The BLADE Blogs Archives

Best BLADE Show Ever?

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June 9, 2015

Oden's Buck display. — Larry Oden won Best of Show for his collection display, “Buck Factory Production Knives of the 1960s.”

Ed Fowler's demo. — Ed Fowler kept BLADE University students entertained with his class, “How To Get The Most Out Of Your Knife.”

It seems like almost every BLADE Show is better than the one before, and the 34th annual rendition June 5-7 in Atlanta was no exception. With record crowds pouring through the doors and down the aisles Friday, an outstanding batch of BLADE Magazine 2015 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards announced Saturday and everybody leaving Sunday already pointing toward next year’s show, it must go down as one of the best BLADE Shows if not the best BLADE Show ever.

Knife exhibitors from every continent provided an endless array of knives and knife accessories to an equally endless stream of knife enthusiasts starved for their annual BLADE Show fix, and the jampacked aisles of enthusiasts stood as testimony that all is sharp in the world of knives when it comes to the BLADE Show.

The show got off to an instructional start Thursday with BLADE University, a comprehensive slate of classes on all things knife, including how to forge, how to make handles and guards, how to grind a knife blade, how to sharpen any blade, knife collecting, Japanese sword collecting and maintenance, CAD/CAM knife design and much more. Friday enjoyed a walloping beginning, with enthusiasts in massive winding lines waiting to get into the show. Some aisles were so full that the only way to get through was to weave in and out of bodies in a sea of humanity.

Carter at BLADE Show. — Murray Carter shows how it’s done during his BLADE U. class on how to sharpen any blade.

Neil and customers. — Purveyor Neil Ostroff of True North Knives waits on customers during the BLADE Show.

The custom knife judging Friday resulted in a fantastic array of knives. For the complete list of maker awardees, visit custom knife winners.

Saturday was another busy day. Though the crowds weren’t as large as Friday, they were still quite ample, with a number of makers reporting brisk, non-stop sales. A few makers did not do so well but most seemed more than happy with the traffic. Demos included how to forge by Timothy Potier, how to throw knives by Bobby Branton, the Japanese sword demo by James Williams, and the 13th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition conducted by BladeSports International, won for the third year in a row by Dan Keffeler. The competition also featured the first-ever female contestant, Jessica Elias.

Saturday night’s awards reception named the industry’s top factory knives. For the complete list, visit BLADE Magazine 2015 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards.

Keeslar at BLADE U. — Joe Keeslar uses one of his knives as a pointer during his BLADE U. class on handles and guards.

More Knife Awards

In addition, Chris Reeve was inducted into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© by knifemaker Bill Harsey, Joe Keeslar won the first Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award for being the epitome of a mentor to his fellow knifemakers, and BLADE® editor Steve Shackleford received a plaque recognizing his 30 years with BLADE and the BLADE Show.

Anso at BLADE Show. — Knifemaker Jens Anso (behind table at right) enjoys packed aisles of customers the Friday of the BLADE Show.

On Sunday the show came to a fitting conclusion with Collection Display Awards. Judges awards went to: young Owen Dady for his collection of Buck whittlers, Dale Eichberg for his “How The Buck Legend Began: The Very First Buck Knives,” and Jim Holbrook for his Buck Duke 500 collection. Best of Show went to Larry Oden for his “Buck Factory Production Knives of the 1960s.”

What will next year’s show bring? If it’s anything like this year’s, it will be another one for the ages.

Maximize Your BLADE Show Experience

Steve Shackleford

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June 1, 2015

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The 34th Annual BLADE Show starts this Friday at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta and you can maximize your experience by knowing what to see and when. But before you do that, be sure you come prepared.

1) Dress appropriately. Comfort is the watchword. Bring two pairs of shoes—one to wear while walking the show in the morning, the other for the afternoon. And be sure they’re well broken in and comfortable! Don’t worry about being a fashion plate. Getting around the 116,000-square-foot hall is a marathon, not a fashion show runway. Leave the spiked heels at home.

