See Who Took Top Honors In Salt Lake City For The 2024 BLADE Show West Factory Knife Awards.
Over its short history in Salt Lake City, the BLADE Show West Factory knives competition has become very heated. Likely none have been as hot as the 2024 field.
Held during the Oct. 4-5 show at the Salt Palace Convention Center, the event drew its largest field of entrants yet, with companies worldwide bringing their best for the coveted hardware. The undisclosed panel of judges more than had their work cut out for them in choosing the top knives out of five categories.
As a side note, the folder section—which also produced the Best In Show knife—was particularly tense. The judges started in this category and spent the better part of 30 minutes deciding the winner.
Check out what these industry experts picked as the best of the best in the last BLADE Show of the year.
Best Folder And Best In Show: Poikilo Orca
JFRASIER PHOTOGRAPHY
Best Fixed Blade Knife: MKM Pocket Tango
Photo: J. Frasier Photography
Best EDC Knife: GiantMouse Sonoma V2 Titanium
Photo: J. Frasier Photography
Best Imported Knife: CRKT Persain
Photo: J. Frasier Photography
Best American-Made Knife: ProTech Redencion Prototype Chaves Auto
See Who Took Top Honors In Salt Lake City For The 2023 BLADE Show West Custom Knife Awards.
BLADE Show West took place Oct.13-14, 2023, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the show’s second year in Utah and drew custom makers, manufacturers and collectors from around the county and world.
It also drew an impressive cadre of entrants for the BLADE Show West Factory and Custom Knife Awards. For Factory Knives, awards were given in six categories, while the Custom Knives awarded nine categories.
The Custom section was evaluated by a panel of undisclosed industry experts who judged the blades on a number of factors, including utility, design, creativity, materials and other traits.
BLADE Show West 2022 Was A Smashing Success In Its New Home Of Salt Lake City.
So you’re having BLADE Show West in Salt Lake City,” the man began, interjecting a pregnant pause before continuing. “In Utah? Isn’t that kind of a gamble?”
Of course, any change in a knife show venue is a gamble, and so it was with the switch of BLADE Show West from Long Beach, California, in 2021 to Salt Lake City this past October. But the gamble paid off as BLADE Show West ’22 in the plush Salt Palace Convention Center met with banner reviews.
Makers Loved BLADE Show West
Grant (left) and Gavin (right) Hawk of Hawk Knives were two of the many makers displaying their knives in Salt Lake City.
The main concerns of any knife show—attendance, the venue and easy accessibility both to it and to the surrounding hotels and restaurants, and, most importantly, the number of knife buyers and how many knives they bought—were all addressed in fine fashion. The fact that the weather was sunny and in the 70s on a beautiful fall weekend didn’t hurt, either.
“The show surpassed our expectations,” observed Spyderco’s Joyce Laituri. “Not knowing what to expect in Salt Lake City, we were amazed.”
“The crowd was way more than I expected,” echoed BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Ruple. “I’d say it was close to BLADE Show Texas this past March in terms of attendance.” And those numbers were very good.
“It was extremely busy,” wrote knifemaker Mike Tyre. “Both days were non-stop people.” Chimed in knifemaker Duane Dwyer, “The show was full for both days and that’s all we as exhibitors can possibly ask for. I had a great show and met a good group of new people.”
“Numbers seemed good for the venue size,” wrote knifemaker Princeton Wong. “The traffic stopping by [our] table was more consistent than even at the BLADE Show in Atlanta.”
Not only knives but bodaciously long swords had show-goers agog in Utah.
As for the all-important issue of knife sales, a goodly number of makers came away very pleased.
“Sales were great. I sold all my high-end fixed blades and several folders,” wrote Tyre. “There were a lot of serious buyers at the show.”
“Most everyone I talked to had really good sales,” Ruple stated. “I saw a lot of the same buyers but also sold to some local folks. I took 10 knives and sold all of them.”
Knifemaker Tim Robertson said he brought seven knives and sold six. “We brought 11 knives,” ABS master smith Steven Koster wrote. “I only sold four but they were in the medium price range, and took two orders: one fixed blade and one folder.”
Wong indicated there seemed to be plenty of buyers for the custom folder and balisong markets, and he did a healthy business with some knife purveyors in attendance. “I had dealers requesting between five and 100 pieces,” he observed, “and had approximately 10 buyers from the show waiting on book spots.”
The Salt Palace Was A Star
The factory booth section was a beehive of activity.
As for the venue and the accessibility to it and nearby hotels and restaurants, the Salt Palace Convention Center met with high marks from almost everyone.
“The venue was excellent. My hotel was really upscale with great parking and a free breakfast that was good,” Tyre noted. “The show was a short walk across the street. The convention center was a great place.”
