Attend the World's Greatest Knife Show

BLADE Show 2021 – Virtual Swag Bag

BLADE Show

-

May 25, 2021

BLADE Show is home to countless knives and just as many exclusive deals. Here are some outstanding highlights from our sponsors you don’t won’t want to miss.

Smoky Mountain Knife Works
WE Knife
Work Sharp
Big Daddy Unlimited
Wicked Edge
W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery
Hogue Knives
Kizer Cutlery
Microtech Knives

Smoky Mountain Knife Works
Get Your Free Swag Bag at Booth 29

Stop by SMKW’s Booth (29) at BLADE Show, and we’ll give you an awesome free swag bag (while supplies last). Don’t wait!

WE Knife
WE KNIFE BANTER at Booth 725

See more of our new knives at Booth 725.

Work Sharp
Precision Adjust Special $50 (Only 300 Available) – Booth 312

All orders over $50 include a FREE Micro Sharpener. Precision Adjust on sale for $50 while supplies last.

Big Daddy Unlimited
We’ve SLASHED the price on our Big Daddy Unlimited annual membership!

Take a STAB at these savings ($79.41) & Sign up NOW! Click here.

Wicked Edge
10% Off – Booth 42

Come see us and our newest arrivals in Booth 42 and pick up your BLADE Show 2021 coupon for 10% off your favorite tool.

W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery
FREE “Made in Bradford” Stickers from Case Knives! – Booth 109

Get a free “Made in Bradford” sticker when you stop by Booth 109 to check out the all-new Marilla™ and Kinzua™ EDC knives from Case!

Hogue Knives
Hogue Knives 2021 BLADE Show Exclusive Deka – Booth 52

CPM 20CV stainless steel blade with a Glow Rhino Tritium infused ABLE Lock® carbon fiber frame and blue titanium hardware. Exclusively available at BLADE Show at Booth 52.

Kizer Cutlery
2021 BLADE Show knife – Kizer Sheepdog Mini C01c, 40th Anniversary Special edition

This special edition of the Sheepdog mini C01c is equipped with 154CM steel and champagne handles, only 300 available with a serial number. Get it here.

Microtech Knives
Ultratech D/E for Only $160 – Booth 324

This year’s BLADE Show Special from Microtech Knives is the Ultratech D/E. Price is $160. Cash only. Limit one per person. Available at Booth 324.

Learn Knife Grinding at BLADE U.

Steve Shackleford

-

April 13, 2015

0

Learn knife grinding at the 2nd Annual BLADE University brought to you by Premium Knife Supply in a three-part class taught by knifemakers Lucas Burnley, Tom Krein and Chris Williams.

BLADE U. will be held in conjunction with the 2015 BLADE Show June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Also held in the Cobb Galleria, BLADE U. will begin the Thursday (June 4) before the show and end show Saturday. The grinding seminar is but one of a full range of classes on a variety of knife subjects taught by some of the world’s leading cutlery professionals.

In their blade-grinding instructional, the three makers will outline the proper tools and equipment, the importance of safety and show you how it’s all done.

In the classroom setting of part one, they will discuss two-wheel vs. three-wheel grinders; variable speed vs. fixed speed; the differences between 1- and 2-inch contact wheels; belts and belt backings; flat platens; small wheel attachments; rotary attachment; grinding jigs; and more.

From the classroom to the outside setting of The Courtyard of the show’s adjoining host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly, in part two the three makers will teach grinding for beginners on machines provided by Wilmont Grinders. The session will include how to scribe the centerline and grind lines on the blade, how to hollow grind to the grind lines and grind a swedge/clip, and more. Finally, in part three, Burnley will cover advanced blade grinding—including grinding in a fuller—and recurve, compound and convex grinds.

For more information including how to enroll in BLADE University and/or buy tickets for the BLADE Show, visit BLADE Show or e-mail [email protected].

Recommended for You:

Making Tactical Fixed Blades DVD

Learn both basic and advanced knife making techniques with expert instruction from Allen Alishewitz in Tactical Fixed Blades. Allen demonstrates how to craft a double-edged tactical fixed blade knife from start to finish, and creates two knives in order to fully illustrate the knife building process. You’ll learn:

– Profiling and Drilling the Knife
– Tang Tapering on a Grinder
– Tang Tapering on a Mill
– And more!

Order here

Will there be a SECOND BLADE Show in 2018?

BLADE Show

BLADE Staff

-

December 14, 2017

0

Will there be a SECOND BLADE Show in 2018?

The BLADE Show has a (Good) Problem

The BLADE Show in Atlanta will enter its 37th year come next June, and that comes with one of those “good problems to have” problems. The BLADE Show is too popular. It’s maxed out on capacity, and the Cobb Galleria isn’t too keen on hosting exhibitors on the roof.