2) Carry a small water bottle. The show hall can get humid/hot and you need to stay hydrated.

3) Eat an apple mid-morning and mid-afternoon for energy and to maintain your, ahem, constitution. Apples also are good for hydration.

4) Don’t be afraid to bring a roller case (like the one pictured herein being pulled by award-winning Canadian knifemaker Brent Beshara) or small backpack to carry stuff (including your extra pair of shoes, ball cap and sunglasses [see below]). Carry bags can get hard on your arm after a while.

5) Wear a ball cap and sunglasses—and shorts if you can because Atlanta gets hot in the afternoon in June—in case you want to watch any of the outdoor seminars. The sun can beat down on your head and give you a heckuva headache;

As for stuff to see, the main attraction, of course, is knives and more of them than you will see at any one time under one roof anywhere. There are also other attractions, including:

•On Thursday, the day before the show begins, and Friday the world’s foremost knife authorities will conduct classes on a variety of knife subjects in the 2nd Annual BLADE University. Learn from such world-famous makers as Jerry Fisk, Bill Harsey, Tony Bose, Ed Fowler, Ryan Johnson, Spartan Blades, Case, Joe Keeslar, Murray Carter and many more;

•By noon Friday all entries for the BLADE Magazine Knife Of The Year® Awards sponsored by New Graham Knives must be on display in the Knife Of The Year Display Area, which will have a new location this year—in the show lobby—for your viewing pleasure;

•At 2 p.m. Friday the show opens to the public but you’d better get there well before then because the lines start to form early;

•Friday after high noon, ABS master smith Jason Knight and other world-class smiths will hold an impromptu forging session in The Courtyard, the parking lot of the host Renaissance-Waverly Hotel, until the show closes at 7 p.m. This is a last-minute addition to the show and should be a rare treat;

•Saturday at 10 a.m. the ABS will hold its annual auction of top ABS handforged knives in Room 103;

•Saturday at 12:30 p.m. the ABS forging demonstration returns to The Courtyard with ABS master smith Timothy Potier showing you the ins and outs of how to handforge a knife;

•On Saturday at 4:15 p.m. Jessica Elias, the first-ever female contestant in the 13th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition conducted by BladeSports International, will show her stuff in The Courtyard along with the rest of this year’s qualifiers;

•FREE BLADE Show programs and August/BLADE Show preview issues of BLADE® will be distributed in the show lobby containing complete show schedules, events, exhibitor table and booth numbers and much more.

•After show hours, hit The Pit in the Renaissance-Waverly Hotel lobby to share sharp tales of the day’s events, what you saw, what others saw and more. Things are usually hopping/get hopping by 8 or 8:30 p.m., sometimes earlier.

Come on down and enjoy the show!

BLADE Show BLADE® On Newsstands!

Steve Shackleford

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May 22, 2015

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The BLADE Show issue of BLADE® Magazine is your complete guide to the 2015 BLADE Show and is on newsstands NOW!

To be held June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, the BLADE Show is the world’s largest and most important knife event. Factory and custom knifemakers, any and everyone who makes and sells knives and knife accessories, knife collectors and knife users from all over the world will converge for the 34th annual rendition of a weekend of sharp unlike any other anywhere else—and the latest BLADE® Magazine is your guide to it all.

The issue kicks off with “All Knives Point to Atlanta,” a preview of the top events and features surrounding the show, including the 2nd Annual BLADE University, a fresh approach to knife instruction taught by the world’s top knifemakers and knife authorities; the BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards, the world factory knife industry’s most coveted honors which are decided at the show; the new Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award, which honors a top mentor to knifemakers; the 13th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition conducted by BladeSports International, which will include its first ever female contestant; the BLADE Show Demo Schedule, which will include not only the cutting competition title but also demos on Japanese sword cutting, how to forge, how to collect and much more; and everything else show related.

