Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
Last October, changed jobs from fish cutter at Whole Foods Market to selling knives for a major distributor. Look forward to going to work just about every day. This 8-5 covers every aspect of knowledge that has been accumulated over the last 28 years....and it got pounded home at this Blade Show. Took the redeye to ATL on Wednesday night, arriving at 6:15 am Thursday morning. Slept the whole way.
I hate Atlanta....the airport sucks, the people are slow and lazy, and Blade might as well be held in an airplane hangar because it is smack dab in the middle of BFE.
I wasn't going to go this year.....money has been a bit tight, and the $500.00 ticket was an improper indulgence.
Thomas W. from Kershaw/Kai stepped up and basically purchased my plane ticket for me, Matt Diskin paid for my hotel room...they made it happen, so I'll take this space to thank them.
THANK YOU, my brothers...Thomas and Matt...it meant so much.
As soon as I got my luggage, Matt and David Mirabile showed up. David was spitting venom because TSA mangled his Pelican case. Not what was in it, but they broke a latch on a virtually unbreakable case, and he was not having it. So Matt and I picked up the car, and left David to ream out whoever entered his universe.
We checked into the Renaissance Waverly. They did some pretty major renovations to the lodging levels, halls and rooms....looked nice. Matt thinks they flew some architect/interior designer out from The Wynn in Las Vegas. I liked the improvement, it has a more lux feel than previously, and befits the space. Much like Las Vegas, the Renaissance Waverly is fairly unattractive from the outside, and is pretty much in the middle of nowhere Cobb County, I think, geographically speaking, but is impressive enough that people are willing to hold formal wedding receptions during Blade Show weekend, which I think is insane.
We ate breakfast, and crashed. Slept for about 4 hours and headed down to the show floor. Matt had a booth for his business, Volcan Knives, and we(David, Joe, Matt and I) all had exhibitor badges. Saw a whole bunch of people on the way down, and having been accused of name dropping in the past....it was many of the cream of the crop.
Gus K. had my box o' knives that got shipped out the previous week, and I made a beeline for Blue Ridge, determined to sell knives that have been sitting in a box on my home office floor for the last 18 months. Got some cash, lost some money, but would do it again in a heartbeat.
Tommy Clark from Blue Ridge is one of the fairest business people I have ever known....but if you step up to do business with him, you had best have an "A" game to bring....you are dealing with a pure professional.
Something that was suspected was confirmed. There is plenty of great handle material out there, but much of it is quite expensive.
Got two sets of RADIANT black lip pearl this year that were less expensive than the sets I purchased two years ago, and significantly better. Don Hanson said that he would gladly purchase what I had picked out if for some reason I wanted to get rid of it. They averaged $160.00 each and would be large enough for a medium sized scaled folder, or a large interframe. Got warm fuzzies just from having this material.
Had Coop shoot two knives for me, a Harvey Dean two blade trapper and a Neill Schutte Dixon. Will talk more about those when the photos are up.
Dinked around some more, got some smaller stuff and it was time to head over to the CKCA banquet......which we were late to.....like they had to set up a table just for us, late.
Happily/Sadly, Kevin and Co. are used to this schnit, so we didn't get the roasting we deserved.
Elizabeth Loerchner won the the 2013 Jerry Fisk Cutlery Challenge. You can find other posts about the knives with photos, and they describe everything wonderfully. CKCA banquet attendees had every opportunity to "coon finger" as Jerry says, these knives.
Elizabeth's work spoke to me, and I did handle the knives, working them, holding them, gazing at the overall concept in astonishment. This is truly something merging craft and art in a way that I have never seen before, non derivative, and masterful.....mood altering and massively humbling....and I got to share those feelings with Elizabeth, which was a great honor.
Enrique Pena showed me his awesome 5 blade slipjoint stockman and a pearl handled 3 blade sowbelly in the pit, and I purchased the sowbelly on the spot. Am a sucker for white mother of pearl(all pearls, really), and this piece had just the look; crisp grinds, amazing blade shapes and grooved bolsters. Probably get it profesionally photographed, but already had the two pieces for pix, so this one can wait.