That means the BLADE Show is looking at adding a second edition in 2018, likely in the Portland, Oregon, area. If that sounds familiar, it’s because there used to be a BLADE Show West in Portland several years back. What’s old is new again.

How You Can Help

However, there’s still a big question mark over this expansion. Want to help? Here’s what we at BLADE need you to do:

Click here to take a brief survey.
When you’re done, enter to win a free pass to a BLADE Show.
Sit back and think to yourself how good it feels to know the knife industry is growing by leaps and bounds.

P.S. No, the BLADE Show in Atlanta isn’t going anywhere. No changes.

See the BLADE Show Japanese Sword Demo

Steve Shackleford

-

May 1, 2013

0

The BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) will welcome the action-packed Japanese sword demonstration of James Williams May 31-June 2 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

Williams will perform his demo at 1:45 p.m. the Saturday of the show in The Courtyard, aka the parking lot of the host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly.

Williams will present a number of Japanese sword methods, including the tameshigiri—the cutting of bundles of straw mats, bamboo and other media.

Williams uses both one- and two-hand techniques to cut 4- and 5-inch bundles of straw mats. Especially popular are his multiple cuts in rapid succession, including cutting already severed chunks of the mats before they can hit the ground after he cut them the first time.

President of Bugei Trading Co., a specialist in Japanese swords and their accouterments, Williams has been conducting his sword demos at the BLADE Show for many years. He has studied the martial arts since 1960 and taught them since 1975. He also teaches close quarters combat to military and law enforcement and his “The System of Strategy” is based on the skill set of ancient warriors. He is known worldwide as a trainer of special ops unit and government agencies, domestic and foreign. He has taught such agencies and their personnel as the Naval Special Warfare Combatives Instructors, Brazilian National Police, U.S. Army Special Operations, U.S. Navy Special Warfare, U.S. Marine Recon and others. He has appeared on such television programs as National Geographic’s Force Recon, Discovery Channel’s The Ten Greatest Weapons and the Outdoor Network’s Shooting Gallery.

He is also a knife designer, designing CRKT’s Hissatsu, Hisshou, Shinbu, Sakimor, and Otanashi Noh. According to Williams the goal of the Hissatsu folder was not to replace the fixed-blade knife but “to offer the best alternative possible when circumstances demand other options.”

Steel Star Power of the BLADE Show

Steve Shackleford

-

May 18, 2015

0

Gil Hibben, who made knives for the Expendables move franchise, will be among many with steel star power connections at the BLADE Show. — Gil Hibben, who made knives for the **Expendables** move franchise, will be among many with steel star power connections at the BLADE Show.

The world’s greatest knives and greatest knifemakers are the main focus of the BLADE Show June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, Georgia, but there are also many legends and legends in the making who attend the show that help give it steel star power.

A Gil Hibben bowie knife. — A Gil Hibben bowie knife from the **Expendables**.

For instance, Todd Begg, star of the Discovery Channel’s Blade Brothers, will be displaying his knives at booth 722. Robert Young Pelton, journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of The World’s Most Dangerous Places as well as host of the Travel Channel’s series of the same name for six years, is the headman of DPx Gear (booth 415).

Any number of makers in the show hall have made knives for movies, the most notable being BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Gil Hibben (table 5K) and the knives for the third and fourth Rambo movies as well as The Expendables series of flicks, all starring Sylvester Stallone.

Others who have made knives for movies include Allen Elishewitz (booth 59) and Cold Steel (booth 318) for Sinners and Saints; Ernest Emerson (booth 104) for Black Hawk Down and Night of the Running Man, among others and also for some TV shows; Daniel Winkler (booth 606) for Zero Dark Thirty, Sommersby and The Last of the Mohicans; and TOPS Knives (table 20U) for The Hunted and The Punisher. R.W. Wilson (table 25R) made the tomahawks for the early 1970s classic, Jeremiah Johnson. There are no doubt other makers at the show who made movie knives that we’re leaving out. And on the TV side of the ledger, Condor Tool & Knife (booth 739) supplies the knife for Matt Graham, star of the Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival, and Zero Tolerance knives (booth 99) appear regularly on the long-running hit TV show, NCIS.

On the entertainment side of the ledger, Southern Grind (booth 41) is owned by Atlanta’s Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band renown. And Adam Drescher of Adam Unlimited (table 15S) has been appearing on a number of TV shows in assorted character roles of late.

Last but not least are the legends of the knife industry itself—the members of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© who regularly attend the show: Goldie and A.G. Russell of A.G. Russell Knives (booth 102), the only married couple in the Hall; Ken Onion of Ken Onion Culinary Designs (booth 303); Sal Glesser of Spyderco (booth 23); Bruce Voyles of J. Bruce Voyles Auctioneers, writer and book author (table 703); the aforementioned Gil Hibben; custom knifemaker D’ Holder (table 1M); knife entrepreneur and writer Bill Adams (table 4AA); and B.R. Hughes, writer, author and one of the founders of the American Bladesmith Society, who will be found holding court in the ABS section of the show hall.

