The latest iteration of the famous BLADE Show, Blade Show Texas brings all the best knifemakers, collectors, dealers, manufacturers, and purveyors to the Lone Star State for a sharp weekend of cutting-edge exhibition!
See who took home the hardware from the custom knife competition at BLADE Show Texas
With its roots in fine custom knives, BLADE Show Texas tends to draw the top names in makers. In turn, the custom knife awards competition turns out to be a heavyweight slugfest of some of the country’s most accomplished blade artisans. The 2024 competition at the Feb. 23-24 show lived up to this expectation completely.
The judging hall buried in the catacombs of the Ft. Worth Convention Center was packed to the gills with exceptional specimens in 12 categories. To say the 3-judge panel had their work cut out is an overstatement as large as the Lone Star State itself. But after much debate and some furrowing of brows, this team of custom knife experts came up with the top picks from each category.
This included Best Of Show (and Best Bowie), Mike Quesenberry’s dog-gone outstanding bowie knife—a creation that sucked the air out of the room. A testament to how competitive the competition was, the judges for the first time awarded “Contender” awards in three categories for knives that were worthy of top honors, but were just edged out of the highest award.
BLADE Show Texas makes the “impossible” look easy.
“BLADE, it seems, has done the impossible—having a successful knife show in Texas!” exclaimed Bill Ruple, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member and “The Maestro” of custom slipjoint knifemakers. “All of the South Texas Slipjoint Cartel guys had excellent sales. I can’t wait till BLADE Atlanta!”
The fact Bill brought 10 knives to the 3rd Annual BLADE Show Texas in the Fort Worth Convention Center and sold them all pronto would seem sufficient to bear out his observation, but selling out is pretty much routine for the big friendly Texan. No, it was more than just brisk knife sales that made the third rendition of the show February 23-24 so appealing. It was also the number of people—and agreeable people at that—attending.
“The attendance at the show was off the chart,” noted exhibiting knifemaker Roger Green, who sold six of the eight knives he brought—including four push daggers to one customer—and happily entertained a number of selfie requests from show patrons. “It seems both days were equally busy.”
Most of the factory and custom knife winners proudly display their trophies after the award presentation at the Hilton Hotel Fort Worth. From left: Phil Jacob; Harvey Dean; Mark Winburn; Evan Nicolaides (ESNYX); Jason Knight (behind Nicolaides); Princeton Wong; Jared Oeser; Jim Rodebaugh; Mike Quesenberry (behind Rodebaugh); Karis Fisher; Les George; Allen Elishewitz; David Deng (Reate); Joe Vero (Vero Engineering); Anthony Marfione (Heretic); Franco de Souza (behind Marfione and Ramm holding up his three awards); Peyton Ramm; and Tim Robertson.
The atmosphere in and around the show itself impressed ABS master smith Brion Tomberlin. “I like that this show is more laid back than BLADE Atlanta. It’s easy to get to. We stayed at a nice hotel with decent room rates. There are plenty of restaurants within easy walking distance. It’s a good set up,” he wrote. “It is a big show with a small show feel, if that makes sense.” The show hall indeed was bigger, with an additional 100 exhibitors over the previous year bringing the total to more than 400, plus an additional 28,000 square feet of space. Added Brion, “More space is good.”
The mix of show patrons was all over the board. Diane Carver of Fox Cutlery in the factory section indicated about 75 percent were sophisticated knife enthusiasts “willing to purchase expensive knives.” Set up in the custom section, Tomberlin broke it down even more: “About 10 percent were seasoned collectors and enthusiasts and about 30 percent were buyers who know what they want and come for the latest trends. Sixty percent were newbies who want to see what a knife show is all about.”
The seasoned buyers and those who know what they want no doubt helped make it a successful show for many exhibitors. In addition to Ruple a number sold out, Duane Dwyer and Bobby House among them, Fox Cutlery and Pro-Tech reported brisk sales and many did more than well enough to return. Among them was Burt Flanagan, who in addition to selling his award-winning slippies also sold three heat-treating ovens in his role representing Paragon Industries. Tomberlin brought five knives and sold two, a mix from high end to lower price. “Not a fantastic show for me sales wise but not horrible, either,” he observed. ABS master smith Harvey Dean sold his slicing knife, winner of Best Kitchen Knife, for $6,400 and took four other orders in the four-figure range. Smiled Harvey, “A lot of those orders will develop into more down the line.”