After we finished with dinner, we went to the pit, and I got fairly drunk, we went back to the room, hung out with a grip of people, and I passed out around 2:00 am, which seems reasonable, right?....Well the rest of the Gorilla Squad stayed up and got even more toasted....besides Doc Price-Matt's Grandfather from another mother and David, I was the senior citizen and needed beauty sleep....didn't get enough of it.
Friday morning came way too early.
Made a beeline for Arno Bernard's table as he carried Neill's knife to be delivered. Looked it over and paid the price agreed upon and went on my merry way to Matt's booth to help get everything set up and help out where there was a need. As pretty much everyone knows, Joe Paranee was on fire this Blade, between handling the auction for Jason, promoting David's sword and selling Matt's knives he excelled at all of it.
That is part of what made me realize the sea change.
If I am at Blade now, have to be looking for new opportunities for my company, and Matt doesn't really need anyone except Joe to help him out.
Matt has no real interest in working with a distributor, and Joe has sales at Blade all covered by himself. It's awesome to watch, but makes me a little sad, because everyone wants to feel needed. Anyway, I have done what I could for Matt in the past, and it has been substantial, so there are no regrets as far as that is concerned. I should be attending Blade next year in a more official capacity for work, and that will not leave much time for other stuff during the show. The timing is right, and it feels right.
Hung out with Gus a bit more, dropped for Bose Knives, and walked the show a bit with my boss. Then I started getting very tired, and feet were hurting, so bailed about 4:30 pm and went back to the room to crash for a bit. Everyone was going out to Folks Restaurant(Southern Fried everything)...even though they wound up at Caribbean fusion
confused and that sounded horrible to me, so I wound up in the pit by myself around 7:30 and ran into my old friend Tim Wegner from Blade Tech Industries. When I was starting my knife business in Washington State, Tim and I used to be back-to-back table holders at the Puyallup gun show. We wound up having dinner with a couple of his guys at Medici.....had a nice clean porkchop with roasted potatoes, and that was tasty.
It was a sweet and mellow sitdown, we caught up and B.S'd for a couple hours. Most relaxing time at the show. Back in the pit, pretty much talked to everyone....hate to say it, but that nap gave a second wind. Most of you have seen the pit, it is in actuality a sunken bar in the middle of the hotel "courtyard".....most people who have the ability and inclination will hang out there until 2:00 am or later, progressively drunker and funnier. Usually meek knifemakers turn into pro-wrestlers, many lies are told, and you have a very good chance of meeting and conversiing with people that you might have wanted to talk with before. I heard many newer makers ask people like Dave Lisch about his damascus, Adam and Haley DesRosiers about bowie construction, Anthony Lombardo about his diet secrets.
It is an awesome place to socialize and access persons and personalities IN THE FLESH. in a way that the internets does not.
Got to meet and hang out with Derrick Wulf for 4 days. We had never met(well, he said he met me before at Blade, but I don't remember, so it might just have been a drive-by), just traded insults, barbs and observations here at BFC. Anyway, he is an awesome dude with a sharp mind, discriminating palate and an intense love for sharp pointy things that we all share. The hours that Derrick and I and Dudley Dawkins got to share in the pit are precious, and I'll cherish them for as long as I have memory. Speaking about Dudley, if you look elsewhere in the Customs section, he posted up his significant haul for everyone to appreciate, and winds up looking like an insanely big baller in the process.
Make no mistake all of you, unless you have very large investment portfolios.....Blade can be VERY expensive if you are in a buying mood, and many of my friends save their money like misers for the entire year so they may purchase knives without worry....unlike cocaine or hot, fast females....at least you wind up with something to show for your efforts.
You know, it is one thing to have a friend win an award like Dave Lisch for his fixed blade, or David Mirabile for his sword. It is another thing to be laying in your queen size pillow top bed across from Davd Mirabile, falling asleep discussing said sword with knowledge and mutual appreciation for the form. We talk about legacies, and I drifted off to sleep at 2:30 am Friday morning listening to David make a statement and claim about his....made the hair on the back of my neck stand up with the possibilities.
