Knife show in Gembloux, Belgium

WillyD

WillyD

Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
244
Last saturday I was at the BKS knife show in Gembloux, Belgium. And lo and behold, who do I find there exposing: none other than Fred Perrin. I picked up a really nice 440C stainless neck knife made by Fred himself, it's not his traditional La Griffe design but a bit larger and with a clip point blade. He also was offering his hand forged and G10 La Griffes but I chose that one for it's size and corrosion resistance. Fred's a really great guy who after you buy your blade will personally inspect it for you then give it a quick steeling and rub it down with oil for you. His Kydex sheets are far superior to all the stuff I have from Spyderco, providing the same, no play at all grip on the knife but with a much smoother draw. Never to busy to have a chat with you or answer all questions you might have I've developped an even greater respect for this maker! (And this all at 75 euro's)

Another gem I picked up was a completely hand made drop point knife in D2 steel by a maker called Philippe Laurent. This guy makes same awesome classic hunters in D2 with a really high hollow grind and a very thin, really toothy secondary bevel that just cuts like hell! A nice detail is the dragon engraving at the bolsters which is impressively well done.

As I have no digital camera available at the time I'll try and post pics later.
 
Some pcs of my new toys, sorry for the bad quality it's done with a scanner... :)
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Please let me know how you like them.
 
Hi
I also visited the show in Gembloux. I asked Perrin about the knife you bought and he told me this was a factory made version. Because demand for his handmade knives is so high, he lets a German factory make the knife to his standards. That is why he can offer it at that price. 75 euro, whilst a handmade version sells for around 120 euros.
On the blade you can see the factory stamp and his name.

As for the other knife, it was the first knife the guy ever made. Really nice.

Greetz
Dirk
 
456 yep you're right I was handling 2 models and I mixed up the 2 descriptions. I'm sorry for the misinformation on that one. It was the stainles factor that made me go for the 440C.
 
456 when were you there ? Saturday or Sunday ? My friend bought this cool bolo by Jan Dox really basic and tactical looking :D Yeah, he told me that the hunter was his first knife (it would be great if he'd make it big and I'd have his first ;) ) Did you handle the hunter? Do you by any chance remember what kind of wood he used on it? I just heard so much and had some "bierre de Gembloux" afterwards so it's kinda blurry. Sorry again for the wrong info on the Perrin.
 
Hi Willy
I was there on Saturday. I even talked to you just in front of Bart Weijs' table. I was the tall guy, with the glasses.
About the Perrin, I think you did the smart thing buying the factory made one. His handmade version was a lot less refined. And I found the price of 120 euros way to high.

I did handle the hunter, together with a small skinning blade, the nicest knife on Philipps' table. He told me what kind of wood the handle was, but I don't recall.

Anyway, you made two nice purchases!

At the show I bought a linerlock made by Thorburn from South-Africa. 12CV27 stainless steel, titanium liners, carbon fibre handles. A real beauty.
Greetz dirk
 
No Way, I wanted one of his too, but he only had righ-handed models there. They were fabulous !
 
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