Swords were hot at the Valiant Armoury booth.
NEW AWARDS
To open up the custom and factory knife judging segments to more knife styles and contestants, show officials made several improvements.
To provide an award avenue for tomahawks, swords, innovative designs and other “specialty pieces,” the category of Best of the Rest was added to both the custom and factory segments. Also in the factory segment, the categories of Best American Made and Best Imported were added, with Best Tactical being dropped.
Finally, in an effort to recognize knives that came within a whisker of winning but were edged out for one reason or another, a new award called Best Contender was introduced to the custom segment, with three makers earning the new honor. For the list of all the award winners, see sidebars.
SEE YOU THERE! All in all, it was a most rewarding show for most everyone who came. Next year’s show will return to the Fort Worth Convention Center March 7-8. See you there, partner.
See which factory knives took home the coveted hardware from the BLADE Show Texas Factory Knife Awards.
The BLADE Show Texas, held March 7-8 at the Fort Worth Convention Center, saw an intense factory knife competition. With an excellent turnout of competitors and a high-level of execution on the knives, it was most definitely a showcase of the top-tier production knives at the show.
With such an impressive lineup, the three-judge panel faced a tough challenge in determining which blade best represented each of the seven categories. In short, competition was hot. With the dust settled, here are the winners who claimed top honors, including Best in Show.
Best In Show & Best Imported Knife: Poikilo VK Zen
What The Judges Had To Say: “It’s a well thought out knife in both design and function.”
Best American Made Knife: Dauntless Manufacturing Clifft
What The Judges Had To Say: “The details and craftsmanship in [the Clifft], you don’t expect to see that in a factory knife.”
Best EDC Knife: Dauntless Manufacturing Moss
What The Judges Had To Say: “It’s the entire package. The company has an attention to detail and the knife has one of the best sheathes [we’ve] seen.”
Best Fixed Blade: QSP Viper
What The Judges Had To Say: “It comes with an excellent and functional sheath. It’s ergonomics and carriablity come together to create a complete package.”
Best Folder Knife: Pro-Tech/Vero Engineering Synapse Auto
What The Judges Had To Say: It won, “Because it’s badass!”
Best Of The Rest: Vero Engineering Vortex TI Maintenance Kit
What The Judges Had To Say: “Far too many bit drivers have thin handles. This one is made to fit the hand and torque down on.”
See who took home the hardware from the BLADE Show Texas Custom Knife competition.
With deep roots in fine custom knifemaking, BLADE Show Texas consistently attracts the top names in the industry, making its Custom Knife Awards a true showdown of elite craftsmanship. The 2025 competition, held March 7-8 at the Fort Worth Convention Center, was no exception.
The judging hall overflowed with exceptional entries in 12 categories, pushing the three-judge panel to their limits. After intense deliberation, the judges selected the finest blades of the year—including Best of Show and Best Fighter, awarded to Franco for his stunning fighter that felt as good in the hand as it looked to the eye.
Best In Show & Best Fighter: Franco
What The Judges Said: “We felt his had the best technical aspects with the gold inlay and engraving. It’s a very long blade but has a short feel and is very [wieldly], easy to maneuver.”
Best In Show Contender & Custom Folding Knife: Tom Overeynder
What The Judges Said: “The fit and finish, the action… there is nothing wrong with this knife. It’s an awesome knife that’s super clean.”
Best Art Knife: Paul Distefano
What The Judges Said: “It has a cohesive vision, executed with no flaws. It’s color, texture and finish all tie together.”
Best Custom Bowie: David Lisch
What The Judges Said: “The organic flow of the guard and fittings and the complication of doing the subhilt all flow into one. The damascus is well executed and the knife has near perfect fit and finish.”
Best Damascus: Pedro Fornari
What The Judges Said: “It’s an eight-bar Turkish twist that’s nearly perfect in execution. It’s difficult to make and it’s an integral.”
Best Custom EDC: Evan Nicolaides
What The Judges Said: “It’s light, elegant, deploys quickly with little movement and it’s efficient.”
Best Custom Hunting Knife: Josh Fisher
What The Judges Said: “We all think this is a differentially etched damascus blade with the damascus showing on the spine of the blade. It’s lightweight with a great blade length for a hunter.”
Best Custom Kitchen Knife: Luke Dellmyer/Richard Patterson
What The Judges Said: “The blade shape is spot on. It doesn’t have any undergrinds or overgrinds. The heel doesn’t rock, it’s balanced and feels lightweight.”
