Southern California Custom Knife Show

I agree that the marketing for the show was sparse to say the least. I received a mailer two months before the show so I knew about it but there was little else to announce the show. Past shows have had a broader set of makers than this year. I think that some of the makers might have chosen to go to the Oregon show the week before and forego the SoCal show as some of the makers that I was hoping to see in SoCal were only at the Oregon show. Last years show was quite good.
 
A small treasure from the Microtech table - UTX-70 (70% size of the standard Ultratech). Allllmmmooooosssttttt...California-legal with the blade length coming in at 2.41"

microtechutx-70.jpg
 
OlamicCutlery said:
I was three tables down in the same row and there until 6:15PM on Saturday. In the photo in this thread you can see me by my table, past the gentleman in the red shirt.
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I stopped by to peruse your table several times. I've long admired the Wayfarer, but now I'm putting one of those little Buskers on my shortlist. Love those Ti-mascus highlights! What is the turnaround time roughly for custom orders off the website?
 
Thanks for stopping by! I don't want to hijack this thread, so please either DM or email.

RaulDuke said:
I stopped by to peruse your table several times. I've long admired the Wayfarer, but now I'm putting one of those little Buskers on my shortlist. Love those Ti-mascus highlights! What is the turnaround time roughly for custom orders off the website?
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eisman said:
As an ex-marketing guy I really don't know what goes on with advertising shows like this. They suck at getting the word out! Blade West is a case in point. If I had not been at the Eugene show I very probably would not have known about it. There's almost nothing on this BBS, they had no advertising that I saw on any knife related forum I visit, and nobody I know listens to radio any more so I couldn't say if they used that. But there was darn little in print, papers, magazines, at gun shows, or even just pasted up around town. They could have easily got the names of 20-30 thousand knife guys and done direct mailing. It's not that expensive. Or targeted social media...
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You missed when they opened on Saturday morning, when the line was out the hotel door and around the block, and it was hard to walk around the room when it opened. I bought 3 knives in the first 30 minutes, and nothing thereafter. All about the first-come-first-served.

The few makers who were doing lotteries ended them early (VIKNIVES did his at 2pm, I think) since they knew people were leaving early.
 
tyyreaun said:
You missed when they opened on Saturday morning, when the line was out the hotel door and around the block, and it was hard to walk around the room when it opened.
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If you had bothered to read my first post you would have seen that I did, indeed, note that Saturday was better attended. I fully stand by the opinion (seconded by others) that the marketing for this show was poor.

I've done trade shows all over the USA and internationally for several industries. I've done gun and knife shows as a dealer across the country. Based on what I saw on Sunday I'd never buy space at this show, and I'd never plan to travel more than a couple hours to attend. Frankly, I'd be surprised if this show is profitable enough to keep.

Southern California has lost the Pasadena show, and retailers like Plaza Cutlery have abandoned brick and mortar locations. There may be folks out there who like knives, but when they can't even find out about a local show they'll spend their money online and people will piss and moan about how they can't "see" stuff before they drop their dollars.

What's worse is when politicians don't see knife owners, knife shows, cutlery shops, and manufacturers in their constituencies they don't push to keep them. And those who oppose you and your hobby get regulated into further obscurity. Marketing matters on many levels.
 
Charlie Mike said:
Protect had way more than CA legal stuff. So did Microtech, Heretic, and many other dealers. Balisongs as well. They were being sold openly without regard for the law. It's always been this way.
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Yeah I live in SAN DIEGO and there is a guy that will meet you at your house with just about any OTF from Microtech and BM.He said he even sold to SDPD.LOL.He said they don't care.It's just something to use if they need a reason to take you to jail.
 
Bingo... That last statement.

Only time I've been hassled about autos was while on felony probation.
 
I definitely went to jail. Felony probation is a tighter leash than parole. I did a month in county for each violation.
 
RaulDuke said:
A small treasure from the Microtech table - UTX-70 (70% size of the standard Ultratech). Allllmmmooooosssttttt...California-legal with the blade length coming in at 2.41"

View attachment 1009575
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I bought the same knife but in a different steel at a gun show and love it. It's the neatest little contraption I've gotten in ages. Small but useful, finely crafted piece of excellently engineered cutlery. Per their website, don't retract the blade if you cut somethin sticky, like tape, w/o cleaning it off first :)
 
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