Had breakfast with the CEO of my company, buyer and sales manager on Saturday morning at 7:00 am on Saturday. We were finishing up when ABS JS Ben Seward stopped by the table and asked me to look at his knives. He had some very nice pieces, was truly receptive to feedback and has a very good future ahead. I’ll be watching his progression, and will most likely get something in damascus.
Spent the vast majority of Saturday walking the show with my boss, the sales manager. He has worked at this company for about 18 years, in some form or another, but never really had a knife person to “show him how to see”, for lack of a better way to put it.
We saw some great stuff, the new Kershaw Zero Tolerance 0454 was simply the best production knife in the room, imo.
Bobby Branton has a new production line out called Red Neck knives, great concept…we will make something happen with that.
Brian Tighe never fails to amaze with his line of skeletonized folders .
Todd Begg and Bros has a new production fixed blade that shows all his trademark machining skills.
Allen Elishewitz is killing it with his Hogue partnership. I don’t understand at all why the “new “ collectors are not driving his prices into the stratosphere the way they are with the “Usual Suspects”.
We are going to do something with R.J Martin’s son with the tactical titanium pens he is making, unbelievable U.S. made quality at amazingly affordable prices.
Tom Ferry is building up a production tactical line that has some serious potential.
When my boss and I were finished, went back to Matt's table and caught the end of the auction for Jason's khukuri. $6,500 for a knife is a serious amount of coin. The knife was fully worth it, but that value would not have been realized if it wasn't for Joe Paranee's enthusiasm and hard work. It is truly formidable to see Joe in action, like a force of nature.
So, Matt and the crew decided when the show was over on Saturday to go to Flip Burger. Normally, I would love this, but had plans to eat with Jim and Susan Cooper, and Flip Burger is LOUD and young, and wasn't sure if they would like it...but they did. Flip Burger is a truly gourmet burger boutique where a burger, fries and shake will run $30.00 with tip....yeah, yeah, yeah.....a lot of you are saying it can't be much better than Five Guys, Fuddrucker's or Smashburger....but you are wrong. One of the best burgers I have ever had.....That said, the Buckhead location is much better than the Mid-town location, food is better as is the atmosphere.
We had a group of 10 at dinner, including Gavin Hawk who thought bringing a couple floozies that he hoped to, ahem, bed would be a nice idea....but we wound up getting screwed instead because they were stupid and had bad attitudes....here is Joe enjoying his meal next to the floozies(this is a pure candid, Joe was not posing)
We split up into two tables at Flip Burger, Jim and Susan drove David Mirabile and I, Paul "Pappy" Long sat at our table and wound up having two strawberry shortcake milkshakes and adopting David Mirabile. Paul doesn't have any male children, so he adopted Joe and I a few years ago. Wanting a large family, he brought David into the brood. Good times!
When we were checking out, Jim pulled something out of his pocket, and started playing with it. It was a vintage stopwatch. He uses a stopwatch during rowing trials and somehow decided to rehab vintage models....and he gave me one as a token of friendship. I use a chess clock at work to mark my calls in the name of time efficiency, and have been using the stopwatch instead. It is a much appreciated, practical and sentimental gift.
Jim and Susan drove us all back to the Waverly, and the pit was in full tilt mode. They dropped us off and it was into the breach.....Saturday night in the pit is a frenzy of activity and drunkeness as many leave on Sunday, driving or flying.
Had a good conversation with Anthony Lombardo and Will Fennel(one of the best shotgunners in the world), which morphed into a conversation with Anthony Lombardo and Scott Devanna(who knows more about steel metallurgy than 99% of anyone) and then I ambled over to Anthony Marfione Jr's table to congratulate him on the two Microtech awards they got(Best Collaboration for the D.O.C., and best feature, the KillSwitch, which is an automatic knife safety that functions like a firearm safety). My company is one of two true business to business Microtech distributors, and we are very happy for them.
Ken Onion was in the pit celebrating his 4 FOUR Blade Magazine awards, three with CRKT and one with ChefWorks, where he has a new chef's knife. Great night to be Ken.
