- Joined
- Oct 12, 1998
- Messages
- 2,036
Went to the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show here in Indianapolis last Friday. This is the biggest show in the state and happens every couple of months. Primarily, it is a gun show, meaning there are mostly guns, nazi memorabilia, and beef jerky booths.
There are however a few good booths for knives. This is my only chance to fondle, as we a devoid of any decent cutlery shop in this area. So I thought I would share a few impressions with you.
- Played with a CUDA. Found it to be quick once you got used to it. Took a little work, though. Kinda clunky handle and I didn't care for the blade shape, but the action was good.
- Played with a Random Task and Mini-Task. These were sweet. The opening mechanism was nice, but I really didn't care. I was more impressed with the fit and finish. I like the odd blade shape on both and the rounded G-10 scales are both attractive and ergonomic, while still managing to be grippy. Didn't see any blade play.
- Played with an EDI Genesis. Wow. Smooth opening knife. Great blade geometry. This was a temptation to make me break my "no liner lock" creedo. It was made easier by the fact that they didn't have them with a coated blade.
- Visited my friend Steve Rhodes at Midwest Gun Exchange, the consistently best knife dealer at the show. Bought alot of Benchmades from him over the years. This time, the Nimravus on the table was calling my name. I fondled it briefly before handing him 5 $20's. Such a sweet knife. I was even surprised by the sheath, which I found much better than reports of it had been. I will write more about that in a later post.
- There at the MGE booth, they had M2 AFCKs for the same price as the ATS34, i.e., around $75!!! I couldn't believe it. According to Steve, they don't cost the dealers hardly any more than the regular ones. I was shocked. Seems like the price inflation we have seen here on the internet is purely supply and demand, rather than expense of materials.
- I picked up a BM Ascent 820 (the small one) from a very good dealer from NC. This is a great knife for the money! Much better than either of the other two Ascents and much slimmer than the similar sized Delica. The clip is on the right end, too. I love this knife. BM did a good job with this one.
- No Axes or Pinnacles to fondle, however. *sigh* Steve said he should get some in soon, though.
Anyways, I walked away from the show very happy with the experience and with 2 new Benchmades. I hadn't been very happy with Benchmade in recent months, so this was kinda like making up with an old friend.
Lucky for me, financially at least, that I don't buy liner locks anymore, else I probably would have spent several hundred dollars more! The ones I checked out (the CUDA, the Tasks, and the M2 AFCK) all appeared to have good lockup, though I didn't really test them. I felt like ti would be in poor taste to do a spine whack test on a dealers showpieces.
Well, there's my rambling message.
Take care,
Clay
PS, My colleague who went with me left with a Mini-Stryker, an Auto-Stryker, a BM350, and blue Delica (for his girlfriend, an EMT). I think we have a knew knife knut! I am going to see if I can get him here.
------------------
Clay Fleischer
cdfleischer@yahoo.com
"10,000 Lemmings Can't Be Wrong!"
There are however a few good booths for knives. This is my only chance to fondle, as we a devoid of any decent cutlery shop in this area. So I thought I would share a few impressions with you.
- Played with a CUDA. Found it to be quick once you got used to it. Took a little work, though. Kinda clunky handle and I didn't care for the blade shape, but the action was good.
- Played with a Random Task and Mini-Task. These were sweet. The opening mechanism was nice, but I really didn't care. I was more impressed with the fit and finish. I like the odd blade shape on both and the rounded G-10 scales are both attractive and ergonomic, while still managing to be grippy. Didn't see any blade play.
- Played with an EDI Genesis. Wow. Smooth opening knife. Great blade geometry. This was a temptation to make me break my "no liner lock" creedo. It was made easier by the fact that they didn't have them with a coated blade.
- Visited my friend Steve Rhodes at Midwest Gun Exchange, the consistently best knife dealer at the show. Bought alot of Benchmades from him over the years. This time, the Nimravus on the table was calling my name. I fondled it briefly before handing him 5 $20's. Such a sweet knife. I was even surprised by the sheath, which I found much better than reports of it had been. I will write more about that in a later post.
- There at the MGE booth, they had M2 AFCKs for the same price as the ATS34, i.e., around $75!!! I couldn't believe it. According to Steve, they don't cost the dealers hardly any more than the regular ones. I was shocked. Seems like the price inflation we have seen here on the internet is purely supply and demand, rather than expense of materials.
- I picked up a BM Ascent 820 (the small one) from a very good dealer from NC. This is a great knife for the money! Much better than either of the other two Ascents and much slimmer than the similar sized Delica. The clip is on the right end, too. I love this knife. BM did a good job with this one.
- No Axes or Pinnacles to fondle, however. *sigh* Steve said he should get some in soon, though.
Anyways, I walked away from the show very happy with the experience and with 2 new Benchmades. I hadn't been very happy with Benchmade in recent months, so this was kinda like making up with an old friend.
Lucky for me, financially at least, that I don't buy liner locks anymore, else I probably would have spent several hundred dollars more! The ones I checked out (the CUDA, the Tasks, and the M2 AFCK) all appeared to have good lockup, though I didn't really test them. I felt like ti would be in poor taste to do a spine whack test on a dealers showpieces.
Well, there's my rambling message.
Take care,
Clay
PS, My colleague who went with me left with a Mini-Stryker, an Auto-Stryker, a BM350, and blue Delica (for his girlfriend, an EMT). I think we have a knew knife knut! I am going to see if I can get him here.
------------------
Clay Fleischer
cdfleischer@yahoo.com
"10,000 Lemmings Can't Be Wrong!"