It’s only eight days to the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) June 8-10 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, where Ernest Emerson fans everywhere will once again get their chance to see his knives and the man himself.
For those of you who don’t know Emerson, he is a pioneer in tactical folders and his custom knives are in demand about as much as any other maker’s anywhere. He has taught his Emerson Combat System to combat operatives all over the world, and has appeared on any number of cable television and radio shows and written for several leading websites, sharing his views on his knives, his Combat System and any number of other topics. The Usual Suspect Network, a leading Internet knife discussion group, is populated mostly by Emerson fans. He also has an expanding line of apparel, has made electric guitars and much more—though in the end it always seems to come back to his knives, which includes an extensive line of factory models, too.
Emerson, shown above in a photo by Mike Searson, attends only a few choice shows, and the BLADE Show is one he never misses. (OK, maybe he missed one or two BLADE Shows somewhere in the distant past, but those don’t count.) In addition to displaying his custom and factory knives at the show, he also holds a lottery and will conduct the seminar, “Becoming The Warrior,” show Saturday at 1 p.m. in Room 104.
All BLADE Show ticket holders can attend the seminar free of charge. For more information on Emerson’s lottery, visit his booth (No. 98) at the show.
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.
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.
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W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery
Hogue Knives
Kizer Cutlery
Microtech Knives
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Four outstanding smiths will have gems coming across the block.
The annual auction of American Bladesmith Society knives to support the continuing programs of the ABS is a highlight of the BLADE Show, and 2024 will be another memorable year when the hammer comes down at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
Once again, ABS master smith Brion Tomberlin is handling the logistics of the pre-auction process. He has brought together a roster of four outstanding ABS bladesmiths for this year’s event, and his appreciation of the ABS and what it means is reflected in his recent years of dedication to the auction.
“The ABS means so much to everyone involved and to the legacy and future of bladesmithing,” Brion commented. “It has developed so many bladesmiths through the years and helped to carry on the traditions and methods that have been used for generations. At the same time, it has brought along a younger group that will help keep interest in the forge alive and prospering.”
Jonathan Caruso holds the trophy and the knife he used to win the Arkansas Knife Guild Chopping Competition in Pickles Gap, Arkansas, in 2023.
Long Clip-Point
Jonathan Caruso of Conway, Arkansas, has been an ABS member for nine years now and earned his ABS journeyman smith rating at BLADE Show ’22. He will provide a long clip-point hunter with a single guard for the auction and to showcase his talent. “I chose this style of knife for the purpose of use,” he commented. “Although the knife was designed to be eye-catching, all my knives are created to be used for the tasks they were created for, which in this case is a functional hunting knife.”
Caruso adds that his goal with his ABS contribution knife is to deliver form and function with “a nice appeal, much like an evening gown or a cocktail dress.” He has added the flair and visual appeal of a hamon—essentially the line of demarcation where the hardened cutting edge and the softer spine converge on the blade—using a technique he learned from ABS master smith Jim Crowell. “It’s a process dubbed a ‘flame-painted hamon,’” Jonathan explained. “Instead of using the traditional clay method to create the hamon, I use an oxyacetylene torch to heat the cutting edge before hardening. I chose this method because I wanted to incorporate what I’ve learned from a very well-known master smith who has taught me a wealth of knowledge about bladesmithing and the history of the ABS.”
Caruso’s clip-point hunter features a 6-inch blade of W2 tool steel, sculpted guard of 416 stainless steel with vulcanized red and black spacers, and a handle of stabilized black walnut from Knife & Gun Finishing Supplies. Overall length: 11 inches.
“I chose the W2 to get a more definitive differentially heat-treated appeal,” Jonathan noted, “and the black walnut handle because it draws the eyes in to look at its stunning details. I feel like the handle material was waiting for such a knife and such an occasion as the ABS auction to be used. The black walnut handle material was purchased from Iron Dungeon Forge at BLADE Show Texas in 2023. I finally made it over to their table late on the afternoon of the first day and couldn’t believe that this beautiful piece hadn’t been bought yet.”
ABS master smith Steve Dunn
Chairman’s Trapper
Current ABS chairman Steve Dunn has been a member of the Society since 1990, two years after he began making knives as a hobby. He became an ABS master smith in 1994 and has taught at the ABS schools regularly. He joined the organization’s board of directors in 2003 and has been a committed servant of the ABS for 34 years.