“They Only Come Out At Knife” features some of the top factory knives that will be introduced at the show, with more and more cutlery companies using the BLADE Show as its No. 1 debut site for their new knives. “ABS Auction Benefits Bladesmithing” lists the ABS top handforged knives that will be up for bid during the show. “What Are Your BLADE Show EDCs?” is a topical story outlining some of the knives BLADE Show attendees bring along to show and brag about to each other in a kind of “show within a show.” And BLADE field editor Ed Fowler reviews how to flourish at the world’s most important cutlery event in “Ed Fowler’s Unofficial BLADE Show Rules.”

In addition to its exclusive BLADE Show coverage, this issue of BLADE also showcases some top knives for service people on the eve of Memorial Day in “Military Knives For Memorial Day,” including the cover knife, the new Case V-42 repro. ABS master smith Wally Hayes walks you through a demo that he will also present at the BLADE Show in his story, “How To Make a Sushi Knife.” Check out some of the most unusual warranty cases ever in “Wacky World of Warranty Requests,” learn how to make tomahawks for a song in BLADE field editor Joe Szilaski’s “Making Tomahawks On A Budget” and much more, all in the latest BLADE, on newsstands NOW!

Steel Star Power of the BLADE Show

Steve Shackleford

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May 18, 2015

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Gil Hibben, who made knives for the Expendables move franchise, will be among many with steel star power connections at the BLADE Show. — Gil Hibben, who made knives for the **Expendables** move franchise, will be among many with steel star power connections at the BLADE Show.

The world’s greatest knives and greatest knifemakers are the main focus of the BLADE Show June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, Georgia, but there are also many legends and legends in the making who attend the show that help give it steel star power.

A Gil Hibben bowie knife. — A Gil Hibben bowie knife from the **Expendables**.

For instance, Todd Begg, star of the Discovery Channel’s Blade Brothers, will be displaying his knives at booth 722. Robert Young Pelton, journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of The World’s Most Dangerous Places as well as host of the Travel Channel’s series of the same name for six years, is the headman of DPx Gear (booth 415).

Any number of makers in the show hall have made knives for movies, the most notable being BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Gil Hibben (table 5K) and the knives for the third and fourth Rambo movies as well as The Expendables series of flicks, all starring Sylvester Stallone.

Others who have made knives for movies include Allen Elishewitz (booth 59) and Cold Steel (booth 318) for Sinners and Saints; Ernest Emerson (booth 104) for Black Hawk Down and Night of the Running Man, among others and also for some TV shows; Daniel Winkler (booth 606) for Zero Dark Thirty, Sommersby and The Last of the Mohicans; and TOPS Knives (table 20U) for The Hunted and The Punisher. R.W. Wilson (table 25R) made the tomahawks for the early 1970s classic, Jeremiah Johnson. There are no doubt other makers at the show who made movie knives that we’re leaving out. And on the TV side of the ledger, Condor Tool & Knife (booth 739) supplies the knife for Matt Graham, star of the Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival, and Zero Tolerance knives (booth 99) appear regularly on the long-running hit TV show, NCIS.

On the entertainment side of the ledger, Southern Grind (booth 41) is owned by Atlanta’s Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band renown. And Adam Drescher of Adam Unlimited (table 15S) has been appearing on a number of TV shows in assorted character roles of late.

Last but not least are the legends of the knife industry itself—the members of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© who regularly attend the show: Goldie and A.G. Russell of A.G. Russell Knives (booth 102), the only married couple in the Hall; Ken Onion of Ken Onion Culinary Designs (booth 303); Sal Glesser of Spyderco (booth 23); Bruce Voyles of J. Bruce Voyles Auctioneers, writer and book author (table 703); the aforementioned Gil Hibben; custom knifemaker D’ Holder (table 1M); knife entrepreneur and writer Bill Adams (table 4AA); and B.R. Hughes, writer, author and one of the founders of the American Bladesmith Society, who will be found holding court in the ABS section of the show hall.