If someone(Mace Vitale or Bill Burke) offers you moonshine next year, ask for the diluted version. Your digestive system will thank you.
Continued on Post # 23.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
I hate Atlanta....the airport sucks, the people are slow and lazy, and Blade might as well be held in an airplane hangar because it is smack dab in the middle of BFE.
I wasn't going to go this year.....money has been a bit tight, and the $500.00 ticket was an improper indulgence.
Thomas W. from Kershaw/Kai stepped up and basically purchased my plane ticket for me, Matt Diskin paid for my hotel room...they made it happen, so I'll take this space to thank them.
THANK YOU, my brothers...Thomas and Matt...it meant so much.
As soon as I got my luggage, Matt and David Mirabile showed up. David was spitting venom because TSA mangled his Pelican case. Not what was in it, but they broke a latch on a virtually unbreakable case, and he was not having it. So Matt and I picked up the car, and left David to ream out whoever entered his universe.
We checked into the Renaissance Waverly. They did some pretty major renovations to the lodging levels, halls and rooms....looked nice. Matt thinks they flew some architect/interior designer out from The Wynn in Las Vegas. I liked the improvement, it has a more lux feel than previously, and befits the space. Much like Las Vegas, the Renaissance Waverly is fairly unattractive from the outside, and is pretty much in the middle of nowhere Cobb County, I think, geographically speaking, but is impressive enough that people are willing to hold formal wedding receptions during Blade Show weekend, which I think is insane.
We ate breakfast, and crashed. Slept for about 4 hours and headed down to the show floor. Matt had a booth for his business, Volcan Knives, and we(David, Joe, Matt and I) all had exhibitor badges. Saw a whole bunch of people on the way down, and having been accused of name dropping in the past....it was many of the cream of the crop.
Gus K. had my box o' knives that got shipped out the previous week, and I made a beeline for Blue Ridge, determined to sell knives that have been sitting in a box on my home office floor for the last 18 months. Got some cash, lost some money, but would do it again in a heartbeat.
Tommy Clark from Blue Ridge is one of the fairest business people I have ever known....but if you step up to do business with him, you had best have an "A" game to bring....you are dealing with a pure professional.
Something that was suspected was confirmed. There is plenty of great handle material out there, but much of it is quite expensive.
Got two sets of RADIANT black lip pearl this year that were less expensive than the sets I purchased two years ago, and significantly better. Don Hanson said that he would gladly purchase what I had picked out if for some reason I wanted to get rid of it. They averaged $160.00 each and would be large enough for a medium sized scaled folder, or a large interframe. Got warm fuzzies just from having this material.
Had Coop shoot two knives for me, a Harvey Dean two blade trapper and a Neill Schutte Dixon. Will talk more about those when the photos are up.
Dinked around some more, got some smaller stuff and it was time to head over to the CKCA banquet......which we were late to.....like they had to set up a table just for us, late.
Happily/Sadly, Kevin and Co. are used to this schnit, so we didn't get the roasting we deserved.Elizabeth Loerchner won the the 2013 Jerry Fisk Cutlery Challenge. You can find other posts about the knives with photos, and they describe everything wonderfully. CKCA banquet attendees had every opportunity to "coon finger" as Jerry says, these knives.
Elizabeth's work spoke to me, and I did handle the knives, working them, holding them, gazing at the overall concept in astonishment. This is truly something merging craft and art in a way that I have never seen before, non derivative, and masterful.....mood altering and massively humbling....and I got to share those feelings with Elizabeth, which was a great honor.
Enrique Pena showed me his awesome 5 blade slipjoint stockman and a pearl handled 3 blade sowbelly in the pit, and I purchased the sowbelly on the spot. Am a sucker for white mother of pearl(all pearls, really), and this piece had just the look; crisp grinds, amazing blade shapes and grooved bolsters. Probably get it profesionally photographed, but already had the two pieces for pix, so this one can wait.
