OilMan
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2004
- Messages
- 4,283
I went to my first BIG knife show Friday night. It was the Badger show in Janesville WI. I've been to other knife shows but at those everyone was selling the United stuff and acting like it was high end except for maybe one or two guys there who had some customs and good production knives. At this show there were actual makers and some bigtime dealers too.
First, I had a couple of misconceptions. I'm kinda on a Strider kick right now and was hoping to see a couple at least there but the Badger show seems to be more of a traditional knife knife show. Lot's of slipjoints, traditional fixed blades, and natural handle materials, which I don't care for.
The ONLY Strider that I saw besides mine all day was a regular SnG that Gary Moore had.(More on Gary in a minute) There was a rep there from Arizona Custom Knives who carry a lot of Striders but they didn't even bring any so maybe it just wasn't that kind of show?? I'm still not sure on that one. :grumpy:
My second misconception was that I would be able to take my camera and get pics for the forum. Ya right, it was wall to wall in there. And if you had a bag with you it was that much harder to see anything or move. Fairly narrow isles kept you packed like sardines. Which I HATE. This may have been because it was the first day of the show but it was PACKED.
OK, on to the show. First inside the door is Gary Moores table. I've done a lot of phone deals with Gary before and we shot the shi7 on knives every now and again. Gary knows knives like few others. He can talk about knives for hours upon hours. It's nice to see someone who sells knives that is informed on them and still seems to be enthralled when talking about them, like us. Anywho, I introduce myself to Gary and we briefly say hi and I tell him I'll see him in a bit because I was going to do a lap. Plus, that was between two people because his table was packed. I couldn't get a good look at his stuff at that point.
That starts me shuffling through the crowd making my way through the tables of knives occasionly stopping to look at a beautiful pearl or abalone handle.(Pearl and Abalone being the two natural handle materials I like.) And there were some BEAUTIFUL Pearl and Abalone handled knives there. Like the stuff you see in the artsy section of Blade. I'm really only interested in buying users anymore and I'm not crazy wealthy or I would have left with a lot of the Black Lip Pearl folders. A lot.
I made my way through the whole place stopping now and then to look at something or talk with dealers I had talked to on the phone before or hung out at their shop (Toms Cutlery in Rockford where I'm from). I decided I would just walk until something spoke to me and was within my price range. The only thing that really screamed at me was a fixed blade which I don't usually too much care for so I disregarded it and kept walking. I walked through again, Garys table was still pretty full so I bypassed it again.
Again that same fixed blade stopped me. Or rather a group of fixed blades. The Micarta handles on the bead blasted metal of these fixed blades just said something to me. I wasn't sure why as, like I said, fixed blades usually don't interest me. The maker is Wm. C. "Bill" Johnson out of Enon Ohio. He and his wife were a pleasure to talk to. He had some of his templates there and a couple of fixed blades on his table. They fit the hand perfectly and felt like a knife should. Like you knew it would do what you would ask of it. I bought one of his SubHilt Fighters as my first purchase of the show. I did further laps at this show and ALWAYS stopped here again and looked at some of his other models.
High Res Version Wm Johnson Subhilt
Next, I'm finally able to get a good look at Moores knives which are more my style. Mostly metal mean looking stuff. He had an Elishewitz Wharncliff that initially sparked my interest but it lost favor when I saw a Crawford Flipper. Not sure if it has a model name but it's a beautiful knife. Kinda like a Perfigo. This was my second purchase.
High Res Version Crawford Flipper
High Res Version Crawford Flipper
That was pretty much it as for customs that really "did it" for me but there were a couple of production knives I wanted so I did a couple of more laps. First off in that respect was a Chisel Ground Emerson. I wanted to see why a lot of people seem to love them. A couple of dealers had one or two but none were what I was looking for. I wanted a Waved Chisel Ground Tanto tip and most there were other models. Then I found a HD-7 at The Collectable Edge's table. I looked up the price of them when I got home and I didn't do bad there. My one question on it is are they all left hand grinds? Seems like a righty would want the grind on the other side??
High Res Version Emerson HD-7
High Res Version Emerson HD-7 Backside
That pretty much did it for me, now it was time to move to the door and tell Gary I'd talk to him later. As I'm about to do this I hear Gary say he's getting rid of his Production knives super cheap so he could go into the customs only biz. There was only one other production knife that had tripped my trigger lately because of a Wharncliff bug I've got but the other dealers there said it wasn't released yet. It was the Benchmade Snody Gravitator. Just for kicks and giggles I asked Gary if he had one. He asked me if I wanted a black or satin blade. Cool. Picked up a satin finished one for cheap even though those other guys said it wasn't out yet.
High Res Version Benchmade Snody Gravitator
Said my goodbyes and got the heck out of that sardine can. Where did that 4 hours go? Overall I talked with some very cool people with some awesome skills that I wish I had and shuffled around like a lemming. Sorry for making you read this, if it jumps around a bit it's because I'm still a little hung over from last night.
What's been in my pocket since that night? The Benchmade. The grind was a bit off so I reprofiled it which took me about 2 1/2 hours on my DMT diamond stones. That 154cm blew my mind on how hard it was but now I've got her at 15 degrees per side, with only one or three scratches where I came down on my sharpmaker in the wrong spot (doh) and it'll shave you if you look at it wrong. I don't know what it is but I just really like this one. It's a super solid knife. My only almost complaint about it is they should have rounded some of the corners on the top of the lockside so it wouldn't scrape your hand when you try to put it in your pocket with the knife in it. Now I'm gonna have to find the custom version from Snody. Boy this is an expensive hobby. (I'd add a smiley but the forum says I've got all the pics I'm allowed. Doh Doh)
later,
oily
Edit: Spelling fix.