“Each year the ABS has an auction at the BLADE Show to raise money for our schools for education of the forged blade,” he remarked. “I was asked to make the master smith folder this year, and I chose to make a traditional slipjoint. The reason I chose the slipjoint is that most everyone carries some kind of pocketknife—mostly slipjoints, I would think.”
Dunn’s contribution to this year’s ABS auction is a single-blade trapper with a 3-inch blade of twisted W’s pattern damascus. The damascus is a combination of 1075 carbon and 15N20 nickel-alloy steels. The bolster sports American-style scrollwork with 24k-gold inlay. The scales are sambar stag. Closed length: 3.75 inches. “The reason I chose this blade steel is that the two components contrast well together and for the edge-holding ability they offer,” Steve said.
Dagger Hamon
For James Rodebaugh, who joined the ABS in 1999 and received the Society’s master smith designation in 2004, the ABS is a worthy recipient of the contributions from its members to the auction each year. “Number one, the ABS is largely responsible for the high level of bladesmithing in the world today and the award winners that are recognized at the BLADE Shows in Texas and Atlanta. The ABS is always well represented when the winners are named in these shows, overwhelmingly so.”
Rodebaugh became a member of the ABS board of directors in 2014, and he sees the organization as continuing to build a future for the art of bladesmithing. Meanwhile, he is pleased to help out with the auction. “The ABS has given a lot to the knifemaking world,” he observed, “and this is my way of giving back in general.”
For the auction, James has chosen a dagger with an 8-inch blade of W2 tool steel that’s about an inch across at its widest point. The frame handle construction will feature domed silver pins and Tasmanian blackwood. James expects the overall length to be between 12 and 13 inches. An added feature is the clayed hamon.
“I don’t see many people doing a dagger with a hamon,” Rodebaugh opined, “and that used to be one of my signature things until I got away from it. I was originally going to go with damascus, but we see a lot of that, and with the finishing aspect of the work it is harder to do a properly finished carbon steel blade with a hamon than it is to etch a piece of damascus. Plus, I just like the look of the hamon. Also, the W2 steel shows a lot of action on the hamon, and it has a fairly short time and temperature curve so that the edge will harden and the thicker portion will stay soft, which gives you definition and activity on the hamon.”
Coffin Bowie
As French ABS journeyman smith Nicolas Dartus noted, “For me, the coffin bowie is a typical American knife, and I love it.” His rendition for the ABS Auction offers 320-layers of damascus, a giraffe bone handle and a leather sheath. (Eric Eggly/PointSeven knife image)
ABS journeyman smith Nicolas Dartus began forging in his shop in eastern France in 2014, joined the ABS in 2016, and received the Society’s journeyman designation at BLADE Show ’19. He is working toward his master smith goal today, and he says that it is an honor to have one of his knives included in the prestigious ABS auction.
“For the auction, I’m making a coffin bowie,” Nicolas said. “For me, the coffin bowie is a typical American knife and I love it. Of course, my eye is a French eye, and I don’t have an American interpretation for this creation, but it is my vision! I think individuals have their own styles of knives. Of course, the ABS is an American society, but its members come from all over the world with different cultures and design ideas.”
Nicolas plans to make the knife with a blade of 320-layer damascus forged from 1075 carbon and 15N20 nickel-alloy steels. The handle will be giraffe bone and the piece will be accompanied by a leather sheath. “I’ll make the knife the traditional way,” he offered. “For me, working with the ABS is a great adventure.”
When these wonderful examples of modern bladesmithing come up for sale, the bidding is liable to be as heated as any forge. Those who go home with one of these beauties will not only have the satisfaction of ownership, but also in knowing they have directly assisted the ABS, providing support for the society’s ongoing mission of excellence.
Five Different Factory Makers Picked Up Awards At Salt Lake City With WE Knife Stealing The Show
Factory makers brought out their best for the BLADE Show West knife competition, and they did not disappoint. Five factories took home wins with the big winner being WE Knife, which won two categories and the Best Of Show award.
We captured in film the knives, knife people and lots of fun that marked another great show.
Nothing beats the BLADE Show.
Nearly 1,000 vendors, countless knives and throngs of attendees crowded the Cobb Galleria from June 6–8 for the world’s largest knife shindig. That’s a lot of action—and plenty to take in over the course of three days. But armed with our trusty candid cameras, we at BLADE Magazine gave it our best shot.
Roving the main hall, “baller” room and convention center corridors, we captured glimpses of the knife event no words can fully describe. Take a moment to relive—or get your first look at—BLADE Show 2025 through the lens of those who were there.
