The BLADE Blogs Archives

BLADE Show Names Top Knives

Steve Shackleford

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June 3, 2013

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The Blade Magazine 2013 Best Buy Of The Year is the CRKT Endorser, named during the 2013 BLADE Show. (CRKT photo) — The CRKT Endorser took home the BLADE Magazine 2013 Best Buy Of The Year Award at the 2013 BLADE Show. (CRKT photo).

The world’s top knives were recognized during the BLADE Show & Living Ready Expo (www.bladeshow.com) May 31-June 2 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

The leading factory knives were honored with the BLADE Magazine 2013 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards, while the world’s pre-eminent custom knives were named in the show’s custom knife judging competition.

All entrants in the Knife-Of-The-Year and custom knife judging competitions were rated on a number of factors, including utility, design, creativity, materials, aesthetics, feel and other traits.

Announced Saturday night at the BLADE Magazine Awards Banquet in the Cobb Galleria, honors in 13 different Knife-Of-The-Year categories included 10 knives and one knife accessory. Two awards also went to individuals for special achievement in the knife industry. The categories and winners:

•Overall Knife Of The Year®: Zero Tolerance 0454;

•American-Made Knife Of The Year®: Hogue Elishewitz EX-04;

•Imported Knife Of The Year®: Fox Knives Modras;

•Most Innovative American Design: Microtech D.O.C. Kill Switch;

•Most Innovative Imported Design: CRKT Ken Onion Swindle;

•Best Buy Of The Year: CRKT Endorser;

•Kitchen Knife Of The Year®: Ken Onion Chef Works;

•Investor/Collector Knife Of The Year®: Pro-Tech Newport;

•Knife Collaboration Of The Year®: Microtech Mick Strider;

•Manufacturing Quality Award: Chris Reeve Knives;

•Accessory Of The Year: CRKT Onion Survival Para-saw;

•Industry Achievement Award: American Bladesmith Society (ABS) master smith Joe Keeslar for introducing the ABS and modern bladesmithing to France through annual workshops, as well as teaching bladesmithing in the USA via seminars and his books, for his award-winning knives, and for his leadership via several terms on the ABS Board Of Directors and as chairman of the ABS; and, finally:

•Publisher’s Award: Joyce Laituri, marketing manager of Spyderco, for almost two decades of setting the standard for how to best promote and publicize a knife company’s knives—in this case, those of Spyderco. Her ability to work with the media in terms of providing Spyderco knives, knife imagery, knife information and other materials has been a model for all others in public relations to emulate. No one has done it better.

First Woman Will Vie For BLADE Show World Title

Joe Kertzman

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May 6, 2015

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First Woman Will Vie For BLADE Show World Title

Jessica Elias was the first female ever to compete at the Nationals for the BladeSports International, Inc. competition. Held on May 2nd, 2015, at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Ark., she and six others have qualified to compete for the World Championship at the BLADE Show in Atlanta, Ga., on June 6, 2015. She will be the first woman ever to compete for the BLADE Show World title. The BLADE Show is the World’s Largest Knife Show.

Jessica is sponsored by L.T. Wright Handcrafted Knives, located in Wintersville, Ohio, and will be the first female to compete at this level.

This exciting sport starts with the competitor chopping a 2×4 in half, followed by cutting hanging ropes, rolling golf balls, full bottles of water, cans, tennis balls, drinking straws, and those are just a few of the power and finesse cuts found on the course, including some never before seen features. The event is timed and the excitement level for spectators is intense.

One of the competitors, Donavon Phillips, also broke his own water bottle record and is expected to continue to set another at the World Championship. The Bladesports World Championship competition will be on June 6, 2015 at the Cobb Galleria located at 2 Galleria Parkway Southeast, Atlanta, GA 30339.

If you are interested in learning more about the sport check out bladesports.org.

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Is There Knife Law Common Sense?

Joe Kertzman

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October 2, 2015

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According to the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), at least some legislators show “common ‘knife law’ sense.” On September 30, 2015, the AKTI presented Senators Mike Enzi, R-WY, and Ron Wyden, D-OR, with the “Common Sense Award.” The award is designed to honor Members of Congress who have worked across party lines to further common sense legislation.

In its first ever presentation, AKTI honored Senators Enzi and Wyden for their tireless work on the Knife Owners’ Protection Act (KOPA), a bill that will ensure federal protection for lawful knife owners from the current patchwork of state and local knife laws.

“Knives are essential tools for hunters and various occupations and the right to carry them with you when you’re on the road is something that should be protected,” Enzi said. “With thousands of knife laws across the country, our legislation provides a common sense solution that respects the rights of states while providing the protection that knife owners need to ensure they can travel without fear of prosecution.”

Click here for the rest of the story. Shown in the image are AKTI board members presenting the “Common Sense” Award to Sen. Ron Wyden. From left to right are Dan Lawson (Microtech), Sen. Wyden, C.J. Buck (Buck Knives), David Fee (Benchmade), Bill Raczkowski (Gerber), Morgan Taylor (Taylor Brands) and Mark Schreiber, CRKT.