After we finished with dinner, we went to the pit, and I got fairly drunk, we went back to the room, hung out with a grip of people, and I passed out around 2:00 am, which seems reasonable, right?....Well the rest of the Gorilla Squad stayed up and got even more toasted....besides Doc Price-Matt's Grandfather from another mother and David, I was the senior citizen and needed beauty sleep....didn't get enough of it.
Friday morning came way too early.
Made a beeline for Arno Bernard's table as he carried Neill's knife to be delivered. Looked it over and paid the price agreed upon and went on my merry way to Matt's booth to help get everything set up and help out where there was a need. As pretty much everyone knows, Joe Paranee was on fire this Blade, between handling the auction for Jason, promoting David's sword and selling Matt's knives he excelled at all of it.
That is part of what made me realize the sea change.
If I am at Blade now, have to be looking for new opportunities for my company, and Matt doesn't really need anyone except Joe to help him out.
Matt has no real interest in working with a distributor, and Joe has sales at Blade all covered by himself. It's awesome to watch, but makes me a little sad, because everyone wants to feel needed. Anyway, I have done what I could for Matt in the past, and it has been substantial, so there are no regrets as far as that is concerned. I should be attending Blade next year in a more official capacity for work, and that will not leave much time for other stuff during the show. The timing is right, and it feels right.
Hung out with Gus a bit more, dropped for Bose Knives, and walked the show a bit with my boss. Then I started getting very tired, and feet were hurting, so bailed about 4:30 pm and went back to the room to crash for a bit. Everyone was going out to Folks Restaurant(Southern Fried everything)...even though they wound up at Caribbean fusion
confused and that sounded horrible to me, so I wound up in the pit by myself around 7:30 and ran into my old friend Tim Wegner from Blade Tech Industries. When I was starting my knife business in Washington State, Tim and I used to be back-to-back table holders at the Puyallup gun show. We wound up having dinner with a couple of his guys at Medici.....had a nice clean porkchop with roasted potatoes, and that was tasty. It was a sweet and mellow sitdown, we caught up and B.S'd for a couple hours. Most relaxing time at the show. Back in the pit, pretty much talked to everyone....hate to say it, but that nap gave a second wind. Most of you have seen the pit, it is in actuality a sunken bar in the middle of the hotel "courtyard".....most people who have the ability and inclination will hang out there until 2:00 am or later, progressively drunker and funnier. Usually meek knifemakers turn into pro-wrestlers, many lies are told, and you have a very good chance of meeting and conversiing with people that you might have wanted to talk with before. I heard many newer makers ask people like Dave Lisch about his damascus, Adam and Haley DesRosiers about bowie construction, Anthony Lombardo about his diet secrets.
It is an awesome place to socialize and access persons and personalities IN THE FLESH. in a way that the internets does not.Got to meet and hang out with Derrick Wulf for 4 days. We had never met(well, he said he met me before at Blade, but I don't remember, so it might just have been a drive-by), just traded insults, barbs and observations here at BFC. Anyway, he is an awesome dude with a sharp mind, discriminating palate and an intense love for sharp pointy things that we all share. The hours that Derrick and I and Dudley Dawkins got to share in the pit are precious, and I'll cherish them for as long as I have memory. Speaking about Dudley, if you look elsewhere in the Customs section, he posted up his significant haul for everyone to appreciate, and winds up looking like an insanely big baller in the process.
Make no mistake all of you, unless you have very large investment portfolios.....Blade can be VERY expensive if you are in a buying mood, and many of my friends save their money like misers for the entire year so they may purchase knives without worry....unlike cocaine or hot, fast females....at least you wind up with something to show for your efforts.
You know, it is one thing to have a friend win an award like Dave Lisch for his fixed blade, or David Mirabile for his sword. It is another thing to be laying in your queen size pillow top bed across from Davd Mirabile, falling asleep discussing said sword with knowledge and mutual appreciation for the form. We talk about legacies, and I drifted off to sleep at 2:30 am Friday morning listening to David make a statement and claim about his....made the hair on the back of my neck stand up with the possibilities.
