Knife shows and traditional blades

[singin50]

Great Charlie! My flights and hotel are booked and I'm ready to be there. Gonna be great to reconnect,,,U-2! Cory, you should be able to talk with both of them. There's always time to talk with fellow knifers!

 

[knowtracks]

Ken Erickson and Ken Coats are the two biggest draws for me. It could be just their two tables in the middle of an empty warehouse and I'd pay the price of admission. I'm assuming that both will be busy enough that I'm not expecting too much one on one with either, but just to see their work and eavesdrop on their conversations will be treat enough for me.

Ought to be a great show Cory! Especially with your enthusiastic daughter in tow. Get plenty of pics and post em up for us!


Dave

Of course your famous Perry! Everybody knows that. :thumbup:

 

[R Mac]

Silent,
You should try to attend the Shenandoah Valley Knife Collectors show in Harrisonburg, VA the first weekend in April. It is much larger than the Mason Dixon show which I believe is the Western MD show you are referring to. I consider the SVKC show more regional in that you have vendors from the Mid-Atlantic and upper South attending.
Check it out at www.svkc.org

 

[JB in SC]

Ken Erickson and Ken Coats are the two biggest draws for me. It could be just their two tables in the middle of an empty warehouse and I'd pay the price of admission. I'm assuming that both will be busy enough that I'm not expecting too much one on one with either, but just to see their work and eavesdrop on their conversations will be treat enough for me.

Ken Erickson is bringing the fantastic sportsman knife he recently finished, that alone would be worth the trip. A couple of his EDC's too.

 

[Cory Hess]

Ken Erickson is bringing the fantastic sportsman knife he recently finished, that alone would be worth the trip. A couple of his EDC's too.

Now that I did not know. Thanks for the heads up. I'm blown away by Ken's "average" knives. That sportsman knife is definitely going to be a treat.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

Silent,
You should try to attend the Shenandoah Valley Knife Collectors show in Harrisonburg, VA the first weekend in April. It is much larger than the Mason Dixon show which I believe is the Western MD show you are referring to. I consider the SVKC show more regional in that you have vendors from the Mid-Atlantic and upper South attending.
Check it out at www.svkc.org

I've been told by many friends, dealers and collectors that I need to make it to this show. If I can, I'd love to. What part of Maryland are you from? I'm right on the state line, about ten minutes east of I83 in the northwest tip of Harford county (or Hazard county as the locals call it).

 

[R Mac]

Right in Hagerstown, the 'Shining Gem of Western Maryland' :barf:, or commonly called 'The Hub City'

 

[silenthunterstudios]

It's nice if you visit maybe once or twice a year ...

 

[Cory Hess]

Well, yesterday was the day and we ended up spending about two hours perusing the Badger Knife Club Show. My daughter was so excited about it that she couldn't stop asking about it every day for the last week. My son decided that he didn't want to miss out, so I had two kiddos in tow.

I was blown away by Ken Erickson. I have read his posts and admired his knives. I know about his reputation among people in the know. I was expecting him to be polite and friendly. I was not expecting him to take so much time with me. He really went out of his way to answer my questions and let me handle his knives. He was very patient with my kids bouncing around his table and touching everything in sight. I really cherish the fact that my kids share my interest in knives, but I also know how disruptive they can be in crowded areas that contain valuable items. Ken went above and beyond in every way. I was a fan of his knives, I am now a fan of the person as well. I was shocked at how humble he was. I could probably spend the next hour writing about how great he was, but you get the idea. Here's a picture of him and his sportsman's knife (which is every bit as impressive in person as in his thread, and more so) with my daughter leaning precariously close:

I was also very impressed with the Queen table and Courtney Daniels. She ended up giving my kids each a knife from the Queen Kiddo Knife Program. She was also very patient and answered all of our questions. I couldn't be happier with my experience in meeting her:

Being my first knife show, I was very impressed with the whole experience. I've been to several gun shows, and don't think I'll be going to any more. I don't get anything out of them that I can't get visiting a gun shop or reading online. I was worried that the knife show would be similar. It wasn't. It was definitely worth the trip, and I'd suggest that anybody that has the opportunity to visit a similar show in their area take the time to do so.

 

[davek14]

Is there a site with a good listing of knife shows?

The NKCA show used to go through 90 miles from here. I only went a couple times and kick myself now.

I just went to our local gun/knife show yesterday. I've gotta go once a year or so to renew my "meh" reaction. Weren't even any decent knives out of cases to handle.

 

[5K Qs]

Thanks for doing this update, Cory! It's great to hear your (and your kids') reactions to your first knife show! :thumbup::thumbup:
Sounds like it was a pretty amazing time for the whole family. I'm happy to hear that you had such a great time with Ken Erickson and Queen Daniels
I'll bet the day will be a fantastic family memory; way to go, man!! :thumbup:

Is there a site with a good listing of knife shows?