Metal Museum To Feature Work Of Virgil England

Joe Kertzman

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January 4, 2012

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The National Ornamental Metal Museum announces a solo exhibition of knifemaker, sculptor and artist Virgil England’s work to run from June 8 to Sept. 2, 2012. England has dedicated his exhibition to Daryl Meier and Bob and Jenny Willis.

England, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, is a visionary in several respects. As a talented artisan and smith he creates unique knives and edged weapons which, at the same time, are perfectly interwoven with figurative allusions and details. All his works are part of the environment of a fantastic place, which he calls “Het Lands,” at sometime in the universe where an archaic civilization is confronted with the apparition of the “Seth Daemon.” But also actual antique eras inspired him to these fantastic ideas and to exactly these pieces of work. In 2004, he designed the “Empire Sword,” a series of Yatagan swords with reference to the powerful ancient Iranian kingdom of the Achaemenidic kings Cyrus and Darius, approximately 2,600 years ago. Since the 1970s, England worked as a knifemaker and started to increase his interest in intricate, multipartite projects of art. However, he never abandoned the knife blade.

Founded in 1976, the National Ornamental Metal Museum is the only Museum in the Americas dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the art and craft of fine metalwork. The Metal Museum is funded in part by ArtsMemphis and the Tennessee Arts Commission. Located at 374 Metal Museum Drive, the Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday noon – 5 pm. For more information, call 901-774-6380 or visit www.metalmuseum.org.

SHOT Show Hosts AKTI Ontario Marine Bayonet Drawing

Steve Shackleford

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January 24, 2012

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Pictured above, from left: Bill Raczkowski, AKTI president; Nick Trbovich Jr. of Ontario Knife/Queen Cutlery; Goldie Russell of A.G. Russell Knives, AKTI past president; and Jan Billeb, AKTI executive director. (Missy Beyer photo)

A Special Ontario Knife Co. Marine Bayonet was won by a current member of the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) in a drawing at the Ontario booth during last week’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas. The member’s name is being withheld pending notification.

Individual members who renewed or joined AKTI between Jan. 1 and Dec. 30, 2011 were eligible to win the special bayonet and private factory tour, including a one-night stay in western New York.

The bayonet was taken from the Ontario archives. It is one of the first 200 OKC3s Marine Corps Bayonets produced and set aside in the company’s vault. Of those originally archived 200 knives, 52 were used to fill urgent requests from deploying Marines, when the company did not have regular production-run bayonets immediately available.

The reverse side of the 8-inch carbon steel clip point blade is laser engraved with the AKTI logo and the obverse side with a quote from Ronald Reagan, the Marine Corps logo and the serial #001 of 001. The one-of-a-kind knife with sheath ships with a glass-top walnut display case, and includes a certificate of authenticity attesting to its rarity, and a certificate for a one-night stay in western New York and a private tour of the Ontario facility.

“Ontario Knife Company has been a long-time member and supporter of AKTI, actively serving on the Advisory Members board as well as being an important asset on the Legislative Committee. They have been invaluable dealing with knife issues in their region of the country,” noted Jan Billeb, AKTI executive director.

AKTI has been actively changing restrictive knife legislation since 1998, working on a state-by-state basis promoting reasonable and responsible knife laws and enforcement to benefit all knife and edged tool users.

“AKTI is laying the groundwork for more knife law changes in various states to ensure that law-abiding citizens are not considered de facto criminals for carrying a tool they use every day,” Billeb said. “We are looking forward to an exciting year working with legislators for the benefit of the entire knife community.”

For more information click on www.AKTI.org.

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. For subscription information click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscripti…?r+ssfb240112#BL1SU

Knife Laws of the 50 States via Bernard Levine

The BLADE Blogs

BLADE Staff

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August 26, 2010

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This is pretty cool. Back in 1996, BLADE compiled a list of knife laws in all 50 states. Bernard Levine kept that list current through 1997. Somehow, that list wound up here: http://www.knife-expert.com/sta-law.htm.

Check it out, it’s interesting stuff.

Photo Highlights from the 2011 BLADE Show

The BLADE Blogs

BLADE Staff

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June 14, 2011

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Enjoy these pictures BLADE staff snapped at the 2011 BLADE Show.

Crowds line the entrance:

When the doors open, knife fans have fun on the show floor:

Many celebrities attended BLADE Show unannounced and unbilled. Not the Gunny, though. You’d recognize him anywhere:

Knife stars of the political world attended, too. Here’s New Hampshire Rep. Jenn Coffey, a champion of knife rights. Her knife preemption bill was signed into New Hampshire law just before BLADE Show:

Attendees also attended seminars and demonstrations:

Before you knew it, they were passing out Knife of the Year Awards:

Other great prizes were distributed, too. Patrick Burns won a free trip to the show, courtesy of KnifeBroker.com:

Sometimes, a professional photo of a knife is worth going to the show alone. Eric Eggley worked hard throughout the show:

The banquet was the centerpiece of the show. The movers and shakers of the knife industry spoke and were recognized for their achievements. For a complete list of winners, click here: