Collectors...Will you fly to shows now?

L

Les Robertson

BANNED
Joined
Oct 10, 1998
Messages
3,565
This is a question for custom knife buyers.

If you flew last year to the upcoming shows starting with Blade Show West this weekend.

Will you fly to those shows this year? Or will you be buying off of the internet and staying home?
 
We have flown to some shows. We flew to Blade last June. We drove to SECKS this month. The internet has already replaced shows for me when it come to *buying* custom knives and I am relatively new to the internet. It is hard to justify the expenses of plane tickets, meals, hotels to attend a show to *buy* a knife when I can use that same money on a custom knife purchase on the internet.

I flew to Blade for entertainment, to interact with the makers and to handle knives. I am glad that I did. We met many kind and talented makers. The highlight was meeting Mike and Michelle Snody. It is due to Michelle's help that we have a newly adopted Boxer, and as any doglover knows, you can not put a price on their heads so that trip was monetarily justified.

We went to SECKS to handle knives, to see Michelle again and thank her. After reading your post Les, I will NOT be flying to a New York show. I can not justify being inconvenienced to that extent to *buy* a custom knife. I have handled enough knives and interacted with the makers I admire enough to enable me to stay home and buy their knives over the internet knowing that I will be pleased when I receive the knives delievered to my doorstep. I will always go to some shows as long as the makers that I admire set up at shows but I will go to less shows to *buy* as the internet is a more convenient and cost effective way for me to *buy* knives.

I was fairly new to the internet and to buying knives on the internet when I went to Blade. That is another area Michelle Snody educated me about at the show. Besides this forum which I found on SnodyKnives.com links page, there is The Custom Knife Directory and Forum and several other knife related internet sites that she informed me of. Prior to the internet I was very limited by whatever the Knife Magazines were pushing at the moment. The majority of my knife buying from now on will be via internet. If the makers I admire would invite me to their shops and give me personal knife shows I would stop attending shows entirely! After the recent events which add to the inconvenience of flying to a show there is also the possibility of having a problem flying purchased knives back. If I had to ship my knives back to myself after flying to a show that is yet another inconvenience to add to the rapidly growing list.

I have found the internet to be a tremendous resource for both buying and receiving an education on custom knives largely due to many of your own threads Les. I also see the Knife Magazines through a different lens after finding this new world of internet knife related content. My wife just brought it to my attention that this is another area that Michelle Snody has helped us in and we thank her. We met her at the Blade Show, so I can say there are many good reasons to attend shows, but for me personally *buying* a knife is not high on the list of them when I can do that on the internet. In fact, handling them is not necessarily as important as it had been prior to me finding this forum. Now I can ask others their opinions and read knife reviews and buy from a dealer like you who will take trade ins on knives bought through you.

Shane
 
I am no more and no less worried about air safety than I was before the attack. I will fly to the Blade Show next year, and will fly with confidence to anyplace else I need to be.

This is not to say that we haven't discussed taking trains some places, but only if time is not a big concern. It actually appeals to me to see mountains, rather than fly over them!
 
Any show that I would want to go to is way to far away from me to get to in any other way, so yes I would fly. To tell you the truth I am not overly concerned about flying. What is going to happen is going to happen.
 
The next show I'll be flying to is next years Blade Show in Atlanta. I had such a great time there that if my plane had crashed going home I would have died a happy man. The next show I'll be going to is the New York show in Nov. For that I'll be taking the subway which many people believe is far more dangerous. ;)
 
Yes in a heartbeat.
I attending the Olympics the morning after the bombing. When we alter our habits due to the murders by terrorists (Sorry those actions are not what I call a tragedy.) They win.
 
AFAIK the chance of dying in a plane crash hasnt increased.
ill still fly,and not owrry about it.


and yup,ill be flying to blade show next year,as well. (i aint driving 12 hours with max,the smelly ole knife makin bastid to atlanta again ;) :p))
 
I will continue to fly to shows like the Blade Show in Atlanta.

I don't necessarily go to shows to buy. (although I usually do)

I enjoy seeing the many fine Knives at a good show and I especially enjoy meeting other Knife Lovers. It is my experience that Knife Lovers are some of the nicest people in our society today.

I also enjoy meeting makers that I might not hear about on the Internet.
 
If your sole purpose of going to a knife show is to make a purchase, you might as well participate on the forums and use the travel money to buy that custom. If it's not what you want, trade it at a loss and buy something else.

If you buy from a reputbale dealer like Les, you can always "upgrade" your purchase. Going to a knife show, whether by air, train or, car, means I have LESS money to spend on knives.

Why go then? There is the "vacation" aspect that is appealing. Traveling to a new city, eating out at new places, seeing sights along the way. You also get a chance to find new makers you didn't know about before and compare work side by side. Most of all, I like the social aspect. Knifemakers and collectors are a very socialble and friendly bunch and I never fail to have a good time when I find myself at a bar, resturant, bench, coffee table or, just about anyplace myself and someone else happen to be.

I wasn't afraid to fly before and certainly am not afraid to fly now. I personally dislike some of the service aspects of the airline industry and find my trips are more enjoyable when I drive and stop along the way to see the local sights and features instead of sailing by at 30,000 feet.

For what it's worth, I will probably go to more knife shows this year then at any time in the past.
 
There are other great reasons to attend shows aside from buying.Although finding that perfect knife is at the top of the list. I really enjoy visiting with, and meeting all of the great people that are interested in knives. Its awful hard to find a better bunch of folks in one place at one time.
 
... but, quality of service is pretty abominable. I doubt any other other business could treat its' customers that way and survive. I'll fly if I have to, but would rather drive if I can. (oh yeah ... and use the internet)

LOL - What no food on domestic flights - they must have eliminated the stale peanuts .... :D

n2s
 
My wife and I flew this past weekend and we found the Airlines to be much more Customer Friendly than before.

With a drastic reduction in the number of people choosing to fly the Airlines seem to value the ones that do.
 
Les, I imagine that one of your considerations in asking the question about flying to shows is: Do you want to check your bag of knives, which may be worth many thousands of dollars, on a plane? This would and does give me reason for concern. Lost and stolen luggage is a reality. Some pants and shirts might hurt a little, but losing knives would hurt much more.

Any thoughts?
 
Andrew,
You are the master of the "redirect"!:D

Those were my thoughts too . . . several of our guys had a hard time even getting their Leatherman's allowed in locked & checked footlockers. One guy checking in next to me in Nicaragua had a Spydie Endura confiscated from a locked checked bag! (Some airports are pulling people out of the ticket line to check their bags prior to ticketing!
That really gives me pause as to how many knives I will plan on taking with me when I move by plane to Central America later this year!!:( :(
 
Andrew, that is a point to consider. I flew last month and a bag did not make it back with me. It took the airline 2 weeks to track it and return it with a broken zipper and the cheesy zipper lock gone. It was clothes only and nothing was missing. Someone had looked through it along the way.

DerekZ
 
Harley at this point all you are showing is disrespect.
Enough is enough.
I have moved your post to the moderator's forum.


Reasons: It had nothing to do with this thread and it was the third time you have pulled the same stunt.
 
Well I flew to Dallas and back from Atlanta for the SOS Show. Other than having to wait in line at Hartsfield Airport I had no problems.

I have been flying to shows for over a decade and as with this show I checked my bags and had no problems.

I did talk to one lady whose husband had been pulled out of line and taken to the security office for a pair of nail clippers. I thought that was a little much.

Once on the planes, there were plenty of seats.

As you can imagine, the airline employees are now friendlier than ever.

Delta Airlines was all over this one. The planes, left on time, arrived early. Our luggage was waiting for us when we got off the plane. Those of you who fly through Hartsfield will understand just how amazing this is!
 
Les, that is very encouraging, I am glad to hear that everything went smoothly for you in a major Airport like Hartsfield.

Shane
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top