“The venue was good, we liked it and the city was good, also,” Koster observed. “The hotel and food were very convenient and easy to get to.” Added Wong, “The show venue was nice and easy to access. It’s relatively close to hotels and the weather was good for the short walk. We had surprisingly great meals.”
Awards & Seminars
In the seminar Let the Pros Critique Your Knife, from left, Steve Schwarzer, Lucas Burnley, Bill Ruple, Enrique Pena, and Will Stelter explained to show attendees what they did and did not like about attendees’ knives submitted for their inspection, and how to improve them.
Some outstanding knives won awards in both the factory and custom knife judging competitions*. Highlights in the custom category included Trevor Morgan winning both Best in Show and Best Kitchen Knife for his damascus chef’s knife and Shayne Carter taking home Best Hunter and Best Bowie.
WE Knives was the big winner in the factory judging, capturing Best Folder and Best in Show for the Peter Carey Nitro Mini and Best EDC for the Shakan. All of the winners were announced and presented trophies at the show’s After Party sponsored by Black Rifle Coffee at the company’s facility Friday night.
The show hosted a state-of-the-art slate of seminars, among others including 3D Printing for Canister Patterns conducted by ABS master smith Steve Schwarzer and Ron Hardman, Let the Pros Critique Your Knife with Schwarzer, Enrique Pena, Bill Ruple, Will Stelter and Lucas Burnley, and the 3rd Annual West Coast Flipping Championships hosted by Squid Industries.
BLADE Show West 2023
Next year’s show will return to the Salt Palace Convention Center Oct. 13-14. Plan to attend now. Many already have. “We’re in for the next two years,” Spyderco’s Joyce Laituri wrote, “and our employees are already arguing over who gets to work the show next year.”
For more information on BLADE Show West ’23, visit bladeshowwest.com or email [email protected]. For more on BLADE Show Texas ’23, visit bladeshowtexas.com, and for more on BLADE Show ’23 visit bladeshow.com.
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.
Awards Were Given Out In Nine Different Custom Knife Categories Including Best In Show At BLADE Show West In Salt Lake City.
Dozens of makers entered knives in competition across eight different custom knife categories. The skill on display was tremendous, and numerous knives wowed the judges. However, these were the blades that stood out from the crowd and took home the awards. All images are SharpByCoop Images.
BLADE Show West Rocks Salt Lake City And Packed The Salt Palace Convention Center.
Call it home.
After bumping around the greater Pacific and Mountain West, BLADE Show West definitely felt it found its place in Salt Lake City. For two days–Oct. 7-8–the Salt Palace Convention Center was packed to the gills with top knifemakers and blade aficionados.
The main question on everyone’s lips–aside from, “How much does that knife cost?”–was, “Is BLADE Show West coming back here?” To set everyone’s heart at ease, yes, the foremost knife show in the west is due back in Salt Lake City, Oct. 13-14, 2023.
Until then, there’s plenty to discuss on what made this year’s gathering such a top-notch shine dig.
Attendance
More than 200 vendors descended on the Beehive State for the show from all across the United States. Of course there were big makers like Microtech and Spyderco in attendance but smaller factories like Schenk from Idaho and Stroup Knives from North Carolina were also on the show floor.
Blade HQ, a sponsor of the show, had a huge booth and gave out free shirts to attendees throughout the day Friday.
With so many vendors in town expectations were high, and the knife community did not disappoint. Thousands of fans came to the Salt Palace to buy, browse, and catch up with friends.
Best In Show Awards & After Party
A big thank you to Black Rifle Coffee for welcoming Blade Show West with open arms.
BLADE Show West featured stiff competition in the factory and custom knife awards. The We Knives x Peter Carey Nitro Mini collected Factory Best in Show and Trevor Morgan Jr’s kitchen knife won Custom Best in Show accolades.
Handing out the hardware was a pretty special affair, as Black Rifle Coffee hosted the awards ceremony and its after-party. Situated next to the company’s HQ, the nearly perfect Utah night added a great finish to a heated competition.
Demos Pack The House
Outside of the main convention hall was a series of demos that across the board drew large crowds. Two of the best attended were the sharpening clinic, hosted by Wicked Edge, and the knife critique, which had a panel of masters review makers’ knives.
Wicked Edge’s seminar was especially enlightening, give the company gave attendees a close-up view of the sharpening process, employing a microscope projected onto the big screen. Everything from creating a burr to polishing the edge was made crystalline with the visual aid.
As for the knife critique, Enrique Pena, Steve Schwarzer, Lucas Burnley, Bill Ruple, and Will Stelter reviewed around 20 knives created by intermediate, new, and hobbyist makers. The advice these well-respected masters gave in their critiques extended well past the knives being reviewed, but to knifemaking in general
Other demos focused on everything from texturing titanium handles with Shane Magnussen, and ABS Master Smith Neels Van Den Berg ran a course on making a Symmetrical Quillon Dagger from start to finish.
