Joe Kertzman's Blog

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, owners of the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show®, and Reed Exhibitions, producers of the SHOT Show, have reached an agreement with Las Vegas Sands Corp. to present the SHOT Show at the Sands Expo and Convention Center through 2014.

“SHOT Show attendees have made it clear to us that Las Vegas is their city of choice, and this agreement allows the National Shooting Sports Foundation to meet their expectations and to continue our great relationship with the city and the Las Vegas Sands Corp.,” said Steve Sanetti, president and CEO of NSSF, trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry. “The Sands has responded to our requests for improvements to the venue that have been very favorably commented upon by exhibitors and attendees alike, and this was a key factor in our decision.”

Daniel Terdiman, staff writer for CNET News, always thought it would be cool to see how Victorinox Swiss Army Knives were made. His wish came true on a recent trip to the central Swiss town of Ibach, and the Victorinox factory. 

As he notes, “There’s no doubt about it, a visit to the Victorinox factory in this small town in central Switzerland affords a guest a visual feast, and as part of Road Trip 2011, I was lucky enough to get to gorge on it.”

Read Daniel’s full article and see 39 pictures he took in the factory by clicking this link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20078593-52/where-the-swiss-army-knife-gets-made/

This is pretty cool. Many of you know the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), a knife rights advocacy group working for the entire knife industry. Now it’s easy to support the AKTI, and get a neat gift item at the same time. The AKTI is offering bright red luggage tags labeled with the organization’s emblem, with every cent of the sales procedes going to support AKTI’s effort to protect your right to own and carry knives. You can put a luggage tag on every piece of luggage you own, making it easy to find your black bag among all those other black bags on the airport carousel; and it identifies your bag for the airlines if it is lost. Measures 4-1/4″ x 2-1/2″. Visit http://akti.org/ to learn more about AKTI and their efforts.

Looking a year in advance, the Board of the American Bladesmith Society voted to double the size of the 2012 Knife Expo to include an amazing assemblance of ABS Bladesmiths. In addition to that the Expo will have seminars going on and displays of historic knives from legends like Scagel.

 The Board has also approved a measure to allow ABS Master and Journeyman Smith applicants to present their five knives for judging in San Antonio. This is NOT in place of the official testing at the BLADE Show, which will remain the testing grounds, but will be the first year that applicants will be judged outside of the BLADE Show. The Knife Expo is setting up a special testing section where the applicants for Journeyman and Master Smith can display and sell their knives.  

The Expo has moved back to it’s old time slot of late January.  

See the complete lineup of bladesmiths planning to exhibit at the 2012 Knife Expo by clicking here: http://www.absknifeexpo.com/exhibitors.htm.