Had breakfast with the CEO of my company, buyer and sales manager on Saturday morning at 7:00 am on Saturday. We were finishing up when ABS JS Ben Seward stopped by the table and asked me to look at his knives. He had some very nice pieces, was truly receptive to feedback and has a very good future ahead. I’ll be watching his progression, and will most likely get something in damascus.
Spent the vast majority of Saturday walking the show with my boss, the sales manager. He has worked at this company for about 18 years, in some form or another, but never really had a knife person to “show him how to see”, for lack of a better way to put it.
We saw some great stuff, the new Kershaw Zero Tolerance 0454 was simply the best production knife in the room, imo.
Bobby Branton has a new production line out called Red Neck knives, great concept…we will make something happen with that.
Brian Tighe never fails to amaze with his line of skeletonized folders .
Todd Begg and Bros has a new production fixed blade that shows all his trademark machining skills.
Allen Elishewitz is killing it with his Hogue partnership. I don’t understand at all why the “new “ collectors are not driving his prices into the stratosphere the way they are with the “Usual Suspects”.
We are going to do something with R.J Martin’s son with the tactical titanium pens he is making, unbelievable U.S. made quality at amazingly affordable prices.
Tom Ferry is building up a production tactical line that has some serious potential.
When my boss and I were finished, went back to Matt's table and caught the end of the auction for Jason's khukuri. $6,500 for a knife is a serious amount of coin. The knife was fully worth it, but that value would not have been realized if it wasn't for Joe Paranee's enthusiasm and hard work. It is truly formidable to see Joe in action, like a force of nature.
So, Matt and the crew decided when the show was over on Saturday to go to Flip Burger. Normally, I would love this, but had plans to eat with Jim and Susan Cooper, and Flip Burger is LOUD and young, and wasn't sure if they would like it...but they did. Flip Burger is a truly gourmet burger boutique where a burger, fries and shake will run $30.00 with tip....yeah, yeah, yeah.....a lot of you are saying it can't be much better than Five Guys, Fuddrucker's or Smashburger....but you are wrong. One of the best burgers I have ever had.....That said, the Buckhead location is much better than the Mid-town location, food is better as is the atmosphere.
We had a group of 10 at dinner, including Gavin Hawk who thought bringing a couple floozies that he hoped to, ahem, bed would be a nice idea....but we wound up getting screwed instead because they were stupid and had bad attitudes....here is Joe enjoying his meal next to the floozies(this is a pure candid, Joe was not posing)
We split up into two tables at Flip Burger, Jim and Susan drove David Mirabile and I, Paul "Pappy" Long sat at our table and wound up having two strawberry shortcake milkshakes and adopting David Mirabile. Paul doesn't have any male children, so he adopted Joe and I a few years ago. Wanting a large family, he brought David into the brood. Good times!
When we were checking out, Jim pulled something out of his pocket, and started playing with it. It was a vintage stopwatch. He uses a stopwatch during rowing trials and somehow decided to rehab vintage models....and he gave me one as a token of friendship. I use a chess clock at work to mark my calls in the name of time efficiency, and have been using the stopwatch instead. It is a much appreciated, practical and sentimental gift.
Jim and Susan drove us all back to the Waverly, and the pit was in full tilt mode. They dropped us off and it was into the breach.....Saturday night in the pit is a frenzy of activity and drunkeness as many leave on Sunday, driving or flying.
Had a good conversation with Anthony Lombardo and Will Fennel(one of the best shotgunners in the world), which morphed into a conversation with Anthony Lombardo and Scott Devanna(who knows more about steel metallurgy than 99% of anyone) and then I ambled over to Anthony Marfione Jr's table to congratulate him on the two Microtech awards they got(Best Collaboration for the D.O.C., and best feature, the KillSwitch, which is an automatic knife safety that functions like a firearm safety). My company is one of two true business to business Microtech distributors, and we are very happy for them.
Ken Onion was in the pit celebrating his 4 FOUR Blade Magazine awards, three with CRKT and one with ChefWorks, where he has a new chef's knife. Great night to be Ken.
If someone(Mace Vitale or Bill Burke) offers you moonshine next year, ask for the diluted version. Your digestive system will thank you.
Continued on Post # 23.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
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