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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
new york blade show ??
- Thread starter love4steel
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 24, 1999
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- 2,305
Hello Folks,
I did a review of the last show...since the pics no longer appear on the custom forum, I will repost my four part review here...
My first BIG show! I use the word big loosely because, as many have already reported, the actual venue was quite small (or at least smaller than expected) and there were only 95 exhibitors BUT all of the exhibitors were the heavy hitters of the knife industry. Tactical knives were well represented by Emerson, Crawford, Terzuola, Elishewitz, Strider, Ralph, and dozens of others. There was no shortage of art knifemakers either, e.g. Osborne, Szilaski, Hitchmough, Pease, Centofante, etc. etc. It was even more enjoyable to meet these industry icons than it was to handle their knives
On to the review but first I must apologize for the lousy scans I was not accompanied by my usual photographic crew (Murray White and cockroachfarm) so I had to rely on my 35mm and a very crappy scanner
I got in a couple of hours early and I was able to take a quick pic of the main room (the show was divided into two rooms)
I also managed to make it to the front of the line
Lets not waste any time my personal highlight of the show was meeting martial bladecraft guru Michael Janich. Im a big fan of Michaels (own several videos) and it was a real thrill to meet him in person. Michael was kind enough to demonstrate some of his rapid deployment techniques if it wasnt for the thwack of the lock, youd swear he was pulling out a fixed blade unbelievable! Michael was also kind enough to oblige when I asked him to show me some moves a fraction of a second after this pic was taken, Michaels hand was around my throat while he applied a foot lock (not sure that I was still smiling at that point)
Heres another shot with Michael, this time with David Dempsey
David brought along a fine assortment of knives including some neat pieces in Bodycotes tungsten DLC.
Another thrill was meeting knifemaking legend Bob Terzuola. Im grateful to Bob for the contribution that has made to the realm of tactical knives plus I love his ATCF.
Bob brought about 50 knives to the show but there were only 5 left by the time I got to his table.
Pat Crawford, another one of my favourite makers, brought a HUGE selection of tacticals
And here we are (Im holding my new Wortac with engine turned bolsters)
I did a review of the last show...since the pics no longer appear on the custom forum, I will repost my four part review here...
My first BIG show! I use the word big loosely because, as many have already reported, the actual venue was quite small (or at least smaller than expected) and there were only 95 exhibitors BUT all of the exhibitors were the heavy hitters of the knife industry. Tactical knives were well represented by Emerson, Crawford, Terzuola, Elishewitz, Strider, Ralph, and dozens of others. There was no shortage of art knifemakers either, e.g. Osborne, Szilaski, Hitchmough, Pease, Centofante, etc. etc. It was even more enjoyable to meet these industry icons than it was to handle their knives
On to the review but first I must apologize for the lousy scans I was not accompanied by my usual photographic crew (Murray White and cockroachfarm) so I had to rely on my 35mm and a very crappy scanner
I got in a couple of hours early and I was able to take a quick pic of the main room (the show was divided into two rooms)
I also managed to make it to the front of the line
Lets not waste any time my personal highlight of the show was meeting martial bladecraft guru Michael Janich. Im a big fan of Michaels (own several videos) and it was a real thrill to meet him in person. Michael was kind enough to demonstrate some of his rapid deployment techniques if it wasnt for the thwack of the lock, youd swear he was pulling out a fixed blade unbelievable! Michael was also kind enough to oblige when I asked him to show me some moves a fraction of a second after this pic was taken, Michaels hand was around my throat while he applied a foot lock (not sure that I was still smiling at that point)
Heres another shot with Michael, this time with David Dempsey
David brought along a fine assortment of knives including some neat pieces in Bodycotes tungsten DLC.
Another thrill was meeting knifemaking legend Bob Terzuola. Im grateful to Bob for the contribution that has made to the realm of tactical knives plus I love his ATCF.
Bob brought about 50 knives to the show but there were only 5 left by the time I got to his table.
Pat Crawford, another one of my favourite makers, brought a HUGE selection of tacticals
And here we are (Im holding my new Wortac with engine turned bolsters)
- Joined
- Aug 24, 1999
- Messages
- 2,305
Leave it to the Strider guys to bring one of my favourite knives (errr, swords actually) of the show
the Strider sword! (notice Mick Strider, Joe Estrada, and Ernie Emerson in the background!)
More Strider goodies
And the man himself!
And heres Ernie Emerson with his new kerambit
And the custom Emersons along with the lottery hat note the new CQC10 and the fixed blades at the top of the table
Allen Elishewitz along with Joel Pirella and Joels lovely wife Im holding the Elishewitz/Pirella presentation auto folding axe!
Allens beautiful tacticals along with one of his new Balisongs
Tactical fixed blade guru Al Polkowski (ironically hes holding his new folder Al hasnt made folders in quite some time)
I love the ergos on all of Als knives
More Strider goodies
And the man himself!
And heres Ernie Emerson with his new kerambit
And the custom Emersons along with the lottery hat note the new CQC10 and the fixed blades at the top of the table
Allen Elishewitz along with Joel Pirella and Joels lovely wife Im holding the Elishewitz/Pirella presentation auto folding axe!