Best Custom Slip Joint: Evan Nicolaides
What The Judges Said: “The action is great, everything lines up and it’s beautifully well made.”
Best M.A.C.K.: Jared Oeser
What The Judges Said: “Overall it has clean lines, operates smooth as silk and technically it’s perfection.”
Best Of The Rest: Josh Taylor
What The Judges Said: “It’s a very cool piece. The blade is dead-nuts straight and the carving is good. Very stylish use of the natural contours of the wood.”
BLADE Show Texas will kick off the ’26 show slate in style.
Knives and knifemakers planetwide and most everything else keen, utilitarian and covetable will inundate the 5th Annual BLADE Show Texas March 20-21 in the Fort Worth Convention Center.
The show will host over 400 exhibitors and thousands of knives from such countries as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and elsewhere, not to mention top American custom knifemakers, ABS master and journeyman smiths and knifemaking members of the Knifemakers’ Guild; the lion’s share of members of the South Texas Slipjoint Cartel; the BLADE Show Texas custom and factory knife judging awards; and some of the world’s leading factory knife companies, including current and past winners of BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards.
Get ready for some Texas steel set on sizzle.
The Fort Worth Convention Center will be crawling with cutters, with gobs of custom and factory knives—from low end to high end, stock removal to forged, fixed blade to folder—tomahawks, swords, sharpeners and more. And if the exhibiting makers don’t have what you want, the exhibiting custom knife purveyors and factory retailers probably will—and if they don’t, they can put you in touch with who does.
For knife hobbyists and novice and veteran makers alike, the show’s comprehensive selection of knifemaking supplies and suppliers will have the materials, tools and equipment to make the knife of your dreams. From the latest steels, handle materials, hardware and sheath materials to most every knife part extant, the show’s suppliers should have it.
Knife Awards
Zero Tolerance will be among the top factory exhibitors featuring the sleekest folders and fixed blades. ZT’s ultra-lightweight (1.9 ounce) 0117 Duralock folder in CPM MagnaCut stainless
steel and carbon fiber will be among them.
Country of origin: USA. MSRP: $300.
The knife judging competitions will recognize the best of the show’s custom and factory knives that are entered. The custom award categories, with last year’s winners in parentheses: Best in Show (Dionatam Franco); Best Bowie (David Lisch); Best Fighter (Dionatam Franco); Best Damascus (Pedro Fornari); Best Hunting Knife (Josh Fisher); Best Folding Knife (Tom Overeynder); Best Kitchen Knife (a Luke Dellmyer/Richard Patterson collaboration); Best M.A.C.K. (Jared Oeser); Best EDC (Evan Nicolaides); Best Art Knife (Paul DiStefano); Best of the Rest (Josh Taylor); and Best Slipjoint (Evan Nicolaides).
The factory award categories, with last year’s winners in parentheses: Best in Show (Poikiloblade); Best EDC (Dauntless Manufacturing); Best American Made (Dauntless Manufacturing); Best Imported (Poikiloblade); Best Fixed Blade (QSP); Best Folder (a Pro-Tech/Vero Engineering collaboration); and Best of the Rest (Vero Engineering). The custom and factory knife judging is reserved exclusively for show exhibitors, all of whom received packets with complete details on category descriptions, judging rules and more prior to checking into the show.
What’s Next
World-class South African knifemaker Bertie Rietveld (left) returns to help headline the international contingent of knifemakers.
BLADE Show Texas will be the first of three BLADE-Show-sponsored events for 2026, the other two being the grandaddy of them all, the 45th Annual BLADE Show June 5-7 at the newly named Cobb Convention Centre-Atlanta (formerly the Cobb Galleria Centre), and BLADE Show West 2026 at the Salt Palace Convention Center Oct. 9-10 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
See which factory knives took home the coveted hardware from the BLADE Show Texas Factory Knife Awards.
The BLADE Show Texas, held March 20-21 at the Fort Worth Convention Center, saw an intense factory knife competition. With an excellent turnout of competitors and a high-level of execution on the knives, it was most definitely a showcase of the top-tier production knives at the show.
With such an impressive lineup, the three-judge panel faced a tough challenge in determining which blade best represented each of the seven categories. In short, competition was hot. With the dust settled, here are the winners who claimed top honors, including Best in Show.