Editor’s Note: Click on any photo to launch an enlarged gallery.
Show Saturday was bumper to bumper.CRKT fans get their fill of new knives.A Rosecraft BLADE Show ad greeted guests of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly, each time they took the elevator.Knife fans converge on the Rick Hinderer Knives booth.Mardi Meshejian has a firm hold on one of his custom sickles.Blade HQ held Balicomp 25 with Brycen Nelson winning the title, Steve Ash placing second and Landon Morrison third. (Blade HQ image) Tim Reeve (center with arms raised) directs traffic at the Chris Reeve Knives booth as Anne Reeve and Dean Felides (directly to Tim’s right) look on.Jens Anso conducts his BLADE University class.HEPK master smith/BLADE® field editor Ed Fowler (left) enjoys a customer visit.Knife deals were there to be had.Patrons wait in line patiently for the BLADE Show to begin.Who says BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame® members can’t have fun? Michael Walker gives Bob Terzuola the rabbit-ear treatment. (Larry Hirsch image)Walter Brend (left) and Les Robertson enjoy another BLADE Show.A contestant flips a giant butterfly knife during Balicomp 25.The smiling face dead center is custom knifemaker Koji Hara.Aaron Frederick is back making knives and had a few on hand to show.Knife fans try their hand at foosball at the Big Idea Design booth.
The entire process rekindles fond memories for this writer, most of which involve the Hall Of Fame ceremony itself that annually occurs during the BLADE Magazine Awards Reception the Saturday night of the BLADE Show.
Bob Terzuola (left) presents Sal Glesser (right) with his BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® plaque during the Hall-Of-Fame ceremonies 20 years ago at the 1999 BLADE Show.
The first such ceremony that stood out for me was in 1988 when A.G. Russell and Ken Warner inducted each other—with neither knowing at the time the other would be inducted as well! When each inducted the other the expression on the new inductee’s face was priceless, and that ceremony remains like no other before or since.
Hubert Lawell’s induction in 1989 was memorable for his bringing a copy of the old and now defunct EDGES pocketknife newspaper we used to publish up on the stage, holding it high in the air, and praising it and everything it/we did as the greatest thing for the knife industry since sliced bread. Never mind that many in the audience appeared unsure of what Hubert was saying in his low Tennessee drawl, at the end of his speech he had everyone on their feet cheering—though I’m not sure all of them were cheering because of what he said so much as he was finished saying it.
The 1993 inductions of Col. Rex Applegate, B.R. Hughes and Bruce Voyles were unique. They were the only inductions ever held outside the BLADE Show venue, specifically under a big canvas tent at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Bruce became the first-ever member inducted by acclimation of the membership, which was a pleasant surprise to him. Not to be outdone, upon his induction B.R. uttered perhaps the best acceptance line ever.
“I don’t know that I deserve this Hall-Of-Fame plaque,” he deadpanned, “but I’m not giving it back!”
Following it all everyone retired to a giant fireworks presentation courtesy of the park.
Spyderco CEO Sal Glesser’s induction in 1999 was particularly memorable. Not only were we able to keep Sal from knowing until the last minute that he would be inducted, but Mrs. Gail Glesser was able to keep secret from him that she would be there, too.
Al Buck, M.H. Cole, Bill Williamson and Jimmy Lile receive their Hall of Fame awards from James F. Parker at the BLADE Show banquet.
Gail was supposed to miss the BLADE Show entirely that year due to a scheduling conflict. However, when we told her Sal was going to be inducted, unbeknownst to him she begged off on her other engagement and arranged to arrive at the show just before the ceremony began. So not only was Sal surprised to be inducted, he was equally tickled to have his wife there to share in the honor with him.
In recent years we’ve had to forego all the cloak-and-dagger stuff involving keeping the inductions secret because we have been announcing the inductions on our website well before the show, which we will do again for this year’s inductions sometime next month. Stay tuned to blademag.com for that announcement.
Gabe Fletcher/knifemaker ale collaborations lead to the official BLADE Show Beer.
It’s a winning combination, no doubt—a blend of brews and blades.
Three years ago, Gabe Fletcher began making knives. Then, somewhere along the way he had a brilliant idea. The dynamic combination of his finest craft beers with the custom knives that could be developed in collaboration with friends who appreciate both, just as he does, was too tempting not to try.