Come see them all and much more at the BLADE Show.

YOUR Knife-Of-The-Year® Award

Joe Kertzman

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May 15, 2015

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For only the second time in BLADE Show history, a Knife-Of-The-Year® Award will be chosen by knife enthusiasts just like you. Log on to www.blademag.com/2015-peoples-choice and vote for your favorite knife, as submitted by knife companies and knifemakers that will be at the BLADE Show. The knife with the most votes will win the People’s Choice Knife-Of-The-Year Award, to be presented June 6 at the 2015 BLADE Show in Atlanta.

Show your support, have fun, and tell your friends! Voting is open now!

Learn Japanese Swords at BLADE University

Steve Shackleford

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May 11, 2015

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Learn Japanese Swords at BLADE University

BLADE University/Wally Hostetter — Learn all about Japanese swords from Wally Hostetter at BLADE University. Wally made the mounts for Steve Schwarzer’s Nagmaki, a repro of a pole arm with a sword-like blade used by 14th-17th-century Japanese warriors to cut the legs of the horses of enemy cavalry.

Japanese swords combine the elements that make everything about the world of blades fascinating—history, mystery, outstanding cutting performance, beautiful craftsmanship, collectibility and more—and Wally Hostetter will school you on it all at the 2nd Annual BLADE University.

Hostetter’s class will be one of many at BLADE University, which will be held the day before (June 4) through show Saturday (June 6) of the 2015 BLADE Show June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

In his class entitled “Collecting & Maintaining Japanese Swords,” Hostetter will explain what to look for when you buy a Japanese sword—including different patterns/designs and genres, the proper fittings and more—and how to maintain and care for it once you’ve bought it.

Hostetter is a long-time swordsmith who also is known for making sword mounts for such world-renowned swordsmiths as Steve Schwarzer. From the tsuba (guard), habaki (collar), fuchi (pommel or metal hilt sleeve) and other mounts, Hostetter makes and knows them all quite well. No matter what question you have concerning the proper construction, sword terms, traditional Japanese handle wraps, menuki and more, Wally’s your man. He will bring examples of Japanese swords and encourages students to bring cameras and photograph them for future reference.

Wally has collected Japanese swords for 18 years and does his own restoration work on them. He also has done restoration work for others over the past eight years. They include Troy Baxley, president of the Florida Token Kia; Bob Elder, owner of East Coast Martial Arts Supplies Inc., and his students of Toyama Batto Jutsu/US Batto Federation; ABS master smith Don Fogg; and martial arts practitioners throughout the USA.

Hostetter forges katanas, wakizashis, tantos and Naginata blades, including all the fittings and poles for the latter. “I have wrapped many tsuka [sword handles] and done some intricate patterns not seen everyday,” he noted. “On sayas [scabbards] I have reproduced a lot of the old finishes and techniques. I also practice Toyama Batto Jutsu. We have cut many rolled tatami/wara [rolled straw mats] with the swords, wakizashis and tantos I make.”

For more information on Wally’s class and others, how to entroll, etc., visit BLADE University.

Also Check Out:

Sword Making Secrets (Download)
Author Don Fogg is here to help you build one of the big blades, the lengthy lopper — the sword! His step-by-step sword-making process resonates well with your fellow knife enthusiasts who can’t get enough of the romance, history, look, feel, usefulness, ethnic heritage and physical impressiveness of swords. Download here

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.

Also Check Out:

Official BLADE 18-Pocket Knife Roll
This knife roll is the best combination of quality, protection and convenience for your dollar. It’s so good, BLADE put its name on it. This knife roll is available ONLY at ShopBlade.com.

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Best BLADE Show Ever?

More Knife Awards

Maximize Your BLADE Show Experience

BLADE Show BLADE® On Newsstands!

Steel Star Power of the BLADE Show

YOUR Knife-Of-The-Year® Award

Learn Japanese Swords at BLADE University

Also Check Out:

First Woman Will Vie For BLADE Show World Title

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