Allens beautiful tacticals along with one of his new Balisongs
Tactical fixed blade guru Al Polkowski (ironically hes holding his new folder Al hasnt made folders in quite some time)
I love the ergos on all of Als knives
- Joined
- Aug 24, 1999
- Messages
- 2,305
Speaking of tactical fixed blades, the rumours about Jerry Hossoms knives are true
they are unbelievably light for their size! This Massive Retribution (unfortunately the Yuppie Camo finish doesnt show in the pics) was as light as a feather (probably lighter than my Farid folder
oops, more on that later).
It was nice to meet Tom Anderson our paths have crossed here on BF a few times Tom is as much of a gentleman as he is a fine knifemaker.
Jim Siska makes one of the best balanced knives Ive ever held here he is with a fine example of his popular sub-hilt fighter
Brad Duncan had a handful of Whiplash models in both framelock and linerlock on display
A ton of knives at Bud Nealys table my favourite was the JKD (you can see the new mini version in the front row)
Rick Fowler I like the square tip Nam knife
It was nice to meet Tom Anderson our paths have crossed here on BF a few times Tom is as much of a gentleman as he is a fine knifemaker.
Jim Siska makes one of the best balanced knives Ive ever held here he is with a fine example of his popular sub-hilt fighter
Brad Duncan had a handful of Whiplash models in both framelock and linerlock on display
A ton of knives at Bud Nealys table my favourite was the JKD (you can see the new mini version in the front row)
Rick Fowler I like the square tip Nam knife
- Joined
- Aug 24, 1999
- Messages
- 2,305
There were a few dealers present as well. In fact, Bladearts table was one of the best parts of the show for me
first of all, Larrys table featured some incredible Steve Ryan customs (I have now become a BIG Ryan fan) in addition to a vast array of tacticals from Laci Szabo, Rick Hinderer, JW Smith, Phil Boguszewski etc. etc. Secondly, Larry was kind enough to bring this Farid at my request. The poor thing looked like it had chicken pox with all of those polka dots
I felt compelled to take it home and nurse it back to health (thanks Larry!)
Of course, Les Robertsons table was also something to behold. The RJ Martins at Les table (including a new model Monsoon, was it??) were the sharpest knives that I have EVER handled. Other great pieces on Less table include Brian Tighes Tighe Phoon and the new Brend DOA, shown below
Bob Neal also had some great tacticals on display
Speaking of dealers, heres Canadian dealer extraordinaire Neil Ostroff of True North Knives with Chris Reeve note the new camo option on the Reeve one-piece line
Just to recap, my favourite knives of the show were the Strider sword, the Liong Mah/Jeff Hall Rogue, and all of the Ryan customs. My biggest regret was missing Darrel Ralphs table by the time I got there, he had only 1 knife left (an Aftermath) I would have wanted to see his Balisongs. On the plus side, I got to meet Darrel and discuss some future projects (wink wink). Im also upset that I missed Szilaskis table he is one of my favourite art-knifemakers at least based on pictures (I have yet to see his knives in person).
All in all, Im very glad that I attended the NYCKS it was certainly worth the 12 hour bus ride. Id like to thank Neil Ostroff for joining me for lunch and Jim Cooper for setting up a dinner for us out of town knife knuts. Again, Jim, those are beautiful pieces that you acquired and your kit knives are great!
Big thanks also go out to the show organizers and, of course, all the makers!!!!!
RL
Of course, Les Robertsons table was also something to behold. The RJ Martins at Les table (including a new model Monsoon, was it??) were the sharpest knives that I have EVER handled. Other great pieces on Less table include Brian Tighes Tighe Phoon and the new Brend DOA, shown below
Bob Neal also had some great tacticals on display
Speaking of dealers, heres Canadian dealer extraordinaire Neil Ostroff of True North Knives with Chris Reeve note the new camo option on the Reeve one-piece line
Just to recap, my favourite knives of the show were the Strider sword, the Liong Mah/Jeff Hall Rogue, and all of the Ryan customs. My biggest regret was missing Darrel Ralphs table by the time I got there, he had only 1 knife left (an Aftermath) I would have wanted to see his Balisongs. On the plus side, I got to meet Darrel and discuss some future projects (wink wink). Im also upset that I missed Szilaskis table he is one of my favourite art-knifemakers at least based on pictures (I have yet to see his knives in person).
All in all, Im very glad that I attended the NYCKS it was certainly worth the 12 hour bus ride. Id like to thank Neil Ostroff for joining me for lunch and Jim Cooper for setting up a dinner for us out of town knife knuts. Again, Jim, those are beautiful pieces that you acquired and your kit knives are great!
Big thanks also go out to the show organizers and, of course, all the makers!!!!!
RL
And RL was covering mostly the tactical end of the show. There were alot heavy hitting representatives of traditional hunter/utility knives there, as well as art knives. I had just gotten the custom bug a little before I went to last year's show, so I didn't know who alot of the makers were. If I did I would have been even more awestruck.
However, the NYCKS is oriented toward tacticals IMHO, while the spring ECCKS (also in NY) is geared toward art knives.
- Joined
- Oct 6, 1998
- Messages
- 2,269
Take Amtrak instead. Penn Station is right across the street from the Pennsylvania Hotel which is this year's venue, I think.Originally posted by beluga
I'll be there. No cars, no problem. I'll take the bus - 5 hour bus from Boston. Hell, I'll do anything to attend this show