I take it you have never been to the blade show or you would not make that comment. I did get to the show before it was about to end. I go every year on sunday as it's less crowded and I don't have to stand in line for 20 minutes to get to the counter to see/ handle knives and talk to reps. On Sunday, the show goes from 9am-2pm. I walked throught the door right at 9am and it takes me the full 5hrs to see it all, so some vendors I dont make it over to there booth for several hours, and when I made it to ka-Bar at 11:40 they had only been at the show for 2 hrs and 40 mins, and already had most of there booth packed up. I don't know where the people in the booth were from, but there are other vendors there from all over the USA, Canada, Europe. KA-BAR was the only vendor I saw leave early, and no one else that I talked to was worried about weather. This is not a free show, we pay to attend, and it's not unreasonable for me to expect KA-BAR to stay for the whole show or even most of the show. If they were packing up 30 mins ealry fine, but to leave 2.5 hrs early on a 5 hr show is not ok. And like I said before, no catalogs left, no note to there customers explaining why they are not there. People go to that show to see and handle knives in person and be able to talk to reps in person. The blade show offers you things you cannot get on the phone or the internet. You cannot always talk to the owners, designers, people from the production floor on the phone or the internet, but I have done all those things at the blade show as well as meet actors, athletes, and musicians. Bottom line is I was able to do all those things bacause they were there.
turns out that Phil there has been going to Blade for decades, possibly centuries. He's that old, and experienced. Among other things, he's worked at Camillus, and in particular was involved with many important aspects (aside from the BK8 :>), and is quite the guy. Currently he's working for a WELL NAME VENDOR, and so is his wife. his kids were there too. family affair. He's more qualified than some to make comments.
if you've been going every year as you said, you'd probably know that anywhere from 12 noon on, vendors are quietly packing it in. many are often gone by 1pm. i personally sat in the KaBar booth last year until 2:30 pm, just for lols, and really it was a show. the place a mad house of last minute people running around like chickens with heads cut off up to 1:30 pm - they even turned the AC off early - nobody wants to stick around. most vendors were gone, or packing as fast as possible. by 2:00 pm , it was just packing. 2:30... ghost town except for slow packers, and shippers picking up pallets.
in terms of personnel, the two main guys managed to get earlier flights before the weather hit. perhaps not a concern for some (hey, it's just town wrecking tornadoes), or those that can afford to wait, but given that many flights were delayed, mine over 3 hours, we were warned to get to the airport sooner, than later, or miss going home that day. can't afford getting stuck in Atlanta for a couple days again.
turns out KaBar got there THURSDAY morning, so leaving an hour-ish early (we were out the door and in car by 12:45 pm) is really "the whole show" and then some. long days. imho. you might have cause to complain if they never showed up Sunday, but they were there before 9:00 and ready to rock. if the KaBar experience was THAT important, prioritize next year. come Saturday. it's busy fun, but there are not and never have been 20 minute lines there.
sometimes vendors never show. they're in the catalog as being there though. you could get a refund maybe if they were the only ones you wanted, many leave on Sunday for religious reasons. some just pack their table up on Saturday for lack of sales (or selling out), and are not seen again - esp the ones sharing a table as a temp. if you were buddies with a vendor, you'd get free passes. something to consider.
as for catalogs, there were none. zero. nada. they don't bring them. want one? call their #800 number, or get one for free when you order from Tomars, or such.
by Sunday, there was very little "special" you could get anyway - but you'd know that having gone all those years, am i right? most of the cool show stuff sold out late Friday, and the rest most certainly by Saturday. Sunday? we put nearly everything on top of the case. a lot of that moved before 11:00 am. what we had left was a bargain basement, and the prices were comparable to the first two days. you didn't really lose out on much. last year they were basically stripped clean. almost nothing went home but display and a handful of meager knives nobody wanted.
as for most of the special designers and cool cats, many of them had left already, or were leaving. they're not paid by KaBar or anyone. they're there because they want to be. sometimes they hang out late, but again, they spent three long days working the show, and they were tired as anyone. gone. you missed out. the big stuff is really saturday. sunday is mop up time.
turns out a lot of those designers can be called on the phone. they love to chat. if they're local, i know a couple that like beer. KaBar is chatty too. call them. you want to talk to a guy on the floor? they can do that.
since the show closed at 2:00 pm, and were in car at 12:45, i'd call that leaving 1 hour and 15 minutes early. which given the conditions, seems reasonable.
really not sure what you were expecting in the last hour of five potential hours, on one day, and two full previous days. that might be a poor show experience, and it might be poor planning, but not on KaBar's part.
as for customer service, KaBar's is one of the industry best. have a problem with their product, they tend to bend over backwards to help you.
see ya next year?
