Knife Publications–Where would we be without them?

Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones

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Oct 28, 2006
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As a result of learning that this month marks Blade Magazine’s (35th) anniversary, along with the discussions regarding David and Edmund’s new book “The Art of the Integral Knife, it brings knife publications to mind and their impact over the years on the collectable knife industry.

There’s Blade, Knives Illustrated and Tactical Knives, just to name a few, that helps to keep us updated on everything from the newest production knives to the latest designs, techniques and materials being used by customs makers.

There’s David Darom’s books that amaze and take custom knives to a higher level.

There’s the “Knife Annuals” that are like a year in review for collectable knives.

There are the books that document history and specific makers and knives such as “The Points of Interest”.

There’s instructional books written by some of our best and most well known makers.

• Where would the collectable knife industry be today without these various types of publications?

• Do you feel it’s important that we as collectors, makers, dealers, etc. subscribe to or purchase these publications?

• What are your favorite knife publications?

Thank you in advance for your participation.
 
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I know that a lot us of rely in the internet these days, but something Craig Camerer told me made me ralize how valuable the print products still are. He said that when he put an ad in one of the mags, he got some letters.......yes, I said letters.......handwritten on paper of all things.......inquring about his knives. Apparently, some of these collectors not only didn't go onthe internet, but didn't even use a computer that much:D The great thing about the mags, etc., like other print media is that it gets your name out in front of people who may not realize that they are looking to buy a knife like you make......yet. Having a website doesn't matter a whole lot if nobody knows that it is there:thumbup:
 
I for one can state that I would be a much less frustrated person without some of the knife magazines, due to the fact that I find grammatical and spelling errors to be most odious.:barf:. I find that the 'reviews' are mostly lame and cater to advertisers more than to buyers.

Other than that, magazines are cool I guess, except for the huge amounts of advertising vs. the high cost, in Canada, of these rags. Good way to keep track of new products on the market. Reading a year's worth of KI got me up to date with the newer players, as I've been out of the knife thing for more than a decade. Now that BF is part of my world, I find I'm keeping up with the industry more easily.

Of the more, um literary, works like Mr. Darom's, I have almost no experience. Maybe some day I will start investing in these types of books.
 
I always look forward to the knife annuals due to the great amount of photos they include.
 
jonathan brand said:
I always look forward to the knife annuals due to the great amount of photos they include.
Click to expand...
ESPECIALLY since they went back to 4 color a few years back:thumbup: I picked up a copy of Excalibur at the Paris show last fall. Boy,is that slick looking product!!
 
My wife picked up the latest edition of Tactical Knives. I haven't finished reading the whole issue yet , I haven't purchased any of the magazines in about a year , after what I have read so far , it will be another year or more before I purchase another.

Nothing there , that I can't find online , via a forum , and represented in a un-biased way. Plus using the forums , you can find out about stuff almost right away , where as by the time the magazine is out , it's already old news.
 
Its always exciting to see some work you purchased appear in a publication. And that little bit of luck brings alot of joy to collecting along with some pride.
 
I support the knife publications.

The forums/internet are the new thing, relatively speaking. The knife rags and books on custom knives are mostly responsible for where we are today.

I get Blade, Knives Annual (one of the best) and Knives Illustrated (lot of mistakes/typeOs in KI). I also buy most of the custom knife books that come out, but not all.

Blade mag is also responsible for the largest knife show in the world!
 
even with the internets, I still like to kick it old school. Can't replace havin a good mag in the john.:thumbup:
 
I look forward each month to my subscribed copies of Blade and KI. I read what interests me several times and like TV I ignore what does not interest me, but I read far more than I ignore.

It's always fun to see some of you work or that of one of your favorite makers or collectors featured in the magazines, and I use them as an ongoing reference of the show dates and venues.

It's a great source to keep abreast of what's going on and what the trends are so all in all it's a positive for me and money well spent.

Paul
 
i usually just buy knife mags when i fly. Like John said, there isn't much in them that you cant find online.
But i do acknowledge that yes without the knife rags we wouldn't be here to day. I give recognition where recognition is due. So props to the knife rags!
 
Like Jon and Paul (Top) said, I love to see my knives & sheaths in the magazines. To me that is very cool.:thumbup:
 
For instance: I would have missed my John White fighter in his Blade ad last month, or an ad or two that would lead me to a new site I've now bookmarked, a Wayne Goddard question and answer session that has set some technical things straight for me, seeing a BF maker featured in the 'Knifemaker Showcase', going to 'Where to net 'em' to look up a website of interest, thorough knife show schedules and ads. Tonight, I read about Wolfgang Loerchner, who has tremendous talent, written by Don Guild, plus, enjoyed Tim Zowada's article on sharpening, knifemaker style, and on-and-on.

Concerning just my Blade Magazine subscription, for less than 5 gallons of gasoline a year (:)), I can have a monthly encyclopedia of knife info. dropped off at my house for my reading pleasure. Yes, a wealth of information is available on the internet if you want to spend all of your time tied to the computer, but the computer doesn't fit in my Lazy Boy or on the commode too well, so I'm all for 'em. :D

- Joe
 
I do find the question/answer portions (Wayne Goddard..), and sometimes the reader response areas to be interesting.
"Blade" is what i subscribe to. ..I do agree with Lorien, much of it becomes an advertising medium.. which gets sickening when you sense it happening as knives are being tested/reviewed. There should be a more standardized way of evaluating knives for these articles/magazines.