West Coast Flipping Championships
The balisong competition award winners were all smiles at the end of Blade Show West
The thumping of music and the clacking of bali-songs closed out the slew of events at BLADE Show West with the West Coast Flipping Championships. Sponsored and run by Squid Industries, the competition swelled to well over 200 participants and audience members.
The crowd was so large, the venue eventually was expanded by removing a retractable wall to the conference room next door. In the end, Nick Minges took home the $1,000 top prize with Tanner Knapp taking second and Sebastian Campas third.
BLADE Show West Vendor Highlights
Microtech
Microtech had a booth so big it even had a back room built into the signage to hold its extra product. The company has new models coming later this fall, but pieces like the Glycon caught eyes throughout the weekend.
The Glycon was one of many eye-catching knives Microtech had in its cases.
Kizer
Kizer was showing off some new knives, and showcased some of their funkier knives, like this awesome Aquaman-inspired folder.
Kizer’s Aquaman-inspired knife was definitely one of the cooler knives on the tables in Salt Lakt.
307 Forge
Being in the Mountain Time Zone brought out many makers from the Big Sky and Pacific States. The family-run 307 Forge of Big Piney, Wyoming had a wide selection of knives and showed that even in America’s least-populous state, knifemaking is thriving.
307 Forge was one of many makers from the Mountain Time Zone on hand selling their blades.
Knife And Gun Finishing Supplies
The team at Knife And Gun Finishing Supplies from Lakeside, Arizona had multiple tables dedicated to just handle materials. All sorts of woods, treated and untreated, metals, synthetics, Knife And Gun had almost every type of handle material covered.
It was materials galore at the Knife And Gun Finishing Materials Booth
Already Gearing Up For BLADE Show West 2023
It was, by all metrics, a rousing success at BLADE Show West. Start planning now to be at the Salt Palace next year for another edition of BLADE Show West on October 13-14, 2023.
Makers And Knife Aficionados From Around The Globe Are Set To Descend On Salt Lake City For Blade Show West In October.
Premier custom and factory knifemakers, a seminar on a new canister pattern technique that could revolutionize the knife industry and the 3rd Annual West Coast Flipping Championships will be but a few of the highlights of BLADE Show West Oct. 7-8 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.
It will be the first-ever BLADE Show West in the great state of Utah. The show was held at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California, last year.
The doors will open to the public each day at 10 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Leading custom and factory makers, knife accessory companies, suppliers of various materials, equipment, and tools to make knives and more will exhibit their latest wares for your perusal throughout the weekend.
The Stars Of Blade Show West
As with all BLADE Show events, BLADE Show West will have a state-of-the-art seminar schedule. The schedule kicks off Friday at 1 p.m. with one on how to bring your blade back from the edge of dull by Clay Allison of Wicked Edge Precision Sharpeners.
At 2:30 p.m. ABS master smith Steve Schwarzer and Ron Hardman will present 3D Printing for Canister Patterns. In this exclusive seminar for BLADE Show West, Steve and Ron will outline how 3D printing plays a role in bladesmithing and how it may affect the future of the craft in general.
It was just this past February that Steve, Ron, Ben Bannister, and Kyrie Schroetin posted test results where 3D printed designs were combined with powdered steels to lay out complex canister patterns—all in record time.
With relatively inexpensive printers, free design software, and easily sourced printing materials, 3D printing is more accessible to the general public than ever, and it’s something most anyone can do in a shop setting. Join Steve & Co. as they demonstrate how to do it, compare and contrast different methods of developing patterns, the types of metals that can be used, how to set up your own 3D print lab, and more.
ABS master smith Neels Van Den Berg of South Africa was the star of the annual meeting of the ABS at BLADE Show ’22 in Atlanta, not only earning his ABS master smith stamp but capturing the coveted B. R. Hughes Award for the best knife by a master smith applicant. Join him as he shows you how he makes knives in the design of his award winner in Symmetrical Quillon Dagger.
The gang was all there for last year’s 2nd Annual West Coast Flipping Championships and a large number are expected to compete this year in the 3rd annual rendition sponsored by Squid Industries. (group shot courtesy of Squid Industries)
Saturday’s seminars kick off with Let The Pros Critique Your Knife, the latest in the BLADE Show’s series of discussions in which some of today’s leading makers examine one knife of one or more show attendees. This time the panel consists of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Ruple, slip-joint maker Enrique Pena, ABS master smith/past Forged in Fire judge Jason Knight, and bladesmith Will Stelter. Shane Magnussen will follow that up with a reboot of his popular seminar, How To Texture Titanium Knife Handles.