Come see them all and much more at the BLADE Show.

Tips for Attending BLADE Show

BLADE Show

Steve Shackleford

-

May 19, 2021

0

OK, it’s been two years since the last BLADE Show as of this writing in 2021, so, in case you’ve forgotten authorized BLADE Show protocols, here’s your official “How To BLADE Show Manual.” This is to supplement the knife show courtesy guidelines here.

Walk, Don’t Run

Walk, don’t run, when you first enter the BLADE Show. I know, the temptation will be to sprint into the exhibition hall to get to your favorite maker’s table or booth. However, please don’t. For one thing, you might run me over. On the other hand, I understand your excitement, so if you do happen to flatten yours truly, please don’t wipe your feet on me.

Acceptable Whooping

To all ABS members who, if and when you first learn early Friday morning of the show that you’ve earned your master or journeyman smith stamp: Please feel free to let out your best war whoop (not that you need our permission, of course). We would, too, if it were us.

Winning Awards

The same (see previous) goes for those who win BLADE Magazine Knife Of the Year® or Custom Knife Judging Competition honors. Celebrating in such a manner releases endorphins and puts you on an emotional sugar-type high, which is something we all need after waiting 730-or-so days for it.

Spread the Word

If you see or find a maker you think has tremendous promise or could well be the next great one, make note of it and tell all your friends. Some of today’s best makers got their start at, or were inspired by, the BLADE Show. That is a tradition we cherish and want to sustain, because it is another thing that makes our show so splendiferous.

Say Hi

When you see a BLADE Show legend or BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member (for one of the latter, look for the new Hall-Of-Fame badge each of them will be wearing), smile, nod, and say hi. They will appreciate it. Make them feel welcome.

They are fountains of knowledge and most if not all of them not only want to share that knowledge, but feel a need to for both the present and future good of the knife community.

Be Mindful

If you see people in wheelchairs and/or with oxygen tanks, make room for them and even offer to assist them if they need it. Such people obviously love the BLADE Show more than most. Why else would they to so much effort to attend?

Listen Up

I’m hoping the PA system in the show hall will be somewhat easier to understand this year but, just in case it isn’t, if someone claims to have a device that automatically translates the system’s Charlie-Brown’s-teacher-ese into English, let me know. I want one.

No Amateurs After Hours

Choose wisely in the Pit after show hours. There are no doubt going to be some amateurs who go coo-coo for crazy puffs and imbibe a liquid refreshment or two too many.

Hey, after two years of no BLADE Show, that will be quite understandable, even for the old pros. My advice: nurse your beverage responsibly. The better you do that, the less likely you will be to suffer the “show hall shimmy” the following day.

Take Note

Finally, keep track of the youngest and oldest knife enthusiasts you see. They are all reminders of how we both were and, hopefully, some day will be when it comes to experiencing all things sharp. In a nutshell, they really are much of what the BLADE Show is really all about.

Find more information about the BLADE Show on bladeshow.com.

2 Days To The BLADE Show: The Pit

Steve Shackleford

-

June 6, 2012

0

Only two more days to the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) June 8-10 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, which, in addition to the world’s greatest knives and more of them than any other knife show, is your chance to party down with the knife industry in The Pit.

The sunken lounge in the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly, The Pit has been the scene of many an after-show-hours impromptu party, introductory meeting, and just a chance to put your feet up and talk knives with your friends over a cold beverage in a relaxed atmosphere.

There’s no telling who you may meet in The Pit, from the legends of the industry to the latest up-and-coming knifemakers to BLADE® Magazine field editors such as Ed Fowler (in cowboy hat seated on the wall at bottom left of the above picture).

Just about anything can happen in The Pit and usually does. It is where knife collaboration deals between manufacturers and custom knifemakers have been made, unusual events occur–one year a company official who won a Blade Magazine Knife Of The Year Award earlier in the evening lost his award trophy in The Pit, only to have it returned to him later–revelry extends into the wee hours, and much more.

We hope to see you there—and be sure you have a designated driver to take you home if need be.

For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication.

2019 Knife of the Year® Award Winners & Custom Knife Award Winners – BLADE Show (Updated With New Photos)

2018 Knife of the Year® Award Winners & Custom Knife Award Winners – BLADE Show

2018 Master Smith of the Year Knife Will Leave You Speechless

2017 Knife of the Year® Award Winners & Custom Knife Award Winners – BLADE Show

Winners List: BLADE Show West 2019 Factory & Custom Knife Awards

BLADE Show 2021 – Virtual Swag Bag