How is Blade West going?

[Quiet]

My wife and I spent a few hours there— found out there’s a custom maker who lives just a few minutes down the road from me.

Lookong over the selection of nicer knives, both production and custom, really did drive home the realization that left handed users are just not a priority. Is it really that hard to tap a hole or two to make a clip reversible? ‘Parently so. Right-hand locks are fine, they’re what I’m used to, but why not even a token acknowledgement that lefties exist?

Left-handed people, for better or worse, are a statistically insignificant portion of the knife buying population. Many makers would have to have either new machining or other processes for creating left-hand oriented locking mechanisms, and given how few sales they'd make, it's easy to see why most don't. Some companies (like Spyderco) make the attempt at taking care of lefties by making sure that their knives have holes in the scales for the ability to have a clip in all four possible orientations. Many knife people think that unneeded clip holes are ugly, and that's feedback that many makers of more upscale pieces have to take into consideration. (shrug)

 

[pyreaux]

My wife and I spent a few hours there— found out there’s a custom maker who lives just a few minutes down the road from me.

Lookong over the selection of nicer knives, both production and custom, really did drive home the realization that left handed users are just not a priority. Is it really that hard to tap a hole or two to make a clip reversible? ‘Parently so. Right-hand locks are fine, they’re what I’m used to, but why not even a token acknowledgement that lefties exist?

Spartan Blades does tap both sides.

 

[jbmonkey]

My take away:

• I had a blast talking with the custom knife makers and checking out their work. I took home a bunch of cards and I intend on checking out their websites.
• Thorburn knives are absolutely gorgeous, and absolutely out of my price range.
• I was disappointed that the Koenig Arius didn’t feel as nice in hand as I thought it would, but the mini-Goblin was pretty awesome. I still want an Arius though.
• I didn’t know Olamic was going to be there and I discovered that the Wayfarer 247 was amazing. I want one with a sheepscliffe blade.
• Chris Reeve knives are very nice, but I don’t know if I’ll ever own one. Something about them just didn’t do it for me.
• Medford Knives are as ridiculous in person as they look in pictures.
• Microtech knives are crazy fun to play with.
• I might like the ZT 0095 better than the 0456 now.
• Cold Steel was doing knife fight demos and it was exactly the kind of think I’d expect them to do. Their knives are better than I thought they’d be too.
• Jake from Hoback Knives spoke with me shortly about his work, and he was super nice. I don’t know much about him but he had some good stuff at his booth.
• Brad from Bradford Knives was an awesome dude to talk with as well. I’ll probably end up spending a bunch more on his stuff eventually.

Definitely going back next year, and hopefully I’ll have some money to spend on knives.

what no pics of Lynn doing the knife fighting demos?

sounds like a good show.

 

[RBid]

what no pics of Lynn doing the knife fighting demos?

sounds like a good show.

It’s not LT, buuuuuut... Cold Steel bein’ Cold Steel...

 

[jbmonkey]

It’s not LT, buuuuuut... Cold Steel bein’ Cold Steel...

the rounder bearded guy looks pretty close to a lynn. how come no one is watching...unless you made sure to be in the front of all the folks..

thanks for the pic.

 

[RBid]

the rounder bearded guy looks pretty close to a lynn. how come no one is watching...unless you made sure to be in the front of all the folks..

thanks for the pic.

The most they got was a few passers by chuckling and taking pics. The local police doing security were very amused. Pretty sure they were using pillow fight techniques.

 

[jbmonkey]

The most they got was a few passers by chuckling and taking pics. The local police doing security were very amused. Pretty sure they were using pillow fight techniques.

funny.

who's the fella that looks like an undertaker in the background over by the cold steel setup. works for cold steel, some famous knife maker watching while wearing his top hat, or or just a show participant? any idear? thanks.

 

[t5brick]

who's the fella that looks like an undertaker in the background over by the cold steel setup. works for cold steel, some famous knife maker watching while wearing his top hat, or or just a show participant? any idear? thanks.

I saw him wandering a couple times. I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess he’s just a weird dude from Portland. There are a lot of them here.

As a side note, I got a kick out of the pink Voodoo Doughnut boxes at the out of state knife manufacturer booths.

 

[fishface5]

Well I spent several hours there, a good part of it drooling over the Olamics. Lots of makers, and a lot more manufacturer presence than at the Eugene show so that was interesting. I loved the opportunity to check out the Zombie Tools models in person. I was a bit concerned though that attendance didn't seem huge and I didn't see a lot of money changing hands.

Did anyone else see the Rogue Bladeworks titanium scales for the BM Bugout? I thought they were amazing! Totally transformed the feel of the knife!!!

 

[The Whip]

It’s not LT, buuuuuut... Cold Steel bein’ Cold Steel...

The gentleman sparring on the left is most assuredly Lynn Thompson. I'm not surprised there wasn't a lot of interest in the demonstrations. The martial use of knives isn't really a Blade Show thing and it definitely isn't a Portland thing.

Thanks to those of you sharing your observations of the show. They're good reading for those of us who couldn't attend.

-Steve

 

[Bill Siegle]

There surely was money being spent! My wallet was out quite a lot So many friends and knives at the show over the last two days. Need to recover today. If you haven’t been yet and are in the area, you should get over there today.

 

[Makael]

Ok, Lynn walked in with a cane. Then performed fencing for quite awhile showing no handicap. Then would rip is mask off and chew on the guy he was sparring with. I don't fence so maybe there is something to that.

Show was great and spent my money I brought. Some TOPS and a Hogue limited edition. 10 of 30 made of their auto.

Talked to Mr Ethan Becker and he showed the new Kephart type of blade to be released soon.

So many knives on everyone outside the convention center it was awesome.


Portland did a great job hosting this. Good times.


5/16 1075 steel

The gentleman sparring on the left is most assuredly Lynn Thompson. I'm not surprised there wasn't a lot of interest in the demonstrations. The martial use of knives isn't really a Blade Show thing and it definitely isn't a Portland thing.

Thanks to those of you sharing your observations of the show. They're good reading for those of us who couldn't attend.

-Steve

 

[fishface5]

I forgot to add how great it is to actually hold so many knives. There are far too many knife-shaped-objects our there with terrible ergos, weight distribution, and/or lack of cutting geometry but you can't really tell until you hold them. That alone is worth the price of admission.

 

[stonproject]

funny.

who's the fella that looks like an undertaker in the background over by the cold steel setup. works for cold steel, some famous knife maker watching while wearing his top hat, or or just a show participant? any idear? thanks.

I didn't notice him til you pointed him out. Its like hes staring into your soul

 

[Bigfattyt]

Bring in your knives

Bill were you there?? I wandered around all Saturday!! Sorry to have missed you!!

what no pics of Lynn doing the knife fighting demos?

sounds like a good show.

he was there.. I did it take pics of him...

It’s not LT, buuuuuut... Cold Steel bein’ Cold Steel...

That is LT. For sure. I was at the booth several times while he was sparring.

the rounder bearded guy looks pretty close to a lynn. how come no one is watching...unless you made sure to be in the front of all the folks..

thanks for the pic.

It is him. Can confirm. He is just not wearing his short shorts!!

It was my first knife show. Pretty good mix of custom makers, production, equipment, and collections for sale.

Was able to meet a lot of makers for the first time, including the Ben Tendick, Salem Straub, CAS brothers, Bruce Bump, David Lisch, James Helm, sheath maker David Brown, and my friend Jarrod Todd.

Bought some nice knives, and met many makers!

 

[Halfneck]

I like the looks of that Kephart - Ka-bar/Becker?

 

[Bill Siegle]

Bill were you there?? I wandered around all Saturday!! Sorry to have missed you!!

he was there.. I did it ta

Bill were you there?? I wandered around all Saturday!! Sorry to have missed you!!

he was there.. I did it take pics of him...


That is LT. For sure. I was at the booth several times while he was sparring.




It is him. Can confirm. He is just not wearing his short shorts!!

It was my first knife show. Pretty good mix of custom makers, production, equipment, and collections for sale.

Was able to meet a lot of makers for the first time, including the Ben Tendick, Salem Straub, CAS brothers, Bruce Bump, David Lisch, James Helm, sheath maker David Brown, and my friend Jarrod Todd.

Bought some nice knives, and met many makers!

I was there but just walking around seeing folks and spending money

 

[Makael]

I like the looks of that Kephart - Ka-bar/Becker?

Yes sir. Becker Kephart

 

[aceinaz]

Great show, low keyed compared to Atlanta.
Took my wife and girls to their first show.
Got a his and hers Koening

 

[RBid]

I’ll add a few notes as I think of them, like this one.

I hadn’t previously looked at Custom Knife Factory work. When I saw their table, one piece looked very much like a Rassenti design. Not wanting to insult anyone, I asked Mike at their booth who designed it. He confirmed that it was Rassenti. I nodded and said “I thought so.”

Here’s where this stuck with me.

Mike coolly dropped what I think was a little fun test to see if I was really familiar with Rassenti. He said, “Next year, we’ll make Snafu 2.0.”

At this time, I was holding the CKF Satori, noting the build quality.

I paused and looked up to make eye contact, saying, “Did you just say you’re going to be making a Snafu 2.0?”

Mike is evidently a true enthusiast. His grin broke wide open, and he gave a very excited nod.

It was one of those moments of shared glee that I love about these things.

So, I got to check out the Satori and the Morrf, and have that exchange. Very cool table visit.