Fletcher had been in the brewing business since 1988, and the joint venture of beverage and blade just seemed to fit. “I ran another brewery here in Anchorage for 13 years,” he recalled, “and decided to start my own brewery after so many years. I’m coming up on 27 years of professional brewing, and I started when I was 21.”
Gabe Fletcher (above at his Anchorage Brewing Company) and Salem Straub collaborated on a chef’s knife (facing page) in mosaic damascus and carbon fiber paired with a “niche” beer—a bold, crisp IPA with a low alcohol content.
Gabe knew that the collaboration opportunity was alive and well in the brewing industry, and it just seemed a natural progression. “I do many collaborations with other breweries and I’m pretty well known in the beer world,” he observed of his Anchorage Brewing Company*. “I thought in the beginning that it would be a fun way to get my name out there as a knifemaker. The first collaboration was with award-winning bladesmith Neil Kamimura. He was the person that got me into knifemaking.”
Seeing the knives in Neil’s shop a few years ago provided inspiration for Gabe to give it a try at the forge. At first, he did only beer collaborations as he refined his own knifemaking skills.
“Eventually, I started to get good enough to start actually making knives with these makers. I owe a lot to Mareko Maumasi [page 16]. I would consider him my mentor, and I’ve learned so much from him,” Fletcher reflected. “Working with him so much has really propelled my skills much faster than if I was learning on my own. Now Anchorage Forge and Anchorage Brewing are very connected, and I use it as a way to have fun, collaborate and excel in my knifemaking journey.”
Gabe Fletcher/knifemaker ale collaborations lead to the official BLADE Show Beer
To date, Gabe has completed at least nine knife/beer combos, and there are more to come. Naturally, he gravitated toward one with Mareko. The resulting knife was a dazzling chef’s tool with damascus blade, handle of white oak from the barrel in which the accompanying beer was aged, carbon fiber and G-10 spacers. Respective blade and overall lengths: 10 3/8 and 14.8 inches. Mareko’s price for a similar knife: $3,000.
“Gabe posed the challenge to me to see if I could design a steel that looked like a devil’s skull,” Maumasi explained. “I already had a design for a pattern that looked like a skull, which I hadn’t made yet but had sketched out in a notebook. At that point, all I had to do was figure out how to add horns to the skull. The devil skull came together nicely with the detailed elements for the teeth, cheekbones, eyes and horns. A lot of people who see it assume that it’s a canister damascus steel, but it’s actually a combination of several pattern-welded elements that started out as plate steel. For the forged design, we added a crushed ‘W’s’ flame along the edge of the blade.”
The damascus chef’s knife paired nicely with the latest in Fletcher and Maumasi beer offerings. The pair have actually done more than one brew, and the most recent is a synthesis of tropical flavors to honor Mareko’s Samoan heritage. The first was a Maumasi oak-aged imperial stout, which had a base aged eight months in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels. It was then transferred to freshly emptied Woodford Reserve Double Oaked bourbon barrels for six months before moving to emptied Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels for four months, and was finished with toasted coconut and coffee from the Olympia Coffee Company in Mareko’s hometown. The second is the Maelstrom IPA, a smooth and light beverage with grapefruit, passion fruit, papaya and lechee hints.
GABE’S GREAT IDEA
Another example of Gabe’s great idea translated into a chef’s knife collaboration with Salem Straub. It includes a 10.5-inch mosaic damascus blade with a handle of copper/coral carbon fiber that features carbon fiber and G-10 spacers. Overall length: 14.9 inches. The knife sold for $5,850 through Eating Tools.
Plant Eater, a hefty chef’s knife with an 11.1-inch carbon steel blade, carbon-fiber handle with G-10 spacers, and 15.8-inch overall length, is a Gabe Fletcher/Josh Prince collaboration. The beer that accompanies it is a “dank, strongly fragranced IPA.”
“I forged a bold mosaic pattern of ‘distorted finger-type layup’—that’s Steve Filicietti pattern language—and sent Gabe a big chunk sawed from a loaf of that,” Straub related. “He worked his magic and forged a big sleek integral chef’s knife in an angular Western profile from it, and finished it up with some of his signature-style faceting applied to a hidden-tang handle of crazy carbon fiber. The steels in the blade are 15N20 and 1080.”
Salem has been making knives for 22 years and expressed real gratitude for Gabe’s initiative. “He always kills it at what he does, and this was no exception,” Salem observed. “I’ve had a lot of fun sharing his brew with family and friends.”