I guess that's my biggest gripe.

That being said, I DO always enjoy the pictures. :)

And, always flip to read Ed Fowler's article first. I enjoy his perspective on just about everything.
David

BTW, this is off-topic, but what is that thing on Don Hanson's, cat's head? ..some kind of hat made out of a green apple?
 
I was told last fall that TK is trying to spend a little more ink and paper talking about customs. That's a good thing. The ads in their Custom Spotlight section are only $200 and $250 per issue, so I can't pass that up. I know that i will probably need to use a different style of knife for that ad compared with Blade, but hey, the more folks I can get interested, the better.
 
it's a good point about the fact that the internets aren't the be all and end all, and that there is intrinsic value in the written, on paper, word.

I think that oftentimes, people like us get caught up in a 'virtual community' at the expense of the real deal, but some times the two complement each other, and I know that's true in a lot of cases in this forum so I'm not judging it.

If you're profiled or advertising in a magazine as a maker or whatever, the guy who doesn't know or care about this tiny corner of the internets, who finds out about you in a mag, is probably going to make a phone call, talk to a real person and establish a real relationship of some sort. This is where community starts easiest- mano et mano. Not some place where one can say anything, under an alias, and let their inner chucky run rampant over other well meaning folks.

There are lots of things I find kind of annoying about magazines, but no computer should ever replace words and images on paper.

Besides, I hear that computer monitors can boil your eyeballs right out of your skull!
 
severedthumbs said:
the internet has killed them
Click to expand...

Killed them?
You would no doubt be very surprised at Blade's monthly distribution. I imagine Tactical Knives and Knives Illustrated do very good as well.

As the INTERNET has tremendously expanded the overall collectible knife market I expect books such the Knife Annuals and David Darom's books have actually benefited from it.
And then there's the Amazon factor.

I support the knife publications as the collectible knife industry would be far less without them. I expect David's five books have created quite a few custom knife collectors.
 
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I like the Knives Annuals and the books, but I find the mags lame and cheaply made. I'd much rather pay 2X, 3X, 4X the price for a bimonthly or a quarterly with more pics - in colors, more of a focus on customs, and fewer love fest articles.

I haven't bought or subscribed to B or KI or TK in forever. I don't know if the internet has killed their advertising business, but I just don't feel I get my money's worth out of them.

The fact is, I don't care that much about the articles generally. I think that specific makers are better introduced by a portfolio of high quality pics of their knives than a long article. A short paragraph is enough to give basic info.

The other articles are generally completely bland, never taking party, never coming on one side or the other, always edging their bets. I understand why, but life is too short to waste time reading "print aspartam", AFAIC.
 
I think that what I wrote in the preface of my fourth book in the series
on the world of modern custom knives sums up a now 6 year amazing experience
of my involvement in knife related publications...

"...The world of custom knives will never be the same for me after exploring it in depth
over the past five years and ending up with 4 magnificent books standing on my bookshelf.
Gazing at these four volumes, there are moments when I catch myself daydreaming and
wondering how on earth I took upon myself to even consider dealing with such a major
undertaking. A five-year intensively time-consuming process that was created on my
Macintosh, at home, ended way beyond the simple "dream come true" stage as it turned
into a 1072 page, four volume art-book series dedicated to modern custom knives.

Then come those moments when I feel deeply thankful to have somehow found the
strength to pull it all off and see my original concept become a reality. Strength constantly
bestowed onto me, by many friends from around the world as well as family close by.

The time that I actually invested in producing these four art books - about 7000 hours of
"production" work plus 16 trips to knife shows in far away lands - does not truly indicate
the stressful events involved in desperately clinging to deadlines or the hundreds of sleepless
nights that go with this. Nor does it give any idea about the tremendous pressure that develops
while working with more than 200 knifemakers, photographers, collectors, knife dealers,
designers and printers during an almost non-stop period of five years. And it was not just
working with so many from all around the globe, it was, in many cases, getting involved
with some of their personal problems too. Advising and suggesting as well as coaching them,
nagging, pushing and working with them on-line, sometimes for hours at a time.

Another one of the daring aspects, maybe the most amazing aspect of this adventure,
was that in many cases, I had not even met the people represented in my books!
At first I only got to know them by means of Internet and long phone conversations,
meeting most of them eventually for the first time, only after the books were published
and introduced to the public...

I think it is quite in place to repeat here part of what I said in 2002, for the epilogue of
my first book "Art and Design in Modern Custom Folding Knives". It was so true
then, five years ago, and it says it all again, now, after finishing the fourth volume...

"Once there was a man who had a dream... Little did he realize what was needed to get
a selected group of artists from the around the world to cooperate and work as a team.
Little did he imagine what it would take to get them doing 'extra-curricular' work, sticking
religiously to fixed timetables and deadlines. Little could he visualize, although he himself
gladly spent over 12 hours each day working on his dream, that these busy people would
also have other things on their minds. And, little did he understand how nearly impossible
it would be to follow this vision through from over 10,000 miles away....
But, luckily for us all, there was also much love and faith involved, and that is what
finally pulled it off".

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
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