BLADE Show West ’25 leaves them smiling in Salt Lake City.
What a difference a year makes—and most involved with BLADE Show West October 10-11 in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City probably would be the first to agree.
While BLADE Show West ’24 didn’t exactly bomb, neither was it one of the best. Among the reasons for what some fairly or unfairly portrayed as an average event was the uncertainty surrounding the presidential election and how it would affect consumer spending, and the proximity of the show dates to the beginning of hunting season, among others. Whatever the excuses last year, no excuses were needed for the ’25 show as it met with approval from a large segment of exhibitors.
One of those exhibitors was BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame member Bill Ruple. He was very pleased—and not just because he won Best Slipjoint in the custom judging.
“I thought the show was really good!” he exclaimed. “Attendance seemed a little higher than last year, but I think sales were much higher. I took six knives and sold them all on Friday. All the [South Texas] Slipjoint Cartel guys sold out.”
Counting Bill, those included Tanner Couch, Toby Hill and Luke Swenson.
Though there were the usual number of exceptions, exhibitor sales seemed up almost across the board, both custom and factory.
“It was a really good show for us with increased sales,” Jonathan McNees noted of his McNees Knives production knife company. “We brought about 100 knives and sold about 25 to 30 percent to customers and the rest to dealers.”
Custom maker Jared Oeser brought 11 knives and sold them all.
“I had a mix of FCFS [first come, first served], lotto and auction knives,” he observed. “I was busy pretty much the whole time. I judge it based on whether I can get away from my table, and I never had a chance to leave.”
It was the first-ever BLADE Show West in Salt Lake City for Cutlery Hall-of-Famers Daniel Winkler and Karen Shook, and they sold every production knife they brought.
“About half to individuals and half to dealers. We were well stocked,” Daniel wrote. “There were good sales and traffic. It seemed to be more of a user clientele than the collectors at the BLADE Show, which is good for us. Our focus is users rather than collectors.”
Maker Princeton Wong—who made the cool custom and factory award trophies for the judging competition winners—brought 12 knives and sold out. John Cammenga of White River Knife & Tool also sold out—about 90 percent to attendees and 10 percent to dealers. Maker Frank Edwards brought six knives and sold four. ABS Master Smith Shane Taylor brought six and sold only one, but was happy because it was the most expensive of the six. Zach Thull of Dauntless Manufacturing said his company sold about 30 knives and Eddie Johnson of CobraTec enjoyed another banner sales show.
“We always bring an overabundance of knives to the BLADE Shows, trying to ensure the customer’s experience is satisfying,” Johnson observed. “We sold 30 percent more knives this year over last year.”
As for customer experiences, Eddie’s favorite show moment consisted of a most satisfying one.
“[It was] when the son came to the table several times with his dad,” Eddie related. “The son was enamored with a particular model that was a little more expensive than our others. His mother was being ‘Mrs. No.’ After the father and son touched every knife we had displayed, dad looked at son and told him to go ahead. The genuine joy and appreciation were evident in the son’s facial expression and body language. Then hearing, ‘Thank you, I love you, Dad,’ was the best experience I had and witnessed.”
Fast Start
The show got off to a fast start Friday, no doubt sparked by many who thought the best knives might go quick—which in a number of cases they did. While opinions varied on which day and time were busiest, most seemed to think attendance was up markedly over last year.
“It was way better than last year for sure,” Edwards noted. “It seemed like from opening till 3 p.m. both days were pretty busy.”
McNees indicated his booth had the most sales on Friday morning, but probably more traffic on Saturday morning. According to Ruple, attendance was about the same on both days. Taylor stated that while traffic was impressive and has been every year at BLADE Show West in Salt Lake City, Friday morning to mid-day was the busiest. Wong remarked that the opening times, the initial rush from early bird and general admission, were most hectic for him.
“Friday appeared to carry more steady foot traffic,” he stated, “with more people stopping by the table than Saturday.” Johnson indicated the inclement weather may have affected the crowd a little on Saturday, though overall attendance was definitely better than the previous year.
“For us, Friday was the busiest, fairly steady beginning an hour after the show opened until the later afternoon. Saturday had small flurries of activity followed by slow times. It seemed like a better Friday than last year and a slower Saturday than last year,” Cammenga assessed. “We definitely saw more return customers than in the last few years. We assume that’s from being in the same place a few years in a row.”
“The show seemed like the busiest of the Salt Lake shows,” Oeser commented. “There were surprisingly a lot of locals coming through on Saturday and the line outside was down the street.”
When asked to rank the attendance on a 1-to-10 scale, with 10 the busiest, Jared qualified his answer.
“Of my limited time at shows the attendance at this one was about a 6, but I feel like shows and the knife market right now are not high,” he opined. “For current show standards I would adjust it to an 8 or 9.”
All the exhibitors but one quoted for the story said they would be back next year, which may be the best sign of a successful show of all.
Only Time?
Enthusiasts came, they saw knives, they talked knives and, perhaps most important of all, spent time catching up and talking with each other at an event that may be the only time they see each other all year. But then that’s the way it is with a lot of knife shows, including the year’s last event in the BLADE Show triad of shows—BLADE Show West. Speaking of, plan now to attend next year’s sharp gala, Oct. 9-10, once again at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake.