The seminar schedule closes with a bang on show Saturday with the 3rd Annual West Coast Flipping Championships sponsored by Squid Industries. Contestants ranging in age from teenagers to 30 will show their stuff in a series of timed balisong-flipping competitions. Attendance is free to all show ticket holders.
Award Categories And Rules
At a time to be determined on show Friday, the custom knife and factory knife judging competitions will be held.
Categories in the custom knife category are: Best Slip Joint, Best Locking Folder, Best Damascus, Best Kitchen Knife, Best Bowie, Best Hunting Knife, Best Tactical Knife, Best Chopper, and Best In Show. Categories in the factory knife category are Best Folder, Best EDC, Best Hunting Knife, Best Tactical Knife, Best of the Rest, Best Non-Knife Tool, and Best In Show.
Special rules for the factory judging include:
•Best EDC is open to both folders and fixed blades.
•Best of the Rest is for any knife not covered by the other categories.
•Best Non-Knife Tool, as its name suggests, must be for any non-knife tool.
Special rules for the custom judging include:
•Best Locking Folder is for any folder that locks, including linerlocks, lockbacks, etc.
•Best Chopper includes any edged tool that excels at chopping, including but not limited to competition cutters, kukris, cleavers, hatchets, tomahawks, axes, etc.
Special rules for both custom and factory include:
•Best Hunting Knife and Best Tactical Knife are open to both folders and fixed blades.
All award winners will receive trophies and coverage in the BLADE Show West recap edition of BLADE®. The winners will be announced at 8 p.m. on show Friday at the BLADE Show Awards After Party presented by Black Rifle Coffee. (See the show program and/or the show staff at the show for the party’s location.)
New Venue For Blade Show West
Tobin Hill will be among a strong contingent of exhibiting slip-joint makers. His folding-guard hunter features CPM 154 stainless blade steel in a hollow grind and an amber stag handle. His price for a similar knife: $2,500. (SharpByCoop image)
Many outstanding restaurants and watering holes are within easy walking distance of the Salt Palace Convention Center, a venue that is cutting edge in terms of exhibitor space and other amenities. The area is also home to an energetic nightlife scene, national parks, museums, and other attractions.
Meanwhile, there will be raffles and giveaways, vintage custom and factory knives on display, knife swapping galore, old friends renewing acquaintances, and new friends making new ones—all at BLADE Show West 2022.
Friday, October 7 1-to-2 p.m. BACK FROM THE EDGE OF DULL—Meeting Room 150: Maintaining a keen edge on your knife requires sharpening on a regular basis. However, that isn’t always done and the edge may go almost completely dull as a result. According to Clay Allison of Wicked Edge Precision Sharpeners, his company has the tools to bring your blade back from the edge of dull. Let him show you how. 2:30-to-4 p.m. 3D PRINTING FOR CANISTER PATTERNS—Meeting Room 150: Learn how to leverage 3D Printer Technology to make canister damascus patterns. ABS master smith Steve Schwarzer and Ron Hardman show you how to use this game-changing advancement to forge patterns that were previously unthinkable—and all on a budget, too. 4:30-to-5:30 p.m. SYMMETRICAL QUILLON DAGGER 101—Meeting Room 150: ABS Master Smith Neels Van Den Berg takes you through the making of a Symmetrical Quillon Dagger, including design, proportions, aesthetics, materials, fluting and finally the entire production process, sharing useful tips and tricks to save you time, money and frustration.
Saturday, October 8 1-to-2 p.m. LET THE PROS CRITIQUE YOUR KNIFE—Meeting Room 150: Award-winning knifemakers share their decades of knowledge and experience in critiquing your custom knife. Jason Knight, Enrique Pena, Bill Ruple, and Will Stelter go over your knife and tell you what is good about it, what is not and how you can make it better. This will be a limited-seating event. Bring one knife only. Questions from attendees will be entertained throughout. 3-to-4 p.m. HOW TO TEXTURE TITANIUM KNIFE HANDLES—Meeting Room 150: Shane Magnussen of Scorpion 6 Knives covers the use of a 2×72 grinder to sculpt various patterns and textures on materials such as titanium, steel, and other alloys. He will cover the setup and techniques of sculpting freehand or by using a fixture, provide the information needed to safely use and select a grinder for sculpting, and outline the mechanics of varying angles, wheel size and abrasive belt options, and how they influence the finished look of the materials. 4-to-6 p.m. 3rd ANNUAL West Coast Flipping Championships—Meeting Room 150: Hosted by Squid Industries, the championships will feature head-to-head live blade flipping in an elimination bracket-style competition.