The NKCA show used to go through 90 miles from here. I only went a couple times and kick myself now.

I just went to our local gun/knife show yesterday. I've gotta go once a year or so to renew my "meh" reaction. Weren't even any decent knives out of cases to handle.

I've been to my local gun & knife show several times in the 15 months that I've been interested in knives; there seems to be one in town every 3 months or so. My reaction has been fairly similar to Dave's. For one thing, at the ones I go to, gun tables outnumber knife tables by probably 15 or 20 to 1 (and I have zero interest in guns). The knife tables are in general pretty uninspiring. There are always the same 3 guys who have a lot of semi-interesting old traditional knives nowhere near mint condition (which is fine with me) but their prices seem very high and are non-negotiable (which is not fine with me). I did once pick up a decent TL-29 from a young man I've only seen there once. There's another family that shows up to sell ax handles, but they always have lots of SAKs (and at the last show lots of multitools), some Moras, and some military surplus can openers, all for what I consider reasonable prices; I've picked up a SAK from them at a couple of the shows I've attended. But my wife drove across town yesterday and saw a billboard that the gun & knife show was back this weekend; she called me to remind me, and I said thanks but no thanks. Surprisingly there will already be another at the end of April; maybe I'll go to that if for no other reason than it's right by the flea market that should be up and running by the end of April.

But Cory's experience is sure making me long for a chance to go to an honest-to-goodness, dedicated knife show with manufacturers' reps and everything. (And my experiences with knife shops in Spain are sure making me long for a local knife shop.)

- GT

 

[davek14]

My local gun/knife show used to have a decent vendor who had knives which had been confiscated at courthouses etc. (he was kinda vague as to where). He had boxes lined up marked $1, $3, $5, $10, $20. It was a lot of junk mixed in with a few decent old knives. Heaven on earth in other words.

I got a few good deals from him some years ago. He started to charge too much, like $20 for a worn out, small Old Timer then I stopped seeing him.

 

[coolio]

It was definitely worth the trip, and I'd suggest that anybody that has the opportunity to visit a similar show in their area take the time to do so.

Cory, I managed to get to the Badger show in Janesville yesterday too. I was my first knife show, and I was very impressed. I talked with Ken at length and he is great, beautiful craftsmanship! I went w/o my boys, so I could spend time doing some hard looking, but it was definitely kid friendly. I was worried there wouldn't be enough vintage slip-joints for my liking, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were a lot of nice vintage barlows, if I had more moola I would've bought quite a few, but I ended up with one nice Hibbard. I'm going to get that one cleaned up a little and post it in the barlow thread tomorrow. I think Queen had a nice table, it's a shame that all the major manufacturers don't come to Janesville. Anyway, if your in the midwest, big thumbs up for the spring Badger Knife Show, it's not to be missed!

 

[5K Qs]

Thanks for the report, Brad! :thumbup::thumbup:
It's good to hear that you and Cory apparently attended the same show D) and had very similar impressions.
Sounds like a good time was had by all. I'll have to start researching whether something like that is ever held within, say, a 2-hour drive of my location in Michigan.

- GT

 

[Cory Hess]

Cory, I managed to get to the Badger show in Janesville yesterday too.

We'll have to set something up so we can meet up there next year. It was fun getting to meet a couple people from the forums here.

Greg, this would have been right up your alley. There were literally hundreds of knives that were right in your wheelhouse, and plenty of people that wanted to talk about them. You'd have a blast if you could find a show near you.

 

[combatjiujitsu]

Lucky Dogs! I live in North Western Kentucky right below Indiana and not many shows near me unfortunately. You guys got me considering making a little trip one day soon though.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

5KQS, I don't know what kind of ride you'd be looking at, but Bark River hosts several grind ins per year. Mike used to run Marbles and had some impressive slipjoints come out of Queen. I'd look into it.

 

[5K Qs]

Thanks, Dan. Escanaba is probably a 6-7 hour drive for me. Isn't Bark River exclusively fixed blades?

- GT

 

[Cory Hess]

Dan, any links to info on those? I have in-laws that live in Iron Mt., about an hour's ride from Bark River. If I could line one of my obligatory in-law visits up with a Bark River trip it would definitely make the weekend more enjoyable.

 

[davek14]

Lucky Dogs! I live in North Western Kentucky right below Indiana and not many shows near me unfortunately. You guys got me considering making a little trip one day soon though.

This thread told me about a couple within 100 mi of Cincinnati.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1275612-Need-some-help-from-Kentucky-guys!


You must be around Louisville. The Lexington show?