NYCKS Review - Part 1

[RL]

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

Let’s not waste any time…my personal highlight of the show was meeting martial bladecraft guru Michael Janich. I’m a big fan of Michael’s (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 wasn’t for the thwack of the lock, you’d 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, Michael’s hand was around my throat while he applied a foot lock (not sure that I was still smiling at that point)

Here’s another shot with Michael, this time with David Dempsey

David brought along a fine assortment of knives including some neat pieces in Bodycote’s tungsten DLC.

Another thrill was meeting knifemaking “legend” Bob Terzuola. I’m 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 (I’m holding my new Wortac with engine turned bolsters)

parts 2,3, and 4 coming soon…

 

[David Dempsey]

Hey Rl,
Nice to meet ya at the show, and thanks for the review and pics. I was there as part of the Battle Gear team, along with Mike, Wally Hayes and the rest of the team. We presented our proto knife line to the public and I could not help but bring a few of my own as well

The show went well, even though the event was split into seperate rooms. We were in the smaller of the two, and as you know it was hot and crowded.

Thanks again for stopping by the table and for the review.

Regards,

David Dempsey
"www.dempseyknives.com"

 

[notdos]

Nice photos,,looking forward to the rest.


Phillip

 

[Brian C]

Thanks for the great pix & write-up, RL. One correction -- you posted a pic of yourself with Al P but captioned it as Bob Terzuola.

 

[RL]

Hi Brian,

Thank you...but that is indeed Bob T...there is a picture of Al P in part 2 of my review...

RL

 

[Brian C]

Sorry, RL, you're right. The same color shirt threw me. I should use my glasses all the time.