The Anchorage Brewing product Fletcher and Straub created found a niche among beer lovers. “Our idea was to come up with a bold, crisp IPA with a low alcohol content,” Salem said. “It’s what I would term a ‘performance IPA’ since you can have one or two and still get stuff done. It’s a real challenge apparently to make a beer to these specs, but Gabe is quite a talented and skilled brewer, as well as knifemaker.”
A hefty chef’s knife with an 11.1-inch carbon steel blade, handle of carbon fiber with G-10 spacers, and overall length of 15.8 inches was the result of Fletcher’s collaboration with Josh Prince. The knife sold for $5,850 on Eating Tools.
“I knew Gabe from interacting over Instagram and a few phone calls to talk about pattern and material processes around knives both carbon steel and stainless,” Josh noted. “Slowly, we developed the idea of working together on a knife/beer release. We worked on a chef’s knife in carbon steel in Gabe’s design with a plug-welded element. I provided the damascus plug element and Gabe did the rest. We dubbed it ‘Planet Eater’ after the classic Star Trek episode “Doomsday Machine,” where a mechanical entity consumes entire solar systems.”
In addition to running the internationally known Anchorage Brewing Company in Anchorage, Alaska, Gabe Fletcher is also an ABS apprentice smith.
Based in Rhode Island and making knives since 2016, Prince commented, “It’s just inspiring to work with another maker of such a high caliber and level of motivation and creativity.”
That motivation led to a discussion that brought back a pleasant memory for Josh. “I talked to Gabe about another beer that he made with Ben Kamon of Austria and how much the aroma reminded me of cannabis,” Prince remarked. “Oddly enough, Gabe told me that the hop and cannabis plants are very closely related and could even be grafted together! I asked for a dank, strongly fragranced IPA, and Gabe delivered.”
BLADE SHOW BEER
Adventures in knives and beers with Fletcher and friends doesn’t stop there. Recently, Gabe engaged with representatives of the BLADE Show to craft a unique brew just for the greatest show in knives.
Gabe Fletcher’s chef’s knife/beer collaboration with Austrian knifemaker Ben Kamon resulted in a striking combo.
“It’s an IPA that will be lighter at around 4.5 percent alcohol by volume—very floral and smooth drinking—and the BLADE Show beer will be available at the show in the Cobb Galleria of Atlanta at every bar on the floor and also on the main hotel floor, i.e., in The Pit!” Fletcher advised of the iconic sunken bar in the lobby of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly.
“We will also have some of the beer available online through one of my distribution partners, Tavour, where a person can have the beer mailed directly to their home in 23 states in the USA. I went to my first BLADE Show last year and ended up having dinner with some friends and a few people I hadn’t met yet. Henry Wu from the BLADE Show was sitting next to me. We got to talking, and later that year I had the idea of having a beer made just for the show. I pitched it to Henry and he was all about it.”
With his fine pairings of blades and brews already offered and more coming in the future, Gabe melds his two great passions, connects and collaborates with friends, and presents the resulting creations to the world. His love of both brewing and knives shines through in every aspect of the ongoing project.
Mareko Maumasi’s gyuto chef’s knife in a san-mai construction serves as the model for the knife second from right at top in the artwork for the BLADE Show Beer.
“The beer is sold through my distribution network and is mainly free advertising for the maker,” he said. “Also, it’s just a fun thing to do. I mean, who wouldn’t want a beer brewed in honor of them? As far as the knives are concerned, most of them are sold through Eating Tools. Abe Shaw and his crew over there do an amazing job of taking beautiful pictures and telling the story of the knife and beer as a whole.”
It’s a powerful, flavorful and altogether refreshing combination of brewer and bladesmith. Raise a glass. Slice and dice. And feel the fine craftsmanship in both.
*In 2024, Gabe Fletcher’s Anchorage Brewing Company was ranked among the country’s elite beer makers. According to Untapped, an app that allows drinkers to rate their beers, his company was ranked No. 6 nationwide in terms of producing the highest number of brews at a state or national level. The ratings are by nearly 11 million beer lovers covering over 26,000 of the world’s top-rated beers, as reported in Forbes.
It’s only eight days to the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) June 8-10 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, where Ernest Emerson fans everywhere will once again get their chance to see his knives and the man himself.
Smoky Mountain Knife Works
WE Knife
Work Sharp
Wicked Edge
W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery
Hogue Knives
Microtech Knives