First, I had a couple of misconceptions. I'm kinda on a Strider kick right now and was hoping to see a couple at least there but the Badger show seems to be more of a traditional knife knife show. Lot's of slipjoints, traditional fixed blades, and natural handle materials, which I don't care for.
The ONLY Strider that I saw besides mine all day was a regular SnG that Gary Moore had.(More on Gary in a minute) There was a rep there from Arizona Custom Knives who carry a lot of Striders but they didn't even bring any so maybe it just wasn't that kind of show?? I'm still not sure on that one. :grumpy: My second misconception was that I would be able to take my camera and get pics for the forum. Ya right, it was wall to wall in there. And if you had a bag with you it was that much harder to see anything or move. Fairly narrow isles kept you packed like sardines. Which I HATE. This may have been because it was the first day of the show but it was PACKED.
OK, on to the show. First inside the door is Gary Moores table. I've done a lot of phone deals with Gary before and we shot the shi7 on knives every now and again. Gary knows knives like few others. He can talk about knives for hours upon hours. It's nice to see someone who sells knives that is informed on them and still seems to be enthralled when talking about them, like us. Anywho, I introduce myself to Gary and we briefly say hi and I tell him I'll see him in a bit because I was going to do a lap. Plus, that was between two people because his table was packed. I couldn't get a good look at his stuff at that point.
That starts me shuffling through the crowd making my way through the tables of knives occasionly stopping to look at a beautiful pearl or abalone handle.(Pearl and Abalone being the two natural handle materials I like.) And there were some BEAUTIFUL Pearl and Abalone handled knives there. Like the stuff you see in the artsy section of Blade. I'm really only interested in buying users anymore and I'm not crazy wealthy or I would have left with a lot of the Black Lip Pearl folders. A lot.
I made my way through the whole place stopping now and then to look at something or talk with dealers I had talked to on the phone before or hung out at their shop (Toms Cutlery in Rockford where I'm from). I decided I would just walk until something spoke to me and was within my price range. The only thing that really screamed at me was a fixed blade which I don't usually too much care for so I disregarded it and kept walking. I walked through again, Garys table was still pretty full so I bypassed it again.
Again that same fixed blade stopped me. Or rather a group of fixed blades. The Micarta handles on the bead blasted metal of these fixed blades just said something to me. I wasn't sure why as, like I said, fixed blades usually don't interest me. The maker is Wm. C. "Bill" Johnson out of Enon Ohio. He and his wife were a pleasure to talk to. He had some of his templates there and a couple of fixed blades on his table. They fit the hand perfectly and felt like a knife should. Like you knew it would do what you would ask of it. I bought one of his SubHilt Fighters as my first purchase of the show. I did further laps at this show and ALWAYS stopped here again and looked at some of his other models.
High Res Version Wm Johnson Subhilt
Next, I'm finally able to get a good look at Moores knives which are more my style. Mostly metal mean looking stuff. He had an Elishewitz Wharncliff that initially sparked my interest but it lost favor when I saw a Crawford Flipper. Not sure if it has a model name but it's a beautiful knife. Kinda like a Perfigo. This was my second purchase.
High Res Version Crawford Flipper
High Res Version Crawford Flipper
That was pretty much it as for customs that really "did it" for me but there were a couple of production knives I wanted so I did a couple of more laps. First off in that respect was a Chisel Ground Emerson. I wanted to see why a lot of people seem to love them. A couple of dealers had one or two but none were what I was looking for. I wanted a Waved Chisel Ground Tanto tip and most there were other models. Then I found a HD-7 at The Collectable Edge's table. I looked up the price of them when I got home and I didn't do bad there. My one question on it is are they all left hand grinds? Seems like a righty would want the grind on the other side??
High Res Version Emerson HD-7
High Res Version Emerson HD-7 Backside
That pretty much did it for me, now it was time to move to the door and tell Gary I'd talk to him later. As I'm about to do this I hear Gary say he's getting rid of his Production knives super cheap so he could go into the customs only biz. There was only one other production knife that had tripped my trigger lately because of a Wharncliff bug I've got but the other dealers there said it wasn't released yet. It was the Benchmade Snody Gravitator. Just for kicks and giggles I asked Gary if he had one. He asked me if I wanted a black or satin blade. Cool. Picked up a satin finished one for cheap even though those other guys said it wasn't out yet.
High Res Version Benchmade Snody Gravitator
Said my goodbyes and got the heck out of that sardine can. Where did that 4 hours go? Overall I talked with some very cool people with some awesome skills that I wish I had and shuffled around like a lemming. Sorry for making you read this, if it jumps around a bit it's because I'm still a little hung over from last night.
What's been in my pocket since that night? The Benchmade. The grind was a bit off so I reprofiled it which took me about 2 1/2 hours on my DMT diamond stones. That 154cm blew my mind on how hard it was but now I've got her at 15 degrees per side, with only one or three scratches where I came down on my sharpmaker in the wrong spot (doh) and it'll shave you if you look at it wrong. I don't know what it is but I just really like this one. It's a super solid knife. My only almost complaint about it is they should have rounded some of the corners on the top of the lockside so it wouldn't scrape your hand when you try to put it in your pocket with the knife in it. Now I'm gonna have to find the custom version from Snody. Boy this is an expensive hobby. (I'd add a smiley but the forum says I've got all the pics I'm allowed. Doh Doh)
later,
oily
Edit: Spelling fix.
I picked up a Russ Easler blacklip MOP slipjoint from him--probably one of the knives you were looking at.
