We take a gander at some of the knives that showed up at the first BLADE Tactical at CANCON Carolina.
Sun, guns and a whole bunch of knives—BLADE Tactical was a whole new twist on BLADE Show. And a heck of a marriage between it and one of our sister events, CANCON Carolina.
Held Nov. 7-8 at South Carolina’s Clinton House Plantation range, the inaugural BLADE Tactical brought together some 25 knifemakers to show and sell their wares, all of the blades with a definite tactical bent. The knife show ran the first day, on the periphery of the shooting events. It had a different feel than any of our legacy shows, given it was outdoors and had the constant report of suppressed gunfire as background noise. But it wasn’t too far off our big three with some knife enthusiasts spending the night in the parking lot so they could be the first to the BLADE Tactical pavilion.
With that sort of enthusiasm, we’ll chalk the event down as a success.
For those who were unable to make the BLADE Tactical show or have their interest piqued, we’ve put together a recap of some of the knives that made their way to central South Carolina. Take a gander at what was up for sale and start planning now for next year’s B-Tact extravaganza. For anyone looking to pick up a hot new knife and burn some powder at the range—consider the gathering your Valhalla!
Krein Knives
Tactical doesn’t preclude good looks, which is certainly the case with this Krein Knives Alpha. The blue thumb studs add a nice flare to this top-end framelock.
Carver Knives
Carver Knives‘ Waif has it going on. Up front is a titanium handled-model, in the back a dark Ti handle. Both are thin as a minute, particularly when measured up the knucks in the middle.
Pro Tech Knives
Pro-Tech came to BLADE Tactical with an offer you couldn’t refuse, like a number of these thin and wicked Godfather autos.
The company also offered a nice bit of custom bling for the show, a CANCON blaze orange G-10 insert on several of it’s knives buttons.
Elishewitz Custom Creations
With the Ek Integral, Elishewitz Custom Creations combined class and performance in a light and functional package. A nice dagger-style blade deploys in the wink of an eye via a thumb stud.
McNees Knives
Some hefty debuts from McNees Knives at BLADE Tactical. In the rear, is the Ringed Agent and up front the Stalker. Par usual for McNees, both feel like their built to beat the world.
Somewhat from the neighborhood (Alabama), the McNees crew drove to BLADE Tactical. Needless to say, they did so in style… nice wheels.
Nicholas Nichols Knives
Certainly, the Guppy is no small fry. Nichols Knives drop point has plenty of size to get nearly any job done, but stays light in the pocket thanks to a titanium handle.
Spartan Blades
Spartan Blades was right at home at BLADE Tactical—no surprise there. But the belle of the ball was the company’s Ronin-Torii, a traditional tanto, which few would want to find themselves on the wrong end of.
Nottingham Tactical
Believe it or not, you’re looking at six-years of development. Nottingham Tactical was game for a carbon-fiber model, but it took a ton of work to get it to come together, from finding the carbon-fiber up to the abuse to getting the right adhesives to get the metal parts to stay.
Vero Engineering
It wasn’t all fixed blades and folders for the knife side of the show. After BLADE Tactical closed, the knifemakers hit the range at CANCON for some therapeutic trigger time. Here’s Joseph Vero of Vero Engineering getting on one of Maxim Defense’s shorties.
CANCON Video Recap
If your interest has been piqued, check out upcoming BLADE Tactical and CANCON events.
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