, spent the entire day browsing (from opening bell to lights out), and walked out with a new knife! Part one covers the pre-show, parts two and three cover Saturday and Sunday.
Before starting the review, I must thank Murray White for making the experience so much more enjoyable. It was great to have Murrays sound advice and photographic skills on hand (the good pics below are Murrays, the bad ones are mine).
It was also great to meet up with other BF Toronto members most of us did NOT walk out empty-handed (more on this later).
Day One
For those of you who have never attended an informal pre-show I recommend that you do so the first chance that you get it is an incredible experience! Basically, you hang-out with knifemakers in the hotel lobby the evening prior to the show of course, they bring along some knives for all to peruse. For example,
Heres a pic of Matt Stocker with an incredibly balanced Kirby Lambert tanto
Here Matt shows me a folder while Jim Downie and Rick Frigault talk knives (note all the beer on the table).
Here Thomas Haslinger, Jason Kilcup, and Ed Storch talk knives
And Peter Wile checks out a folder while Paul Johnston looks on.
In terms of entertainment, Halifax native knifemaker Al Massey was kind enough to bring along a fiddle to entertain us clearly Al is a man of many talents (Im just not sure fiddling is one of them ha ha, just kidding Al!)
Of course, the most entertaining part of my evening was my receipt of the custom knife I ordered from Greg Lightfoot at the last show. The knife simply blew me away and far exceeded my expectations (which were high to begin with) Im even more convinced that any list of top tactical knifemakers should have Greg Lightfoot at the top. Heres a pic of Greg presenting the knife to me..
The knife is an M1 Stellite with Damasteel bolsters, carbon fiber scales, anodized titanium backspacers, titanium liners and clip, and 24K gold-plated screws (an extra touch that Greg was thoughtful enough to include thanks Greg!). My impression of the knife is that it is built like a tank small but ULTRA solid (think pitbull) as Matt Stocker says, it exudes attitude. Heres a pic
With knife in hand, I was ready to eat a big steak (umm, no, I did not use my Lightfoot!) so Murray, Kirby Lambert, Peter Wile, Don Bell, and I headed out to The Outback here we are at the resto
So that about covers day one of the CKG show heres a teaser as to what awaits us in day two!
Murray and I took close to (if not more than) 100 pics...we are busy sifting/uploading the best ones and we hope to have the next two parts up by tomorrow night.
Regards,
RL
Thanks for your efforts.
